Bits of Bolivia (Potosi and Sucre)

Although I stil felt a little ill after the salt flats trip, I decided to keep moving (too cold in Uyuni) and get the bus to Potosi. There was much confusion about which bus I should actually be on and, because of the snow, we were told we might have to walk 2km at some point on the trip to change bus. When we finally set off we drove for about 40 minutes before coming to a stop on a hill covered in snow. After about 45 minutes of the driver doing something outside at the front of the bus, we moved forward about 10 metres before stopping again... this went on for some time and I began to wonder if we'd ever make it to Potosi. Eventually we got moving and, as we rounded a corner, I was able to see that we were in a convoy of about 10 buses... at the same time, about 10 buses passed us going in the other direction.

The journey went pretty smoothly after this but it meant we arrived in Potosi, one of the highest cities in the world, after dark. I couldn't see any taxis at the bus station and wondered how I was going to find my way around. Fortunately, a couple of French guys from the bus had a map so I started walking with them in the direction of my hostel. They were speeding ahead, but the uphill walk in the altitude was a struggle for me so I decided to hail a taxi and take the easy route. My hostel turned out to be quite far away so I definitely made the right decision. The hostel was really lovely but the altitude, and lingering illness was taking its toll. I went for a brief wander to find some food to try and keep my blood sugar stable, but the smell in most of the restaurants just made me feel more sick! I finally managed to stomach some chips from a stall on the street, and headed home for an early night.

The next day, I had a brief wander around Potosi, which was very beautiful, but decided to head straight on to Sucre and lower altitude.

Sucre is known as the Kodak town because of it's beautiful white buildings, and seemed the perfect place to spend a few days. For the first two nights I treated myself to a hotel (still cheap in UK terms) as I still wasn't feeling right. Having a TV, my own private bathroom (with boiling hot water) and a double bed with sheets that were soft because they were good quality rather than because they had been washed too many times, was absolute bliss! Strangely enough, I was in room 101!

I spent a few days wandering round the beautiful whitewashed streets of Sucre then, on Friday, Wendy and Gordon (who I met in Cafayate) arrived so we met up for dinner. It was really nice to catch up and we arranged to head to the dinosaur park the next day to see the famous dinosaur footprints. Waking up with a slightly heavy head on Saturday, I met Wendy (Gordon was suffering from the altitude) and we boarded the incredibly touristy 'dinosaur bus' to the park. I'm not sure quite what we were expecting, but it certainly wasn't what we found. The park consisted of a view point over a wall where there are apparently over 5000 dinosaur tracks (these were barely visible) and huge model dinosaurs with recorded roaring sounds. We were stuck there for nearly two hours, but fortunately we found a place to sit in the sun and chat!

On Sunday, my last day, we arranged to meet up at the mirador, overlooking the city, for some lunch and a drink. We had a beautiful view in this very relaxing cafe, so much so that I even braved the walk up there the next morning before getting the bus to La Paz.