Day 11 - 3 Oct Journey across the border into the red gorges & mountains of Bolivia's wild west 

Photo above - riding through the Canon del Inca. More photos to follow

Heading northwards and upwards

Early start today as we have about 200 miles to cover as we head further north into Bolivia. We started off at 8am and turned on to the Route National 9 which goes all the way to the border. We have done the first few miles of this road on a previous day, so the first bit was familiar.

The road ascended up the valley following the river, and sometimes the railway, although most of this is disused. The landscape of sparsely vegetated mountains, coloured rock, and cacti continued. What was different was that after Humahuaca, which we had visited previously, there was little or no human settlement.

Tropic of Capricorn 

At one point we stopped at a monument that marked the Tropic of Capricorn. After two hours we stopped a tiny settlement called Tres Cruces (3500m) as they have a public loo there. There is also a weigh station for lorries going to and from the border, but not much else, except for a small church.

Border town

From here it was about an hour drive to the border town of La Quiaca (3442m/11,293ft) which has a population of around 14,000. We were driving on a plateau and the road was quite flat. There were crops being grown and livestock including horses, cattle,sheep and Llamas.

La Quiaca is the highest town in Argentina. Here we stopped for lunch before the border crossing. The town definitely has a frontier town feel. The border was really simple and took no time at all. We had to pass through customs to exit Argentina, then walk across a short bridge to the Bolivian side, pass through customs, and we were in Bolivia. There was a short row of shops, where we found a place to change money.

Into Bolivia

Once through the border we picked up another minivan, and after stopping briefly to look at a square in the town on the Bolivian side (Villazon), continued on to the town of Tupiza to check into our hotel. Tupiza lies at about 2850m and has a population of around 26,000.

The road passed through semi desert, with the wind causing mini sandstorms. There were a few isolated huts, and lots of scrubland. After about an hour there was a long stretch where we descended quite sharply. The land was still very dry but there was a bit more vegetation and a few trees. When the road finally levelled off, we could see some agriculture such as carrots and potatoes. And still we had mountains all around. Throughout Bolivia, the people are descendants of the Incad and speak Quechua. As we entered the town there were massive queues for fuel. Maybe one mile long. People are only allowed to buy 15 litres each. This is because the country does not have the money to buy fuel at current prices, leading to quite severe fuel shortages.

Bolivian wild west

Later we went for a walk and did a circuit of the surrounding red-rock scenery, cactus scrub and bizarre geological formations, known as 'Bolivia's Wild West'. The area around Tupiza is all dusty canyonlands and striking landscapes. To get there we had to take the minivan a couple of miles up a dry river bed. The deep ravine is known as the 'Canon del Inca', and we saw various eroded rock formations including the 'Puerta del Diablo' (Devil’s Door).

Afterwards we headed back to the hotel, and later to a local place for some food. Tomorrow we drive north west to the edge of the Uyuni salt flats.