Sucre - a brief respite
Bus services in Bolivia are VERY different from Argentina and Chile.
Our bus from Uyuni was an ancient hunk of junk that spewed all sorts of noxious gases into the air. That combined with horrendous, pot-holed dirt roads the entire way provided a very jolting 9 hour ride. We did a brief stopover in the town of Potosi, once the richest city in the world (1500s and 1600s) due to it´s rich silver deposits in Cerro Rico. This town is a tourist destination for people who want to visit the mines where people still work in medieval conditions. It was advised that anybody with asthma or suffering from claustrophobia should not make the visit. As some of our group were apprehensive about this, we decided to give it a skip and carry on to Sucre.
And here is the usual wikipedia spiel:
"Sucre (population 247,300 in 2006) is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, seat of the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia). Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an altitude of 2750m (9,000ft). Its lower altitude gives the city a warm temperate climate year-round. The city attracts thousands of tourists every year thanks to its well-conserved downtown with buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries."
We checked in at the Hostelling International Hostel in Sucre which was conveniently located close to the bus stop. The hostel was a converted Spanish colonial building which had a nice garden in the back. In terms of activities, Sucre does not have too much to offer. The surrounding area is renowned for it´s archaeological sites where you can see dinosaur footprints and ancient Incan towns (how do you spell booooooooring???). We thought it a much better idea to walk around town and chill out at coffee shops.
The main square
I have forgotten to mention that Bolivia is rated as the poorest South American nation. This means that stuff is cheap... like really cheap. Taxis around town cost a maximum of 7 Bolivianos (1 USD) although you do have to bargain as they like to charge tourists more. A good meal at a restaurant with wine will set you back about 7 USD.
The architecture in the town is very well preserved in the downtown area with some large Catholic churches and a scenic central square. We visited the Textile and Culture museum which was fascinating as it described the tradition of textile weaving of the local Andean tribes. A typical wall hanging weaving takes over 3 months to produce and shows startling detail. Riverdance purchased a nice Tarabuco hanging while I grabbed a slightly cheaper bookmark. We also all purchased Alpaca jumpers at a local market in preparation for the chill of La Paz.
A fairly typical church
A native Tarabuco woman working on her loom
We took a walk up to the Nun´s cloisters on top of the main hill and had lunch at a cafe that had great views over the city. There definitely seemed to be less tourists around this city than what we had become accustomed to. A very welcome relief.
Our bus from Uyuni was an ancient hunk of junk that spewed all sorts of noxious gases into the air. That combined with horrendous, pot-holed dirt roads the entire way provided a very jolting 9 hour ride. We did a brief stopover in the town of Potosi, once the richest city in the world (1500s and 1600s) due to it´s rich silver deposits in Cerro Rico. This town is a tourist destination for people who want to visit the mines where people still work in medieval conditions. It was advised that anybody with asthma or suffering from claustrophobia should not make the visit. As some of our group were apprehensive about this, we decided to give it a skip and carry on to Sucre.
And here is the usual wikipedia spiel:
"Sucre (population 247,300 in 2006) is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, seat of the Supreme Court (Corte Suprema de Justicia). Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an altitude of 2750m (9,000ft). Its lower altitude gives the city a warm temperate climate year-round. The city attracts thousands of tourists every year thanks to its well-conserved downtown with buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries."
We checked in at the Hostelling International Hostel in Sucre which was conveniently located close to the bus stop. The hostel was a converted Spanish colonial building which had a nice garden in the back. In terms of activities, Sucre does not have too much to offer. The surrounding area is renowned for it´s archaeological sites where you can see dinosaur footprints and ancient Incan towns (how do you spell booooooooring???). We thought it a much better idea to walk around town and chill out at coffee shops.
The main squareThe architecture in the town is very well preserved in the downtown area with some large Catholic churches and a scenic central square. We visited the Textile and Culture museum which was fascinating as it described the tradition of textile weaving of the local Andean tribes. A typical wall hanging weaving takes over 3 months to produce and shows startling detail. Riverdance purchased a nice Tarabuco hanging while I grabbed a slightly cheaper bookmark. We also all purchased Alpaca jumpers at a local market in preparation for the chill of La Paz.
A fairly typical church
A native Tarabuco woman working on her loomWe took a walk up to the Nun´s cloisters on top of the main hill and had lunch at a cafe that had great views over the city. There definitely seemed to be less tourists around this city than what we had become accustomed to. A very welcome relief.
After 3 days it was time to move on to La Paz. This meant 12 more hours on a bus, but this time we had booked a Cama bus! "Cama" means you have a seat that can just about go horizontal. We ended our stay with a very dodgy lunch at a coffee shop near the bus station. I ordered a toasted cheese and ham roll which arrived as a corned beef sandwich covered in gross cheese that had been microwaved. As a result I had to go to a pizza joint and grab 2 large pizzas to make up for it!
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