Sucre & La Paz, Bolivia

We arrived in Sucre, Bolivia on the 12th of March, and spent 5 days there. It was such a pleasure to be in such a nice city and to be staying in a great hotel (definitely the best so far). The weather was warmer than we`d had previously, and the shopping and food were great and so cheap. I did a bit of shopping in both Sucre and La Paz, and my backpack is now bursting at the seams (and my walking boots are now on the outside of the bag), so no more shopping for me!

Sucre is the official capital city of Bolivia. It`s a much more modern city than the rest of Bolivia. The city is full of beautiful colonial architecture, authentic markets, and school children. Apparently all the children from the entire region come to school in Sucre, many of them staying over in one of the many boarding houses. Every street in the city is just full of children, it really is amazing to see. One of the days we were there there was a protest over school fees. It was peaceful but I did get a fright everytime they lit firecrackers.

The markets are phenomenal. They sell absolutely anything you would want to buy, all for ridiculously low prices - in fact I have never experienced a country that is so cheap before. The markets have fruit, vegetables, meat, chicken, spices, grains, pastas, desserts, flowers, toiletries etc etc. I wish we had a kitchen here, we could have made the most amazing meals. Saying that, every meal I`ve eaten here has been really good - the service is really slow, but the food is always delicious and cheap. Just to give you some idea, a big main meal in a restaurant ranges from US$1-$4, and it`s some of the best food we`ve eaten on this trip.

We also went to a local market just outside of the city (Mercado Campesino) where we were the only foreigners. It was a real authentic experience, and the locals were just as fascinated with us as we were with them. We got some really confused faces when we said we were from South Africa - people cannot believe that we have white skins yet we are from Africa, and they seem generally dumbfounded at the fact that anyone from Africa would come all the way to South America. I really enjoy telling people where I am from, as their reactions are so entertaining.

Bolivia is a poor country, so there are also many beggars on the street. But all in all the people in Sucre seem better off than I had expected. It`s a lovely city, and has some beautiful, well manicured parks and squares too. The most popular and beautiful were the Libertador Simon Bolivier Park and Plaza de Mayo. Surprisingly, all the manual labourers we`ve seen so far have been women!

Sucre also has the most hilarious buses - they are incredibly old, and have really elaborate decorations. Talking about transport, truly the funniest thing I have seen so far are the taxis in Sucre. Most of the taxi`s in the city are right hand drive cars. As Bolivians drive on the left, the taxi`s literally have the steering columns moved from the right to the left side of the car, and everything else is still on the right. So I was sitting in the front of a taxi with loose wires at the feet connected to the steering column, an open hole where the steering column used to be, the speedometer, petrol gauge etc in front of me (none of which worked), and even the seat belt had been ripped out for some reason. I really wonder about the road-worthiness of these cars!

We had a great time in Sucre - walking around the streets, shopping, eating, and relaxing at the hotel. Bolivia is famous for it`s colourful textiles, and there were so many great things to buy. We also walked up to La Recoleta, an arcade viewing point, market and square. The views of the city were amazing.

On 16 March we took a night bus to La Paz. We managed to book a sleeper bus so it was fairly comfortable, but the buses in Bolivia are certainly not as luxurious as other countries like Argentina.

We have spent the past 4 days in La Paz, the unofficial capital of Bolivia, and also the highest capital city in the world at 3600m. There is only really one word to describe La Paz - CRAZY! It has the most hectic and energetic street life I have seen anywhere. The city is built in a bowl with mountains surrounding it. The first 2 days were very overcast and it rained. It really felt like we were sitting in a pot with the lid on, as the pollution (both air and noise) is quite intense. The past 2 days the sun has been shining. The city looks a lot better in the sunshine, and we can at least see the mountains, the highest of which is Illimani. It is covered in snow and is the highest ski resort in the world at 6439m. Not quite sure who would want to ski at such high altitude - it must be really hard to breathe up there!

We arrived on 17 March, St Patrick`s Day. As we have quite a big Irish contingency with us, we of course had to celebrate. After lunch we all headed off to the Irish Pub and spent the afternoon and evening there drinking Guinness (well not me - I hate beer) and playing cards. Later that night we went to Alex`s restaurant (Martin, our tour leader`s friend) in Sopocachi, a trendy area of La Paz where most of the nightlife is.

On Sunday night we went back to Alex`s restaurant and had dinner there. It`s one of the fanciest restaurants in La Paz, and the only Asian cuisine restaurant. A few of us stayed after the restaurant closed. Alex was very generous with his wine collection and even tried to teach me, Erin and Sarah how to Samba (he used to be a samba dancer and danced on an American cruise ship for a few years). It was a fun night!

We have spent the days in La Paz exploring the city. It truly is a remarkable place to walk around. Everything here happens on the street. The city is crammed full of street markets, and the most ridiculous traffic you have ever seen. There does not seem to be any road rules whatsoever, and even trying to cross the road is very much like playing "chicken". Everyone just hoots continuously. They have micros which are mini bus taxis that are exactly the same as the ones you find in South Africa. The drivers` assistances shout out the destinations out of the window, they are very cramped, and they stop wherever they like to pick up or drop off passengers.

We are staying right in the centre of the city, and we are next to the Buenos Aires Market which spans 30 city blocks! You can honestly buy anything, from fish, fruit, clothes, electronics, meat, material etc etc. The selection here is even greater than what we saw in Sucre. The basic premise of La Paz is that all business is conducted on the street. The streets are full of people trying to squeeze past the pavement stalls while trying to avoid the cars, buses and taxis that at times are just about on the pavements themselves.

We have also spent a bit of time in the Witches Market (Mercado de Hechiceria) and have learned a bit about Aymara mysticism and herbal medicine. The stalls have ritual and medicinal items, including love options and Llama foetuses. It`s very bizaar!

There are also an abundance of stalls selling the usual Bolivian colourful textiles. I have bought far too much, I do not know how I am going to carry everything! Yesterday there was a street carnival which was similar to the one we`d seen in Potosi - there was music and great costumes, and an amazing vibe in the streets.

We have also walked around the Colonial city centre. We went to Plaza Murillo which is the main square of the old city. The Parliament, and Presidential and Legislative Palaces surround this square which is full of pigeons. We went to Calle Jean which is the best preserved colonial street in La Paz. As we were walking past, we also made a stop at the Musical Instrument Museum where you can play some of the instruments.

In the centre is the Plaza San Francisco which is also lively. There was a band playing when we were there (they were VERY out of tune). We went into the Iglesia de San Francisco which is a really nice colonial church. We also went to the Coca Museum which was really interesting. It has good information on the history, chemistry, cultivation and uses of the coca plant (including the manufacture of cocaine).

Today we did a loop around the city, and spent ages sitting in Plaza Sucre as the weather is really sunny and warm. We also saw San Pedro prison which is an active prison, yet you can do a tour! Odd.

La Paz has also been the end of the road for some of our trip. We said goodbye to Martin (our tour leader), Frank, Kurt, Cathy and Katrina. We have a new tour leader for Peru, Ysobel, and a few new people - 2 English guys and a Swedish girl.

Tomorrow we leave for Peru. Our first stop in Puno on Lake Titicaca and then a homestay on one of the islands. This is followed by Cusco and then the Inca Trail next week. Hope I survive!