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Published: September 7th 2014
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Our Arrival We arrived at the new terminal in Santa Cruz at 7:40am from Sucre. The new terminal is next to the train station on Avenue Brasil and Avenue Intermodal. We walked into the centre of town which took 35 mins to get to the square.
Where We Stayed Alojamiento Santa Barbara - Bs. 70 for a double room with shared bathroom. There were hot showers even though they aren't necessary in the heat and wifi in the reception area. Rooms were set around a courtyard. On Santa Barbara street in between Junin and Florida.
What We Did Went up the Cathedral tower in the main square - Bs. 3 each. The tower isn't that high but you can see the mechanism that rings the bells.
VISITED LOMAS DE ARENA
Some sand dunes near the town.
To get there we caught bus number 21 from Espana which is the street parallel to the one the hostal was on. It cost Bs. 2 payable to the driver as you get on. We caught the bus at 12:04pm and stayed on to the end of the trip at 12:55pm.
The bus drops you off on a dirt road, the entrance to Lomas De Arena is just a few mins walk, up and left around the corner.
Entrance fee is Bs. 10 each. From the entrance the sand dunes are 7km away. We started to walk to the sand dunes from the entrance. The road splits a couple of times but only into different lanes and both paths meet up together. Near the start is a sign for the park and an arrow. Don't follow the arrow as it only leads to a lake not the park, stay on the main road instead. We walked for about 40 mins before someone drove past and gave us a lift the rest of the way.
There are a few dunes to walk around and you can see the City and national park from the top.
We left the dunes at 2:25pm and got back to the entrance at 3:45pm. A bus left from where we were dropped off back into town at 3:50pm. It dropped us off outside our hostal.
Be warned if you are walking that it is really hot and the walk is really far. A
lot of the road is walking in sand so its pretty hard. Bring lots of water with you. There were a couple of signs for shops/restaurants on the way but none were open. There was a hotel at the bottom of the dunes but that wasn't open either. Bring enough drink to walk there and back. There is a shop where the bus drops you off.
Where We Ate The market 7 calles has a food court inside and upstairs. We got meals there for Bs. 10.
There is a supermarket on Florida as you walk towards the square from the hostal.
Next door to the hostal is a shop which sells Bs. 12 large bottles of beer.
Where We Went Next We caught the bus to La Paz. We booked with Cosmos who were due to leave at 3:30pm. It cost Bs. 100 each. You have to pay Bs. 3 terminal tax and keep hold of the ticket as they are checked when you exit to the platforms and when the bus leaves the terminal. Before you get the bus you check your bags at the counter.
The
bus was very late arriving and was a different bus to the one we were supposed to be getting. It turned out to be a cama bus though so was better than we were expecting. There was so much leg space and only 3 seats across. There was a toilet on board but it was locked. They played a movie in Spanish with English subtitles.
The bus left at 4:20pm due to the late arrival and stopped at 7pm for a dinner break. We didn't stop again apart from about 4am in Cochabamba on the side of the road with some engine difficulties. We arrived in La Paz bus terminal at 11am. We were due in at 8am so a few passengers were a bit angry about that and also that we didn't stop for another bathroom break since 7pm and they wouldn't open the toilet!
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