Sucre, home away from home
After a few days of rest in Santa Cruz, we took yet another overnight bus, for about 13 hours this time, to the city of Sucre. Finally an overnight bus ride where our stomachs didn’t bother us. So it’s plenty of energy that we get woken up by loud Latin music and bright lights at 6:30 am as we arrive in Sucre.
We booked 3 nights in Javier’s hospedaje. We found his contact information in different blogs from other French travelers, and they all recommended this place. And boy they were right, Javier is by far the nicest and most generous host we have had. Before arriving in Sucre, we were able to exchange with Javier using Whatsapp to organize our stay. He recommended which bus company was the best to take from Santa Cruz to Sucre and he even proposed to come pick us up at the terminal when we arrived in Sucre at 6:30am. So nice and helpful! And indeed, there he was at 6:30am to pick us up and drive us to the hospedaje. We got to know him a little better on the ride to the hospedaje. Javier explains that he is an Economics professor at the university of Sucre, and tells us that he has 4 rooms that he rents out, and it just happens that a lot of French people come to spend several days or weeks in his hospedaje. Right away, he shows us a map of Sucre and what places to visit and where to go while we are here.
When we arrive at the hospedaje, we discover a nice little patio along a quiet road. In the back is our bedroom, with a private bathroom and a kitchen.
We are glad to have a little home to ourselves for the next few days, and more importantly our room is vacant so we can settle down and take a shower at 7am. Generally, the rooms in other hostels are only free in the beginning of the afternoon, so after a long overnight bus all we can do is simply drop off our big bags and start visiting the city. So being able to settle down in our room and take a nice shower before going in the city is close to luxury for us! We loved it.
The city of Sucre
Sucre is at 8,860 ft above sea level, and the weather is pretty nice year round. It is the constitutional capital of Bolivia. Indeed, if La Paz is now the administrative capital, Sucre is still the legislative capital. Nicknamed the white city because of its white colonial buildings, Sucre is a world heritage site since 1991.
Simon Bolivar Park
After a nice warm shower we went to visit the city of Sucre. We first stopped at the Simon Bolivar Park, located right by our hostel. The park isn’t very big but it is really nice to simply wander around.
At this time of day we can see students in the middle of their PE class, or Bolivians getting their morning run in. First time since we are in South America that we see people jogging!
In the middle of the park, we are surprise to see a miniature Eiffel Tower, and we can even climb to the top of it. It doesn’t really look like the real one but it was funny to see it in the middle of a park in Bolivia. After some research we learned that this was actually done by Gustave Eiffel himself as a gift to Bolivia.
Central Market
Not far from the park, we walked to the central market, generally one of our favorite places in each city we visit. Each time a different experience. This time we saw a full head of a cow just laying there on one of the stands, kind of wakes you up at 8:30am…
After walking around this large market, we stopped by the juice section to get ourselves a nice orange and mango juice. It’s always Maider’s favorite part the market :).
Since we have our own little place for a few days, we decided to do some grocery shopping at the market, so we can cook a little bit. After traveling for a while and always eating at different places, we are craving for something homemade.Plaza 25 de Mayo
As usual, the center of the city is dominated by the main Plaza, here the Plaza 25 de Mayo.
With its palm trees, the Plaza is very lively, with Bolivians coming here to meet, talk, feed the pigeons of just relax (some even take a little nap) on a bench.
The Plaza is surrounded by historical colonial buildings like the presidential palace, the cathedral and Bolivia’s supreme court.
The cemetery
You might think it’s a little odd to go visit a cemetery, but Javier insisted so much that we had to visit it, that we finally decided to go have a look. It is the first time that we visit a cemetery in South America and it is nothing like the ones we have in the US.
There are plenty of huge trees, plants and the grass is well kept. The tombstones are very well kept and it seems like the rich families have entire blocks of the cemetery dedicated to them.For others, a little glass case on these big walls, with the name and some type of decoration.
And let’s say the decoration can be a little weird in some cases, you do have the usual flowers, but you can also find little bottles of whisky, or Coke. Guess the guy really liked his whiskey and Coke…
Para Ti chocolate factory
After wandering around Sucre and its beautiful colonial buildings, we stopped at the Para Ti chocolate factory to have a sip of their famous Chocolate Espresso (really an intense chocolate milk served as an espresso)
and a piece of cake called Alfajor con manjar. Absolutely delicious! Sucre is known for its chocolate production, of course we couldn’t miss it.
Templo Nuestra Senora de la Merced and San Felipe Neri convent
The visit of the city continues with the church of the Merced. The golden decorations are beautiful and there is a great view on the city from its roof.
Then we visited the convent of San Felipe Neri. The place is no longer a convent but now a school for girls, and we can only visit it in the afternoon.
From the different terraces and its roof we have another amazing view of the city and it’s different white bell towers.
Mirador de La Recoleta
It’s by climbing pretty steep roads that we get to La Recoleta, in the higher part of the city. Here there is another convent we can visit, but we saw enough for today and instead prefer to go grab an ice cold beer at the bar, from which we have another amazing view on the city.
After that we went back to our hostel, where Matt cooked us a nice meal with the veggies bought at the market.
Casa de la Libertad
For our second day in Sucre we went to the must see of the city, the casa de la Libertad. The building is located right by the Plaza 25 de Mayo, and was built in the 17th century.
This building is the former house of Representatives, where all the founding documents have been written and signed, starting with Bolivia’s declaration of independence in 1825. We had a guided tour of the place with a French speaking guide! We learned a lot about Bolivia’s history, fun fact, Simon Bolivar, one of the main figures of the independence war, wanted to create the United States of South America. Instead the government decided to re-name the country after him (Bolivia), so he would be happy and stop talking about the United States of South America.
Once again we went to grab lunch at the local market. For less than $4 for both of us why bother to cook ?
Because Bolivia is famous for its silver mining, we decided to buy our wedding rings here. Indeed, after being married for 5 years, he still didn’t have wedding rings, so we decided to buy them during our trip around the world as a symbol of our experience together. After visiting a few jewelries, we found what we were looking for and had our rings made. We would need to come and pick them up the next day.
After being on the road for almost 2 months, Matt needed a haircut. So here we go to look for a hairdresser, and funny thing here, all hairdressers have a bunch a pictures of famous soccer players or other celebrities hanging outside and on their walls… And for less than $4, Matt comes out with a nice haircut.
El Patio Salteneria
For our third day in Sucre, Javier invited us to taste some excellent salteñas. Salteñas are a little bit like Empanadas, with meat and veggies in a spicy sauce inside. The mix is sweet and sour and absolutely delicious. The salteneria has a cute and quiet little patio.
We had a great time with Javier, who told us some stories about other travelers who had stayed at his hospedaje, and gave us some tips for the remaining of our trip in Bolivia. He also talked about the difference between Bolivians and Peruvians, and it seems like in Bolivia they really don’t like people from Peru…
Our last afternoon in Sucre was quiet. We spent it in the patio of our hospedaje, taking advantage of the nice and sunny weather.
In the evening we went to grab a drink to celebrate our rings, followed by an amazing dinner at a French restaurant.
Javier was waiting for us at the hostel when we came back. He proposed to continue celebrating with a typical Bolivian cocktail : the Chuflay. The Chuflay is a mixed drink made with Singani, the typical Bolivian liquor made from distilled grapes, and mixed with Sprite or Ginger Ale, lemon and ice. In this case Javier did it with Sprite.
Since we hadn’t tasted the Chuflay yet, we had to accept! Our neighbor from across the hall, a man from New Zealand, joined us and we spent the night all 4 of us in the kitchen, talking about the world, our different trips, the Bolivian culture etc… It was one of our best nights since starting our trip.
These few days in Sucre have been great. We are finally both cured, no more stomach pain or stomach flu, so we could finally both enjoy the city and get some meaningful rest. It was also great to have a place where we really felt at home in Javier’s hospedaje. The city itself is very clean and quiet. And finally Javier was the most welcoming possible, meeting him will certainly remain one of the highlights of our trip.
After 3 days in Sucre, we went to Potosi. One of the highest city in the world, known for it’s silver mining.