Sucre - Day 42 - 10/11/2012 (Saturday)
It certainly was an interesting bus ride. It reminded me of Asia. The bus driver going faster than is physically possible and over taking on blind bends. Only had 2 near misses though!!
We arrived into Sucre in the early evening dumped our stuff in the hotel and then went to a travel agent. There is lots to do here so we need to book it through someone else. We all went down and the guy spoke in English and gave us a guide about every tour but no one could understand a word he said. We ended up looking in the books ourselves and all picked what we wanted to do. Unfortunately the process to book it all took over an hour and a half as it was all so unorganised.
Later that evening we went for a meal as a group and then a lot later on Sarah went to a nightclub. I've seen enough S. American nightclubs too last me a life time. There may have also been an incident where someone left their room open and a group of people snuck in and wrote messages for them on their mirror with soap but of course I know nothing about that!

Sucre - Day 43 - 11/11/2012 (Sunday)
We didn't have anything planned until the afternoon so we decided to go for a walk and explore. There were some nice parks but all the buildings on the map seemed to be closed. We then walked down to one park that would have you almost believe you were in Paris. It had two (small) Acre's and a tower. It was uncanny. (Once you see the pictures you'll now I'm being sarcastic).
That afternoon we wanted to do quad biking. And when I say we I mean I. Sarah still wasn't keen after the time we did it in New Zealand but with this tour she could ride on the back and I convinced her. We got picked up kin a 4x4 truck and had to sit in the back on some make shift seats. It was fun zooming through the streets I. He open air but we had a couple of close calls when we went over bumps. We arrived to someone's house and installs we could see an issue. We needed 5 quads but they only had 4. The guy tried to tell us one had broken that morning but it had clearly been in pieces for some time. He tried to convince one of us to go on a motor bike but no one wanted to so two of the girls had to share.
We got kitted up in helmets and gloves etc and then went out and drove round the block a few times for practice. Once we had the hang of it we set off along the road dispute there being warning signs in English on our bikes not to ride on the road. After about 10 minutes we reached the off road part. A few minutes in the guide stopped us a d said if any dogs come at you just kick them. Hmmm. This turned out to be good advice because within seconds of moving off we had to fend off a few dogs. We rode along the top of a mountain beside two valleys. The city on one side and a remote valley on the other.
We got to a good vantage point and stopped for a rest and to take some photos. When we went to set off again mine and Sarah's bike would not start! I tried all sorts, then the guide tried all sorts and nothing would get it going. He made a few calls and tried a few things. This went on for about 30 minutes when he finally tried the manual kick start (instead of the button) and it came to life again. Annoyed we set off again.
We carried along the valley top and then reached a patch of smooth ground in kind of a circuit. So we drashed around that for a bit really seeing what the bikes where made of. Alice almost tipped hers over as she went way to fast around a corner.
After that we went a bit further and then turned around heading back the way we came. We stopped to take some more pics before we hit the main road. It was a lot busier now as it was rush hour and every car honked at us. Back at the house we gave back all our great and jumped in the back of the truck to head into town.
We had a bit of a quiet evening and an early night.

Sucre - Day 44 - 12/11/2012 (Monday)
We got up nice a d early and went to the tour shop to be picked up and taken on a bike ride. It took ages for us to all pay then we were lead off a few blocks to pick up helmets and lunch. And shock horror we had another 4x4 truck to take us to the start. At least this time it had a cover and something to hold onto. As we set off the landscape seemed very similar. We headed out of town and then onto a dirt track along the top of the valley where we has talent he quads the day before. Thinking we would now bike were we rode we got disappointed but the truck kept going for quite a way. Finally we stopped on this large down hill section to the valley beside the city. We picked our bikes off the back if the trailer behind our truck. The first one I got the gears didn't work so I picked another one. It seemed fine until we set off down the 4km steep downhill track and I realised the brakes where a bit rubbish. I had to hold the back brake on the whole way down and hoped the front would stop me when I needed to stop. I soon worked out we would need to stop as it was only wide enough for a car and huge trucks were coming the other way. Once at the bottom we had to follow the river up stream. This meant bits of up hill which would normally of been fine but at 3000m above sea level it was a wee bit harder.
We stopped by this foot bridge over the river to let the slow people catch up (1 of them being Sarah hehe) and because he was bored one of the guys decided to rice over this bridge. When he got back this little old Bolivian lady started screaming at him in Spanish. As he was Spanish he could understand a d she basically said that "she" paid for the bridge and he couldn't use it. This was all of course lies but the country side Bolivians are famous for being as rude as possible to tourists.
We set off again and now we reached a huge section of up hill. I'm proud to say I made it all the way up without walking whereas most people had to walk. I didn't want to tell anyone I felt like I was drowning as I couldn't breath come the top! The rest of the ride was level and we went along the track as far as we could. At the end we had to walk to our final destination. When I say walk it was 10% walking 90% climbing over rocks and walking along steep shingle edges that's could have given way at any second chucking us into the river below.
We arrived safely at our final stop which was a pool and creak. We were meant to go swimming but the water was so muddy Sarah a d I gave it a miss. Some people went in but it didn't look very nice. Instead we sat in a rock and ate our lunch. While eating lunch I started to feel really ill a d could not stop coughing. It was a combination of the cold we can't seem to get rid of a d all the dust from the truck and the ride. We seemed to stay there for ages while people swam and ate there lunch and I was happy to head back.
Once at he truck we could either ride part of the way back or get I the truck. Given that I was coughing very 5 seconds I decided to go in the truck. This was a huge mistake. It was dusty coming but now on this small narrow tracks the dust was worse. To compound this the driver was going way to fast along the cliff edge with a trailer on the back. By the time we got to the meeting point Sarah and I were covered in dust. The meeting point was before the big down hill but one of the guys decided he wanted to go a little way up the hill. There were now 4 of us in the back of the truck and as we set off we had to cover our mouths with out T-shirts as to not breath in anymore dust. We reached the guy who was riding up the hill and he said go on for a bit. After about 10 minutes of 60mph up hill along the edge we were getting worried he would not made it. I had to reach out and keep hitting the roof of the truck until the driver stopped. We pleaded that we wait but we couldn't stop because if a truck came down we'd be in trouble. By this point we were able to draw things on our legs in the dust. We were covered.
At the top we jumped out and pleaded they went back for him but nothing happened for ages. The guide on the motorbike was going to go back and see if he was okay but he got a puncher in his back their and couldn't. Finally our main guide Nancy stepped in and they went back in the truck for him. Luckily they did as he also had a puncher and was walking up.
We hoped we'd go the way we came back into town but no we we t another way along a cliff edge down a steep path. The driver decided to change gear just before a sharpe turn which gave us a huge fright as the truck lunged forward.
Back safe and sound we were in urgent need of a shower but they made us fill in a feedback form. I can't repeat what I wrote as it would be offensive!!
That evening we went to this bar that showed films each night. We watched a film called the devils miner which is about a 14 year old who works in the mines at our last stop.

Sucre - Day 45 - 13/11/2012 (Tuesday)
We picked another trip today but just a short one. We went back to the shop and they drive us to some scummy slum area. It wasn't a great start but we walked for a while and before we knew it we were walking up a dried out river. It was only about 45 minutes before we turned off the river and headed up a cliff. The views from the top were amazing but that wasn't what we came for. In the rock face there were hundreds of dinosaur footprints. There are all in a line so couldn't be fake! The guide told us a bit about them and then we walked back and before we knew it we were in town.
We meet the rest of the group checking out and went for a walk and then lunch with them. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the hotel just reading and playing cards. At half 6 we got on a minibus and they took us to the bus station ready for our bus to La Paz.