Distance to Date: 5538 km, 3434 miles

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We continue north out of Villazon and pass through pueblos (small villages) along the highway. At one pueblo, the folks at the village-hospital let us stay in one of the empty rooms for the night. Tauru is glad to be inside since it's cold and windy outside. This pueblo, called Mojo, is at about 3400 meters (11,000+ft!). We take a lunch break on our way to Tupiza, Bolivia. The road is quiet with a high desert landscape. As the road drops a couple of hundred meters, we pick up speed. Christi has a separate brake that we use to slow down our descent. Tauru's eyes can't process images flashing by at high speeds. The following day, we enter a canyon with a road that hugs a winding river. Through that? Is there a road through that? It's getting late and daylight is dwindling. Christi proposes that we camp for the night. "Okay!" The tent goes up as it gets dark for us. Our eyes don't do well in the late afternoon. But when there's tons of daylight, we power on. In the distance, smoke hints the arrival of Tupiza. Tupiza turns out to be a small town with some cheap hotels and a vibrant local market. We take a room and spend the night chit-chatting. The local market is so much fun to wander around. Yum! Empanadas are irresistible when cooked right in front of you. These are filled with meat and potatoes and served in a baggie with salad. Then we find the local eateries on the second floor of the market. BINGO!!! Cafe con leche with a pastel to nibble on starts our lunch. Tauru looks down and studies the veggie market below. Then he looks across and checks out the pots in the various food stalls. Why cook when there's so much good food around? Lunch: rice, potatoes, lamb, veggies, and lots of yum. "Grandma Cordero," we call her (cordero = lamb meat). She's the master chef behind our lumch. Page 1 Page 2