The flight from Santa Cruz to Sucre, although slightly delayed, was relatively smooth and provided some stunning views of the Andes during our way into land. A short taxi ride to the city centre and we arrived at Hotel Independencia just off the main square. Lovely hotel with a warm shower, the last one for while.

Sucre is a nice place. Known as the white city as all the buildings are white washed once a year and the colonial architecture remains in place from the times of Spanish rule. The city had a university feel to it and felt a lot safer than Santa Cruz with a greater number of tourists. There was also a lot of traditionaly dressed ladies from various mountain communities.

The first afternoon was taken up with laundry and a hair cut for myself (Brian). The receptionist at the hotel recomended Tatiana`s unisex studio which was only a short walk from the hotel. She also kindly phoned ahead and explained to Tatiana what I was after. To my surprise the place was very busy and resembeled a hair dresser at home. I was treated to a wash, cut and blow dry for 20 Bolivianos or about 1 pound 30p.

There were quite a few European travellers in Sucre and the place to go is the Joyride Cafe. We ate there the firsty night and enjoyed a meal and few drinks with the new members of our group. The following day we embarked on a walking tour of the city and took in all the major points of interest including the museum of indigenous art, several churches, the main square, park, local market and monestary. The highlights were the museum of indigenous art where we saw some local women weaving using traditional techniques, the local market complete with cows head and the old monestary at the top of the hill providing panoramoc views over the city.

The evening was taken up with dinner at the Biblo cafe which due to the speed of service was an all night afair. I tried a local dish of suasages, egg, chips, meat and gravy. Was not up to much. Hannah ended up with a plate of chips as the chicken arrived in a dubious state.

An early night was in order as the next day we embarked on the 2 hour taxi ride to Potosi.