After travelling through 6 counties, with each one escalting in price we were sad to leave such a beautiful country, but financially happy to leave Brazil where the costs of food, lodging, travel and entertainment had reached the point of being half the cost of what we pay in Canada.......an almost ridiculous level, relatively speaking :)
Fortunately, we are now in Bolivia where fellow travellers had told us it was a real bargain. After successfully crosssing the border using local transportation (blessed with our usual good fortune), we had some 2 hours to burn before taking an overnight bus to Santa Cruz so we decided to find a place to have dinner since we had been travelling all day. We found a spot close to the bus station where they had good looking food on a bbq in front of the restaurant. Each of us ordered the meat shish-kabob which consisted of a chorizo sausage, a small piece of steak and larger portions of pork and chicken. It was accompanied by a half plate of rice, a tomato salad and half a potato. We were hungry so we didn't bother checking the cost but found out at the end of the meal that the price was $1.50 per person! They didn't serve alcohol but they pointed out a place across the street where I purchased 3 cans of beer for .40 cents each.......I think we are going to like this country.
Our 12 hour bus ride to Santa Cruz cost us $11 each including movies. The only downside was that the bus was packed including a chicken on board in a crate (carry on luggage I suppose). The locals also purchased one seat for themselves and a child, some of them being up to 6 years old, so they brought their luggage on board and put in the aisle for the child to sit /sleep on. The aisle became a minefield in the darkness of the night.....it was quite the experience.
Fortunately, we are now in Bolivia where fellow travellers had told us it was a real bargain. After successfully crosssing the border using local transportation (blessed with our usual good fortune), we had some 2 hours to burn before taking an overnight bus to Santa Cruz so we decided to find a place to have dinner since we had been travelling all day. We found a spot close to the bus station where they had good looking food on a bbq in front of the restaurant. Each of us ordered the meat shish-kabob which consisted of a chorizo sausage, a small piece of steak and larger portions of pork and chicken. It was accompanied by a half plate of rice, a tomato salad and half a potato. We were hungry so we didn't bother checking the cost but found out at the end of the meal that the price was $1.50 per person! They didn't serve alcohol but they pointed out a place across the street where I purchased 3 cans of beer for .40 cents each.......I think we are going to like this country.
Our 12 hour bus ride to Santa Cruz cost us $11 each including movies. The only downside was that the bus was packed including a chicken on board in a crate (carry on luggage I suppose). The locals also purchased one seat for themselves and a child, some of them being up to 6 years old, so they brought their luggage on board and put in the aisle for the child to sit /sleep on. The aisle became a minefield in the darkness of the night.....it was quite the experience.
We then took one more 12 hour bus ride to the city of Cochabamba where we are now. Upon arriving last night at 9 pm we found a hostel close to the bus station and went to bed and slept soundly. Today we walked around the city, through a large market and then took a tram up a small mountain which overlooked the city and had a very large statue of Christ protecting the people (as we have found in most South American cities). During the day we had breakfast, market snacks, dinner (3 large meals and 2 one litre bottles of beer), took the tram, bought 2 bottles of wine and a bottle of rum (for our hostel room and travel), and bought 9 music CD´s and 18 movie DVD´s (mostly pirated)..............all together it cost the 3 of us $50.......and the nice hostel we are staying in, which has 4 beds in two rooms plus a bathroom is costing us $9 each. Sure glad we have another 2 weeks to spend in Bolivia!
Al the best..............mike, rhonda and caity
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