A travel blog of a journey that I started in 2010 and I don't know when it will end ...

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Sucre and surroundings

We arrive at Sucre when is already dark, we look after accommodation in the centre, we find a cheap place. It’s not perfect, but we wanted to stay only one night in Sucre and go at the surrounding areas of Sucre to do a trek of some days.



We have dinner at the Market, is a sure bet in Bolivia. A big dish of rice, fried potatoes, some meat and a bit of salad for 10 Bolivians (1€). We drink a maracuya juice that prepares a woman on the other side of the market, and the woman that serves us the food makes a loud notice to the other to have tree glasses for us.

At night we walk around the main square 25 de mayo and the surroundings. The city more organized that I’ve seen since now in Bolivia. Maybe is because is the capital of Bolivia, no?
We wake up with the idea of go straight to the villages, but we end up at noon. We go to the information tourist to ask for a map and some information.
There they tell us that there are working in the road to Chataquila (the place we want to reach first) and only at 12am they allow to pass the buses and tracks and they recommend that we might go where the buses go around 6:30 am to catch a bus that leaves around 8 am.

So we stay another night in Sucre. We change the accommodation, we move to La Casona Blanca. Much more warming and with la Senyora Isabel that is very familiar and nice. We have a room for tree at the price of 100 Bolivianos.
Ana wants to put the vaccine of yellow fiber and we go with her. We see hospitals and zones of Sucre that are far from the touristic routes. We eat at the bar of the faculty of Medicine a Chicharonzitos and after some time looking for the place that can put the vaccine today we go to buy some food for our trip to the villages.
For dinner we eat Chinese. With Anna we had this wondering for days and today is the day. Has been difficult to find the restaurant because everybody says anything before say “I don’t know”. So, after walk a while and ask 4 or 5 times we find the place. We share many dishes, one of them dumplings!!!



Next morning we wake up at 6 am to at 6:30 am take a bus to the area where the buses go to Chataquila. There is nobody there! There is a lot of closed small shops and few of them they seem to start open, but no sign of any bus or truck. They say that a bit later we will find what we are looking for. So, we take out the gas camping and we prepare some coffee, we eat some yogurt with cereals.


And from this moment we watch how starts to become alive. Little by little starts to arrive trucks, buses, Mamitas with plenty of packages, taxis... and also all the small shops open their doors... We pass to be alone to be a lot of company.
When the ticket office finally open, they tell us that the bus is not going earlier than 10!
So, we make time in a shop that serves tortas and tujuri with milk. With Susana, the woman that runs the shop, we talk a lot and she end up giving us some lessons of Quechua.
When is getting close to 10 the activity is maximum. 5 buses and 10 trucks to transport people are waiting the time to go.

We take the bus and finally leave us at Chataquila, a small church at 3600m where pass the camino pre-hispánico or also called Camino del Inca. We have lunch there and we start to descends till the village of Chaunaca. Path made with stones in most of the way and descending 600m very lightly.



When we arrive at the village, the more difficult is say where the village...is I explain, there are a lot of groups of houses along the valley and is very confusing... We ask where we can camp, and they tell us that we should go to ask at the school. The school is the centre of the activity of the valley. There is the school, the doctor, the dentist and the room to do the assemblies of the community.
There is happening a meeting of the community, but they tell us that we can camp near the church.
We meet the doctor and the teacher of the village and we talk about the live style at the valley.
In the morning, after the breakfast we go at the school because we arranged with the teacher to see how they work. Ana is teacher and she is interest to see how they work. The class is on and we don’t want to interrupt.
And then a couple of French’s appear at the village, Jermmy and Cecilia. We meet them at the market in Potosí.


We pack the camp and start walking to the next village, Marawa. The path is going up and down with the company of the strong sun. The landscape is beautiful, some felts with a small house and the rocky mountains at the background.
At Marawa we camp with the French’s at the school. We have dinner with them at Dora’s room. She is a woman that takes care of some workers that are building a new school.



The night is wonderful, the sky is great to see the stars and after a while the moon appears.
In the middle of the night we wake up with the noise of tree workers that are completely drank... The two Ana’s were sleeping in a class (more warm) and they move in the tent. We were tens all night.
When we wake up, we have breakfast and pack the camp fast. We want to take a transport in Quila Quila that is at 2 o 3 hours walking.
The path to Quila Quila is the nicer. Houses of adobe next to the paths with some of the land as felts with views at the rocky formations.



We arrive just 10 minutes before the truck goes to Sucre, we really want some more time in the village, but is the only transport for today.

Our first experience with a truck is heavy. The truck already arrive full of people and with all the people that join the truck in the village is fuller. The truck is picking people all along the way and the people try to be comfortable himself at any price... One doesn’t know to cry or smile!



The 3 hours till Sucre leave us without energy. We won to take a night bus to Cochabamba but we decide to do another night at Sucre and rest.
We have lunch at the market with Jermey and Cecilia.
In the Morning we have breakfast late and we go to buy the bus ticket to Cochabamba.
Then we visit the Recoleta, the lookout of Sucre. There I met again with Daniela (Holland) another time!
We have lunch together and we make some time for the bus.

Some photos
2011-05-Sucre i voltants (BOL) https://photos.app.goo.gl/FGEVZWBB2WRphwCr9

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