When we changed buses in Potosi, the halfway point to Sucre from Uyuni, I think we were scammed. We had purchased a ticket from a specific bus company to Sucre, and I knew we needed to change buses in Potosi. After getting off the bus and collecting our bags in Potosi, I asked the driver where to get the other bus to Sucre. He asked to see our tickets, then proceeded to put them in his pocket and refused to give them back when I asked several times. He brought us to a different bus station, and bought tickets for us on a different company's bus. This bus was full of locals, and made many, many stops. Oh well, not that big of a deal since we arrived in Sucre safe and sound, although maybe a couple of hours later than we had planned.
A quick side note on Potosi... This city is home to the "cerro rico", or "rich mountain" from which 60,000 tons of silver has been extracted. A few private Spanish entrepreneurs as well as the Spanish crown became fabulously wealthy as a result. However, this was at the expense of the forced labor of the local indigenous people. So many of them died working in the mines, the Spanish started importing slaves from Africa. It is bad enough that all this wealth was ripped from the earth inhabited by indigenous people, and dispersed to the wealthy Europeans, but even more disgusting to think that the natives died performing forced labor in the process of making the wealthy thieves even wealthier. This is starting to become a more and more common story as we venture into the parts of South America where there are more indigenous peoples.
Sucre is a charming colonial town with narrow, cobblestone streets, despite being choked with exhaust from the local buses. “Sucre" means sugar in French (not in Spanish, that's azucar), but it has nothing to do with the etymology - the city was named after the Bolivian revolutionary hero, Antonio Jose de Sucre. The small city is the "constitutional" capital of Bolivia. This means it is the capital on paper, and is home of their version of the supreme court, but nothing more. The government is run from the largest city and de facto capital, La Paz. We stayed in a quaint (small) apartment we rented through AirB&B. We enjoyed shopping for food in the local market and cooking for ourselves. We formed a relationship with one of the produce vendors and she would always throw in some extra stuff for us at no charge. We learned a bit about Bolivia's and Sucre's history on a walking tour of the city. Currently, it seems that Bolivia is as polarized politically as we are in the States, and the socialist president, Evo Morales seems to be at the center of it. All over Boliva is graffiti saying either “Evo, Si” or “Evo, No”, advertising for past and future elections and referendums.
The primary reason for going to Sucre, and the highlight of our time here were our Spanish lessons. We had semi-private (just me and Jesslyn) at the Fenix school. Our professora, Tatiana, was awesome. She forced us to speak in Spanish, she told us her incredible life stories (in Spanish), and she always had local food specialties for us. We had class from 9am to 1pm each day for a week, and wanted to volunteer in the afternoons. Unfortunately, the orphanage the school worked with was not allowing volunteers due to some recent abuse. So, instead, we assisted with English classes for a group of teenagers a couple of nights. We really enjoyed it, as we not only were able to help in a small way, but we also were able to practice our Spanish with them, and learned more about the culture. I didn’t know that many Bolivians believe in ghosts, we were told it is because houses in the countryside were built with adobe bricks containing the bones of deceased family members. As the soft bricks erode, the bones become visible! Sucre was a great experience, it was nice to have a daily routine and to sleep in the same bed for 8 nights in a row. From Sucre, it was on to La Paz.
Ironically named La Paz ("peace" in English), is a big, busy, noisy, city high up in the Andes. (As we were looking at our itinerary online, unknowingly to us, our browser translated La Paz, and Jesslyn said, "Uh oh, this is wrong, it says we are going somewhere called "Peace"). At nearly 12,000 feet above sea level it is the highest de facto capital in the world (remember it isn't the official capital). We were often reminded of the altitude as we gasped for breath walking up the steep hills. We did two different walking tours of the city and learned even more about the tumultuous history and the current political situation. Connected by one of several gondolas, is the economically challenged neighboring city of El Alto. It is home to a permanent market that covers 200 blocks, where you can find anything from food, to clothes, to hardware, and random auto parts. As we walked by a blanket that had a car axle, springs, and gears, I wondered how anyone could find the specific part they needed. El Alto is also home to comically ridiculous Cholita wrestling. Cholitas are the name given to the women who dress in the brightly colored traditional clothing, skirt, and often a bowler hat too small for their head. We were amused by the spectacle until we found ourselves getting caught in the crossfire as locals threw food and drink at the wrestlers they despised.
Traditional Bolivian woman meet WWF.
The public transportation in La Paz in interesting. There are many private minibuses that run regular routes and fill the void left by the small number of official city buses. The city buses are incredible, they are straight out of the 1970’s, literally. They are vintage 1970’s (my best estimate) Dodge buses painted with designs from the same era. I suppose the lack of salt on the roads helps to keep these beasts running. In contrast, the brand new gondolas, called the Teleferico are modern and efficient. There are currently three lines which connect various neighborhoods as well as the cities of La Paz and El Alto. Seven more lines are being planned to help alleviate the chaotic traffic and associated pollution and need for gasoline.
What year is this Dodge bus?
The city of La Paz from the Teleferico with Mt. Illimani looming in the background at over 21,000 feet.
The couple of days we spent there were plenty, and we were happy to leave La Paz to head to the much warmer Amazonian area of Bolivia near Rurrenabaque, but we'll save that for another post.
- Jake