May 9, 2006
Day 223
This morning Craig and I went to the immigration office to try to extend our tourist visas. For whatever reason, Bolivia's policy is to give only thirty days instead of the usual ninety for tourists to stay in the country, but supposedly, they can extend that period without any hassles. My visa got extended as soon as I said I was American, but Craig didn't get so lucky. Australians now can only stay for thirty days due to new regulations. Craig thought about trying to convince them that he was Austrian, but it wouldn't matter. At the border, they'll find out the truth and he could risk jail time in addition to the $1.25 penalty for each day over his stay. He'll either have to leave Bolivia and come back or just bite the bullet and pay $75 if he decides to stay a full three months.
I spent the afternoon trying in vain to upload photos. The Internet is so slow here, it took twenty minutes just to do one. Slow Internet access has been the only bad thing I've encountered in Bolivia so far.
Hey Dan!
You said "Slow Internet access has been the only bad thing I’ve encountered in Bolivia so far." Did you forget your bike experience :) Way back in November you posted: "What Does a Geyser Look Like?" It was quite a tail about a rusty old bike and some steaming llama 'matter'.
Anyway it looks like I am really far behind in reading your posts, Katie tells me there are more bike stories for me to enjoy.
Take Care,
Urrv
Oh yeah, so it was the second bad thing. Two bad things in 9 months. I can live with that.