So tired...
Okay, two night buses in three days is at least one night bus too many. Even though I sprang for the cama bus (bed bus), there is still only so much sleep one gets in a moving vehicle. Or least that *I* get in a moving vehicle. I did arrive safely here in Sucre though, and it seems like a nice town. It´s also warmer than La Paz, which I for one, really appreciate! Sucre is much smaller than La Paz; as the lady on the bus next to me said to me this morning ¨Sucre es muy pequeñita.¨ Or, Sucre is very small. I walked from the bus terminal to town this morning, at least in part because it irked me that the taxi driver wouldn´t budge on his 8Bs price point for the trip, when the lady on the bus told me that it shouldn´t be more than 4Bs. Probably stupid to be obstinate about it, especially when you consider the exchange rate (6 or 7 Bolivianos to the dollar, presently), but sometimes it is just the principle of thing. In any case, the lady was right -- Sucre is pequeñita, and it took perhaps 20 minutes to walk into town. I found a place to stay for the night without too much difficulty either. It´s nothing special, but breakfast is included, which we appreciate!
I enjoyed my last couple of days in La Paz as well, for all that I was a really lazy tourist. Mostly all I did was walk around, find good places to sit and watch the world go by with a cup of coffee and a book, and shop. But it was fun anyway. I sometimes can´t be asked to be a cultural tourist! Although I will say that I was feeling slightly inadequate with my tourist credentials yesterday when I read a travel update from some people I met on the Lares Trek. They are travelling through Brazil, meeting shamans, getting invited to secret religious events, etc etc. I am not so exciting as all that!! Ah well.
Tomorrow I will go to the Sunday market in Tarabuco. It is about an hour from here by minibus and is meant to be quite extensive, as well as being in a pretty indigenous village. Seems good to me, especially as Sucre rolls up its sidewalks on the weekend. I had a nap after breakfast this morning and when I ventured out again, all the cafes, shops, tourist agencies and restaurants were closed! Reminds me of South African cities back in the day -- all busy on Saturday mornings and deathly quiet after 1pm. I think I will head to Potosi on Tuesday, and then hopefully have a tour to the salt flats arranged for next weekend. My thirty day visa is rapidly running out!
No pictures today, I´m afraid. The internet cafe doesn´t have any computers with USB connections...
I enjoyed my last couple of days in La Paz as well, for all that I was a really lazy tourist. Mostly all I did was walk around, find good places to sit and watch the world go by with a cup of coffee and a book, and shop. But it was fun anyway. I sometimes can´t be asked to be a cultural tourist! Although I will say that I was feeling slightly inadequate with my tourist credentials yesterday when I read a travel update from some people I met on the Lares Trek. They are travelling through Brazil, meeting shamans, getting invited to secret religious events, etc etc. I am not so exciting as all that!! Ah well.
Tomorrow I will go to the Sunday market in Tarabuco. It is about an hour from here by minibus and is meant to be quite extensive, as well as being in a pretty indigenous village. Seems good to me, especially as Sucre rolls up its sidewalks on the weekend. I had a nap after breakfast this morning and when I ventured out again, all the cafes, shops, tourist agencies and restaurants were closed! Reminds me of South African cities back in the day -- all busy on Saturday mornings and deathly quiet after 1pm. I think I will head to Potosi on Tuesday, and then hopefully have a tour to the salt flats arranged for next weekend. My thirty day visa is rapidly running out!
No pictures today, I´m afraid. The internet cafe doesn´t have any computers with USB connections...
Comments
Sucre does not sound sweet (or sugary, I should say), and seems like a ghost-town capital city... Good that you can look forward to visiting the mines. As depressing as they might be it is important for someone like you to witness and report back to the rest of us that these places still exist... And about the taxi driver... remember in Cuzco we had a similar experience? Tourists need not always be "taken for a ride." Good for you! But, I think you need to get out of this city and find somewhere where you watch Spring springing as you wait for your salty tour ...