We said Adios to Bolivia. We took a one-hour and twenty-minute shuttle from Tupiza to the border at Villazon. It is easy to find a shuttle going in that direction at the bust station.
Before crossing the border, we exchanged U.S. dollars for Argentina pesos at the blue rate. It is better to do that on the Bolivian side of the border than on the Argentina side. It is best to go past the first few exchange places and head closer to the border in order to get the best rate.
The blue rate is the unofficial exchange rate created because of Argentina’s banking crises and high inflation. When we were there, the blue rate was 200 pesos to $1, and the official exchange rate was 117 pesos to $1. It is much cheaper to pay cash while visiting Argentina. That is what we did.
The border crossing from Bolivia to Argentina was much easier than Peru to Bolivia border crossing. Again, it was Bolivia that made things difficult. We had to print out the electronic entry forms required by Argentina so that the Bolivia border patrol could stamp them. The border agent’s stamp was smudgy on one of the copies, and he spent about 20 minutes figuring out how to print another copy so he could stamp it again.
Once we exited Bolivia, it took us about 3 minutes to enter Argentina. The Argentinian border patrol agent glanced at our Bolivian exit papers, scanned our passports, and we were in! We entered Argentina on the Northwestern border at La Quiaca.
From La Quiaca, we took a three-and-a-half-hour bus to Purmamarca. We chose to stop there because we wanted to experience a small town in Northern Argentina. Also, we did not want to take a six-hour bus to our ultimate destination, Salta.
On the way to Purmamarca the bus was stopped by police. Everyone exited at the police checkpoint. This route is popular for drug smugglers, so passengers and luggage are checked for drugs. Our bags were not searched, and we were allowed to board the bus while others had to wait outside. We think we were allowed back on the bus because we had small children, but it is also likely we were afforded that privilege because we were American tourists. That stop took about 25 minutes
We arrived by bus at 9 p.m. We were dropped off 2 miles from the town on the main highway. The bus driver kept asking us in Spanish if we were sure we knew where going. We kept saying yes, but we did not know the bus just dropped us off on the side of the road. We thought it would be a bus stop with taxis waiting to take passengers.
Luckily he and another woman also getting off at that stop looked out for us. The driver coordinated with the woman to ensure we had a ride into the town. We were a little wary because she left with her ride, but she assured us the driver would be back to pick us up. After 20 minutes of standing on the side of the road in pitch black in the middle of nowhere, he did show up, and we got dropped off outside our hotel.
We spent two nights in Purmamarca, a cute touristy desert town with markets and lovely restaurants. It is a jumping-off point for hiking and other attractions. We did not do any excursions, but we did enjoy the town.
We had just finished over 30 days of fast traveling through Peru and Bolivia. We were exhausted. Many attractions in Northern Argentina are similar to those in Southern Bolivia and Peru. There is a rainbow mountain, but we saw that in Peru. There are salt flats, but we saw those in Bolivia. It looks like a lovely area to explore. We will have to return when we are fresh and not worn out from travel.
We all reached a boiling point in Purmamarca. We were all tired and irritable from our travels that at one point, we had a shouting match in the middle of the street over where to eat for dinner. Looking back on it, it is comical. It was like a scene from a sitcom. Travel fatigue is real, and we had it.
The boys ended up going out for pizza. Michael and I found a restaurant with a band and a room full of happy, singing Argentinians. We left our respective restaurants at the same time and met in the street. With our bellies full, we hugged and made up.
Our three-hour bus to Salta was easy. We booked a room at a small family-owned property near the airport. We only spent one night in Salta, so we did not sightsee. We found out that our hosts used to live in Winston-Salem, N.C., where I grew up. The husband worked in tobacco. It’s a small world!
We flew off to the final destination of our South America adventure – Buenos Aires.
