boliviaChileBorder

She gave therapeutic massages to Mennonite farmers. The Malaysian man worked for an airlines company in Singapore. He was able to buy inexpensive flights throughout the world. Easter Island. Greenland. Bolivia. He is sitting in the front passenger seat the first day. The front passenger seat is prime. Six people sit in the Chevy SUV. The Bolivian tour guide is the driver. He is always the driver. The seating arrangement is fluid except for the driver. The middle passenger seat is fine for two people. Behind that is a narrow bench with very little leg room. Cramped and cramp inducing. The tour consists of one American, a British ex-patriot living in Belize, a Malaysian and a young couple from the Netherlands. The Dutch couple were in their mid to late 20's. They ended up in the rear seat the first day. Both had long legs.

The British woman had been living in Belize near the Guatemalan border for 20 years. The first day she sat in the middle passenger seat next to the American man. The next day the Dutch couple got to sit in the middle seat, the American sat up front in the passenger seat and the British woman and the Malaysian ended up on the board in the back. The final day became the problem. The young Dutch couple wished to sit together. No one expressed desire to sit in the rear section except for the American who volunteered. It was his turn. However, a 'battle' developed between the Dutch couple and the Malaysian British tandem. Age versus youth and beauty. In this case the British woman and Malay man won out and sat in the middle leaving the American still in the more roomy front passenger seat and relegating the young Dutch pair back to the back of the SUV and further cramping.

The SUV from Red Planet Tours leaves the American man at the Bolivian border. The drive from Uyuni, Bolivia to the border, crossing the altiplano and the saltflats, takes three days. The Bolivian Chilean border at the south entrance to Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve sits beneath Juriques volcano (18,714 feet). The volcano rises above the altiplano. 14,000 feet above sea level. The Bolivian immigration office is there. Bolivia requires Americans to pay $160 for a visa on entering the country. Bolivian border officials check passports and visas to make sure the fee has been paid. They also charge an egress fee which seems to vary. There was a line to go through Bolivian customs. People leaving. People entering. There is a large tourist industry visiting the altiplano from Chile as well as Bolivia.

The immigration hut is a 15 minute walk from the Bolivian Chilean border marker. The border marker lies in a trough between treeless mountains. It is incredibly cold and windy. There is nothing to slow the winds down. A marscape. The Bolivian Chilean border is marked by a steel framed signpost. It is an excellent place to place a battery operated 2 1/2".mp3 .mp4 player with monitor. The monitor is encased in a faux metal case fabricated to look like a'lock'. The Eclipse mp3 player has a small internal memory and battery. The video playing on the 'lock' is a loop of shoppers descending on an escalator and walking towards the exit of a clothing store in Manhattan called Filene's Basement. Filene's Basement had been sold or went bankrupt by the time of the recording. The shoppers descend. The shoppers are on a loop. The background from the video has been removed. Only the shoppers and their bags remain. De-escalating. The sky was very bright at the Bolivian Chilean border. The glare on the mini video screen made it difficult to see the digitized figures appearing on the small monitor.

Once past the Bolivian border customs officials there is a bus waiting to go to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, a small tourist town with restaurants and hotels. Chilean border customs is located several miles inside the Chilean border in a small town away from the wind and weather of the border. Chilean border officials are very professional.

Flamingos feeding in Laguna Roja