Transformers

Picked my bags up from the Asturias last night and got a taxi to the condo. Climbed in the front to be faced by a dashboard and a very large hole where the steering column used to be. Weird! There are some 12,000 of these cars in santa Cruz according to a newspaper I found from February, and they are imported from Japan on the whole and 10 percent from the UK. These are cars which have reached the end of their useful life in their home country, are a minimum of 8 years old, and they are shipped en masse to Bolivia and transformed on the border. Obviously, this is not great for car importers here who are trying to bring in better cars, nor is it great for the environment. The one I was in was knackered! Screeching fan belt, no window winders, invisible brakes, etc. Must remember to use Carmelo every time I want to go anywhere!