Finding sweetness in Sucre

Next Stop: Sucre, Boliva (May 3 - 6, 2011). Our Bolivian salt flats crossing ended in Uyuni, Bolivia. There isn't really anything to do in Uyuni so we just spent the night there and headed off the next morning on a bus to Sucre. We booked the nine hour bus ride for the exorbitant price of $9 CAD (and that was the more expensive option). Choosing your public transportation in Bolivia is like taking a shot in the dark, you hope for the best (this was becoming a common trend in Bolivia). There are numerous bus companies but no discernible difference between them. The only thing we knew for sure was that we wanted to travel by daylight, as we had heard horror stories of drivers nipping from the bottle on night rides. Also, we knew that the roadways would be harrowing with the narrow roadways and steep cliff sides and we figured that we might as well be able to witness our own demise rather than fear the unknown in the dark. So, we again went with our gut feeling and booked our tickets with our fingers crossed. The next morning when we caught the first glimpse of our bus and we saw that the front of it was emblazoned with the word "CRAZY", we knew we were in for the ride of our lives.

A few observations from our bus ride:

• Our luggage was thrown on top and covered with a tarp and a bit of bungee cord. I figured that I was lucky enough to be sitting on the same side of the bus that my bag was packed on so that if it should fall off along the way I could at least have the chance to see it tumble off the cliff side.
• I dressed in five layers of clothes for the bus ride and I was still cold! The bus company was kind enough to provide each passenger with a blanket, and I was grateful, despite the fact that the blanket smelled as though it was fresh from a llama farm.
• One hour underway, we got a flat tire.
• In total, about half of the road was paved, the rest was gravel, and there was one stream crossing.
• Yes, the cliffs were sheer and there were no guard rails. Our driver, bless him, honked his horn before every blind curve. There were some white knuckle moments and, miraculously, I found the ability to nap.
• Our nine hour bus journey ultimately turned into eleven (is it any surprise really?).

We had a stop in Potosi to change buses before continuing on to Sucre. While all the passengers (which all happened to be tourists) stood around retrieving their bags and sorting out where to catch the next bus, there was a girl of about ten, a little thief-in-training, circling the group, eyeing up the bags, looking for an opportunity. I watched her with mild amusement for awhile and when I caught her eye I gave her the universal I'm-watching-you symbol. She smiled coyly and kept on with her work. Although what she was doing was wrong, I felt sorry for her, this poor girl, because this was her reality. Forget about education and just being a kid, she was being raised into this life, her father watching nearby. Her present is her future. 

--------

Sucre is a pretty little city that sits in a valley surrounded by low mountains. It holds the honour of being a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is no surprise, really, given its whitewashed buildings set in colonial architecture. It is very easy on the eyes. It also happens to be the constitutional capital of Bolivia (La Paz is the governmental capital).

 

On our first day we made a trip to the Parque Cretácico (a dinosaur park) to view real dinosaur footprints from the Cretaceous period - sixty-eight million years ago. The footprints were discovered only 20 years ago when grounds at a cement quarry were being cleared and employees uncovered the limestone wall bearing over 6000 tracks from over 150 different species of dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the limestone walls are crumbling so the footprints won't be around much longer. In fact, only ten months ago, a large portion of the wall collapsed and turned to dust.

There's nothing quite like standing there, looking at sixty million year old fossils to make you feel like an inconsequential blip on the map of life.

Our ride to the Dinosaur park, the Dino Truck...
Yes, that is a Dino head on the front






Yeah, that's my Dino imitation

Fake Dino's but, I mean, what else do
you put in a park like this?



No details left out of these replicas

 

Voila!! Some of the Dino footprints. No, Dino's didn't scale cliffs, this piece of earth was 
once horizontal, but due to the earth's movements, it was pushed up vertically. 

 

View of Sucre from the Dino park. It gives you an indication of how hilly Bolivia is.

 The rest of our time in Bolivia was spent taking in the city, its parks and its market. 

A mini replica of l'Arc de Triomphe

A mini replica of the Tour Eiffel

 

Stayed: Hostal Charcas, Sucre. We had a room with 2 twin beds, cable TV, and an ensuite bathroom for $10 CAD per night. Ridiculous. It was very good value for the price.

Met: Again, Mike (from Uruguay, Torres del Paine, Mendoza) makes an appearance. He must be some sort of stalker. Just kidding, we weren't sure exactly when he and Laurie would rejoin us, but we were pleasantly surprised when we randomly ran into them on the street in Sucre.

Ate: The central market in Sucre had the most amazing produce. The mangos were to die for. They changed my life.



At one of the many juice bars in the market.

Fresh produce - a.k.a our breakfast

                                                     
Quotes:
"Why am I still wearing my sunglasses?" -Me, in a moment of realization, while stargazing on the bus to Sucre (it was well past dark).

Scene - Jane is in the shower. Erin is watching TV. TV turns to static.
"There's something wrong with the TV."
Shower stops. Silence except for TV static.
"Jane..???!!"
- Erin's poltergeist moment. The hilarity came from the rising panic in her voice as she called out my name.

Don't bring your open wounds to the Salar de Uyuni

Next Stop: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia (April 30 - May 2, 2011). One of the biggest attractions in Bolivia is crossing the Salar de Uyuni (salt flats) in a 4x4 vehicle over 3 days. (Because of the dangerous terrain, it is in your best interest to experience this part of Bolivia with an organized tour.) We chose to depart from San Pedro, Chile and end in Uyuni, Bolivia. (The only other departure points for the crossing are Uyuni and Tupizia, Bolivia). Luckily, in San Pedro there are numerous tour agencies that offer these trips - unfortunately, each one has mixed reviews. We visited a few agencies and essentially based our decision on the company that gave us the best "feeling." That's about all you can do, hope for the best. Hope that you get a good driver and a good 4x4, and hope that someone on your tour speaks Spanish, if you don't, because your driver won't know any English besides a few basic words. We chose Expediciones Estrella del Sur and we're glad that we did. Our 4x4 was in great condition, our driver, Andreas, was excellent, and our trip overall was AMAZING.

Saw: The Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat, covering approximately 11,000 sq km and it lies at about 3653m above sea level. If altitude sickness doesn't take your breath away, the stunningly beautiful landscapes surely will. It is such an otherworldly place that trying to describe it in writing hardly does it justice. I'll leave it to the pictures to re-cap the 3 day adventure.

The first stop was the Bolivian border crossing, definitely the
most rustic immigration stop I have ever come across. 

 

Everyone "does their business" behind this broken
down bus at the border



                          

                             Laguna Verde



Polques Hot Springs (The water was about 38C - the air maybe 5C)



Morning Sun Geyser - such a cheery name
 for something that emits toxic sulfur

                 

             Red lagoon with pink flamingos. The flamingos are pink because of
       the red algae they eat. Who knew?!

Do as the flamingos do

Our sweet ride

Desert lovin'

Rock tree - this is a natural formation



Volcano Ollague - it is active as you can see in
the tiny plume of smoke in the picture



Such risk takers! 



               

         Andreas concentrating on the risky water crossing (the salt flats were still a little flooded).
Our group was actually the first group to make the crossing this season since
the plains were still somewhat flooded from the rainy season.



A little less water, a little more salt

A salt island amid the flooded salt plains

                                  

                                   Isla de Los Pescadores (Fisherman's Island).
                                  A totally out-of-place island in the middle of the salt flats covered in cacti.
                              Some are thousands of years old.



Is it just me, or is this bizarre? A sea of salt, a desert island full of cacti and a mountain in the background...
what planet is this?



And now for the fun perspective shots on the salt flats:

Met: We had an awesome time in our 4x4 with Anthony and Claire (France) and Christina (USA) and of course, our amazing and loveable driver, Andreas. I can't thank him enough for keeping us safe and for ensuring that our trip was one that we'll never forget.



Stayed:

Hostal Huallajara - Our accomodation on the first night. I won't sugarcoat it, it was basic...and freezing!



    Hotel Candelaria - Our accomodation on the second night.
It was a salt hotel, entirely made of salt bricks. The staff
were so lovely and the rooms were very cute...albeit salty.