Horses and chaps in cowboy country.
Tupiza
07.12.2011
4am and we arrive in Tupiza – cowboy country of Bolivia. We slept all morning and at around midday Nev and I were STARVING so went to a local market and found some cheap local grub. ‘Sopa’, as it’s called which translates to ‘Soup’, or ‘Entrée’. We were tempted for ‘Segundos’ (pretty self-explanatory) but instead went downstairs for banana bread and fresh fruit; a place that quickly became our haven all because of the banana bread. Yummo!
We then made an effort to wake up and organise a 3 hour horse-riding trip through the Quebrada Palala valley, where we rode through incredible red rock formations and desert valley landscape, avoiding spiky bushes and cacti along the way. It was like something out of a film! We were even given chaps and cowboy hats to top off our look, and, of course, Nev wore his poncho. We rode for an hour and a half to an area in the mountains good enough to jump off our horses, walk around and explore. We were there for about 40 minutes when we decided it was time to head back to town. I have to add, I had my hat fly off my head about 3 times, and my waterproof jacket fall off the horse twice, so the young gaucho that was with his wasn’t happy with me – he kept having to stop and get off his horse to pick up my stuff! Oops… All that trotting hurt the boys after a while, and once we left the horses to walk back into town they seemed to be waddling more than walking. Marie and I couldn’t help but give them shit haha!
So we made it back to town, stopping of course for banana bread and watermelon, then back to the hostel for a much needed shower (by the way, the showers in Bolivia and Peru seem to give you electric shocks whenever you touch the taps when you go to turn them off, and can be painful!), and a very early & boring night. Tupiza is famous for its surroundings, not for the town itself. There isn’t much to do here.
Nev and I had an early start today – we decided the best thing to do (to save time in Nev’s case) was to wake up at 5am and try to catch a 5:30am bus to the border town called Villazon, and cross into Argentina that way. We waited around until almost 6 while we listened to a VERY annoying lady yelling “Villazon Villazon Villazon Villazon” reaaally quickly and reaaally loudly to get people’s attention – at 5:30 in the morning. Luckily we managed to pick the right collectivo and made it without any hassles, and just a quick nap on the way to the border.
It’s time to say goodbye to Bolivia. You might have noticed by now that my original plan to volunteer at the animal refuge fell through. You’re wondering why? I felt like travelling more and seeing as Nev was going to Buenos Aires and then into Uruguay, I took the opportunity to cling onto his plans and go with him. After all, I would have only had 2 weeks to volunteer and I was hoping for at least a month there – I travelled longer than I thought, and I don’t regret any of it. It’s been freaking unreal (so far!). And can’t wait for what Argy will bring us…
Posted by neekspencer 22.02.2012 20:14 Archived in Bolivia
