Day 80 - Border crossing
February 3 - Bolivia
Again, we were ready with our bags by the door of the hostel at 7 AM, with a pickup supposedly coming between 7 and 7:45. I was a little nervous for the trip, One - Because the weather report called for more storms, and we were going to have to drive up the mountain pass over the Andes, where the rain would surely be snow, and Two – We didn’t have a Bolivian visa yet, and no one could say for sure what was needed nor if it was possible to get it at the border. You could order in advance, which took two weeks.
Sure enough at 8 AM a van rolled up and we exchanged confirmations and were on our way.
The van picked up a few others and we drove to the outside of town where there is a customs/border control office. The driver setup a breakfast outside while we all waited in the van. He mashed what seemed like 30 avocados, cut up baguettes, and pulled out trays of packaged cookies and cold cuts, arranged on platters and covered with saran wrap. There was a thermos of hot water with coffee and tea. We feasted on avocado covered bread, then got in line to stamp our passports, signaling our exit from Chile.
We then all loaded back into the van and started our way up the pass. The rain/snow held off and it was actually a beautiful drive. We arrived at the border crossing (Hito Cajon), which was basically just a little cabin with a desk and a guy in a polo, and piles of papers behind him. We were already at a pretty high elevation, so it was cold and the line was long. As we were waiting, one girl affected by the altitude was laying on the ground looking while as snow, being tended to by her friends. Someone brought her a canister of oxygen and it appeared everything would be ok.
There were four other Americans (two living in Chile and two visiting) in our group and as we approached the man in the polo, we saw them standing along the side looking distraught. They didn’t have everything they needed for the Visa. We got up in line and he handed us a Visa application. We stood off to the side and completed it, then returned and handed him a pile of papers that were required for the Visa and a prison-like photo of ourselves. He stapled each of our piles together, gave Evan a little grief for not having a copy of his yellow fever immunization, and we were “gifted” visas (for a small price of $160). The relief! I mean, would you let these people in??
We got back to the van, where we would be switching vehicles to a 4x4 vehicle for six people, and of course the group was waiting patiently (mostly Chileans and a few Europeans). We apologized profusely, but quickly realized we were still waiting. Unfortunately, the other Americans didn’t have everything they needed and the border control guy made them wait until everyone else was through the line. After another hour of waiting, they walked out of the office, not looking quite as victorious as we had. They were told to get a visa when they got to town – call his buddy. Great.
Our driver, a small Bolivian man named Mario who chewed Coca leaves like it was his job loaded our bags on the roof. We headed on, first stop was Lagunas blanca and verde.
And then of course we stopped a one of the vehicles broke down. The driver said in Spanish - "the road is an adventure - that's why we travel in groups", which actually I found comforting. The views were beautiful so we didn't mind.
We stopped at Desierto Dali and a thermal pool. We enjoyed the views and chatted with others on the tour, while our driver prepared lunch. We ate some kind of beef with a salad and mashed potatoes, washed down with coca-cola.
We stopped by Geiser sol de manana, which is the highest point we would visit (and also the coldest!) The sulfur smell was strong and the air frigid, so we didn't stay long.
We stopped at another lake with thousands of flamingos! The pictures don't do it justice because we were far away, but in the distance, you could see just pink from the flamingos, and the lake itself.
We stopped at what I think was called Laguna Colorada, which had the most amazing colors. It was my favorite stop.
We were clearly behind schedule and also running from a storm, so when the sun went down, we still had quite a ways left to go, Evan and I wide-eyed in the tight backseat. We arrived in a village and unloaded into a basic hostel – we shared a room with 4 twin beds with another couple. We had a dinner of pasta and went to sleep on the flimsy beds, exhausted.
Again, we were ready with our bags by the door of the hostel at 7 AM, with a pickup supposedly coming between 7 and 7:45. I was a little nervous for the trip, One - Because the weather report called for more storms, and we were going to have to drive up the mountain pass over the Andes, where the rain would surely be snow, and Two – We didn’t have a Bolivian visa yet, and no one could say for sure what was needed nor if it was possible to get it at the border. You could order in advance, which took two weeks.
Sure enough at 8 AM a van rolled up and we exchanged confirmations and were on our way.
The van picked up a few others and we drove to the outside of town where there is a customs/border control office. The driver setup a breakfast outside while we all waited in the van. He mashed what seemed like 30 avocados, cut up baguettes, and pulled out trays of packaged cookies and cold cuts, arranged on platters and covered with saran wrap. There was a thermos of hot water with coffee and tea. We feasted on avocado covered bread, then got in line to stamp our passports, signaling our exit from Chile.
We then all loaded back into the van and started our way up the pass. The rain/snow held off and it was actually a beautiful drive. We arrived at the border crossing (Hito Cajon), which was basically just a little cabin with a desk and a guy in a polo, and piles of papers behind him. We were already at a pretty high elevation, so it was cold and the line was long. As we were waiting, one girl affected by the altitude was laying on the ground looking while as snow, being tended to by her friends. Someone brought her a canister of oxygen and it appeared everything would be ok.
There were four other Americans (two living in Chile and two visiting) in our group and as we approached the man in the polo, we saw them standing along the side looking distraught. They didn’t have everything they needed for the Visa. We got up in line and he handed us a Visa application. We stood off to the side and completed it, then returned and handed him a pile of papers that were required for the Visa and a prison-like photo of ourselves. He stapled each of our piles together, gave Evan a little grief for not having a copy of his yellow fever immunization, and we were “gifted” visas (for a small price of $160). The relief! I mean, would you let these people in??
We got back to the van, where we would be switching vehicles to a 4x4 vehicle for six people, and of course the group was waiting patiently (mostly Chileans and a few Europeans). We apologized profusely, but quickly realized we were still waiting. Unfortunately, the other Americans didn’t have everything they needed and the border control guy made them wait until everyone else was through the line. After another hour of waiting, they walked out of the office, not looking quite as victorious as we had. They were told to get a visa when they got to town – call his buddy. Great.
Our driver, a small Bolivian man named Mario who chewed Coca leaves like it was his job loaded our bags on the roof. We headed on, first stop was Lagunas blanca and verde.
And then of course we stopped a one of the vehicles broke down. The driver said in Spanish - "the road is an adventure - that's why we travel in groups", which actually I found comforting. The views were beautiful so we didn't mind.
We stopped by Geiser sol de manana, which is the highest point we would visit (and also the coldest!) The sulfur smell was strong and the air frigid, so we didn't stay long.
We stopped at another lake with thousands of flamingos! The pictures don't do it justice because we were far away, but in the distance, you could see just pink from the flamingos, and the lake itself.
We stopped at what I think was called Laguna Colorada, which had the most amazing colors. It was my favorite stop.
Comments
Post a Comment