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Highly relieved that we had made it to Sucre on schedule for Christmas, we were even happier to discover that our hostel lived up to expectations. We were greeted warmly by the owner who proceeded to give us the best introduction to a place that we've ever had, consisting of an explanation of a well-annotated map with lots of tips about what would be open over Christmas and a guided tour of the place. The hostel had a living room with loads of DVDs which we made full use of several evenings and a kitchen which we also made good use of.
We headed out to lunch in the warmth and sunshine and found a Bolivian restaurant for lunch which just so happened to be serving a traditional Bolivian Christmas meal. This dish contained a large piece of chicken and a large piece of some other meat in a vegetable broth/ stew, accompanied by a large corn on the cob (less sweet than at home). As we had walked into the restaurant, we had seen a long queue of mostly women and children, all indigenous from what we could see, snaking round the block. I asked the waiter in the restaurant what was going on and understood that the government give milk and something else to the poor people on Christmas Eve. As we wandered back to the main square after lunch, it became clear that the something else was a toy as the park was packed full of kids enjoying playing with their toy that they'd just received. A really nice sight until our eyes noticed the toy packaging strewn everywhere! Unfortunately we also saw a fight break out between two women (we think they were fighting over one of the gifts) and then as soon as people realised what was going on, a mass of them ran over to watch and only watch: there was no-one intervening. The clothes of the indigenous women had changed slightly as we'd moved to a different part of the country: the bowler hats had been swapped for straw hats and the skirts were a bit shorter and less puffy.
As we spent a part of the afternoon exploring the beautiful city with its white colonial buildings, it became more and more evident to us that this was a city divided in two. On one hand we saw the middle class driving their large cars and eating out in restaurants, and on the other hand we saw old women begging and dirty, scruffy children, who looked like they had come out of the Victorian era, roaming the streets. It was heart- breaking to see and a stark reminder that Bolivia really is a poor country. Although we've been aware of the poverty all the way through our travels, it's been most evident in the poor quality of housing as generally we've not seen that many people begging. Also, however poor people are, neat personal appearance is very important to Latin Americans, so to see people looking filthy has to mean they are the poorest of the poor. We felt powerless, however more determined to do some research into a good Bolivian charity. We really enjoyed our time in Sucre however the reminder of the darker side of it was always there, making me feel a bit guilty every time we went for a meal or a drink.
However, Sucre still was a great place to spend Christmas and to enjoy staying in one place for a bit longer than we have been recently. We spent the rest of the afternoon stocking up on some food for that evening and Christmas Day. We managed to find some half-decent cheese and olives and bought Panetonne (you'd think it was a Bolivian speciality from the proliferate quantities on sale) and some Bolivian wine for Christmas day. It's also mango season so we took advantage of this, and also of the tastiest peaches I've had in a long while, from the market, and ate these everyday for breakfast. Even though we'd bought ourselves some nice food, we felt totally outdone by several groups of French people staying in our hostel who were somehow rustling up prawns, octopus, duck and chocolate flan amongst other things.
Christmas day for us consisted of a lie-in (much enjoyed), a lazy breakfast, calls to the parents and a walk around the city before lunch. Although Simon was upset that the poor connection led to a broken conversation. When we ventured out we were surprised to see so many shops open. We headed to a large park in the warmth and sunshine, feeling very un-Christmassy, and found that many families had come out with their children and were enjoying rides and inflatables in the park. Simon bought a cheese- stuffed potato to keep him going until lunch, a bargain at 30p, and we walked round the park enjoying the atmosphere. For lunch we found an Italian restaurant that had been recommended to us; we weren't feeling that Christmassy anyway so didn't feel the need to sniff out some turkey. I had some great pasta and Simon an artery-clogging meat, cheese and potato dish.
We then returned to the hostel to let the lunch go down and fitted in a call to parents number 3. That evening we stuffed ourselves a bit more in true Christmas tradition, washed down with some wine and watched a film.
The next day seemed completely back to normal again and we resumed our leisurely sightseeing. First we went to a very popular restaurant which serves salteñas of a morning. These are like small pasties filled with meat and veg and we'd heard good things about them. However we were not enthralled by them as the pastry was sweet, making them pretty weird tasting. We walked these off by going to a mirador for pretty views then tried to go to a museum only to discover it was closed for a couple of hours over lunch - no culture for us then. Also that morning we went to get our visas extended by another 30 days in case we needed it: for example if a lengthy road block was set up or one of us got ill. After persuading the migration office to sidestep some of their ridiculous bureaucracy we were successful. After a busy morning, I spent the afternoon making sure the hammock in the hostel was of good quality. That evening we went to a restaurant/ bar for dinner then watched a film on a projector upstairs. It turned out just to be the two of us who wanted to watch the cheesy Christmas film 'The Holiday' but we didn't mind.
It was time we finally got round to paying a visit to Parque Cretácico, the dinosaur park, so on our third day, we hopped on an incredibly slow local bus and made our way there. We walked through the small park, looking at life-sized recreations of dinosaurs before congregating for a tour of the real attraction: the world's largest collection of dinosaur footprints; over 5,000 of them. Many sets of these were found in a cliff of rock which is now vertical but would have been horizontal at the time of the dinosaurs. The park is next to a concrete factory and the footprints were only discovered when the factory stopped excavating this piece of rock due to it not being suitable, and over time the last layer of rock fell off, revealing the footprints. The longest trail they have discovered is over 300m and is pretty impressive. We had to wear attractive red plastic helmets but it was worth it to get so close to the prints.
We returned to town after this as there really wasn't much else to do at the park and went for a filling lunch at a non-profit cafe. We then returned to the now open museum and were just in time for a guided tour in English. It was here that the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1825 and is still an important building for the government as although the government is now based in La Paz, Sucre remains the official capital. After this we went back to the market for lots of fruit and veg then back to the hostel to cook and for another night in with the DVD collection. (It's rare to find a hostel with a living area with a TV and DVDs so we enjoyed the home comforts.)
We had decided to stay one more day than planned in Sucre and spent it doing some jobs. Sunday turned out not to be the best day to do laundry but we eventually found somewhere open. After this Simon went to get his haircut and I wished I hadn't come along. He was in the chair a good 45 minutes whilst the woman trimmed every hair one by one, or at least that's what it seemed like. But for £2 it was a cheap morning's entertainment and we were now ready for lunch. We spent the majority of the afternoon in an internet cafe which was a good move as after all the sun, the hailstones, rain and thunder appeared.
That evening we packed ready for our departure the next day to the world's highest city. Sucre had been a great place for Christmas in a foreign land and well worth the difficulties in getting there.
Katy
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