The Wild Wild West

Tupiza - the infamous wild wild west:  the land of red rocks, cowboys, dusty roads, and the setting of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  I didn’t know such places still existed in the world... seemingly so untouched by outside influences. Jed and I spent the day horseback riding through the canyons, in the dry, scorching heat of midday, and admiring the tall rainbow rocks and cacti that towered over us (even while sitting on our horses)

We did a 5 hour loop of the area... 3 and 7 hour tours are also available but I was happy with our decision. 3 hours would have been just long enough only to get out of the town, and not much further, and 7 hours would have had me falling off my horse, dying of dehydration and overheating. 5 hours was perfect... our guide was a boy possibly half my age, who enjoyed running the horses and the galloping provided an invaluable breeze. And even though we didn’t have the cowboy hats that the tour agency promised the guide would give us, I’ve never felt like such a cowgirl. Lonely planet got it right when they wrote that Tupiza is one of those places you just want to “throw your leg over a horse, brandish your spurs, and say ‘ride ‘em cowboy!’”

I recommend the riding  to anyone with an adventurous spirit, with the knowledge that your riding will be just as wild and rough as the neighboring territory. If you’re nervous, tell your guide you’ve never ridden before, even if you have. He’ll at least take it a bit  slower with you.  But it’s some of the most scenic riding I’ve done, at the cheapest cost: a mere 30 bolivianos an hour. We booked through Tupiza tours at our hotel whichdid a fine job and were very accommodating in terms of times.