Tupiza Horse Excursion Tue 18/3/2003   Inquired at reception about the possibility of exploring the surrounding landscape on horseback and was told that a group of 2 people would be leaving in half an hour at 10:00 am on the "large" 7 hour excursion. Decided to join the American and British women and headed out to buy some supplies in town. Hadn't ridden a horse for a long time and didn't get much of an introduction, so sat on Negrito Feliz and went with the flow, occasionally managing to stop or slow down for a photograph. The first and very rewarding opportunity to take pictures presented itself in our first stop of the trip the "Cañon de Dueñe". The huge red clay and stone towers rising almost 100m from the floor of the canyon up in amazing colours and patterns forming towers, walls and arcs were a unique and stunning sight. We climbed around the area for almost an hour taking plenty of photographs which hardly do the marvellous natural beauty justice. Continued our journey to the river San Juan del Oro, named after the plentiful finding of gold in it after the rainy season. Shortly after reaching the swollen stream stopped for lunch, under some trees in a grassy riverbend with two more amazing rock formations to gaze at on the far side of the river. After a long break, which I really needed, we set off along the bank of the river, crossing it on many occasions and slowly working our way back towards Tupiza. Passed a huge rock tower, simply called "El Torre" and then wandered along a seldomly used railroad track until we veered off to the left on a small road which would bring us back close to our starting point. At this point I was feeling rather exhausted and I had to get off the horse to walk for a while to normalize my squashed feet and aching knees. Barely made it back into Tupiza before a brewing Thunderstorm threatened to soak us, concluding a very beautiful yet quite tiring day. Met up with an overland travel group in a pub in town for dinner but after a short internet check on what was happening with regard to the conflict between Irak and the USA headed back to the hotel for an early night. A Day of Rest Wed 19/3/2003   Woke up and felt very sore, so decided to dedicate the day to working on the website as I had not written very much about Bolivia up to this point and felt the need of doing some catching up. After a few hours went out into town and had a good luck around the rather small and un-exciting town of Tupiza before settling down in the same internet cafe I had visited the evening before to upload some images and read more about the imminent conflict in the Middle East. Just previously I had had a dodgy lunch for 6Bs which would leave me feeling a bit rough the next day, and would result in the new rule of no more food in Bolivia below 10Bs. Started to rain more and more heavily in the afternoon so stayed in the incredibly helpful and nice hostel and continued working on the Bolivia reports. In evening made my way to bus terminal in pouring rain, soaking my shoes in the huge stream running in place of the main road before jumping on bus to Tarija which, to my surprise, left right on time. The ride was very bumpy and slow on the rain drenched dirt roads, probably almost as bad as the trip between Oruro and Sucre, yet in a much nicer, warmer and more comfortable bus! Still this time I didn't forget the golden rule of night busses in Bolivia - bring a blanket	Residencial Valle Hermoso Av. Pedro Arraya 470 Tupiza - Ph:(62) 2592 Residencial "Valle Hermoso" Av. Pedro Arraya 470 Tupiza - Ph: (62) 2592 18Bs Single /w Shared Shower
Los Cañones Pano Los Cañones Cañon de Dueñe Cañon de Dueñe Cañon de Dueñe Torre en el Cañon de Dueñe Pano Cañon de Dueñe Arco Cañon de Dueñe Torre en el Cañon de Dueñe Formacion de Rocas Formacion de Rocas Arbol en el Cañon Arbol en el Cañon Rio San Juan del Oro Rio San Juan del Oro Pano Rio San Juan del Oro La Torre Ricardo y Negrito Feliz
Tarija Thu 20/03/03   Finally arrived in Tarija at 5:30 and quickly caught a taxi to the Residencial Rosario, which was recommended by the hostel in Tupiza. The place turned out to be very friendly and clean, with 24h hot water and fairly nice but basic rooms (only thing lacking was a power outlet). Slept for another 3 hours before heading into town (after a very welcome and necessary shower). Tarija which lies just below 2000m ASL had a warmer climate than any of the places I had been to in the past 3.5 weeks and I welcomed this change realizing how much I had missed the warmth. However the rainy season was still going on and hence the occasional thunderstorms would pop up in the afternoon. Found out where I would be able to rent a bike the following day and had a more or less lazy day around town, but did spend some 3 hours in a fast internet cafe where I uploaded all my Bolivia pictures and in the adjacent phone centre called Ralf on his 35th birthday! Uneventful evening trying some of the local Kohlberg wines (Cabernet Sauvignion 2001 / Syrah 2002) which both turned out to be rather unexciting. Tarija Wine Excursion Fri 21/03/03   After an extensive nightly visit to the toilet I lay awake for some 3 hours, and then ended up sleeping in till 8:30. Subsequently made my way to the bike shop stopping along the way to buy some light breakfast (Salteñas) and checking on the news about the war in Irak which had begun the previous evening. Got a very small and shotty mountain bike and set off on my quest to visit some of the vinyards outside Tarija towards Santa Ana. The first tarred section went by quite quickly but once I branched off to the left things slowed down rather drastically and the muddy bumpy surface made for difficult and slow riding. After about 40 minutes of fighting the mud I finally reached the Kohlberg estate and got a small tour of the production facility which is currently only producing lower quality wines with the better ones being made in the newer factory closer to town, which I had visited the day before but where I was not given a tour. From there carried on to a Singani producer "Casa Real" which is just down the road, and had a look around the factory there before heading on to Santa Ana. The two vinyards I saw really weren't worth the trip and my overall impression of Bolivian wine is - don't worry about it. The next surprise would be the village of "Santa Ana" which is a spread out collection of houses over a 5 small villages and 15km of road not really a typical old village at all. Never mind cycled back and gave back the bike before wandering about town and finding some interesting looking places which I would probably have a look at in the evening. The evening turned out quite eventful and I ended up having some food near the Plaza Sucre where a large crowd had gathered to see a free performance sponsored by a cable tv company. Wandered to another bar which had looked quite promising during the day but was almost deserted at night. Ended up going back to the hostel well before midnight and had a good night's sleep.	Residencial Rosario Ingavi O777 Tarija - Ph: (066) 42042
Catedral de Tarija - Atardecer Pano Landscape Traija Erosion along Road near Tarija Catedral de Tarija Catedral de Tarija Plaza Luis de Fuente