Stage 53 Tupizia - La Quiaca
Today we are heading for Argentinia,
finally we are also leaving the Alti Plano, and soon the temperature will be better. When we left the hotel this morning, the temperature was already nice, no jacket was needed, so hopefully it will stay like this. Today it will be a pretty easy day, 93 kilometers, 1300 meter climbing, but the road should be paved, for about 75%. Nice, no washboards anymore, or at least for now. Before we reached the lunch truck we had to climb quite a lot, it was also a pretty steep climb, but only for about 10 kilometers, after lunch it was just up and down. The road was good, only there was still construction going on, so every few kilometers we had to get off the road, go back to the dirt roads, and bypass the bridge that was still under construction. Around 2 in the afternoon we reached the border, where we spend our last Bolivianos. I bought some candy, drinks and other useless things, but I didn´t succeed in getting rid of all the coins, maybe I take some home, as a souvernir. Crossing the border was an easy job, exit-stamp at the Bolivian side was done in a few minutes, and after the Argentina custom officers finally showed up in their office, it took also a few miniutes to get the entry stamp for Argentina. The visa is valid for 90 days, so that should be enough the reach the Chili border in a few weeks from now. The hotel is pretty close to the border, so after setting the clock 1 hour ahead, we are in Argentina... maybe some nice steak tonight, but also going to bed a bit early, tired from the last few days... three days to Salta, where we will have a nice welcome and goodbye party for some cyclists and crew members ...
Adios Bolvia, nice country, nice people, maybe I will be back another time !!!
