Sucre, Bolivia
Leftover pancakes with dulce de leche and fresh fruit was the perfect start to our full day in Sucre. Our hostel had a free walking tour in the morning, which worked out great because the free walking tours we found online didn't actually offer them any more. We were running a bit slow in the morning, but were still able to check out on time and meet the guide downstairs.
The tour guide was waiting for us and we came to find out that it was just us going on the tour. Sweet! Jenny and I told the tour guide what we had already seen some of the city so she knew what to prioritize. Our first stop was the neighborhood called La Recoleta. On our way, we peeled off into a haunted alleyway where you could find animal bones disguised as cobblestones in the streets. There is even rumors of a little girl ghost wandering about. Luckily we didn't encounter any ghosts.
We continued our walk through the neighborhood, ending at a church at the top of the hill. Jenny and I were struggling a bit with the hill and the altitude, but the view was worth the effort. You can see the entire historical part of Sucre.
After we took in the sights, we all walked down the hill together and headed towards the Mercado Central. This market was huge! This market is where everyone gets their produce, bread, meat and everything in between. The market is separated into different sections making it easy to navigate (if only the artesian vendors could come up with the same strategy!). Our tour guide walked us through and asked Jenny and I if we wanted to try a traditional sandwich from the market. It was a family run stand and the chorizo sandwich was the best seller. I agreed to try it and it was delicious! It was only 7Bs($1 USD) so I figured why not. I ate the sandwich while we all walked around the market. Our second stop in the market was in the fresh fruit section. Jenny and I sat down and ordered a chirimoya con leche drink from one of the stands. The best part about this was that it was a 2 for 1 deal. Once you finished your drink you would had it back to the lady working the stand and she would fill it right back up! What a deal!
After our snack, we went to the Plaza Bolivar where there was a mini Eiffel tower. The architect of the Eiffel tower built a miniature version of it as a gift to the president at the time. We were told you could climb it but it was being repaired and was blocked off. The rest of the tour much of the same with little spots and interesting facts about Sucre. Once the tour was over, our guide told us where Jenny and I could catch the local bus to the bus terminal so we could buy our overnight tickets back to La Paz
. We didn't want to wait too long because there was no way were doing that ride in a semi-cama seat. Good thing we bought the tickets when we didn't because we got some of the last seats left on the bus. They didn't have seats together, but we got two window seats next to each other. After getting our tickets, we walked back to the hostel, enjoyed the nice weather, and Jenny tried to get some of her certification trainings done, while I wrote some blog entries.
It was getting close time to leave for our bus so Jenny and I went out to get a quick dinner before heading to the bus station. We had one place in mind but it was closed. We went to our back up restaurant and were able to get seats right away, but nobody was around to take our orders. We started to get a little nervous because of the time, so we decided to leave and just go to the Mercado Central for food because we knew it would be fast. Unfortunately none of the food vendors looked good, but we saw a guy cooking burgers and thought that would be our best bet because it was coming hot off the pan and there was a line.
Once we got back to the hostel we ran into someone who lived in Ronaoke and worked for GE. She was even in the same program Luis was in! Even smaller world, we ran into a backpacker that did Antarctica with Jenny and I at our hostel. We called a taxi and waited outside to get picked up for our 8pm departure. It was 7pm now when we called the taxi but after 10 minutes of waiting we were getting worried. The walk to the bus was 30 minutes so we could make it but we had our backpacks and it was uphill. We decided to walk up the street to a busier street and hailed a cab. We hit a bunch of traffic but arrived at the bus terminal just 5 minutes late (from the be at the gate time, not the departure time)
. At the bus terminal, getting on our bus we ran into our friend Max from Germany. We did the hike in Ushuaia with him and were all taking the same bus from Sucre to La Paz. South America is turning out to be a very small world.
Once we got on the bus, I was able to trade my window seat with lady sitting next to Jenny so we could sit together. She was nice enough but said if she got cold, she wanted to switch back. We started moving and after about 30 minutes, I started to not feel so hot. My stomach was killing me. We blame the hamburgers because Jenny didn't feel sick, but she also picked all the meat off her sandwich. I tried to go to bed to see if it would pass. The overnight bus played another bad Jason Statham action movie while we all tried to sleep.
*****
Lodging & Transportation: Bus
Activities: Villa Oropeza Free Walking Tour
Restaurants:
The tour guide was waiting for us and we came to find out that it was just us going on the tour. Sweet! Jenny and I told the tour guide what we had already seen some of the city so she knew what to prioritize. Our first stop was the neighborhood called La Recoleta. On our way, we peeled off into a haunted alleyway where you could find animal bones disguised as cobblestones in the streets. There is even rumors of a little girl ghost wandering about. Luckily we didn't encounter any ghosts.
We continued our walk through the neighborhood, ending at a church at the top of the hill. Jenny and I were struggling a bit with the hill and the altitude, but the view was worth the effort. You can see the entire historical part of Sucre.
After we took in the sights, we all walked down the hill together and headed towards the Mercado Central. This market was huge! This market is where everyone gets their produce, bread, meat and everything in between. The market is separated into different sections making it easy to navigate (if only the artesian vendors could come up with the same strategy!). Our tour guide walked us through and asked Jenny and I if we wanted to try a traditional sandwich from the market. It was a family run stand and the chorizo sandwich was the best seller. I agreed to try it and it was delicious! It was only 7Bs($1 USD) so I figured why not. I ate the sandwich while we all walked around the market. Our second stop in the market was in the fresh fruit section. Jenny and I sat down and ordered a chirimoya con leche drink from one of the stands. The best part about this was that it was a 2 for 1 deal. Once you finished your drink you would had it back to the lady working the stand and she would fill it right back up! What a deal!
After our snack, we went to the Plaza Bolivar where there was a mini Eiffel tower. The architect of the Eiffel tower built a miniature version of it as a gift to the president at the time. We were told you could climb it but it was being repaired and was blocked off. The rest of the tour much of the same with little spots and interesting facts about Sucre. Once the tour was over, our guide told us where Jenny and I could catch the local bus to the bus terminal so we could buy our overnight tickets back to La Paz
. We didn't want to wait too long because there was no way were doing that ride in a semi-cama seat. Good thing we bought the tickets when we didn't because we got some of the last seats left on the bus. They didn't have seats together, but we got two window seats next to each other. After getting our tickets, we walked back to the hostel, enjoyed the nice weather, and Jenny tried to get some of her certification trainings done, while I wrote some blog entries.
It was getting close time to leave for our bus so Jenny and I went out to get a quick dinner before heading to the bus station. We had one place in mind but it was closed. We went to our back up restaurant and were able to get seats right away, but nobody was around to take our orders. We started to get a little nervous because of the time, so we decided to leave and just go to the Mercado Central for food because we knew it would be fast. Unfortunately none of the food vendors looked good, but we saw a guy cooking burgers and thought that would be our best bet because it was coming hot off the pan and there was a line.
Once we got back to the hostel we ran into someone who lived in Ronaoke and worked for GE. She was even in the same program Luis was in! Even smaller world, we ran into a backpacker that did Antarctica with Jenny and I at our hostel. We called a taxi and waited outside to get picked up for our 8pm departure. It was 7pm now when we called the taxi but after 10 minutes of waiting we were getting worried. The walk to the bus was 30 minutes so we could make it but we had our backpacks and it was uphill. We decided to walk up the street to a busier street and hailed a cab. We hit a bunch of traffic but arrived at the bus terminal just 5 minutes late (from the be at the gate time, not the departure time)
. At the bus terminal, getting on our bus we ran into our friend Max from Germany. We did the hike in Ushuaia with him and were all taking the same bus from Sucre to La Paz. South America is turning out to be a very small world.
Once we got on the bus, I was able to trade my window seat with lady sitting next to Jenny so we could sit together. She was nice enough but said if she got cold, she wanted to switch back. We started moving and after about 30 minutes, I started to not feel so hot. My stomach was killing me. We blame the hamburgers because Jenny didn't feel sick, but she also picked all the meat off her sandwich. I tried to go to bed to see if it would pass. The overnight bus played another bad Jason Statham action movie while we all tried to sleep.
*****
Lodging & Transportation: Bus
Activities: Villa Oropeza Free Walking Tour
Restaurants:
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