| Dec 12, 2005 - Crossing from Bolivia to Argentina
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 | Scenes from the bus window, that scenic leg through Argentina
| | More from the window
| | A different landscape, later on in the ride
| | The final shot fromthis bus trip
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| Unfortunately it didn't all end when we got back to Uyuni. Like I said, I seem to have a knack for getting sick right before all the biggest travels of this trip. Although in some ways it could be lucky since I am not missing any good exploring time in cities or parks, but rather just bumming on busses for endless hours.
So after the 9 hours it took to get back to Uyuni, we had just a few hours to kill, and then Ami, Griet, and I got on an overnight 9 hour train to take us to the border town of Villazon on the Bolivia side and La Quiaca on the Argentina side. Before getting on the train I ran into Yountae from my Inca Trail trip, who it turns out was also on his way to the city of Salta in Argentina. I was almost going to upgrade to first class for a more compfortable night, but it would have tripled the cost and I decided to just stick it out. Then I thought I was really going to regret that decision. I was sitting in my window seat waiting for the train to pull out, when my seat neighbor came and sat down. She was a very large woman, with a 2 yeaer old in tow. She then put a blanket down at our feet, which is really not a lot of space, and laid the boy down there for the trip. So I had to constantly be careful not to kick or squash this cute little boy while sleeping and tossing and turning with stomache pains throughout the night. I then noticed she had a tiny kitten rolled up in the fabric at the top of her skirt, and I was worried about allergies. Luckily, this all proved to be unneeded stress. I actually slept pretty well through most of the trip, and she got off half-way in Tupiza giving me two seats to myself for the remainder.
We got to the border about 7am, crossed, and immediately got on a bus for the last 8 hours to Salta. We had time for a quick snack outside the bus terminal, my first food since that dinner at night on the tour, and so I ate a small grilled cheese sandwich with Yountae and a an American named Scott from California. I sat next to Yountae on the bus as well and we got to catch up for a bit. This ride through northern Argentina from the border to Salta is regarded as one of the most scenic in South America, so we purposely planned to do it during the day. And it didn't disappoint. The thing is, there is a lot of concern when entering Argentina from Bolivia though (I wonder why?), and so twice the bus had to stop for about 45 minutes while everyone got off the bus and lined up single file with all their luggage. For the most part they just looked at your passport and asked a couple questions, but didn't search anything so it wasn't a crazy-long wait. On the bus a bunch of us travellers made friends with each other, most notably a group of 6 people who have been travelling together, a French girl named Marine, and Scott. |
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