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Published: January 28th 2006
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Sucre Plaza
Peaceful place... The bus we took from La Paz was heavily over booked which resulted in those who booked/arrived late having to sit and sleep in the aisle. Fortunately for us we arrived early (for once) and settled into our assigned seats for the overnight 14 hour journey. The driver's assistant had a penchant for very loud, violent films and en route to Sucre, he played three, all at 'old peopleĀ“s' volume! seemingly unaware of the passengers disinterest and discomfort. The 20 minutes of white noise that followed each film was particulary mind-numbing and nearly drove us to dispair. All S.American bus journeys we have experienced so far end up taking much longer than planned and this was no exception. Some 18 hours later we bumbled into Sucre.
Sucre was the original capital of Bolivia and was where the Declaration of Independence (from Spain) was signed. It now shares its capital title with La Paz due to it being the judicial hub of the country. This city is sometimes referred to as La Ciudad Blanca (the white city) as all buildings in the centre retain their original colonial white facades. UNESCO declared the city a World Cultural Heritage site in 1992. The
Tarabuco
Colourful wares on display main plaza is really pretty and peaceful with lots of space and lushious trees; a perfect spot for reading and picnics.
We joined a rather garish looking truck, aptly labelled the Dino Truck to go and seek out the longest set of dinosaur tracks in the world. These are found on site at the local cement manufactures and were only unearthed during the excavation of a small mountain. The perma layer that these prints are now fossilised in have gradually been re-exposed to the elements after numerous dynamite explosions. You would think that upon discovery, such a precious archaelogical site would immediatley be protected and preserved. However, this is Bolivia and money talks! Therefore, there is still at least one explosion a day and the manufacture of cement continues... Even though they are not excavating the land with the prints on at the moment, our guide explained that when the mountain starts to run out the prints will be next, unless a protection order which they have applied for comes through. This means that huge trucks still rumble within inches of this amazing evidence of pre-historic life. What a shame.
During our wander around, we saw prints from
Dino trip
Me and my Dino truck all the main players. On this site there are over 5000 sets of prints with the longest track being over 37 meters long! When seen from afar these mammouth prints looked like failry small but up close and personal you realise just how meaty our ancesters were. See piccie of Duncs with hand in print, over 42 million years old.
On another day we visited Tarabuco, 64km southeast of Sucre. Its best known for its colourful Indian market, where local folk in traditional dress come to sell their wares. We have been to many indigenous markets throughout Latin America and have refrained from buying too many goods due to limited backpack space, but we couldn't resist the intricate, hand woven wall hangings on display at Tarabuco. We fell in love with one piece in particular and are now carrying it around. It took 6 months for the lady to complete the work and I think she was quite reticent to part company with it but I assured her it was going to a good home. Lets hope we don't lose it before we return. Suffice to say we are guarding it very carefully.
We were lucky to witness
Dino trip
Quarry floor and dino tracks a local couple getting hitched in Tarabuco. We joined hundreds of Indians and watched as the couple's family and friends queued up to throw rice and over-sized confetti all over the couple. The couple looked really miserable, isn't it supposed to be the happiest day of your lives?
On our Dino trip we met Andrew (from Brixton) and Nat (from Toronto). They were a cool couple of guys and we spent our last evening in Sucre with them at JoyRide Cafe (excellent food and atmosphere) We hope to meet up with you again in Bahia for more international drink fun. Andrew looked like Tim Booth's twin brother which freaked me out alot being an obsessive James fan (the band).
Sucre is a nice place to chill out and its worth making the trip there to experience the least hectic capital weve come across. So with our time in Bolivia drawing to a close, it was time to head to Uyuni to visit the Salar....
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steve
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Bo
Very well written, every days a school day. A+ xx