Day 455: 2011年10月23日

Somewhere between Santiago to Iquique (Chile) to Oruro (Bolivia)
41,131km

はい、朝起きてもバスはイキケへ驀進中。予定より30分早い9時半にバス・ターミナルに到着。よし。

ボリビアのオルロ行きのチケットはバス・ターミナルには売ってなくて、1キロくらい離れた所にあります。ショックを担いで歩いチケットの売店へ、重い。12時と14時出発のがあったので、12時発のに。5,000ペソ（10米ドル）。しかし12時発のバス会社は「Bus Fer」。往きに砂漠で立ち往生したバス会社です。大丈夫か?と思いましたが、ボリビア時間の8時ごろオルロに着くので、スクレ行き（9時半）には間に合うでしょう。

時間は10時半過ぎ。バス・ターミナルに戻り、時間をつぶします。しまたことに11時半のバスがありました。どこでチケット売ってたんだ??　まぁ、30分だけの違いだから、問題ない、と思ったのですが、このときは。

12時になってもバスは準備が出来ず（掃除とかしてました）、12時半前にようやく出発。しかもドライバーが下手なのか、それともバス自体が駄目なのかわかりませんが、ギアチェンジが上手くいかずに上り坂がぜんぜん遅いです。しかも、掃除してたのにもかかわらず、車内汚いし。トイレから臭うし。

国境に着いたのは5時前・・・。これじゃぁ、スクレ行きのバスに間に合わないよ。しかも国境を越えるのにもたついて1時間もかかりました。ワシは10月28日までしか滞在許可が下りませんでした・・・。ボリビアは1年間に90日しか滞在できないのですが、「あと15日ある」と主張したのにもかかわらず、「チリ滞在中の日数も含めて90日」だと。なんかおかしいぞ。まぁ、28日までには出れる、と思うのでそれ以上食い下がりませんでしたが。

ボリビアに入り、ダートを走ります。窓がちゃんと閉まらないので、車内は砂まみれ。しかもトイレから臭うこと!　立ち乗りの客もいるので、極悪の環境です。

ようやくオルロに到着したのは9時半過ぎ。当然スクレ行きのバスはありません。なので11時発ポトシ行きに乗り（6時間、30ボリ）、朝ポトシからスクレまで違うバスで行きます（3時間、17ボリ）。しかし、ボリビアは標高高いので、夜行バスは寒い!!

明日の朝にはスクレに到着予定です。

Day 455: 23 OCT 2011

Somewhere between Santiago to Iquique (Chile) to Oruro (Bolivia)
41,131km

The bus was still heading to Iquique when I woke up this morning. 

We arrived Iquique just after 9:30am, 30 mins ahead of the schedule, good.

I thought I could buy a bus ticket to Oruro at the bus terminal, but I had to walk about 1km to Bolivian bus ticket offices. Carrying the shock absorber, it was a hard walk after 24hrs ride on the bus.

There were choices of the 12noon bus and the 14:00 bus. I chose 12noon bus, but one thing I did not like about it was because the bus was operated by "Bus Fer", the same bus company I took from Oruro and the bus broke down in the desert! Anyway, it would take 9hrs to get to Oruro, so it should be there around 8pm in Bolivian time. As the bus to Sucre from Oruro will leave at 21:30, so it should not be a problem. 

It was just after 10:30am when I got back to the terminal. I read a book and killed time. while waiting, I found there was a 11:30am bus to Oruro. I wondered where I could buy the ticket for this bus. But just 30mins difference, I thought it would not make much difference... at that time.

The 12noon bus was not ready even after 12noon. A guy was still cleaning and a driver was, looked like, doing some maintenance. Finally we left th terminal just before 12:30pm.

I was not sure if the driver was bad or just the bus was bad, gear shifting was so bad... Especially on ascending (from Iquique road went up really high), the bus lost momentus and was really slow. The bus was dirty, I wonder where the guy was cleaning. The toilet smelt bad...

We got to the border just before 5pm. It looked like I had to miss the cnnectio to Sucre. To make matters worse, ot took long time to cross the border.

In Bolivia, as a Japanese, I am allowed to stay maximum of 90days a year. I spent 75days already, so I thought I could get another 15days. However, I got a permission to stay in Bolivia until 28th of Oct... The officer saied days while I was in Chile would be counted... Anyway, I guess I could get out of Bolivia before 28th, so I did not argue too much.

In Bolivian side, the bus rode on dirt. The windows did not close properly, so dust came into the bus... There were many standing passengers, so there was no much space... The smell from toilet was really aweful... I would never ride on a "Bus Fer" bus, NEVER!! 

We arrived Oruro after 21:30pm. The bus to Sucre had left already. So I had to take 11pm bus to Potosi (6hrs, 30Bs), then in Potosi tomorrow morning, I have to take another bus to Sucre (3hrs, 17Bs).

As the bus traveled in high altitude, it was very cold! I should be in Sucre by tomorrow morning.

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