Day
1
Before exploring Sucre we had a few chores to
do; like tracking down a post box in which to deposit the post cards we’d been
carrying around for 10 days and buying a bus ticket to La Paz. We were feeling peckish so headed towards the
market where we’d heard you could get the best chorizo sausage butties in the
whole of Bolivia. As you know we’ve been
to many a market but this one really grabbed our attention and we had a great
time exploring all its nooks and crannies.
Not only was there lots of fresh food available but some stalls
resembled mini supermarkets and others catered for all manner of household
needs.
We tracked down the butty stall and found that
the locals have every right to be proud of their bangers. We washed it down with a fresh fruit juice
where even we didn’t recognise all the fruits on offer. Behind us were the potato sellers – you’ve
never seen such bags of spuds and as for the number of varieties…. Apparently there are up to 200 types in this
part of the world and judging by the fact that every meal seems to have to
consist of spud in some shape or form we’re likely to get round to trying quite
a number.
We then wandered around the main streets in
the centre of Sucre which were very pretty with their old buildings and
squares. We decided to walk uphill to
see if we could find a view over-looking the city and found ourselves in the
Recoletta area. Here we found the
miraflores and very pleasant the view was but the biggest treat was we’d been
able to walk around in t-shirt sleeves and trainers. Being within the realms of 2000m and no
arctic blast to contend with the place felt positively tropical!
Day
2
The group for today’s side trip all gathered
at the bar in time and we were soon off, out of Sucre and into the surrounding
mountains. In fact we drove for about 1½
hours and climbed up to Chataquila (4100m), where we would start our downhill
walk along an old Inca trail. We
descended into a valley surrounded by spectacular scenery with the highest density
of plants and trees we’d seen plus they were the greenest. There was definitely a feel of spring in the
air and dotted along the path were many colourful flowers. Although the walk was only a stroll it was
very enjoyable as once again we found ourselves in nice company. It proved to be quite a popular walk so we
didn’t see any animals but there were plenty of birds fluttering around and
we’re sure we got our first glimpse of a large hummingbird.
The walk ended in the lovely little village of
Chauncha and the lady who owned the Locots bar through which we’d booked the
walk had a small hotel there. We were
all invited inside to use the facilities and have a good look around then she
declared that lunch was ready. We hadn’t
expected this as we’d opted for the lunch box option that was still in our
bag. By this point we realised that most
of the group knew each other and we’d basically paid to tag along on a jaunt
they had planned anyway. It was very
kind of her to include us in lunch, which was yummy, and served on terracotta
crockery in her lovely dining room.
We’ve told her she really needs to get the place on the internet we’re sure
people would love to chill out there for a few days and go trekking in the
surrounding mountains. In fact it was
just the sort of place that Steve and I would be proud to call ours.
We felt the day had been very good value at
Bob 150 a head and it nicely filled in our day instead of sitting in Sucre
twiddling our thumbs waiting for the night bus to La Paz. It’s very easy to see why people spend longer
than they originally planned in Sucre as it is a lovely town, with very
friendly people and plenty to do in the area.
Unfortunately we had a hotel and treks booked in the capital or we would
have been tempted to linger.
http://www.bolivia-online.net/en/sucre/136/locots-caf%C3%A9-aventura-sucre-bolivia
