Instead, our time in Santa Cruz was spent slowly morphing into Bolivianos at the Central Plaza. And shopping for chocolate bon bons at the market. And eating a never-ending Christmas fruitcake. I was reading Charmaine's book ('Eat, Pray, Love')-- about one woman's quest for life, spirituality and balance. In the end, she achieves everything (including money because the book was selling quite well). I was half-expecting a how-to manual, hoping that I too would magically achieve life, spirituality and balance, but it was simply an entertaining read. It became less entertaining in the end because she started whining and pontificating, but the first 70-80 parts (it had 108) was very good. My take-home message from the book is: go to Naples to eat pizza. Her description of the pizza in Naples is so mouth-watering that if I wasn't in the middle of a Bolivian plaza becoming ONE with the park bench, I would have been on kayak.com checking air ticket prices.
It's quite interesting what can happen to 2 Chinese girls who spend many hours in Bolivian plazas. A middle-aged man sat on our bench and started telling us how much he distrusted Obama because he is black. Apparently, this guy is Mormon, and dislikes Islam.... It was a weird experience. We also had a TV camera thrust in our faces, complete with lady reporter asking us where we came from and how we celebrate the New Year. We stammered something about parties and families, and in the end wished Bolivia 新年快乐!
After that we totally regretted our lackluster interview. We should have made up some bizarre customs, like 'In Singapore, at the stroke of midnight, we light firecrackers and the king releases political prisoners'.... or something.
Brief notes on Santa Cruz:
1) It's in the lowland, surrounded by prime coca-growing plots. So it has a hot, dusty tropical feel, and it's full of drug money-- big SUVs, major American brands selling genuine merchandise etc. It's the only province of Bolivia that doesn't support President Evo Morales, who wants to empower the large indigenous population and nationalize the oil and gas industry. The city has a comfortable, rich feel. And the trendy magazines feature stories about partying in expensive clubs, and traveling in Europe. Very Very different vibe from the rest of Bolivia.
2) However, you know you're still in Bolivia because crossing the street is an Olympic sport, there are 6 lanes of cars but only 3 lanes of road markings, and the airport checkin counters only open 1.5hr before takeoff so that the queue is as horrendous and chaotic as possible.
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Conclusions on Bolivia:
It was every bit as weird and wonderful as Eujin promised. And deliriously chaotic, more than Peru and Guatemala combined. The people are super friendly, and the sights are incredible. My one regret is spending too much time in Santa Cruz. We should have gone to the Potosi mines, and Sucre, then to SC, or skip that altogether and just go back to La Paz.
I highly recommend Bolivia to open-minded, adventurous backpackers looking for a totally different experience.
Huge thanks to Charmaine, who was brave enough to take yet another S.American trip with me. Xiao mei, you're the best.