Tupiza, Bolivia

Tupiza, Bolivia: One of the hardest places to get money I have ever been to. Our group of six arrived on a Saturday with few Bolivianos (the currency in Bolivia) after exchanging the Argentean Pesos we had left. Unfortunately this town has no ATM and banks are not open on the weekends. Luckily the hostel we were staying at had no problem lending us money and the exchange went something like this:

Me: Since the banks are closed I would need to borrow some money.
Hostel: Sure how much would you like?
Me: 300 Bolivianos
Hostel: Okay
The lady gives me the money
Me: Did you want to write that down, and i´ll sign something?
Hostel:Umm.... sure.
The lady writes down "Mike- 300 Bs"
Me: Do you need my passport?
Hostel: umm.... okay.
Takes my passport and puts it in the drawer.
Me: Okay thanks.

In retrospect I don´t know why I was persistant in making sure they corrected this internal control nightmare.

We all decided to spend an extra day in Tupiza to book a tour of the salt flats, acclimatize to the altitude, buy the last of our required cold weather gear and to rest. Sunday our group of 6 joined up with a group of 4 Israeli guys and booked 2 jeeps for a 4 day 3 night tour of the salt flats. That night we went back to a pizza place we enjoyed the night before and Daniel ordered one of the more interesting dishes on the menu "Male Itch". I encouraged this, mainly to find out what it was, as I have always thought this was something you should avoid in public.

Through the weekend it all the travellers were talking about the of cash in the town, so Monday morning there was giant line of tourists at each of the two banks to get cash advances. It seems like someone could make a lot of money simply by putting an ATM in town.

Playing an Israeli version of Uno called Taki wearing my new scarf which also happened to be the only one I could find.



















Crossing the Argentian/Bolivian Border