In Bolivia

Killing time in an internet cafe yet again!
We crossed the border from La Quiaca, Argentina to Villazon, Bolivia this morning. It turned out to be just a matter of crossing a short footbridge. Official types stamped our passports on either side and that was it.
Apparently, crossing that few feet bought us an hour, cause it turned out the time is different here too.
As predicted, getting money here turned out to be a challenge. We´ve read that the town we´re headed for, Tupiza (where Butch Cassidy used to hang out and apparently died), has no ATM. So it was imperative that we got cash here.
Bank number one: No ATM
Bank number two: ATM isn´t on the plus network
Last ditch bank number three: the ATM is temporarily out of service

That caused a little stress.

We hauled our gear across town to the train station and bought our tickets for this afternoon with some of our remaining Argentine pesos, getting back 16 Bolivianos in change ($2 Can). That was all our worldly wealth for a while.

We checked our bags and went back to stake out bank number three where a guy was actually fixing the machine.

Eventually we decided we had to eat and went back to retrieve a bit of American cash from our bags to exchange at bank number one. This was successful (although the teller rejected one bill that had a little tear in the corner, while returning us Bolivian bills that were so old they were almost pulp).

We ate at a chicken restaurant where you could order: chicken.
The chicken came with rice, spaghetti noodles and french fries. Apparently carbs are good for managing the altitude, but that was kind of silly. Two very filling plates of food were 20 Bolivianos, just under $3.

Fortified, we did a bit more wandering around Villazon. The indigenous culture is really strong here, even compàred to over the bridge. Everywhere there are squat women with wide brimmed hats and aprons, most of the younger women are either carrying babies in slings over their shoulders or nursing them.

Everywhere we´ve been in the last two or three days they have this ¨boom-chicka-boom music¨ playing. On the bus yesterday there was a boom-chicka-boom cover of Total Eclipse of the Heart playing! (There was also an entire album of Spanish language Roxette covers)

Anyway, after wandering we cruised by the bank to discover, wonder of wonders, the machine worked. Our plan was to take out as much cash as possible, using all of our cards if necessary. Fortunately, it seems like they don´t have the strict withdrawal limits here they do in Argnetina, so we kept pounding in zeros and now Rhia has so much money in her belt, she looks like she´ll soon have a baby in a sling. That´s after I took a good chunk of it in my holster wallet thingy.

So, bus goes in a couple hours. We plan to head into the Salar de Uyuni salt flats from Tupiza so we may go incommunicado for a few days.
Happy Halloween all.