I arrived in Sucre at my next hostel, Casa Verde after a fast but quite careful ride in a shared taxi from Potosi with Kira from my hostel. Casa Verde was gorgeous - as I was shown across a central court yard I went past the swimming pool (!) and into my room which was like a hotel or nice guest house with a sofa bed to sit on and tables to put things on!

I had a quick stroll around and went for an early meal at the very quiet Red Lion pub. I will admit I was very lazy whilst in Sucre as my hostel was so nice to stay in and I had arranged to have Spanish classes in the late afternoons. The next day I was meeting Kira for lunch at the central market but before that I was hoping to go on a free walking tour around the city. Unfortunately I found out these tours now had to be booked an paid for as the local authorities had cracked down on "free tours". Instead I checked out the Plaza de 25 Mayo and the local supermarket ready to stock up on the things I had run out of.

For lunch I had trout which was cheap and delicious and we then went for ice cream before I headed back for my lesson. My teacher was very friendly and I went over my experience and as we chattee she gauged my ability. We decided to cover grammar dunring my lessons and bits of conversation as well. After the lesson I was tired but ended up going back to the supermarket to get the ingredients to make nachos to go with the cheap and yummy avocados I had bought in the market.

Determined to do more the next day I went on a tour around Casa de Libertad in the main square (in Spanish!) This place had started off life as a Jesuit mission, then the first university in Bolivia and then became the place where the Bolivian declaration of independence was signed and parliament would meet. Sucre was the only capital for many years but later the administration and the president moved to La Paz but Sucre remains the real capital. The building is a typical colonial building and was beautiful. I understood about 50% of the tour and met a lady from Cardiff who was travelling with her Argentinian friends.

After the tour it was not long until I met up with Kira again and we had a wander arou nd town (me booking the walking tour for the next day) before lunch in the market then ice cream again! It was then time to head back to the hostel for quick swim and homework before my class. After class I went shopping for work gloves and other exciting things before getting fried chicken to take back to the hostel.

I was up for the walking tour and met David and headed off - I had a private tour. We went to the square near the offie before catching a bus to the witches market (mercado campesino) which sold everything you need to praise Pachamama and also to heal yourself and anything else you wnted to do. Next was a bus to Recoleta - the original heart of the colonial town and a great view over the city. Walking down to the main square for more history and then a trip to the now familar central market. Last visit was to Simon Bolivar park containing Gustav Effil's minature tower which was commissioned by the park's founder.

I headed back to the hostel hoping to sunbathe until my lesson (and do my homework!) but after an hour the sun went in and then it started to rain. Luckily it dried up in time for me to meet Kira for dinner as we went on a long walk to a reccommended restaurant only to find it deserted except one table of gringos. The only bebefit of our walk was that we got to see the dancing fountains in Bolivar park lit up with music playing. We left and went for Chinese/Thai meal instead! After food and a couple of Singani sours we were ready for bed and said our goodbyes as the next morning I had my flight to La Paz and on to La Senda Verde.