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Published: April 5th 2008
Thursday 3 April
A beautiful night's sleep, a late breakfast and disappeared off into the markets with Kel, Anna, Linda and Shilpa. Amazing piles of fruit and veg everywhere, try some pea pods and dried chick-peas, bargain over some toiletries and try some chocolate fountain. By 2pm I'm ready for the city tour, along with Laura and Larissa. We drive, ooo, half a block, and pull up on the main Plaza. Some interesting information on the buildings and statues here (including Sucre, who along with Boliviar, liberated many S. American countries from Spain). Next stop the weaving museum, which fills us in on a lot of information on local groups... All different styles, all passed down through generations. Interesting, bit whistle-stop, before we head to a city lookout (romance hill!), and then 5km outside the city to see the Italian-Moorish inspired Castle which is currently being restored. Next stop, the cemetary, where a funeral is in progress (white car means is probably a young person). Many large family gravesites, but the rest looks like a housing estate as bodies are placed 5 high above ground in rented plots. If the contract can't be renewed, the body is taken away and burned.
We head back into the central area to see the statue of independence, the hospital, the theatre restored 6 months ago (now damaged as important talks were held there and protestors threw stones), the Sucre version of the Arc de Trimophe and Eiffel Tower (which we climbed but it was pretty rickety).
Last, we're taken back to the central markets, where we're shown a fruit (tombas?) which looks like a potato... Apparently it tastes nice with milk/sugar. We're left at the markets, still have a couple of hours before dinner. Manage to collect washing early, chill out in the room with a new jacket, before meeting for 730 dinner. We head out to Joy Ride (recommended by all travel guides), where have a nice meal, some not-so-nice wine, try the Tombas juice (wouldn't try again), and then the restaurant bring out a MASSIVE cake for Christian's birthday. Debating a drink after dinner - head up for one and end up dancing til 1.30am. Fun.
Friday 4 April
Spend the morning on the internet, loading up many photos! Head out for lunch with much of the group - tasty pizza. Decide will head out to the Dinosaur Park
after all... It's what Sucre is best known for. 2.30pm, I'm on the dino truck - with a bunch of Brits... Although the locals turn up late so it's not just tourists?! We head to Parque Cretico - wondering if it's going to be a bit Jurassic Park. We're given an English-speaking tour guide, who explains that this land belonged to the cement works next door, and found all these dinosaur prints. They're so clear as they were created when flat, the land tilted and was covered until excavated about 20+ years ago. UNESCO are involved and many paleontologists have studied so all seems real. Binoculars give a closer look before we walk around the small park with scale models of the dinosaurs. Get back in time to nip to the market for some music, and join the others at the beauty parlour for a manicure (good for cuticles, sawed the nails, but it was GBP1), before getting my hair cut (I've seen the others and it's less than GBP2). Finish after meeting time for dinner so dash down, enjoy a French meal (beef in Roquefort), too tired to go out, and get back to hotel (where everyone is still
talking about the fact that money was taken from locked bags last night). Fall asleep watching films.
Tomorrow we fly to Santa Cruz, then the following day we take the night train (described as an endurance test by my guidebook) into Brazil, where we have a couple of nights sleeping in Hammocks in the Pantanal (so I´m guessing no internet there!)
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Helen Cruz
non-member comment
Fruit?
Bex, the first picture titled "Fruit" is not really fruit - what you see is a large variety of vegetables: aubergine, onions, squash, acelga(in English?), runner beans, sweet potato,etc.!!!Ok, I know that tomatoes are fruit, but most in the picture qualify as vegetable... Have fun!! Expecting you here in Brazil soon.