Week 21, Part 2. Bolivian Lowlands

I hope I did not mix up the weeks. My vacations are over and I flew to Santa Cruz. 30 mins flight includes snacks. Amazing service by Bolivian Airlines. It has been 1 month I am in Bolivia, but I did not travel here alone, I am a bit nervious: forgot how to travel on my own.



Thursday, 19/06. Santa Cruz, almost Brazil

Santa Cruz is completely different world! Tropical trees, toocans as pet animals living in the hostel (aaaaaahhhh!!!), boutique shops, huge multi-floor fast food restaurants (Burger King, Subway), people have lighter skin, they are taller (still not there yet), look more like Brazillians (at least not too Boliviano), bigger cars, better roads. And... good internet! Everywhere: in the hostel, in the fast food restaurant,. Maybe my standards lowered now, but it feels super-fast here.

Hostel pets

City is boring: nothing to visit except main square, but Santa Cruz is just transition point anyway.

Main Plaza

Sort of eating street


Friday, 20/06. Jesuit missiones of San Xavier and Concepcion

Сегодня начинается приключение. В 150 км от Санта Круз расположен департаменто Чикитания, где в деревнях в 17м веке построены миссии иезуитов, похожие на развалины, которые я видела в Аргентине, только целые.
Автобусы в Сан Хавьер отправляются каждые 3 часа, но я не смогла найти, откуда. Зато я нашла микроавтобусы без расписания, но по мере заполнения. В микро было аж 2 гринго: я и девушка из Голландии, которая ехала смотреть на дом, который она помогала строить 7 лет назад в качестве волонтера где-то между 2мя равноудаленными от цивилизации местами (это я так перевела in the middle of nowhere).
Поездка была интересной: в Боливии все дороги платные, поэтому много постов оплаты, где местные жители продают еду и апельсины, бегая за проезжающими машинами. Интересный вид спорта: продавцы на бегу передают пакеты, и надеются, что пассажиры заплатят перед тем, как машина исчезнет в никуда; пассажиры затем надеются, что бегущие продавцы вернут им сдачу.
Через 2 часа поездки я осталась одна в окружении местных дедушек, которые помогли мне найти Сан Хавьер.
Сан Хавьер - маленькая деревня с асфальтированной центральной площадью, где расположена миссия. На самом дела, все иезуитские деревни построены по одному принципу: миссия, площадь, крест в центре площади и дома местных жителей с восточной стороны от церкви. Сан Хавьер известен тем, что церковь здесь самая старая из всех миссий, 1680-какой-то год.

Церковь

Арки и внутренний двор



В миссии я была единственным посетителем. Но мою удачу, центр информации был открыт, там мне выдали карту и рекомендовали посетить парк с другой стороны дороги.

Улицы Сан Хавьера

После обеда на рынке (где я была местной достопримечательностью) я уехала в Консепсьон, который должен быть больше, там я собиралась переночевать.
Приехала я хоть и рано ( до 7ми вечера), но было уже темно. Остановка автобуса выглядела так, будто я на окраине. На самом деле (спасибо, жпс), площадь с церковью и картой города была в 5 минутах ходьбы.

Транспортное средство

В месте (не могу назвать это отелем), где я остановилась не было других гостей. Даже больше, последние постояльцы были здесь почти неделю назад! Поэтому я спала одна (не считая bedbugs) в комнате с 5ю кроватями и душем за 3 фунта.

Saturday, 21/06. Decision day

That was quite brave to go to the countryside over weekend: everything was closed/ I was lucky to visit Concepcion Catedral a night before, but there was still a museum to visit.

Main square


La Catedral

There is a cafe close to the museum, so I have asked whether I could visit. Unfortunately, it was closed and would open only for a group visits. But a few calls, 'The girl came all the way from Russia to visit our museum', and I had a priviedge to wonder around restoration workshop and statues from different missiones on my own, then I spent over an hour watching movies about the village and the rest of the places. The guy who opened a museum for me offered to accompany me to the lagune, local swimming pool 2 km away from the village, but I had a decision to make.

Museum



Theoretically I needed to go to the next village, 5 hours drive from there for another set of churches, but the bus was supposed to be only at 5pm (according to a guide book) and the company office was closed, so I decided to head back to Santa Cruz and see what I can do from there. The options were:
1. Stay a night in SC and head to San Juan de Chiquitos next day
2. Go straight to San Juan depending on arrival time to SC
3. Forget about the missiones and go to visit a Nationa park 2 hours from SC

Garage in Conce

On arrival to SC (around 7pm) I decided to stay a night there, but checked transport to San Juan just in case. In no time I found myself sitting in another micro going to San Juan! We would arrive at 10pm if not later, I had no idea how I would be looking for accommodation.
Luckily 18yo Bolivian girl who was going to visit her farther affered to share accommodation, so she showed me the way to a dodgy, but central and cheap hotel, where we stayed.
Although it was late, the town was alive: loads of youngsters on the streets, same latin music is playing in disco-karaoke places. The town is quite big comparing with everything I visited before.

Sunday, 22/06. San Juan and its inhabitants or lonely gringo in town

Sunday, church day, the bells woke me up at 6.30am for the mess. I wondered around the Plaza (same as everywhere, but church looks different, I assume this is how it looked in San Ignacio in Argentina).
Museum was open (happiness?).

Main attraction in the city

After a mess


At lunch time I was looking for a place where I could eat and watch Russia loosing to Belgium, so ended up in the market (probably the only place where football was shown).
After lunch I went to Santa Cruz la vieja National Park. San Juan is where the city of Santa Cruz was initially built, but after 40 years it was moved to its actual location 150 km west. Here in the National park are the ruins of what used to be Spanish town 400 years ago. I went there and to a few other places in the park by moto with a self-appointed guide that found the only gringo in town and could not leave me alone. But the guid/transport was cheap, so I went for it.

The only photo of my transport


Valle de la Luna



Cows are quite skinny there, and yes, they are running away from me

Santa Cruz ruins



Forest and I (so you dont forget my rounded face)

Motos are an official and main transport in whole of the departemento, most of the taxis are also moto, so I was eager to try it. Was quite unusual to go uphill on unpaved road by bike.

Monday, 23/06. Mennonites

I found a brief mentioning about mennonites colonies in my guide book, it also said that they come to San Juan on Monday to sell their goods/buy supplies, so I intentionally stayed until Monday to see them (to be fair, saw a couple in SC and also passing by).
They come early on the trucks that they hire from locals to buy cheese, milk and chickens to local shops/ many then head to SC for the market.
At 9am the town was fillled with them! So strange to see European looking people mixing with dark-skin Bolivians.
Many of them speak german or dutch between themselves, but many only speak Spanish (with a strange accent though). The one I talked with was originally from Canada, but he told that most of them are from Mexico. There are around 4000 of them in the region. I could easily believe it seeing how they invaded little town of San Juan.
My micro was also full with mennonites, in fact, one family. All women I have seen were either old or pregnant and wearing round old-style glasses. Man wore coveralls and hats. It was like going back in time.

Mennonites

Woman's working hand


Salad bar on the market menu (vegetarian market place!)