Blogs from Sucre, Chuquisaca Department, Bolivia, South America - page 32

Meine erste Woche ist schon fast um und ich habe schon ganz viel erlebt. Die Schule ist wirklich gut und die Lehrer toll. Bis auf meine Einzelunterricht-Lehrerin, aber das Problem haben wir nun geloest. Am Mittwoch habe ich Volleyball gespielt, muss mich ja fit halten. Lustig war, dass wir nur 4 Studenten waren und ganze drei Lehrer. Das ganze fand zwar im Fitnesscenter statt, ist aber natuerlich nicht so modern wie bei uns. Die Halle glich eher einer Squash-Halle und weil diese ja bekanntlich klein ist, haben wir wandab Volleyball gespielt, was fuer eine Herausforderung, war wirklich lustig. Am Freitag war Salsa angesagt. Die erste halbe Stunde habe ich mitgehalten, nachher habe ich mich einem Bier gewidmet. War toll, ich glaube an diesem Abend waren wirklich alle Studenten komplett. Gestern machten wir dann einen Ausflug zum ... read more

Sucre Well we finally left La Paz and headed to Sucre. We got the overnight bus which was freezing!!!! Sucre couldn´t be more different from La Paz. Where La Paz is a big city with wide roads and crazy traffic... Sucre is small (for a city), colonial (all the buildings are white with red tiled roofs), the traffic is crazy but it´s all one lane!! Sucre is nestled amongst the hills - its only about 2800m above sea level so its warmer than La Paz. Almost every day the sky is completely blue (although we have had 1 crazy thunder storm). The markets are great here. There is the Central Market and the Mercardo Campesino. In the central market there are more tourists and they hike the prices for us! The Campesino is the best... it´s ... read more

I’m in Sucre now, having shared a taxi from Potosi with a lovely German couple. The drive from Potosi was beautiful, from arid high plateau to eucalyptus trees and green parks. Sucre is the other capital city of Bolivia, holding the legislative and judicial branches of government (La Paz being the other, having the executive branch). Sucre has a famous university, and a real college down feel. Only 150,000 people live here, but this weekend there isn’t an empty hotel room, as people are here to celebrate their country’s independence AND the rewriting of their constitution. There is a great feeling here, a feeling of ´out with the old, in with the new´, and people taking a keen interest in the politics and re-writing of the politics. The Bolivian president is of aboriginal ancestry, and for ... read more

14 July Ok, so I really don´t want to bore you with another bus horror story, but what happened at La Paz bus station illustrates finely why travelling in South America compared with Europe/Oz etc is a completely different kettle of fish. At least when Spanish is not top of your list of skills. Got to the station way in advance of our departure time for Sucre and as it neared, we moved outside to the departure gate we had been directed to at booking. After a lot of milling about and questioning of about 5 different people, we (ok, so I, Simon was chilling the whole time) felt fairly certain that we were at the right place. However come 6.35pm (5 mins post departure), some other confused English travellers returned to our gate to inform ... read more

Only 3 hours from Potosi, Sucre is such a different place. The center of the city makes you feel as if you were temporarily relocated to some old city in Europe. Sucre is the official capital of Bolivia, although it is much smaller than La Paz (the de-facto capital), and only the supreme court of Bolivia resides in Sucre, while the parliament and the government reside in La Paz. In Sucre we visited the supreme court, some churches and a museum. What? A Little bit of culture won't hurt me... ... read more