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Donna & Neils Travels
So, there we were with hangovers from hell looking at the some beaten up old bus that was packed to the hilt with backpackers and lñoacals alike. This was to be our ride for the next 10 hours and it didn`t look great. Once inside we found that the bus was much worse than first sight. The seats were for 10 year olds and you couldn`t open the windows. So we were off and to tell you the truth it was s***, with a capital S. To add to the torment we broke down as well, making the journey about 14 hours.
We arrived in Sucre really late, it was dark and we were really lost. This wasn`t what we had planned and as it was our first experience of a big city in Bolivia and we were pretty aprehensive. There was a couple of guys loitering round the bus station, well I say bus station, they actually dropped us off at the side of the road, who were telling us they were taxi drivers. As we had just heard the story of 2 Austrians who got into a taxi in La Paz and were then found shot in a cemetry (obviously quite thoughtful muggers) 2 days later, we were a bit nervous to say the least. In the end we went with the one who looked nicest, he didn`t have a moustache, and told him the address of the hostel. He was actually a nice bloke, he asked us where we were from, told us how nice Sucre was and also spoke about football, a very nice man indeed. After arriving at the hotel we just zonked out until morning.
We were planning to stay here for a good few days as it was Donna`s birthday in a few days time and we wanted to celebrate. Unfortunately Donna got a really bad infection in her gum and we were forced to go to the dentist after a few days of extreme pain. Donna was quite adament that she didn`t want any half breed butcher messing with her teeth so we decided it was best just to get anti-biotics and pain killers, which the dentist subscribed. Although, this eased the pain it also upset her stomach and she had bad stomach pains for about a week. So we stayed here for about a week but it wasn`t much partying. The hostel staff were great though and couldn`t do enough to help Donna with arranging a dentist and always asked about here at every opportunity. We were starting to warm to the Bolivians.
We did have some good night outs with Delia and Lea towards the end of the stay here but all in all it wasn`t the best of times, especially for Donna.
Sucre was a really pretty city with white painted colonial buildings making up the main square and around. Also, as with most of Bolivia, it was fantastically cheap, beers were about 50p and a good meal with wine, for 2, was about a fiver. We visited some churches and museums, also visited an art museum which was also an active project to support the local indidenous communities keep their traditions for weaving and handicrafts. Here we bought some crafts to do our bit.
Also, we visited a local cement factory where a load of dinosaur footprints have been uncovered, this was really bizarre but the shame was that the tracks couldn`t be preserved as it was a working cement factory that supported the communtites around and that took higher priority.
Donna was now well enough to travel so we booked up our bus to La Paz.
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