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Published: January 22nd 2013
The journey from Chaco to Sucre was not one of our favorites, that is for sure. Bolivia seems to have a lot of spots that are named
‘the highest ...’*, which is pretty understandable when you enter the country. Despite the fact that the winding Andean road offered us the most tremendous views we could imagine, it was far from being labeled the most secure. Majority of it was just a sandy path that had space hardly for one bus not to mention two vehicles. I was
‘lucky’ to sit on the drop side of the bus and had to hold my breath every time the bus came too close to the edge. It is part of the adventure, right? Would have done it again, though.... if only for the perfect sunset over these mountains...
We got to
Sucre just after 4 am and were not sure what to do next. We had to find some place to stay but choosing between walking and taking a taxi was hard to decide - both did not seem very secure in this country, especially at night. One fellow passenger found us one, saying it was ok so we took it. The 3
hotels we checked were full but we finally managed to find a nice room in
Hostal Charcas in the historic centre for 80B/11$. We slept long and sound and when we woke up we entered the street with huge amazement. Everywhere around us was a bustling town community, dressed in what looked like native/folk clothing with music playing loud and plentiful. We were a little bit disoriented and, as usual for a new territory, we did not know what to do next. We checked the market for some food options but finally decided to splash a little bit for a nice breakfast in a beautiful Hotel Royal, which made our day actually. Good that we exchanged some money on the border so we did not have to be bothered about that just yet.
We walked a little bit around, admired stunning white architecture of this governmental looking town and were just trying to take it all in. It was hard to move around at first. We realized that we suddenly happened to be at the altitude of 2700m so, no wonder that every move felt like a big thing. We decided to take it slowly and not rush –
we had plenty of time to spend in Bolivia. We came just in time for the Sunday Market in
Tarabuco Village which is a huge tourist attraction but also it is said to be a very nice cultural experience. To avoid agencies and make it very easy for ourselves we took a tourist bus organized by our hotel (30B/4$).
We really enjoyed it and it was not full of tourists at all. After visiting Paraguay every place seemed touristy but Tarabuco was just fine. We wandered around, checked plenty of market stalls, bought some nice, colorful cushion covers and then just spend hours observing people. We walked much further from the artesanas and checked around stalls with day-to-day produce, watched locals barter and even had some lunch at the market eatery with villagers staring at us. You would think they would have been used to the sight of white gringos, right? A lot of people we meet consider street food unsafe and think that restaurants offer better … Unless you have seen their kitchens you cannot really be sure haha
It was suddenly apparent to us how poor Bolivia is when compared with other countries. Sucre looks very
pristine and wealthy but its people don’t always match that view. In the villages you see even more poverty and Tarabuco is a good example. Everything is extremely basic – the houses people live in, the streets and the clothing they attire themselves in. Their smiley faces are so tired by sun and harsh mountain weather that is hard to recognize their age. It reminded us a little bit of Mongolia, actually. We saw a man missing one eye, who stuck some paper in his empty eye socket … practicality over looks, I suppose … have never seen anything like that. It was a great day out, with stunning Andean scenery on the way and really great ethnic experience. We missed this type of places actually. It was also quite shocking to us how dry this place is. Similarly to Atlas Mountains in Morocco or deserted hills of Jordan we previously visited, there was hardly any green spot around and definitely no shade for animals and people to hide under.
Unfortunately Tomek got ill for the next few days and pretty much stayed in bed all the time with a massive flew followed by a food poisoning. I soon
‘joined’ in and we both spent loads of time indoors, sleeping, reading and watching movies. After almost a week we finally emerged from our room to find Sucre completely deserted. And I mean totally, with nobody to be found around in this otherwise very busy and lively place. It was AMAZING, to wander around its colonial buildings, walk up to the monastery view point and around park with no cars, no traffic and no people around. As we found out it was a national census day and everybody in Bolivia was instructed to stay at home and wait for their interviewers. We saw a few of them on the way … that was it. Good that our landlady told us about it earlier so we could buy food and water for a whole day – not a single shop or restaurant was open that day. What are the chances of seeing such magnificent town completely empty? We consider ourselves very lucky, actually!!! The only downside of this day was that all the museums that we planned to see, including apparently fantastic Folklore Museum, were closed. We cannot have it all, I guess…
We then took a bus south to
Potosi (15B/2$) where we hoped to change into another bus for Tupiza. Potosi is quite famous for the mine tours but we just could not even think of doing it. It was not because of the danger or being really low underground (have been to a mine before) but because we simply believe that making a tourist attraction out of someone’s misery is just wrong. People who work there often have no other choice, work in horrific conditions, get diseases or die in accidents. As far as we found out the tours don’t really contribute to them but to the agencies so we did not want to spend money on it. It is a totally personal thing and it was just something not for us.
On the other hand we really LOVED Potosi town. We had to overnight – thank god – as the next bus to Tupiza was leaving in the morning. Unfortunately we only had one afternoon to walk around and see the town. Believe me, you walk slowly at this altitude. We just could not get enough of the colorful architecture of Potosi and we found its little streets and alleys really enchanting. Very carefully we
climbed up on the rooftop of the Franciscan Convent and just admired this place. When they said rooftop I was convinced it would be no more than a terrace or something but we actually walked on the old roof of this astonishing building. Another thing we have never done before so quite interesting. Then we received free guided tour around the monastery which challenged our Spanish and imagination. I must admit, they have a huge collection of artifacts and old paintings and it was worth a visit, no doubt. Potosi is so much different to Sucre and we actually loved it more. Sucre seems very pristine, governmental and posh while Potosi looks more
latino with its colourful villas and shady plazas.
When we reached the highest tower of the Convent Tomek suddenly kissed me and said:
“There, I have never kissed you so high up in the mountains. This is the highest we would ever kiss in any particular city or town” I found it extremely adorable. He was right though. We were about to take a tour to Uyuni, which brings you to the altitude of about 5000m or we could kiss when on a plane but never
higher above sea level in any given city.
We finished our day by wandering around colorful markets and had a lovely meal in a little bistro. We were treated to a lama steak and some amazing quinoa soup. Loved it and we also very much enjoyed price levels in Bolivia. We managed to buy an excellent wine – Concepcion from Tarija region – for 14B/2$....incredible. Maybe it was not the best idea in the end as alcohol definitely does not help with an altitude sickness, if you have any. I did not sleep for a single minute, with my heart pounding like crazy all the time. In the morning, I felt so exhausted and weak that I just wanted to cry. When on a local bus towards the terminal I realized I forgot to take my favorite scarf from our room, I could not hold it anymore and just burst into tears. Not that it was so important even though I am very attached to this brilliant scarf which I had had for 6 years now. Tomek jumped into the taxi and came back with it in the next 20 minutes (3$ for a taxi is still cheaper than
a new scarf of this quality, if you can even find one like that in Bolivia). We were just in time for our bus. With our next stop in Tupiza and Uyuni … it is hard to describe how excited we were to be there!!!
* La Paz is world’s highest capital city (3660m); Potosi is the highest situated town (4070m); Lake Titicaca is the largest high altitude lake in the world (above 3800m)
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cabochick
Andrea
Wow! I have to give you a vote for this picture. You captured Cusco with this man.