in Bolivia you learn to expect the unexpected

South America » Bolivia » Chuquisaca Department » Sucre
August 22nd 2007

Published: August 27th 2007

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4ewa

road blockade

Our journey from La Paz to Sucre (official capital) that was supposed to take 12 hours took 27 hours!!!!There were road blocks half way and the bus got held up in the middle of nowhere for many many hours...that was a real (Bolivian) experience!craving for decent meal (inhabitants from a nearby village took advantage of the blockade and people´s empty stomachs but all they were selling was biscuits, cheese, pastries, fruit, beans and loads of icecream) we could do nothing but wait, wait, wait....and when we finally got green light our cheering didn´t last long. After a few kilometers there was one more blockade. Locals who had organised it wanted passengers to destroy a nearby mine so that they were not blamed for the deed.This was done!(no, i did not participate) and after a couple of hours we could go.(one thing i must admit - travelling in Sth America helped me learn a bit of patience)The political situation is unstable nowadays as the new Bolivian constitution has not been finalised yet. People argue about which city (La Paz or Sucre) should be their offical and the ONLY capital.When we got to Sucre it was Thursday - but noone was working on

between road blockade no 1 and no 2

passangers removing rocks from the road (as if blocking roads wasn´t enough)

that day as people were allowed to protest in order to support Sucre in its battle.We were gutted as all shops were closed and we really wanted to try the locally - made, famous chocolate :-(The following day we went to Cal Orcko, i.e. limestone hill where one can see (from a distance though) well preserved dinasours´tracks - approx 5000 footprints! Our knowledgeable guide made this tour a pretty impressive experience! After finally having tried the gorgeous (but really expensive as for Bolivia) chocolate James and Treasa left for Uyuni but I decided to stay in Sucre and take up some Spanish lessons:-)and enjoy more of this devine chocolate.....I spent almost 9 days in Surce I can say I could live there! The town is lovely, quiet (apart from when people manifest), with great views, cafes, cheap food, many places to chill out, to read a book....with everything what one needs (plenty of fruit!!!!!!!!!!)I stayed 4 days with a local family (to further improve my Spanish). Great experience apart from the fact that one of their two dogs (or both of them) ate my favourite sandals.........From Sucre I moved onto Potosi where i visited a local silver mine (still in

street protest

we hid in a church

use) inside of Cerro Rico, i.e. Rich Hill (in silver)- this is what Potosi is known for (and Potosians very much proud of) in Bolivia as well as the altitude of amazing 4070 meters above sea level. This makes Potosi the highest located city in the world.Also there i went to check out nearby hot springs - one wouldn´t realise but we were told that we were swimming inside of a crater of an old volcano with a constantly hot and clean water.Now it´s time to head to Uyuni. P.S. you may not notice but i just added one more entry - and loads of photos from Cusco and my trek to Machu Picchu.

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