Day 31
Hito Cajon
The Bolivia/Chile Border
Bryce asked a great question "Mommy whats a border?"
After we answered him....he said "Does this mean we have to change money again?"
We both smiled and thought....this is an excellent education!
Anyway....getting into Bolivia was a breeze.....getting out...was NOT!
We arrived at the "border" no more than a shelter in the sand where they sell nothing....and after five days we were tired, dirty, and basically out of food and water. Also Hito Cajon is found in a bowl between volcanos next to a small lake. All this combined makes it VERY cold and VERY windy. So much so that we could scarsely get out of the car for more than a few minutes.
But, there we stayed.....for hours! Hours and hours with no explaination as to why we had no transport or why we could not cross.
Hours of sitting in the car thirsty and cold.
We did pass some of the time by meeting a NASA Diver. He is stationed there at the shelter. He works for a US funded project which entails his diving into the volcanos to search for the origin of life! Very interesting guy. It turns out his satellite phone had not worked for days, but when he accidentally aimed it at my metal ponytail holder he instantly got reception.
I had to hold still for 20 minutes while he called his wife. :)
Finally just as I was starting to loss it.....Oswaldo told us to get ready.....he took off like a race car and chased down a small mini bus. He then threw us and our stuff into the bus and bid us goodbye. Having no idea what was going on we rode upset and worried until little Bryce said "This works just fine for me!" and broke the tention a bit.
Moments later at a little shack our money was taken and our passports were stamped. We drove down the dirt and past a sign that simply said "Chile". One mile later....we saw the first paved road in a long time.
Welcome to the 2nd world nations.
We arrived in Chile cold, tired, dirty, and broke....but we were here. Surely we would find and ATM or bank soon......RIGHT??
Hito Cajon
The Bolivia/Chile Border
Bryce asked a great question "Mommy whats a border?"
After we answered him....he said "Does this mean we have to change money again?"
We both smiled and thought....this is an excellent education!
Anyway....getting into Bolivia was a breeze.....getting out...was NOT!
We arrived at the "border" no more than a shelter in the sand where they sell nothing....and after five days we were tired, dirty, and basically out of food and water. Also Hito Cajon is found in a bowl between volcanos next to a small lake. All this combined makes it VERY cold and VERY windy. So much so that we could scarsely get out of the car for more than a few minutes.
But, there we stayed.....for hours! Hours and hours with no explaination as to why we had no transport or why we could not cross.
Hours of sitting in the car thirsty and cold.
We did pass some of the time by meeting a NASA Diver. He is stationed there at the shelter. He works for a US funded project which entails his diving into the volcanos to search for the origin of life! Very interesting guy. It turns out his satellite phone had not worked for days, but when he accidentally aimed it at my metal ponytail holder he instantly got reception.
I had to hold still for 20 minutes while he called his wife. :)
Finally just as I was starting to loss it.....Oswaldo told us to get ready.....he took off like a race car and chased down a small mini bus. He then threw us and our stuff into the bus and bid us goodbye. Having no idea what was going on we rode upset and worried until little Bryce said "This works just fine for me!" and broke the tention a bit.
Moments later at a little shack our money was taken and our passports were stamped. We drove down the dirt and past a sign that simply said "Chile". One mile later....we saw the first paved road in a long time.
Welcome to the 2nd world nations.
We arrived in Chile cold, tired, dirty, and broke....but we were here. Surely we would find and ATM or bank soon......RIGHT??
posted by The Herald Family at 12:12 PM
2 Comments:
I WANT MORE PICTURES!!!!!
And for the record..... Only you would end up starring in a tourismo video in the middle of nowhere!
It sounds amazing!!!!!!
So Oswaldo....not sure about him...sounds intersting but first trying to cut the tour short...and then putting you on a random min-bus....clearly this is the norm in SA. I'm assuming the wait (for hours) was for this mini-bus...or was it just luck of the draw that it showed up? Either way glad you made it into Chili and back onto paved roads.
Peru...Bolivia....now Chili.....what next!!
hugs and kisses
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