Bolivia!

Ok, ok. I am slackin with postin, so heres some updatin.

Right now, I'm in Oruro, Bolivia, making this my sixth day of traveling? That seems about right. We, Bri and I, arrived here on this past sunday night, then went about 8 hours south to Uyuni, a town on the edge of the Bolivian salt flats. And then, we went on a three day jeep tour through the desert and flats with four frenchies, and one tour guide. Pretty nuts, cold, dry, and high.

Everything is so high here! Probably the most intense bus ride of my- well, one of the two most intense bus rides- was from Arica to Tambo Quemado, the bolivian border. We went from sea level to, well, its tough to be sure, but we were next to a volcano that was 6400 meters high. Twas crazy! Its been pretty high since then as well, we´ve been staying at 3000 to 4200 meters. Definitely can feel it, we´re staying hydrated and largely inactive in terms of hiking or such like that.

So Bolivia is really cheap. Like extremely. The first night here, I bought a plate of chicken, rice, and fries for a dollar. And then the next day bought a four course meal for two dollars. Now, Bolivia isn´t really known for its cooking prowess, but fried chicken is fried chicken. And I think the second day we ate cow stomach, but not sure on that one.

In about an hour we´re heading to La Paz, the highest capital in the world! Should be good. Other cool superlatives: Spent three days in the driest desert in the world! Went to the highest gysers in the world! Yeah thats about it for now in terms of superlatives.

Other things: While I could blend in in chile, it is impossible here to not look like an extranjero. I tower over all Bolivians. And i´m not quite dark enough either. For some reason, I´ve seen a lot of basketball courts here, never with people playing. I´m wondering who´s been putting them here as a cruel joke. Hilarious!

There aren´t many paved roads here, making the buses a bit interesting. But its all good. Took a train from Uyuni to Oruro today, which left at 2 am and arrived here at about nine. Pretty neat!

Theres a lot more to elaborate on, but gotta run! I will do my best not to "slack" as aptly put by elisha. Also, my spanish it improving by leaps and bounds.

-Brian

Oh one more thing, in Bolivia, its a legitimate business to open up public bathrooms and charge for them. Next to the train station there are literally four public bathrooms competing in a capitalistic manner. Interesting indeed.