Once we got off the train at Santa Cruz we thought it would be easy to find tourist information about what to do around this area. This assumption, though logical I believe, proved incorrect. Our next thought was that the hostel I had settled on would be able to give us some advice. We jumped in a taxi and off we went. Eventually we found the street but not the hostel so we got out and set off in search of it. We couldn’t see it anywhere, but there was a hotel so we stayed there instead. We didn’t care – all we wanted was shower and to burn our filthy clothes. The hotel was only around $12 for a basic but clean room, cable tv, and private bathroom – finally, the land of bargains!
Once clean, we set off to the main plaza where according to the L.P.G. tour info could be found. We could not see anything that resembled a tour company or information stand. Maybe this was because we hadn’t eaten all day and were slightly delirious from our train ride from hell. We really wanted to find out about visiting the 18th century Jesuit Missions and preferably set off the next day, so time was of the essence. After our umpteenth circle around the plaza (we were getting dizzy), just as we were about to give up and book a bus out of there, a sign for Missional Tours appeared. The timing was uncanny. I think I said something like, ¨Well, I don’t think we are going to those missions, they obviously don’t want anyone visiting them and parting with their hard earned money…¨ and there it was right before our eyes.
It turns out mission tours are expensive, especially when no one else but yourselves want to see this part of Bolivian history. Western prices in Bolivia – apparently not the land of bargains we though it was. We got the information we needed and set off to find food. Now that we had some pamphlets we started to notice all the other tourist services that had been in hiding befor. You must have to find one before the others reveal themselves. It turns out you can do the missions on a public bus for a fraction of the price but you need to allow plenty of time. We are running out of time (we have to be in Lima in three weeks) so we decided to go with a two day, one night tour. I really wanted to see some of the missions around here as I think they are an important part of the history of South America. This is our last opportunity to see some as we bypassed the ones in Argentina and Brazil. The interesting thing about the ones in Bolivia are that they aren’t ruins. They are UNESCO sites that have been conserved and the churches and workshops still in operation, run by Franciscans since 1931 (unofficially since 1811).
When we got dropped off back at the hotel we noticed the back packers hostel directly across the road!
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