Samaipata relax.. Arrived in Samaipata via a 3 ho...

Samaipata relax.. Arrived in Samaipata via a 3 ho...

From Don hace el amor a Sudamérica:

Samaipata relax..

Arrived in Samaipata via a 3 hour taxi from Santa Cruz (4 people - 2.5Eur each) and got encouraged by a local taxi man to stay in a hostel off the main square called La Posada - Bolivian Romance. Place is run by an American and his Bolivian wife and is very relaxed and the food is excellent. Samaipata itself is a big holiday destination for Santa Cruz, its a sleepy little town where most people are generally lounging around. Restaurants there are excellent, even though it has no ATM so bring enough Bolivianos (or you can change US dollars in various shops).

Centered around Samaipata are some Inca/Spanish ruins (El Fuerte), various treks and waterfalls. This is the kind of place you would come to write a book as you spend quite a lot of time taking in the scenery and generally taking it easy. It makes Cooraclare look like a crazy town. Went to El Fuerte and waterfalls on day 2 which was an interesting day. Got a taxi for the day for about 11 Eur. He took us up (picked up 2 other girls on the way) to the top of the hill where El Fuerte is located. The air here was quite thin so even though the 1.5 hour stroll around isn�t difficult, it took some time to adjust.

The main piece of El Fuerte is the giant rock which holds multiple inca carvings. This is listed as one of Unesco World Heritage sites. Off this are the ruins of various buildings (made by incas and then the Spanish), these are spread over several different areas. The trip was great (even though we should have taken a guide for more info). Check out : http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/883 .

From there, we went to the waterfalls which again are located up a hill (everything in Samaipata is) It was quite a warm day so it was good to take a dip. Some of the waterfalls are nothing major (and packed - this was on Saturday) and the red clay ground ensures that the water does not match the clear blue that is on the brochure.

Back to Samaipata and enjoyed a meal at one of best restaurants in town (run by a french man and Bolivian wife) - 3 course meal for 2 - 10 Euro. This area is very much Che Guevara territory, we met a local man who as a kid had seen the legendary Che wander into town on several occasions. Our American host had tried to convince us that he was best mates with him and practically his brother.hmmm.
On from Samaipata, you can visit the place where Che died but we decided to give this a miss as there isn�t much there by all accounts.

We also managed some Spanish lessons which were usefull (but expensive in relation to everything else 5US per hour). Haven�t really tried to learn much since as there has been an abundance of english where we have gone.

Our final day, we met an Irish man (married again to a Bolivian) who runs a school in Santa Cruz. He was telling us of the various corruption that he has seen in the area."If you get robbed, don�t call the police unless you want to be robbed twice" kind of thing.

So left Samaipata and booked ourselves on a bus to Sucre (capital of Bolivia). An 11 hour trip around bendy dust roads high in the hills (Sucre is over 2,000 ft up). Our driver has brought with him several young lads who operated on one syllable conversations - �Boleto!� (ticket) etc. The bus was packed but we got seats and then the kid sitting next to us started puking into a bag. Niice. His mother had the notion that the window was the dustbin and various bits of rubbish, bag of puke were all forked out the window along the way. The wnidows has to be left slightly open to allow some oxygen in but this also allowed the bus to fill up with dust from the trip. Niiice. Travelling in Bolivia is an experience but we finally touched down in Sucre at 6AM and managed to get into a hostel (Hi Hostel) even though the porter was not impressed having to get up and let us in. But it turns out he�s a bit of moody bastard anyhow.

More on Sucre later..(photos soon, no really)..

Bolivia has been super so far, very relaxed country in general, helped somewhat by the siesta taken during the day. Food has been generally good and even though Nikki has picked up a bug, I haven�t heard of too many people catching anything. Altitude takes some adjustment as the next place appears to be higher up than the last. As with Brazil, loo roll is deposited in a bin beside the toilets not in the toilet itself (there was an unfortunate plumbing situation in Hostel number 1 in Rio - no details required).

Later..

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