As many of you have heard, the famous Inca Ruins of Machu Picchu have been closed due to severe flooding. Since Machu Pichu is closed, we decided to spend most of our remaining time on the first leg of our trip in Bolivia (we're coming home for the summer to attend a couple of weddings and will be taking off for Asia in the fall). The day of my birthday we reached the Bolivian border where quite the birthday present was awaiting me. Our bus stopped at the border post to take care of the usual exit/entry stamps and we were immediately taken aside by the bus' assistant.

"You realize that Americans have to pay $135 (US) to enter Bolivia?" He said appologetically.

"Yeah, we know."

"You also need a visa and lots of paperwork."

"Yes, yes, we're prepared."

And we were. Genny had read online a mighty long list of hoops that Americans have to jump through in order to enter Bolivia. We had copies of our passports, proof of plane tickets out of the country, bank statements, our yellow fever vaccination card, passport photos, and visa applications for each of us. We were surprised that they didn't ask for blood or urine samples. We soon found out that we had good ol' President Bush to thank for increased security precaucions for Americans. Turns out that he did not play nice (do we ever?) and formed poor relations with the Bolivian president apparently on account of Bolivia's open growth of the coca plant (which has been used for hundreds of years by indigenous peoples not to make cocaine but for it's medicinal benefits). Thank you Mr. Bush. We definitely paid the price.

Upon entering the stamp line and giving our nationality, we were promptly ushered over to the line for Americans (we were the only ones in it!). One immigration officer and two immigration bosses checked and rechecked our paperwork, counted our entry fees several times, and repeatedly sent me to the photocopy place next door to a nice older gentleman who very obviously had experience making copies for gringos. The immigration officers looked us over a few times, stating that we had President Bush to thank for the ordeal. The funny thing is, we didn't vote or even support the Bush administration and now can add this to the list of reasons for not having done so. The officials got quite the kick from us saying that we did not like him either.

Six copies, three stamps, and $270 later we legally set foot into Bolivia. Amusingly, as we reboarded our bus, other passengers (of other nationalities who were in the expedited line that involved simply showing their passports and promptly receiving an entry stamp) gave us pats on the back with looks of empathy because all other nationalities seemed to know the American plight at the Bolivian border.