Blogs from Sucre, Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia, South America - page 14

Sucre - a welcome stop for 3 reasons: 1) we were getting tired from moving on so much and wanted a base for a while; 2) we wanted to enjoy the year round spring like climate Sucre enjoys and 3) we fancied brushing up on our Spanish and wanted to do a week´s language course. We were able to do all three. We found a good Spanish school, Jonty learnt loads of new verbs and I was able to chat away all week with someone paid to correct my every mistake (not a job I´d want to take on, ha, ha) locals never correct you but its the only way to improve. We also found a place to relax at the highest point of the city (La Recoleta) where you could sit in a deckchair and ... read more

We made it to Sucre in the afternoon on the 12th following a short 3 hour bus ride from Potosi. The city (also known as the City of Four Names - La Plata, Charcas, Ciudad Blanca (White City), and Sucre) was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO on December 13, 1991 due to its history and colonial architecture and was a nice place to spend a few days. We stayed at the ´Hostel Cruz de Popayan´which was alright (with the exception of a horrible smelling bathroom due to black mold above the shower) and ate literally every single meal at ´Joy Ride Cafe´as recommended by the Lonely Planet - they have amazing food! On our 2nd day we visited the small mountain of Cal Orck'o located about 6 km outside of Sucre which is home ... read more

Sucre has been slightly more lo key as we have been quite tired and thought we´d have a relaxing few day s in a city. Sucre is officially the capital in Bolivia apart from the fact that it comes second in every way to La Paz. We arrived quite late in the day and decided on a quick hostel. We found one close to the centre and went out for dinner in city. One of the things we had planned to do here was horse riding as we heard it was good around the city. Instead the next day we ended up booking a day of Rock CLimb in the mountains overlooking the city. I thought if I want to keep climbing mountains etc I should really have a basic grip of rock climbing. It really ... read more

This past weekend, Bolivia took the opportunity to celebrate Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Needless to say, everything was closed -- including a lot of transportation. Meaning I was stuck in Sucre, the judicial capital of Bolivia. I came to Sucre hoping to do some trekking in the surrounding valleys, but found that unlike the more touristy areas, the price is based on the number of people. And all the travelers I met in Sucre seemed to be more inclined to partying than hiking. On Saturday I took the "Dino Bus" up to the Crustaceous Park, which contains the alleged "longest track of dinosaur footprints in the world." It´s actually pretty cool (the tracks were made horizontally, but uplifting of the Andean plate has made them almost vertical), but felt more like Disneyland, ... read more

Hola Amigos and Amigas, Before I start I should note that all figures noted herein and in all future blogs are in Australian Dollars and certainly do not include GST! I will always report the figures as it will blow your mind as to how damn cheap it is over here! It is also worth me telling you that the national currency of Bolivia is "Bolivianos"- I could only wish for our currency to be called Australianos! How good would that be? We commenced our Sud American travels in Santa Cruz, Bolivia after 30 something hours of travel from Hamburg Germany. Our first flirt with Bolivian life was a 15 minute ($4.00 each) taxi ride from the airport to our chosen hostel in the south of the city. It was mental, no seat belts and seemingly ... read more