Sucre, 30-2 de Noviembre

Sucre, original colonial capital of Bolivia and where Independence
from Spain was declared 200 years ago.

Absolutely buzzing from our desert road trip to Uyuni, we embarked on what we now like to call our worst bus trip so far! We had heard Bolivian bus travel could be long arduous and unpredictable (the flip side being extremely cheap); this is due in part to the roads in pretty poor condition, far flung destinations and the lack of the word 'efficiency' from Bolivian repertoire! Certainly a far cry from our bus travel in Argentina and Chile. 


Thinking we would sleep on the overnight bus, we soon found out that sealed roads being "...not too far away" were in fact 5 hours away, and once reclined, the vinyl seats provided an entertaining slip and slide stuck on an unbalanced fast spin cycle.....once we found sealed roads, our connecting bus didn't turn up, so after a 4 hour nap on stationary bus#1 we jumped on an overbooked bus where an un-paying local was kicked out of a seat so that Clare could sit/lie on me for the remaining three and a half hour journey to Sucre!! This was no easy feat given the fact that there had been no toilet stop for 11 hours!
Fortunately, we had booked what became our favorite accommodation so far and had an amazing breakfast banquet cooked for us as we walked through the door.

Two local toddlers having an ice cream date near one of the many roadside markets.

 Sucre, we thoroughly enjoyed the slow paced relaxed nature of what is one of our favorite small cities. Most of the central urban fabric is of heritage-protected Spanish colonial origin (yes more Spanish colonial); really well kept. Clare and I had a fantastic time here mostly doing what we do best - wandering, eating, taking photos...

We stumbled across some dancers in the Plaza

Juice stalls like these everywhere, awesome for sampling never-before tasted local frutas.

We had to buy these brightly coloured polystyrene biscuits from the markets, Didn't actually end up consuming them, nor did the pigeons for some reason.

Super friendly local pressing Jugo de azucar del caine (sugar caine juice) - delicioso!!

Social contrasts are prevalent everywhere.

Pacena Huari, great local drop - how could you go past
a Spanish conqueror riding a beer keg dressed in a frock?!

From Sucre we organised a day trip to nearby city of Potosi, principally for a tour of the famous Cerro Rico silver mine - The main reason Spaniard conquistadors came in droves to Bolivia, African slaves in tow.
Cerro Rico contained the largest single silver deposit ever found in the world. The inherent irony as with most of the minerals in Bolivia is that all of the profits were taken offshore back to Spain and Europe rather than reinvested back into developing the 3rd world country. 

Miners for a day.



Cerro Rico (Rich Hill), the 400 year-old silver mine, unsure why they didn't just
dismantle the hill rather than creating a giant un-engineered piece of Swiss-cheese.

Cos I'm T  N  T...Im Dynamitaaa....DynaBol - a stick of Bolivian dynamite that we purchased from a corner dairy complete with detinator, nitrate accelerant, and a bag of coca leaves. An obligatory purchase at just $3!!

'El Tio' The Devil/Uncle of the underground, worshiped daily by the miners.



Hot, tight and very dusty mine shaft.



A kind of awkward smile with our coca cheek bulging guide
complete with detonator/dynamite (alight). BIG bang for our buck!!


Fair to say this was a tour that went well outside Clarey's comfort zone - more-so because she mis-interpreted the guide and thought we were going to blow up dynamite inside the mine! Nevertheless a fascinating insight into an industry that has shaped the country, and a huge highlight blowing up our very own dynamite!

Yes, a plane and not a bus.....we were excited about our flight north from Sucre to La Paz! Given our last bus ride experience, 45 mins versus 16 hours in a bus was a no-brainer.