Exploring a new continent
10 - 11 May Sucre
On my trip to South America I learned that in most cases the smaller cities are more beautiful. And when I was in Sucre, I realized this one more time. Sucre is the capital of Bolivia, althought the government sedes in La Paz. However, Sucre is historic and very well maintained. I simply don´t know how many people I have seen in Sucre cleaning or maintaining places, streets and the ancient houses. It is simply beautiful to see, to be there and to enjoy it. The atmosphere there is very nice indeed and there are only few tourists going there.
One of the Must-see in Sucre is the house in which Bolivia signed its independence in 1825 (Casa de la libertad). A beautiful restaured and maintained building in which some artifacts are shown.
One more time, my highlight was the visit of the local market. You can really buy there everything: fruit, vegetables, inbetween some small farmer who are just selling a handful of one kind of vegetables, fruit juice, fresh prepared meals (of course, I had lunch there), cheese and all kind of groceries you might need.
The next day, I was visiting the local cement factory. While they were digging into the mountain to get the cement, they found foot prints of dinosaurs there (yes, Max, reall Dinosaur footprints!). Although parts of the mountain has just recently collapsed, just behind it, they found even more footprints. I was a little bit unlucky since I was visiting the site in the morning - due to the sunlight, the afternoon would have been better. But anyway, pretty amazing to see foot prints of four various kind of dinosaures. And one more amazing thing: they left the footprints because the area was a former lake. Due to tectonical movements, these footprints are today on a vertical wall!
One of the bars, Joy Ride Cafe, is a meeting point for tourists: it is a cafe, they are having their own souvenir shops, it is a travel agent and a cinema. And all in one building. Their slogan: Non solo para Gringos! When I saw the programme of the cinema, I realized how lucky I was: in the evening they showed the movie "The Devil´s Miners". A documentary about a 14 year old boy, his 12 brother, his mum and his little sister. The two brothers are working in the mines of Potosi - a place that was next on my list to see. The documentary is pretty intense and very interesting. Especially if you want to visit that place in the next days.
Start of journey: | Mar 19, 2010 |
Duration: | 13 weeks |
End of journey: | Jun 15, 2010 |
Peru
Bolivia