Next stop: Tarija. For a lot of this trip we've been on the established gringo trail and for some reason Traija doesn't seem to have made it onto the list. This is fantastic news for us because it means we don't have to compete for hotel rooms like jackals around a carcass, and furthermore they have to charge realistic prices without adding on a 30% tourist tax.
After the ice encrusted trip to the south west in only took the brief guidebook promise of an 'idyllic springlike climate' for us to book the tickets. This and the fact that for som reason there are no cash machines in southern bolivia except in this one place. So Tarija it was by default.
As with everywhere we have been to without expectations, Tarija has turned out to be brilliant in lots of small ways. The ability to sleep in less than ten layers of clothes has been a definite plus, although in the contrary nature of english travellers we were immediately complaining of being too hot. The town is the capital of Bolivia's winegrowing area, and is full of cafes, parks and wine shops. The wine tastes fine to me, being red, warm and wet, although Chris thinks it tastes of dribble, and they do delightful little saltenas for lunch. They even have some magic ingredient in the pizza sauce that makes it taste better than all the other pizzas in Bolivia. And a real shower, with real hot water. And since we are about to go to Argentina with a budget that may necessitate us eating bin scraps for three months, we decided what the hell, got a room with cable and have spent a week eating steak and biscuits and watching the baseball. I have also been researching theme parks. This is the thing about Bolivia. It's sucha wonderful place to do nothing in.
Oh, and Chris proposed. Like I said, this is a bloody great place.
First, select your llama...
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