Bolivia: Sucre. The White City

So I made it to Santa Cruz. This is a bold statement considering that all my worst fears came true regarding the overnight bus from Sucre. It wasn´t bad: it was the worst bus experience of my life. The bus was pretty old and it was completely overcrowded. There were lots of people and kids all over the place and, when I say all over the place, I mean: groups of 4 people seating in 2-people seats, kids sleeping on the corridor, animals (luckily only dogs; I have heard reports of live chickens on buses here) and even two kids who were travelling on the luggage compartment. Of course, I had to have a mother with her child by my side, which made 3 of us for 2 seats.....and it goes without saying, I found the little boy partially sleeping on my lap at some points of the trip.

The driving was very insane, to the point that it was difficult to fall asleep. To this, we can add that the road was mostly unpaved, narrow and full of close turns. The engine stopped leaving us stuck in the middle of nowhere for a while - and in the middle of the night. But the worst thing by far happened when I finally managed to fall asleep. I was woken up by the sound of shattered glass when our bus collided with another bus at a slow speeding in a really narrow part of the road. No major damage to any passenger, but I guess some people had to continue their ride with some glass around and a chilly night breeze coming into the bus. Now I am so glad I chose the right side of the bus.

So that was it. I am happy to be alive. ONCE MORE. I am almost done with the Bolivian roads.

In the meantime, I have uploaded some pictures of Sucre for you to see. No wonder why they call it "the white city" of South America. The city centre, full of colonial buildings with white facades, lots of palm trees and lovely squares, has a bit of Madrid and Andalusia to it. It somehow feels like having left the other areas of El Altiplano way behind when you come to a place like this, despite it is not far from Potosi.  Sucre, also known at other points of time as La Plata, Charcas and Chuquisaca, is the constitutional capital of Bolivia, despite the fact that the government was transferred to La Paz in 1898. However, people from Sucre still call it "La capital" and have an issue with the "capitalidad". Capital or not, it certainly looks more beautiful than La Paz does whether the paceños like this or not. It also has a way warmer climate and a really laid back lifestyle. It feels like a small town. Not necessarily a bad thing at all.

At this precise moment I am in Santa Cruz, alive and well, and following the trace of the Che Guevara trail. But if you want to know more about this, you will have to wait for the next chapter...