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On the way to Sucre
After the llama incident we stopped for lunch in the middle of nowhere. All the locals went for the full 3 courses while the tourists opted for Oreos and crackers. Upset tummies and long bus journeys is not an attractive thought Uyuni is a tourist trap. A town which survives on tours to the salt flats. There we said our goodbyes to the Belge who were heading back to Tupiza and their bikes and settled in to a hotel for the night. I decided to splurge and spent 4 euros on my own ensuite bathroom. The room had a tv but I could not for the life of me find a plug, clearly it was just for show. There was hot water, just about, and only between 7 - 7 and no heating once again. You become obsessed by altitudes since it helps indicate what temperature the place will have at night time. This is how I decided not to go to Potosi as it was over 4000m and head to Sucre which is at a mere 2000+ hence warmer - bliss!
First of all - the journey from Uyuni to Sucre. We (traveling with Helen and Paul) were told we had to pay all the way to Sucre but our ticket was only as far as Potosi where we had to change companies. Being highly suspicious we refused and bought as far as Potosi. The bus looked fairly decent though
Sucre Cathedral
All the buildings in the centre are white giving Sucre the nickname La Ciudad Blanca. The cathedral was always closed so never managed to see the inside! the suspension had gone long ago, the windows rattled, there was a constant vibration and the breaks absolutely screeched. Might explain why we managed to hit a llama. Luckily it walked away looking a little stunned…..
At Potosi we had to wait for two hours and I shared a packet of skittles with these two little boys. The smallest was a toddler and was being entertained by an older boy who was about 8. The toddler just clung on to the skittles and ate them very slowly, in between he was throwing the football to the older boy, each time dropping a skittle. He would then pick it up off the dirt back to holding it in his little hand, which was slowly turning blue and red from melted skittles. He was so excited he was laughing out loud and every time he did so he drooled all over my shoulder bag. Needless to say he was covered from head to toe in dirt. Since the toddler was eating them so slowly I gave the final couple of skittles to the 8 year old. The toddler looked at me wanting to know where his share was. I held my
Intricate Weaving
The museum was amazing. The weaving is really complex and all based on picking out the pieces of thread which need to be made visible to create the pattern.... I am now a mini expert! hands up in an all gone gesture and the 8 year old leant over and gave the toddler his last skittle. To me it was such a beautiful unselfish gesture.
Another three hours of being flung about and we made it to Sucre. Not before I had decided that a flight to La Paz was better than another 16 hours in a bus (an overnight one at that and they have a reputation of ´falling off´ the mountains). I was so rattled I went to bed without dinner - imagine that!
Next day at it was time to explore Sucre. Sucre is the second capital of Bolivia as the Courts of Justice are based here. All the buildings in the centre are whitewashed and many of them are colonial.
I walked through the main square which was a big mistake. There was an old man selling hand woven bags etc. I wanted a little pouch type bag which he did not have. Next thing is he is offering to go home to get some for me while I wait for him. So there I am sat in the main plaza wondering how I got myself in that
Dino Trek
In search of dinosaur footprints.... Pretty impressive. situation when I get talking to a shoe shine boy trying to convince me that he can clean my tennis shoes! Next thing he is telling me he is hungry and will I buy him something? What do you do but give him 5 Bolivianos - 50 euro cents which I know he can buy a decent meal with. No sooner had he left, a second shoe shine boy comes to strike up a conversation! I am saved by the old man who has returned with two wallets that I don´t want and I don´t particularly like. So I pay way over the top - 2 euros - for a wallet one of you is going to get as a pressie!
Time to head off, though not before a girl was trying to sell me a coca cola. Being savvier I pretended I could not speak Spanish. So she is telling me in Spanish how it is her birthday and she is 9 years old. To communicate this to me she starts singing happy birthday and pointing to herself!
I went to the Indigenous Textile museum which was fantastic. They give you literally a book explaining the two main types of weaving that existed and the project they have to use the old techniques to produce the same quality nowadays. They also went into the importance of music and dance in the history of the different tribes. I loved it and now have an appreciation of the types and significance of the weaving for when I go shopping!
In the evening had dinner in a Dutch bar/restaurant with Helen, Paul and my dorm mates. They had bitterballen and Bosche Bollen which I made them all try along with Leffe blond beer. I chose the surprise meal which is ´false rabbit´ and have no idea what the hell I ate but it was good…..
The market here is great as you have all the money in their traditional dress and lots of fresh fruit juice bars. A favorite snack is also jelly with evaporated milk and bits of fruit…. It is just lovely to have more tropical fruit again.
I also went on the Dino truck to see dinosaur footprints… Sucre used to be a watering hole all those millions of years ago. Due to plate tectonics the land was pushed onto its side so it is now a wall with all these footprints all over….. They were pretty impressive and certainly a fun tour….
More photos at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/foodiefloozie/my_photos
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