Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The small Museo Municipal Ruta del Che Guevara has an upstairs room dedicated to Che,
with plenty of photographs of him and his guerrilla comrades in camp; of Bolivian soldiers
hunting them down; of their bullet-ridden corpses; and of the emotional ceremonies held in
La Higuera to mark the thirtieth anniversary of Che's death. There's also an unexciting col-
lectionoflocalarcheologicalfindsdownstairs.Nextdoorthereisaninformationofficewhere
you can hire a guide to take you to the town's various Che sights (Bs60).
Hospital Señor de Malta
Three blocks south of Plaza 26 de Enero on Señor de Malta • No fixed opening hours; generally visited on a
guided tour from the Museo Municipal Ruta del Che Guevara • Free
At this hospital you can visit the laundry room where Che's body was put on gruesome dis-
play to the world's press, though there's little to see here today. At the time, word that he bore
a striking resemblance to Jesus Christ spread quickly, and local women cut locks from his
hair as good-luck charms.
Che's mausoleum
A 10min walk northeast of Plaza 26 de Enero or a short taxi ride away • No fixed opening times • The building
and the graves of his comrades can only be visited on a guided tour (Bs60); guides can be hired from the office
next door to the museum
Che's mausoleum is on the edge of the airstrip on the outskirts of town: 100m away behind
the cemetery (and thus not on consecrated ground) you'll find the grave from which his re-
mains and those of six other guerrillas were exhumed in 1997. The pit has been left open and
is now covered with a red-tiled brick and concrete mausoleum filled with photos of Che. If
you return to the fork in the road and walk up the right side you'll reach a house on the right
with a swimming pool, behind which are four pits where the bodies of many of Che's mostly
Cuban and Bolivian guerrilla comrades were buried after being killed in combat or executed
after capture.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: VALLEGRANDE
By bus A couple of daily buses from Santa Cruz (6-7hr) via Samaipata (3hr 30min) arrive
and depart from the offices of two different bus companies: Trans Vallegrande on Santa Cruz
and Florida, two blocks southeast of Plaza 26 de Enero, and Trans Señor de los Milagros, a
block further southeast on Florida.
By micro/trufi There are also more frequent micros and irregular trufis to Santa Cruz and
Samaipata; they generally pass through the main square looking for passengers.
By taxi A taxi from Samaipata to La Higuera, via Vallegrande, costs from around Bs805
($115) for a two-day, one-night trip.
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