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NAME: John Powers
john.powers@arch2.nara.gov
DATES:
11/18/99-11/30/99
TRIP RATING: 7
COUNTRY:
Bolivia
ROUTE:
LAB Airlines to/from Sucre from Santa Cruz;
Shared Taxi to/from Samaipata;
Bus to/from Buena Vista
HOTELS::
Sucre: Hostel Chargas by the mercado ($20/night for a triple)
Buena Vista: Residencial Nadia ($5/night--best available)
Samaipata: Hostel Don Jorge ($10/night, not great)
RESTAURANTS:
Santa Cruz: Casa de Campa ($3-6) is a bolivian/santa cruz traditional
restaurant. highly recommmended.
Saltena restaurants by central square are great.
Samaipata: Landhaus ($5) has great food as does the Pizzeria place ($5).
For cheap almeurzos, try Paolo's ($1)
Sucre: El German for veggie meals ($2), Patio's for saltenas, Bibliocafe
has great crepes ($2); the market for excellent juices ($.30)
ESSENTIALS:
sunblock, sunglasses, hat, bug repellant, jacket
COMMENTS:
Santa Cruz was very hot during the day, bearable at night. Still, you will
want to stay at a hostel with air conditioning. There is not much to do in
Santa Cruz except people watch in the main square and visit the cathedral.
Shopping is expensive by south American standards. For food, casa de Campo
was excellent and is highly recommended for the food and the people. On
weekends, head to the river and eat at any of the restaurants set up. You
will see how crucenos like to spend their weekends relaxing.
Samaipata: We took a shared taxi to Samaipata (25Bs), two hours. in
hindsight, the bus would have been more comfortable and cheaper(but
longer). Hostel Don Jorge was not particularly great (hot showers, but
brown water), so you should check around. I recommend the hike out of town
and up to El Fuerte, (the ruins are not impressive, but he views are!).
still the town is nice. the church is beautiful and there are plenty of
places to sit at drink a beer or two. Landhaus has great steaks.
Buena Vista: The Hostel amboro no longer exists. residencial nadia is
best/cheapest available. the hike out of town to the area uses multiple is
very nice. bring water, sunscreen. very small town and not much going on.
you can arrange a tour into Amboro form here (as well as in Samaipata).
Sucre: is a beautiful colonial town. Hostel Chargas was great. the
market was very clean and we had no problems eating there. the juices are
great!. Visits to the casa de libertad (20Bs) is very interesting. Sucre
is also the town of many churches and we tried to visit them all. they are
only open for a few hours each day, so you'll have to find the correct
times. Walk up to La Recoleta and take the tour (20Bs). Great views of
Sucre. The cathedral museo is also very nice. Spend some time just
relaxing in the square and people watching. On Saturdays, visit the cement
factory and check out the dinosaur tracks. Cab ride was 18Bs and they
will wait for you. there is a person to give you a tour. we tipped him
5Bs. Although we did not make it to a weaving village, you should try and
do this. In general textiles are cheaper and better quality than in santa
cruz, but everything is cheaper in La Paz than here. There is a museo of
textiles that is very interesting and h!
as many different styles on display along with info on the area in which it
was made. you can also buy incredibly ornate and detailed textiles here
but they are $200+.
ATMs are everywhere in Sucre and Santa Cruz. No banks in Buena Vista or
Samaipata.
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