Day One in Bolivia

So we left Salta last night at midnight. We arrived at the Bolivian border at about 7am. We had to get our exit stamps from Argentina, which took about 30 minutes of standing in line. I was also woefully under dressed. I thought this part of the world would be the same altitude and same temperature as Salta. I was wrong. It was quite cold and we are reasonably high up at the moment. So my shorts and t-shirt, not a good idea. But after some waiting, and a solid number of butts, we make it through the line. Now we get to the Bolivian side. We were crossing the border from La Quica, Argentina into Villazòn, Bolivia. So, again, we stand in line. Thank you to the government of the United States I need a visa now to get into Bolivia. I may have written about this already. Anyhow, I am in the line waiting to get my visa. I get to the front of the line, with all my forms filled out and my hundred dollars in my hand, and...the guy tells me to step to the side for a moment. He has to go into the safe that is in the middle of the very very small and very very crowded waiting room to get a visa out. Guess what happens? This guy cant figure out how to open the safe. After five minutes he informs his co worker up his predicament. so another guy comes out. No dice, still cant crack this damn thing. Meanwhile, I am standing in a very uncomfortable position surrounded by a mob of Bolivians. Now in town they seem to be very nice people, but at the border control they are all animals. In general, the average Bolivian is short and round. No taller then 5`4 or 5`5 and they are hefty, the woman especially. I am much bigger than most everyone I have seen here. But these people didn't give a shit. I was getting knocked around, run into, and I`m pretty sure I was groped at least once. its gotta be the blue eyes. But I digress, returning to the unopenable safe. The safe issue lasts well over an hour while I remain in the same awkward position gradually being crushed by a sea of ompaloompas. As you can see, at that point in time, I did not have the highest opinion of the Bolivian people. Eventually, the border control guy calls his friend "the plumber" and this guy is actually able to open the safe. I`m not positive, but I dont think that in the US a non government employee would be allowed to crack a safe at customs that contained government visas and cash. Then again, the US would probably not put a safe in the middle of a crowded public room, and it would probably be electronic or something. The safe that the "plumber" cracked was stolen off the set of one of the first American Westerns ever made. In the end, I do get out, and I am legally alllowed to be in this country. (That is more than I can say for my friend Rainee when she traveled with me to BA. she just stayed on the bus at the border crossing becasue she had lost a form. So technically, no one even knew she left Brazil. Thats another story though.) We then took a bus from Villazon to Tupiza. This was a very scary busride in a very overpacked bus. We were on nothing but dirt roads the whole time, and whenever we were going around a blind turn, instead of slowing down, the bus driver would speed up and just lay on the horn until we had made it around. We were almost hit by a truck once, and Im pretty sure we ran over a dog. But we made it to where we have to be and we go no the Salt flat tours to Uyuni in two days.
Ive been walking around Tupìza for the past hour or so and I have to say it is a cool little town. It has character. There are a lot of very native looking people here wearing traditional Bolivian indian clothing. Its very colorful and really interesting to see. They women are the only ones who seem to be working, and whenever I see a woman walk by with a baby I can be sure that the baby is tied to her back using a sarong of sorts. Its amazing how little things have changed in the very long history of these people. The clothing is still remarkably similar to what it was hundreds of years ago as are many of the customs from what Ive read and seen. What is weird though is that mixed in with that feeling of tradition and history, I see some hot girls walking around in pratically spray on pants and Gucci sun glasses, and I mean I am sitting in an internet cafe right now. Its an interesting mix of old and new. I cant help but wonder which one will win out in the end though. Well I think thats all i got for right now. I might come back later and try to write down a story or two from the past month or so. Hasta Luego.