Bolivia - Sucre

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Suzanne here...

I was not looking forward to the flight to Sucre as I was still feeling really ill. I suspect food poisoning, but am not sure enough to point the finger of blame. In any case, before the flight I made sure I was dosed up with loperamide (Imodium) and in possession of sick bags, and luckily managed the short flight without shaming myself.

As per usual, we tried to avoid getting a taxi at the airport. Luckily there were minibuses (some were Amazonas branded, but available to everyone) outside arrivals for 8Bs each. After a short journey, and a little bit of a walk, we arrived at Hostal CasaArte Takubamba. Quite backpackerish, but our room was quite nice, the bed was comfortable, and there was hot water.

Much as I could have just gone to bed, I made myself get out to explore. Sucre is possibly the oddest capital city we have ever been to. La Paz had seemed like the capital city, and many people think of it that way (it's where the government are based). Sucre is just like any small, provincial city. I hope I'm not causing any major offence here. It's a perfectly nice place. But I'd never in a million years peg it as the capital. After an afternoon we'd pretty much seen everything.

That night I decided I should try and eat, so managed the world's smallest burrito at Tacos y Burritos. Actually easier to eat than expected as it was so tasty (David's was a bit bigger, not much) and some chocolate. Possibly not the best food choices for a healthy recovery, but sometimes it's about whatever you can face eating.

After a pretty bad night, the morning was spent in the room as I was a bit nervous to stray too far, plus we'd seen most of the city the previous day. In the end we did drag ourselves out. The best place to go to perk me up? Why the local cemetery of course. It was quite interesting but a bit more heartrending than the graveyards of England. People were interred behind glass cabinets with pictures and trinkets on display. The little bottles of spirits I rather approved of. Toys like model cars and Peppa Pig figures were harder to see. A 'baby boy' balloon about did it for me.

The one museum I had wanted to visit was shut, so it was a bit more wandering for the rest of the day. In Parque Bolivar we were sitting by a fountain when a pigeon decided to throw himself in, and couldn't get out. This probably meant he was old and ill. But there was no way I could watch him drown. I fished him out and popped him in some grass. I know, I know, probably futile. But what else could I do? Drowning is no way to go. We then had an early dinner at Abis cafe, ok but not amazing. I was happy to get back to the hotel and stay there for the evening. David with his beer and me with my rehydration sachets. Living the dream.

The next day I felt quite a bit better so we decided to walk up to a nearby viewpoint. It was cloudy and drizzling when we set off but that soon cleared up in favour of the usual Sucre sun. While it was hard work it was good to get some exercise, and the view was pretty good. On the way down we stopped for a drink and a plate of bread, cheese, olives and salami at Mirador Gourmet Cafe. I'd presumed it would be a bit of a tourist trap, but it was actually very good.

By now I was really on the mend and actually looking forward to dinner. We chose Cosmo Cafe and shared basically a plate of meat for two. It was rather delicious. On the way home David made the mistake of pointing to a dog that had followed us the previous day and saying 'look, there's our perro'. Well at the word 'perro' he pricked up his ears and bounded over to us. The day before he'd been relatively easy to shake off. This time he stayed with us all the way to our hostel.

We had to get up early the next morning, skipping breakfast to get to the airport. As we left we heard a bark and the same dog charged at us, jumping for joy to see us. He'd been waiting all night. We'd not even fed him. It was heartbreaking as he happily trotted by our sides all the way to the bus stop. We got on the bus and he curled up beside it. After about 20 minutes the bus was full and pulled away, with him running behind. Now, I know he probably pulls this trick on many tourists hoping for a meal. But that didn't stop us feeling absolutely dreadful. If there was any way we could have taken him with us (subject to there being no other owner of course) we would have done.

We enjoyed Sucre but I think it had been a little over-hyped. I'd been told it was a real jewel of Bolivia. It's perfectly nice, and I'm glad we've been, but it wasn't unmissable. The climate is lovely and it is a relaxing place. Well worth a stop-over but maybe not a special trip.

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