Day 23: 23/7/12
Had to leave the hotel to go to the airport at 5am so another early morning. Whatever way I looked in the mirror this morning I saw a weird black mark kind of on my hip- I rubbed it and it was some kind of a spider that was stuck to me- dont know where I picked him up!!
Flight was at 7am. When I got on the plane AM, Sile and Siles cousin were right behind me! They were meant to get a flight to sucre the day before but the airline went bust! The flight was only a half hour long and then we had to get out at Cochabamba and get another half hour flight to sucre. The stopover was only supposed to be a few minutes but we ended up waiting about 2 1/2 hours. They just changed the time of the flight. It seems this happens all the time in Bolivia.
Had a good chance to talk to Am and the girls though so that was good. They had been to Lima and La Paz since we met in Cusco so caught up on a few stories. They are leaving Sucre again tomorrow morning so won't really have time to see them while they rush around the town seeing as much as they can!
The hotel is lovely- a real colonial building with a courtyard inside and pillars and gardens. I got a single room because there is an odd number of boys and girls. It's grand to have privacy but I think it would be easier to get to know people if you were sharing. The people seem lovely- they have all been together doing a trip of Brazil for about seventeen days already so they s know each other. There are 4 Norwegian people- Tina, Camilla, Marita and Eric. There are two New Zealand people- Hannah and Anna. There's another English guy- Callum, a Swiss girl called Janine and a Canadian woman called Joanne. Yesterday's people are called- Eddie, Emmanuel, Tamara and Vokel ( or something like that!)
We went for lunch when we arrived which was a good chance to get to know people. We were ages there because they brought out the meals very slowly- the first people were well finished before the last people got theirs. They don't seem to have that tradition here where you all wait for each other to start.
Then our guide walked us around a few places nearby. The hotel is very near the main square, which of course has a cathedral! It's the judicial capital of Bolivia do there are a few buildings to do with that! We went to a park which used to be a private playground for a rich couple and the 48 children they adopted! We went to a market place where they had fruit, veg, meat, eggs- everything! The meat was disgusting- just left on the counter twith flies everywhere! One counter had the head of a cow on it- they had left the skin on down around its mouth- it was disgusting!! We also saw another little market which is set up at the moment for a festival. It is where people pray to the God of abundance for things that they want. The market has miniature versions of houses, money, cars, degrees, everything! You buy the miniature version and the get it blessed by an Andean priest and bring it home!
Then we went to a tourist office because our next two days are free so we have a choice of things to do- there was hiking, biking, paragliding, horseriding and quads and stuff so I decided to do a small hike with three others tomorrow. I didn't pick anything for Wednesday because I want to see some things in the city. I wasn't interested in the rest of the things anyway!
Then we went back to the hotel and everyone went to their rooms for a while. I went to the main square which is only round the corner for a little look.
Then we met at 8 for dinner. Not everyone came though- jus five of us (new zealanders, German and Swiss) and the guide. We went to joyride cafe which had lots of people and Latino music playing- good food too! The people are easy to get on with. We are all heading to bed early, ie before 10 after being up so early in the morning!!