CHristmas in JUlY - pHotos

Part 5 - UnBoliviable

By Duncan Bennett, Member #4171

Crossing the half way point of the trip and entering a new country; those were the fun things we did on Day 51 of the Ultimate South America. Heading north from Purmamarca (Permanent Marker) in Argentina, we re-crossed the Tropic of Capricorn although didn’t realise it until later on so didn’t get any photos.

times so no surprises, then it was onto the Bolivian side.

UnBoliviable

The scenery still very delightful, we were also aware that we were heading up in altitude, of which Bolivia has a plethora.

Arriving at the border crossing of La Quiaca, we rode the very northern end of the famous Ruta 40, last seen at the very southern end in Patagonia at Rio Gallegos. We tried to use up our last Argentinian pesos on fuel without much success, so spent it all on water and snacks instead before hitting the border facilities, parking in a field of boulders just to make the 3,500 m altitude even more taxing. Out of Argentina was easy, we’d already done it countless

Having counted down Ruta 40, no-one thought to put a marker at 0 m

Likewise this was fairly easy and didn’t take too long, which was fortunate due to the heat and the altitude which had us way too close to the sun. Stacked up with Bolivian Bolivianos (BOB) and coco lollies, the ones with mild cocaine content rather mild chocolate content, it was off to Tupiza for our first night in Bolivia. The scenery along this stretch is known as the “Badlands of Bolivia” conjuring up images of the wild west.