So what happened?

So I left you at the Bolivian transportation strike. That was April 4. As the day moved towards night, travellers started finding eachother to pass the hours until we could leave the border town. Rumors flew as to whether there would actually be transport. Maybe at 6pm, maybe at 9. Maybe a taxi to the next town. So we waited till the next morning when we thought transport would resume and we could move onwards but no such luck! No trains for 4 or 5 days and a new strike at the next town prevented any entries or departures along the connecting road - the only road to our destination. Again rumors flew - the block was only 2 km from the next town, we could walk from there, no..... it was 30 km away..... and who knew if there would be yet another strike the next day. These two strikes represented very different causes. The first, stopping transport, was initiated by the shipping and transportation companies in protest of paying (any) taxes to the government to do their work. One wonders why the Bolivian economy is in the pits. The second, by workers of all kind, protesting in support of workers rights in general. And for good cause - as we passed the border, we witness hundreds of Bolivians (young to old) running repeatedly across the border with 50 lb sacs of cement on their backs. Why? If the goods were transported across the border by trucks, the companies would have to pay import duties. With this human transport, the border crossing was free, but at what price?
So, there was no reliable information regarding our transport situation. In the end, I found Xavier, a Frenchman living in Holland, also travelling on his own. We packed up and returned to Argentina - again! 8 hours back to Salta and then another 7 across to Chile the next day. Gorgeous drive, but what an adventure!