Worried About Ray - The Hoosiers

Sucre is officially the capital of Bolivia, although unofficially it's La Paz, since that's the main political and commercial commercial centre now. But it's by far the most attractive city we've visited in Bolivia so far, and the nicest hotel too, which is good since we have 3 nights here. Had a cultural tour of the city, taking in a few museums, including the old mint which thanks to its proximity to the silver mines of Potosi, used to produce coins for the majority of the Spanish empire. It's a sign of the country's decline since then that their currency is now produced in France!

And a few of us went mountain biking too. Now I've probably lost a bit of fitness in the past 6 months, but I still don't think I'm in bad shape, but the 3km climb to get out of the city nearly killed me. At 4000m, you just can't seem to get the oxygen into your lungs that your body is begging for. I was reassured to see the local tour guide gasping for breath too, and thankfully the next 20km was downhill, where we met a bus to take us back to the city.

Carnival atmosphere is stepping up, with water pistols and bombs seemingly around every corner now. I think we'll need to arm ourselves for the carnival parade in La Paz.

written by

phileasdogg on February 19, 2009 from Sucre, Bolivia

from the travel blog: Planes, Trains & Taxiwallahs

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