Sucre, Bolivia, 19 - 27 July 2007
Arriving in Sucre (the constitutional capital of Bolivia) we had what can only be described as the greatest moment of the trip so far. It was 7.30 in the morning, we were shattered (neither of us are able to sleep in transit) and we had a hostel only 100 yards from the bus station. We were able to check in immediately and were shown to a beautiful oval shaped room at the top of the house. The room was fabulous and had 360 degree windows (7 in all) and a super comfy ornate kingsize bed....and best of all, piping hot water. We showered, then slept for about 4 hours and awoke anew, ready to face the world. Superb!! .
Albeit the Hostel room was pretty, it was too far out of town. We found ourselves a stunning hotel, the 3 star Grand Hotel, right in the hub and subsequently checked in there for one week. It costs 150 Bolivianos a night (equivalent of 10 Quid or 14 Euro), you´d pay at least 10 times that in UK or Eire. We have large bed, fresh towels, en-suite with hot water, Cable TV & breakfast! We also found a room with a plaque denoting that Che (Ernesto Che Guevara) had stayed here in room number eight. Unfortunately Claire experienced a dose of food poisoning, it was nasty & I was bed bound for one day as my body was weak & legs were like jelly. I´m sure it probably won´t be the last of the trip.
Sucre is a very attractive city, with plenty of colonial buildings and the quintessential central plaza. There were also a few classy chocolate shops & a street lined with abogado (Lawyer) offices. Being a larger city there is a lot more begging here also. A funny incident happened on the main plaza on our first day. Because we thought at 9000 feet the weather would be cold we wore full battle gear (long trousers, warm tops, hiking boots etc). My God, we nearly melted. Also, shoe shine boys kept approaching Claire wanting to polish her boots (mine are more of a canvas nature and so I was spared). These guys don´t give up easy either. One guy actually continued to follow us off the plaza and down the road. I had to physically turn him around and send him packing. Once about 10 yards away, the little boy who previously spoke no English, turned around and hollered "Fuck you!!". Charming. The weather has been perfect here all week so it has been sandals ever since. Claire got a great laugh when the shoe shine boys actually started approaching me wanting to shine my sandals....you just can´t win.
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We also took the opportunity to learn the lingo, a necessity for the next 6 months in South America. We enroled at the Academia Latinoamericana de Español. We each had our own teacher for 4 hours per day over 5 days. The highlight of which was probably kicking back on deckchairs, drinking cafe frios (ice coffee), enjoying the vista from the Cafe Mirador (up the hill by the Regoleta) - needless to say we were regulars. There are also plenty more gringos here too. Needless to say I met a guy from Cork, he works in Pfizer and knows a guy that I used to work with. Funny thing is we haven´t even spoke to that many gringos. I guess it´s the Corkonian magnetism.
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It was with a heavy heart that we left Sucre. The city is really lovely. It helped that the weather was excellent the entire 9 days that we were there. Even though we spent 9 full days in Sucre we didn´t really spread our tentacles much further than the city boundary. The dinosaur Footprints was the furthest we ventured. There was an superb Dutch pub (Joyride) that also did tasty food. As Claire had had the bout of delhi-belly, and all that goes with it, we ate in there quite a bit as it felt and tasted like safe western food.
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There were also quite a few demonstrations while we were there. On the 25th July thousands of people congregated on the main square to demand that Sucre be declared the full capital of Bolivia. At the moment it is the constitutional capital and La Paz is the De Facto capital. It is a real bone of contention with the locals. Another day, huge groups of indigenous people were marching around in an attempt to apply some pressure on the government for one reason or another.
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Political Facts:
Juan Evo Morales Ayma is the President of Bolivia, and has been declared the country's first fully indigenous head of state since the Spanish Conquest over 470 years ago. This claim has created controversy, however, due to the number of mestizo (mixed) presidents who came before him. He has moved to nationalize Bolivia’s oil and gas industry and is seeking a new constitution that would grant more power to Bolivia’s indigenous majority
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