South America, Days 26 to 28 - Stage 6: La Paz to Sucre, Bolivia

In San Pedro Plaza with Crazy Dave. Check out the YouTube video below of his presentation (if it uploads in time)

Day 26 Sunday 

We did both enjoy our curry last night, though neither of us could finish. We didn't however enjoy the pouring rain all the way home.

What to do with ourselves today? We have a one hour flight at 19.30 (rather than the 12 hour overnight bus journey, which would have been half the price, but you arrive feeling rubbish, probably unable to get in to your room....it's what we would have done last time, but how times have changed!)

I'd reserved this place to put the YouTube video I've

put together of Crazy Dave, but it's taking so long to upload on the wifi 

here that I've given up. 17% upload after 3 hours! I'll add it to the next blog

it'll be well worth watching!

We don't have to check out till midday, but he posted the blog last night so we might as well go out. Google maps says the Mamani Mamani art museum is closed, which is a real shame, but that the Murillo museum was open till 13.00. we retraced the route we'd done with Johnny, but how different it was on a Sunday, so quiet. Surprisingly the art gallery was open which we were both pleased about, we both really loved the colours, but couldn't even contemplate buying at this point. The Murillo museum however wasn't! We drifted around for a bit, found a market and an iced coffee before heading to San Pedro Plaza for 13.00. This is the time that Johnny said Crazy Dave does his presentation.

The notorious San Pedro prison, La Paz with queues of women waiting to go inside

Crazy Dave is an ex NY coke head. Lives on the street apparently (though unlike his slightly irritating friend, he didn't actually smell) and would be identifiable by being dressed all in green. We were a few minutes early so we sat on a bench watching the women queuing to get into the prison, and the policemen just milling about in the square. He was easily identifiable, and just as I pointed him out to Brian he approached us to ask if we were here for the presentation?

Side entrance to the 'private wing' of San Pedro prison with queues of women waiting to go inside to be with their husbands

He talked for an hour, to us and at least another 5 people, going off on tangents and being right in your face. He didn't mind photos or being videoed though whether Brian can manage to edit anything down today remains to be seen. We got a potted life story, basically coming down to how he ended up being arrested in Bolivia for trying to smuggle out 2 bottles of cocaine liquid and put into San Pedro for 14 years. His first year was hell, the second easy when the bosses realised he could help their kids with English, paying him 6g of cocaine a day. He then went to work in the cocaine factory before becoming one of the prison tour guides!

Cheers from The English Pub, La Paz

He seemed like a nice guy, didn't feel threatening, was very funny and has been doing this talk for tips for at least 7 years. He's well overstayed his time in Bolivia, but can't go back to the USA as the alimony he owes his ex wife (whose affair with his drug supplier produced the 3rd baby, that tipped him over the edge) is more money than he can ever hope to lay his hands on. Intelligent and well practiced the presentation was an hour, almost to the minute, that we all enjoyed spending with him.

Our small local plane to take us from La Paz to Sucre

A late lunch at the English bar, fish and chips for B and sausage and mash for me, with the end of the England v Ireland football game and we went back to the hotel to wait for our airport taxi.

It was early, so we were early, couldn't check in, but they did eventually let us. All very laid back. As we went through for boarding, down some stairs and out onto the tarmac, there didn't appear to be a plane, but there's was, a tiny jet, but that's ok. It took off early, I guess all passengers were onboard and for some reason did the whole flight in the dark, apart from checking we were all buckled up before coming in to land! Unsurprisingly we landed early too, our bags were through promptly but how great, there was our taxi driver with a sign with our name on.

Lovely Sucre. The centre of town is beautifully kept with these fabulous white buildings. This one is the Autonomous Departmental Government of Chuquisaca  building

We were out of the airport before we should even have landed and off for half an hour to our hotel in Sucre.

View from the plaza. Its the government building on the right and the tower of the cathedral on the left

Day 27 Monday 

A slightly late start, but we hadn't got anything planned for Sucre, the official capital of Bolivia, just to wander around and look at the attractive white colonial buildings. We walked to the park and went up the Eiffel tower and basically drifted with a vengeance finally finishing up with a rooftop visit to the San Felipe Nero convent, now a school, but used to be a monastery ( no I don't know how a convent used to be a monastery either). The prime reason for visiting was to go to the roof and look out over the city. Well worth it. See our Relive video with photos: click here

This is still on the plaza but at 90 degrees and, this building is the Casa de la Libertad, a very important building not only in the history of Bolivia, but of all of South America for it was here that the declaration of independence from Spain was signed on 6th August 1825. It was signed by none other than Simon Bolivar and Mariscal Antonio Jose de Sucre, after whom the city was named 

In between drifting we had been in communication with a cruise company in the UK offering what seemed like a great deal on a trip from San Antonio (close to Santiago in Chile) round, the bottom, passing Antarctica, The Falkland Islands finishing up in Buenos Aires. For 22 days in February. I think we have a cabin but the promotion seems to have taken everyone by surprise!

We went in, well, we had to, this is history before us and this is Simon Bolivar, recognised as the liberator of South America from Spain

Day 28 Tuesday 

We both woke up a little late, but we'd neither slept well. Very hot, despite the thunderstorm outside. 

And here is the declaration of independence document. Like the American declaration of independence it was signed before freedom was obtained, it was a declaration of intent. Many more years of fighting the Spanish were ahead of them

We had been contemplating a taxi to Potosi, our next destination, tomorrow, but what our lady at the hotel said it should cost compared to what the taxi company who brought us from the airport quoted, we've decided to get the bus. We yomped to the bus station to buy tickets for tomorrow as time was a bit tight but the process seems to have been quite easy. £3 for 3-4 hour bus journey tomorrow as opposed to somewhere between £24 and £38 for a taxi!

This room was covered by the past presidents of Bolivia and I included this photo as, top left is Juan Moralis, the ex president and prospective president for next years election that we wrote about in our last post

We got back in time to pick up the Dino bus which took us out to the local cement factory. In 1994 while mining limestone one of the largest collections of fossilized dinosaur footprints in the world was found on a vertical wall. According to Wikipedia there are a total of 12,092 individual dinosaur tracks in 465 trackways. Nine different morphotypes of dinosaur tracks have been documented, including several trackways of theropods, ornithopods, ankylosaurs, and sauropods, with the latter group accounting for 26% of the trackways.

This is Independence Hall, the seat of the government of Bolivia until 1898  

It was an amazing site, albeit on a vertical wall rather than a lake bed, perhaps this made it easier to see. A few years ago a section fell down, only to expose more footprints underneath, fortunately it's not on good limestone so the quarry doesn't mind the visitors and guided tours. Their opinion might be different if they actually wanted to use the material.

From the top of the room looking back is this fabulous balcony

Back to the room, I've written and Brian is looking at video clips of Crazy Dave. It could take a while for the blog to be published. 

This is the actual flag of General Manuel Belgrano (anyone remember the ship General Belgrano that was sunk by the British in the Falklands War?). He was commander of the Army of the North and it was used to swear in his troops. This ensign fluttered victoriously at the Battle of Salta on 20th February 1813 and as the army climbed to Alto Peru. They were defeated there and the flag was hidden in a church near Potosi as they retreated. It was found accidentally 72 years later in 1885 hidden in an altar 

Tomorrow we go to Potosi so after 3 nights at a couple of hundred metres lower than we had been, tomorrow we go to just over 4000m!

It was a thoroughly enjoyable visit and we took in a lot of history over a couple of hours, so it was time for refreshments!

As we came out there was some sort of protest going on in the plaza. It seemed pretty peaceful so I risked taking a photo. No idea what it was all about, but they'd marched halfway round the plaza chanting something

Just a short walk away was Simon Bolivar Park and this was the entrance

A small park but quite pleasant. It even had a miniature Eiffel Tower in the middle, a creation of the famous Gustav Eiffel himself apparently

It had a little spiral staircase so it had to be climbed! Here we are at the top, it wobbled a little!

Don't look down! Oh, too late

Walking back and working up an appetite for dinner we went into the San Felipe Nero Convent and climbed up to the roof. What a lovely building!

Looking over the rooftops of Sucre to the hills beyond

Exploring the roof of the convent

On the left is the end of the convent and the white wall to the right is a separate building with a big drop between. We both said that, if this was a James Bond movie he would be leaping from one to the other chased by a criminal. It looked very doable!

Over there is, on the left, the government building and, on the right the bell tower of the cathedral, our next destination

And here we are in the cathedral. Very nice place

Todays visit was to the nearby dinosaur footprints rock face. Its in a working limestone quarry where they are making Portland Cement and, on this face in 1994 they uncovered a whole slab containing the worlds largest collection of dinosaur footprints  

They are quite impressive from a distance, but recently a new path has been opened to allow us to get right up to them, but only with a guide

Amazing you can see how the mud (as it was then) deformed under their weight 

You can see  how the animal wandered along what was then a flat beach  or shallow lake. It's been tilted to near vertical by the movement of the Pacific plate under the Atlantic plate that raised the Andes mountain chain

Jackie giving an indication of the size of the footprints

The print of a three toed something or other

It'll be one of those, I'll let you decide

There was quite a nice museum attached. Here's a cast of a print they found 

Along with some life size models. This one is the largest dinosaur

And just to prove how big it was, there's Jackie walking underneath it

And there's the Loch Ness Monster (with a pair of sunglasses on a flipper!)