Argentina!

A nice quiet sleep and not too cold. We were at 11,000 ft but did not need the sleeping bag and it rained a little in the morning. 

We got our clean laundry last night before bed. I filled up water and rinsed the cassette three times to clear out the poo pyramid that had formed. 

When we headed out of town we tried to find a car wash but it was not opened. We had thought about hiking but the reviews sounded harder than we wanted to do on a border crossing day.

The scenery continued to look like New Mexico or west Texas. There was more greenery. 

We arrived at the border before noon. I went to change the Bolivianos to Argentinian pesos and didn't make the profit I expected. The cambios did not offer the rates online. Not even close. Online 1 Bolviano is equal to 153 Argentinian pesos. The best I could find was 111. I was glad I could get that rate anyways. I went to around 7 shops. A bus load of tourists arrived at the border. We walked to the border to start the process of getting stamped out of Bolivia. Next we went to customs but the bus load of tourists cut in line and we waited for them to clear through. The customs man told us to check into Argentina first and then return so we did that. Fortunately we didn't have to wait for the bus tourists. We returned and drove the RV to the Argentina side and a cursory glance by the customs agent and we were done -- 1 h 29 m. Not bad. Argentina is one hour ahead of Bolivia, so back to Chile time zone. 

La Quiaca is the most northern town in Argentina and the north end of ruta 40 that ends in Ushuaia. The park in the town center had a sign commemorating this and it was cover with stickers.

We saw a car wash and pulled in and got the RV finally cleaned. It wasn't perfect but pretty good for $18.

We headed out of town and had a 3 hour drive. The scenery was gorgeous and the road was great. There were grazing llamas and cattle and sheep and fences. We saw road kill for the first time in a few weeks -- llamas and skunks. 

We pulled into Purmamarca, a town that Jeff and Sherry recommended. There was a campground in town. The town is surrounded by red cliffs. It felt a little like Garden of the Gods.

It was $28 to camp. Argentina has been suffering through terrible inflation for a few years. The camp was busy with motorcycles and a tent camper and some guests in their hostal.

We walked next door for dinner at a parrillada. I was looking forward to our first Argentinian asado.

It was a nice but touristy restaurant and the prices were basically same as America. We ordered a shared grilled plate for $42. We ordered a mixed plate instead of beef or chicken or llama. A third of the grilled food were organ meats -- tripe, liver, sweet bread. I have never had sweet bread and I only guess that's what it was. It did not have the texture of chicken. There was morcilla, blood sausage, which was a bit more bloody than I expected, and a few other types of sausage. There were a few short ribs. It was delicious. But not as good as the parrillada we had in Cartagena. That was delicious. There was a guitar singer that played some music and we had the kids tip him when he came by to the table, 1000 pesos each which is 90 cents.

We took the organ meats to go to feed to some inevitable dogs that we would encounter. We have tried to remember to feed the dogs when we have leftovers. We walked to the town square which was lit up and vendors were putting their wares away. The town had dirt roads and was dusty but the stores and restaurants were pretty and meant for tourists. There were quite a few tourists here too.

We found a three legged dog on the walk home and fed him the rest of the food.

Our bodies are a hour behind and the kids played outside until late with some Argentinian kids staying at the hostal. We have clear skies for the first time in over a week but we are parked in a small town so there is some light pollution. I am happy we made it to Argentina.