07.November:
The new day started already at 6am. We grabbed a taxi down to the bus station and started looking for breakfast. I ended up with some donut-tasting bread (just like the second day of the Salar de Uyuni trip) and some dry peces of bred. We jumped on the bus and cruised off to Sucre. Some three hours we arrived Sucre. As we were not very keen on having yet another bumpy busride for minimum 15 hours through the desert to Santa Cruz, we immediately got into a taxi and headed for the airport! We wuickly booked a flight that was leaving to Santa Cruz within 50 minutes and went for a snack.
At the snackbar we bumped into the two nice Finnish guys, Toumas and Petter, that we got to know during the Salar de Uyuni trip. They were actually taking the same plane as us! We flew off to Santa Cruz and got the crappiest seats ever since we booked so late. We couldn’t adjust the back of the seat and were forced to lean forward for the minutes long plane ride.
(pic of us entering the plane from the cargo entrance)
The first thing that struck us after arriving Santa Cruz was the strong heat and the humidity. As we had been used to the cold mountain air the past 3 weeks, this was all a bit wierd at first. The reason to the heat is that Santa Cruz is only 416 meters above sea level. It is also the largest city in Bolivia with its 1.6 million inhabitants.
We all checked into the same hostel, Residence Bolivar, a small low standard hostel with hammocks and a chilled out atmosphere, but no security boxes for your belongings.
We had some pizza and went to get a proper view of the city from the San Lorenzo cathedral tower next to the grand plaza. The view was far from spectacular and the total abscence of skyrises or any modern buildings made the big city seem more like a small town. We then went for some ice cream & cake and chilled out for a bit.
the San Lorenzo cathedral
At night time we figured we’d go for a great tasty meal altogther. We started walking around the city looking for place to eat, but with no luck. By now we were getting pretty damn hungry! We spent a lot of time asking security guards and random bypassers for a place serving cuy, guinea pig, as we had’n had to try it out in neither Ecuador or Peru. But there a place serving some tasty cuy was nowhere to be found. Luckily we met a young german guy who had lived in Santa Cruz since March while just chilling out and learning Spanish. He intropduced us to his Bolivian girlfriend and even gave a taxi driver we traced down the directions to the area with the three restaurants he recommended. We went for xx, a restaurant serving mostly local food as it was our last night in Bolivia for all of us. The place was huge and the numerous waiters were all wearing sombreros which kind of gave you the sense of being in Mexico. Kris & Mary tried out a veggie dish, while med and the Finnish lads went for a meat feast. Me and Toumas decided to split a massive grill dish which came with all kinds of pots and pans. There was loads of rice with cheese, chicken in some spicy sauce, cooked veal, grilled banana, sauces in small cups, a salad with some spicy beans and two enourmous steaks and heaps of yam potatoes. The food was absolutely delicious and we got some great fresh Oro (gold) beer along with it!
enjoying the last meal in Bolivia with the Finnish guys
Filed under: Bolivia | Tagged: busride, church, flight, Santa Cruz, Sucre
