Our bus arrived at La Quiaca, the Argentinian side of the border, at 6:30pm. We decided to stay the night in Argentina rather than attempting the border crossing with night approaching.
La Quiaca is at 3442m and we could feel the effects of the altitude. We had no endurance at all. We took a slow walk a few blocks to Hotel de Turismo, and checked in.
The Lonely Planet only has one page and no map for the town, so we went to the very friendly tourist information. Our hotel was within a block of the church and museum, so we stopped into both on the way back.
The next morning we had breakfast then walked to the border. Leaving Argentina was very easy; entering Bolivia was pretty straightforward as well.
Villazón, on the Bolivian side, is a small bustling border town. We found our way to the bus station, and bought tickets for the next bus to Tupiza.
We had about an hour to wait, so dropped our bags at the guardaropa and walked around. Had some really good empanadas from a street stall (3 Bs, about 40¢).
It was fun crossing the border, because we had to figure it out as we went. Travelling has become a bit of paint-by-numbers over the years :)
In Tupiza we checked into Hotel Mitru. We were lucky to get the last double, there are more tourists here than in Argentina, although the demographic is more 20-something backpackers.
Our errands for the afternoon were to book the Uyuni tour, get money from the bank, and have lunch.
We booked a four-day tour for just the two of us, with driver and cook, meals and accommodation, for 4800 Bs. On the 3rd night we're staying in a salt hotel (this is extra), and then we'll finish in Uyuni.
I have been wrong about this before, but I don't think we'll have Internet access until we get to Uyuni.
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