After the initial shock of Potosi, and Bolivian life itself, Sucre was a much easier going town, filled with colonial European style whitewashed buildings, and being at a lower altitude and in a more fertile area, there were actually trees! We hadn’t seen trees for a few weeks now, and were beginning to forget what they were, when BAM! What do we see? A grey gum tree. Incredible things. Love em.
We found ourselves a place to crash, which was actually pretty fancy (still super cheap – about $15/night) and set about checking out the centre of town. This place, honestly, had the best markets we have ever seen (at that point ;)) and again craving some freshness, dove right in and bought a whole bunch of incredibly cheap, super tasty cheese, fruit and veg. And AVOS! Chile had avocados, but they all had a weird taste, so we were hankering for a nice avo – and they ticked all boxes that afternoon.
We couldn’t figure out how these people could sell all the produce – it was amazing the volume of fresh food that was available, and there was probably 30 different stalls of just fresh produce. Check out the pics below, and you will know what we mean. Part of the markets (and we have to give this find to Vasiles) was a section of food stalls that sold full meals, and this was the real Bolivia –where they ate lunch each day. This place was absolutely run by the cholitas (older Bolivian women – hard as rock these ladies), and it was amazing how cheap and well you could eat. Sure the place might not have passed anyone’s sanitary laws back home, but we figured if others are eating it, then we wouldn’t die either. And it was great. We ate there pretty much every lunchtime, side by side with Bolivian men, women and school kids, each getting their chuletas (steak) with rice, salad and a drink – for about 80c. They had some killer chorizos too. MAN that’s was some spicy action!
After a few days of eating, relaxing and a night out boozing, we decide to check out some trips we could do in the surrounding areas, some trekking, some bike riding, others on horses and hello – whats this? Motorbikes. J. Hell yes. Vasiles didn’t trust his skills on a bike too heavily, and Boos Boos hates the things (motorbikes = hospital visit), so they took a couple of horses and a guide and Doodles met up with a local guys who ran these moto tours.
Having not ridden in about a year, Doodles was a little apprehensive about battling the loco Bolivian traffic on a motorbike. But all was well, and arriving at the rendezvous, what was waiting for him but a DT200, the same as he had thrashed around the Hunchy farm with Clancy, so it was like (excuse the pun) riding a bike, and off they went for 4hrs of fun in the surrounding mountains. No need for super detail, but it was an absolutely great way to explore the beautiful area, have some fun and guess what?! Mum – when I get home I buying a bike J.
Boos Boos was feeling eerily similar feelings about jumping on a horse again as the first and last time she rode a horse was when she was 16. The tour guide gave Boos Boos the biggest horse, Santana (hint hint nudge nudge: lose some weight gringa), which also turned out to be the leader of the pack. As I was being a bit of a whimp I was taking it easy but Vasiles wanted to feel the wind in his hair. Every time he attempted to pass us, Santana would get a trot up and cut off them off. At one point we were going through a town and Santana actually bailed the other horse up against a wall he was that determined to maintain is macho-ness – Bloody males! We arrived in a town where we were to have afternoon tea with an Italian/Bolivian woman. She was the sweetest little (she honestly came up to my chest – smaller than my mum!) woman I have met this whole trip. Feeding us bread and goats cheese and trying to talk to her in Spanish. Luckily Vasiles was with me as he did most of the talking. The day ended with us ditching the horses and catching a local bus back to the hostel to find Doodles in one piece (lucky boy!) and nursing a frio (cold) cerveza.
We ended up staying in Sucre for longer than we intended, as we got into the vibe of the place and it was a great place to setting for a while and embrace some Bolivian culture. The majority of Bolivians (as with most Sud American countries) are Catholic, so one thing we have found is giant Jebus and Mary statues. Sucre had a giant Jebus on the hill overlooking the city, so Doodles decided on some exercise one afternoon and climbed the hill to find Jesus – and here he is brought to your screen in all his metallic glory J.
We were off to La Paz next, and from what we had heard it was going to pretty hectic b-man, so spending a little extra time here was definitely worth it. A definite must do if you come to Bolivia – and don’t be a woos bag – eat in the markets baby!
We just paid 150 BOBS (about $40) for a super mega good cama seat for the 14hr trip to La Paz. We have heard it’s the worst – lets just wait and see…
Peace and Love
Doodles and Boos Boos
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