Saturday 23 May 2015

A Tale of Two Cities


After I finished my volunteering I headed south to the city of Sucre. The city has had many names including Charcas, La Plata and Chuquisaca. It is a UNESCO Heritage site because of the Spanish colonial architecture in the city.

From La Paz I travelled to Sucre by bus with the company El Dorado. My ticket cost 180 Bolivianos for a full cama seat. The bus was at 7.30pm and had it not been more than 30 minutes late I would have missed it because I seriously underestimated how bad traffic is in La Paz during rush hour.

I ended up hopping off the colectivo I was on and running up the main street to the bus station, which is up a steep hill. I got there at 7.40pm and wheezing like an old woman, who smokes 40 a day (I was still recovering from a cold), I went straight to the bus company desk and asked if the bus had left. I thought the woman said yes but she handed me back my ticket and told me which stand to go to. The bus eventually showed up and it was very comfortable and even warm for the majority of the 13 hour journey.

Also, worth noting here is that when you leave La Paz by bus you have to pay a 3 Boliviano departure tax, you won’t be allowed out to the bus without a ticket to prove you’ve paid. There is a small kiosk where you can pay this in the terminal.

I arrived in Sucre just after 9am and got a taxi for 10 Bolivianos from the bus station to Kultur Berlin hostel. This hostel is worth staying at for the breakfast alone. Hands down it is one of the best breakfasts I’ve had during my travels so far. There was freshly squeezed fruit juice everyday, a range of fresh fruit, cereal, many different types of fresh bread and rolls and there were even pancakes on one occasion. The nine bed dorm I was in had loads of space, comfy beds, a high ceiling, nice bathroom with a really hot shower, wooden floors and all for 55 Bolivianos.


I’d arrived on a public holiday so not a lot was open, however I did end up stumbling upon a parade in the main square. From what I could gather the parade consisted of groups from various villages/towns around Sucre. Each group had dancing cholitas, followed by the men, followed by a full brass band. It was really interesting to watch and it seemed some groups were more into it than others.

My first impression of Sucre was that it seemed like I wasn’t in Bolivia any more due to the colonial Spanish architecture, it was very weird. It is a beautiful city and wandering round you would be forgiven for thinking you were somewhere in the Med due to the whitewashed buildings and bright blue sky.
 
It is a great place to just wander and see what you find. In the city itself the Plaza 5 de Mayo is very impressive. The Mercado Central on Junin street is also worth a visit, although I went in for two apples and came out with two pears, two apples and a mango due to the stallholder being very persuasive.
 
From the Mercado stroll to Calle Destacamento where the theatre is and then on to Parque Simon de Bolivar where you’ll find a replica of the Eiffel Tower and shady spots to sit. On the other side of the park is the train station and the psychiatric hospital, which was the first in Bolivia.

Heading uphill from Plaza 5 de Mayo is a mirador, where you have a great view across the city and somewhere to recover from the steep uphill walk. I also visited the textile museum, which has information on the different textiles and weaving methods in the region. There were some exquisite examples on display.
 


One of my main reasons for visiting Sucre was to go to the Sunday market in the nearby village of Tarabuco. Before going I read many conflicting views on whether it was going to be worth it, being someone who would rather go and see for myself I remained undeterred and bought a bus ticket from one of the tourist agencies in town for 40 Bolivianos.

The bus left at 8.30am on Sunday from outside the cathedral and we arrived in Tarabuco just after 10.30am. It was a short walk to the main square, which was a hive of activity with lots of textile sellers set up.

I wandered down one of the streets off the square and found the main market, which was like El Alto on a smaller scale, however the streets were jam packed with people moving in all directions. One of the most popular stalls seemed to be the DVD one with many children crowded round watching the television. I managed to make my way out of the scrum to the main food market, which then seemed to lead into a more wholesale affair with vendors selling oranges off of lorries etc.

I also spent a lot of time just sitting in the main plaza people watching. There seemed to be an equal mix of tourists and locals. I even treated myself to some homemade ice cream for 3 Bolivianos. I’m glad I went to the market, there isn’t really anything there you can’t find in La Paz, but I enjoyed the atmosphere.

While I was in Sucre I went to Potosi, another UNESCO heritage site and one of the highest cities in the world at 4,060m. I decided to just go for a day. The city was once the largest and wealthiest in Latin America due to silver deposits being found in the Cerro Rico mountain, which looms above the city. Today, although much of the silver has been depleted, miners continue to work in harsh conditions in order to extract what remains.

One of the main draws for tourists visiting Potosi is to take a trip down the mine. However, as I'm asthmatic, was recovering from a cold and had been advised by a miner friend of mine not to, a visit to the mine was not something I wanted to experience.
 
I understand why people do choose to visit it, but the other reason I wasn’t keen was because for me it all feels a bit weird. It’s not a museum, it’s a working mine and I just didn't like the idea of going.

There are almost hourly departures to Potosi from Sucre, so I bought my ticket on the day for 20 Bolivianos with the company Trans Emperador. The journey was perfectly pleasant except for when we were on the outskirts of Potosi and crossing train tracks. While we were halfway across I heard a horn and was surprised to see a train bearing down on us, thankfully it was going so slowly we were able to get out of the way.

Potosi’s bus station is possibly one of the nicest I’ve been in, it is a new building and is circular with a very elaborate marble staircase leading to the entrance. I ended up going to Potosi on a bit of a whim as originally I hadn’t planned to go, so it also probably wasn’t the best idea to go without knowing where the main centre was or that the bus station is quite a way out of the city.

I assumed I’d be able to get a taxi from the bus terminal and ask to go to the centre however, when I arrived all the taxis were the unregulated kind and I didn't want to take any chances. In the end I hopped on a mini bus bound for the Mercado Central, which I hoped was in the centre, my gamble paid off and I got there without any issue.

Similar to Sucre the city has some amazing colonial architecture and I just enjoyed wandering around the narrow streets looking at all the different buildings. The colourful Cerro Rico dominates on the horizon and it is strangely hypnotising.
 
I decided to take a mini bus back to the bus station and hopped on one I thought was going in the right direction only to discover I had made a mistake when the bus reached its last stop. I ended up in some residential area on a hill overlooking the bus station, I explained to the driver (in Spanish) where I had wanted to go and he started laughing pointing to the bus station below us.
 
View from the bus station to the top of the hill where the bus terminated
He told me that his bus went to ex-terminal, which is the old bus station. When I told him my bus was leaving in 30 minutes he advised me to hop on one of the buses going back the way we'd come He also explained my predicament to the other driver and asked him to let me know where to get off so I could get the correct bus. I couldn't believe how helpful the drivers were and was very grateful. I managed to hop on another bus going the correct way and made it to the terminal in time for my bus back to Sucre. 



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