Side Trip

Can we stay in Bolivia?

The Chile-Bolivia border must be one of the prettiest frontiers in the world. The snow capped mountains and alpine lake that creates the backdrop to the processing centre is spectacular.

We made it back from Chile with 30 day stamps on our passports. What we really wanted was a 90 day visa. This issue combined with being on a bus that was nothing short of a cocktail of bad smelling farts left us feeling frustrated. The bus picked us up from Arica at 01:30AM (only half an hour late) and brought us to Cochabamba direct. It felt like a long journey.

Now in the sobering light of “home” (Cruce Tequina) we are comfortable with approaching the appropriate people to get a visa extension. In retrospect we are thankful that we were not turned away at the Bolivian border.

Arica

Sarah and I jumped on a bus to Chile six days prior to all this and went to the sleepy surf town of Arica. We spent the week not thinking about budgets, enjoying the very excellent Arica Surf House and most importantly swimming in the ocean. The beach was not even that great but having been so far away from it in Bolivia we were excited nonetheless.

Arica is a surreal town where there are literally no clouds in the sky; this is the driest city on earth. We have all used the phrase “not a cloud in the sky” but to actually be in a place where there are literally no clouds is, quite frankly, a disturbing sight. There is something unnatural and almost sinister about this phenomenon.

All in all I did not want to leave Cochabamba because the place treats us so well. In the end I had such a great time swimming, watching small fish launch themselves out of the sea and the birds soar above the Arica cliffs, a perfect sunset every night, not to mention having the opportunity to wear a floppy, avuncular hat. It was yet another sign that Sarah and I are currently living a charmed life.