Tarija and Tupiza

Main Plaza, Tarija, Bolivia

With the altitude, cold, and harrowing mine tour in Potosi (which I wasn't even able to complete, so I don't know why I'm complaining), we were in need of some R&R in the form of a tiny taste of home in Bolivia. This led us to Tarija, a city in the far south of the country, almost at the Argentinian border. Tarija is known for its pleasant climate and wine so we felt right at home, especially after we decided to splurge on a hotel suite with a kitchenette and balcony with views. This meant we got to cook a lot which was such a treat, and something we are trying to do much more now that we are moving into the expensive countries, Chile and Argentina. So, we enjoyed fine accommodation at a low price, delicious pastas, sandwiches, and salads, and of course, the local vino which was mas o menos, although better than anything we'd tried in Ecuador and Peru.

Vineyards and Montains

We took a tour to some of the local bodegas (wineries). The scenery was beautiful and some of the wines were too, specifically at the first place we visited, Potro. However in terms of wine quality I have to say it went downhill from there- most of the other wines we tasted were gaggingly sweet, and the tasting at the last bodega (Casa Vieja), where they poured single glasses of said sweet wine and had us pass them around between seven people, was underwhelming to say the least. The highlight of that place were the uvas borrachas (grapes preserved in Singani, a grape liquor similar to grapa) and the resident Kirby look-alike.

Cute, but no substitute for the real thing!

The 4th of July happened to be the day the city of Tarija was founded, so we actually got to enjoy some fireworks and celebratory atmosphere. To help us get more into the spirit we made hot dogs and potato salad for dinner. USA! USA!

Oh and have I mentioned we had been planning most of our travels around the World Cup at this point?

Anyway, we left Tarija via yet another night bus to Tupiza. Tupiza was really cool. We went there because it was our jumping off point for our trip to the Salar de Uyuni, but the town itself is worth a visit- mellow, not too cold, and it's got a great wild west atmosphere. Tupiza's claim to fame is that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their demise not far outside of the town. In this spirit, we took an easy horseback ride out into the countryside and found beautiful red rocks and sand, dramatic canyons, and lots of cacti. Our horses were a little old and tired, but we did get to gallop once or twice.

Yee-haw!

Hoe Down in the Valley

Wild Western Dogs

We watched Holland beat Uruguay and Spain beat Germany, and then geared up for our Salar trip! And we highly recommend La Torre hostel and tour company if you find yourself in Tupiza.