Sweet as Sucre

After Salta and the Salares it was time to sweeten things up a bit and hit Bolivia´s ex-capital city Sucre. Not in fact named after another favourite Bolivian white powder, the city´s name actually honours the revolutionary leader Antonio José de Sucre, and was Bolivia´s capital until the seat of government was moved to La Paz in 1898. Although it doesn´t have many major ¨attractions¨ as such, the city itelf has a lovely setting and its Spanish style white-washed colonial buildings make it an attractive place to wander about and relax.

Going there also gave me the opportunity to pass through Potosi, the highest city in the world and one with a shocking history of human abuse revolving around its greatest asset - silver- and the mines used to extract it. Thousands of slaves were forced to work in brutal conditions underground (many still do), and life expectancy was certainly not long. Even now, many miners don´t live past 40. As I had no intention of subjecting myself to the horrific underground conditions voluntarily, I happily passed through Potosi for the more pleasant surrounds offered by Sucre.

This second bus trip in Bolivia was certainly quite as eventful as the first, and even 12 or so hours bumping along dirt roads and making a frustrating number of inexplicable stops and delays it seems there is always something to keep things interesting, from the practically toothless Señora next to me chewing bubblegum and talking in incomprehensible Spanish, to the everchanging spectacular scenery and the ¨toilet¨stops involving men and women, young and old, exiting the bus to unashamedly relieve themselves on the side of the road in full view of everyone. Needless to say, my 2L bottle of water remained untouched the entire journey.

I couldn´t decide at first what I thought about Sucre. I passed a very nice morning wandering around the colourful (and very educational meat-wise) grocery street market, and had a nice walk around town taking in coffee shops, dulce de leche flavoured icecream and an impromptu street festival with marching bands and dancers in colourful costumes. I was also impressed by a visit to the weaving museum where I learnt just how incredible this craft is and how talented and patient the artists are. I single weaving of about 80 x 50 cm approx can take up to 6 months to complete!

However, what really sold the city to me was a trip up to the mirador (lookout point). The weather was beautiful and sunny and a 30 minute trek up a steep hill to the suburb of Recoleta brought me to a lovely square with spectacular sweeping views across the whole city. Happily, a nice little cafe had decided to exploit the situation and had numerous tables set out with Pacific-island style reed umbrellas and lounge chairs overlooking the city below. In proper holiday style, I must have been up there for a couple of hours admiring the views with fresh juice in hand (they are fabulous here!) and company in the form of an English traveller I´d befriended on the bus on the way. So nice it was that I was nearly tempted into staying an extra day just to go there again!

Anyway, one month down and the trip is flying by. I´ll try and get pics of Sucre up soon, then next on the post-list is my second last stop in Bolivia - the impossible city of La Paz (Lady of Peace).

Chau for now!