Bye bye Bolivia

Trip Start Jun 12, 2008
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25
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Trip End Nov 19, 2008


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Flag of Bolivia  ,
Monday, September 8, 2008

Not knowing what time buses left from th border to Salta we had decided to not take any chances and so we got up early at 3.15am to catch the 4.00am bus to Villazon and the Argentian border. After a minor misunderstanding with the hotel about whether we had paid or not,we headed to the bus station in the dark. As normal in Bolivia the bus station was busy, but we had no problem getting tickets. I was looking forward to hopping on the bus and catching some more Z's. However, as was fitting for our final journey, the bus turned out to be the most noisy, rattly, and shakiest bus to date. And it was freezing cold. Sleeping was not really an option.

 Luckily, for some reason the bus arrived an hour early and we arrived in freezing cold Villazon at 6.20am. A little dazed and tired we got off the bus and were met by a thong of touts waiting to sell us tickets to Argentina. We grabbed our bags and were hurried to an office by a busy little woman who was snuggly wrapped under a multitude of blankets. A bit of haggling later and we had our tickets and the same busy woman was marching us to the border.  We got our exit stamp from the disinterested and relaxed Bolivian officials in their ramshackle office and carried on over a bridge to the altogether more imposing and official looking Argentian border. We had to wait in queue here for about 20mins or so until they opened and when we got to the window the officious-looking policeman stamped our passports with so much as a Buenos Dias. No pleasantries here then! We went to the border and had a rather half hearted bag search, phew! Just kidding! He could obviously tell George was no smuggler. The busy lady had waited for us all that time and now whisked us into a taxi. It wasn't until I asked her the time that I suddenly realised that, due to the time difference, we only had 15 minutes until our bus left! It is weird to walk 50m and lose an hour! We made our bus with time to spare.

We were in Argentina now and I suppose the home leg of our trip. I was surprised how sad I was to be leaving Bolivia. I felt an affection towards Bolivia and the plight of its people. They seem to have had the biggest problems recovering after the conquistadors left. They seem to get shit on by just about everyone and have never won a war. As a result they have lost their coast and lots of mineral rich land to neighbouring countries. Despite their hardship, the people we came across and spoke to were friendly and in the main seemed fairly positive. They seemed to have an appropriately dark sense of humour. It is another country full of beautiful, diverse landscapes: from the bitterly cold Altiplano to the lush cloud forests and jungle. I will never forget the surreal landscape of the Salar and lagunas and the beautiful contrasts of colour and light there.

If the infrastructure was better and the people's propensity to block roads was decreased, I have no doubt that Bolivia would become as popular as other surrounding countries for tourists and backpackers. Maybe, though, that is part of its charm and uniqueness. With the bad buses, road blocks, upset tummies and cold rooms
you cannot help but become part of its daily struggle and inconvenience. And, in a small way, by the end of it all you feel a little bit more Bolivian than when you started.
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