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Day 28 30/10/09
I got up early as I needed to head across town to get stamps. I actually really enjoyed this as it was the first time that I was able to explore on my own and interact using my own Spanish. It helped that the lady on the desk was really nice and spoke slowly to help me understand. On the way back I ran in to Chris and Dave and we took a wander around the town. Our first stop was an enormous market seemingly specialising in clothes. After this we headed to the Spanish tower. No information was given to us about the importance of the tower which stands detached from the other modern buildings which now surround it. Climbing the tower itself was quite difficult. The spiral stairway was minute and was plunged into almost complete darkness anytime either Dave or I passed one of the four slit windows.
The bus ride to Sucre was not fun as I had started to feel unwell. Sucre however is beautiful. The buildings have all been preserved in their colonial white washed state and gleamed in the brilliant sunshine. Although La Paz is now the congressional capital and most important city, Sucre is still the constitutional capital and houses the judiciary.
When we arrived Dario took us all to the main square in order to pint out the two tourist offices on of which had moved locations so he couldn't find it. After viewing the prices I went to lunch with Gavin, Donna and the girls at Las Balcones. It was a huge restaurant with a view over the ornate central square.
That afternoon Chris and I decided to take a wander around and having discovered that everywhere was closed in the afternoon that day. Chris and I then went to the Joy Ride Cafe, a subsidiary of one of the local tour operators. Here we met the rest of the lads and somehow a quick beer whiles Chris had dinner turned into a couple ten a bottle and a half of wine before the others even turned up.
Day 29 31/10/09
My hangover meant that although I had been up for breakfast my brain was fuzzy and I missed the others leaving for the other tour operator looking for my sunnies before I realised that I had put them in the hotels lock box. Despite this I followed the route we had taken before exactly but as the office had now moved I had no chance of finding it. Fortunately Chris text me the location just as I was about to board the local dino bus. The prices in TransReal were far cheaper than those in the Joy Cafe. Additionally, they provided a trek to a far less used locality. After booking this trip we all headed to get costumes for Halloween. We visited a local market and here literally stall after stall was stocked for Halloween. I eventually decided on going as the Grim Reaper buying a skeleton consume and some face paint.
For lunch Chris and I ventured back to Las Balcones. Here we munched down a couple of burgers. During the rest of the afternoon we just relaxed in our room.
We had dinner at La Pasona a beautiful courtyard restaurant with the best chili sauce. On the way back to the restaurant we ran into the towns All Saints Parade possibly especially large as it was the countries bicentennial year. I even managed to get pulled into the crowd by a bunch of local girls. I'm sure it was quite a funny spectacle as I was made up head to toe as death and stood about a foot taller than everyone.. For the rest of the night we fluctuated between Joy Ride's bar and the parade it was an awesome night.
Day 30 1/11/09
ILL! Horrific stomach bug, day spent in bed.
Day 31 2/11/0
Despite feeling pretty rough to pack and force half a slice of dry toast down me as I was determined to see the Dinosaur footprints. We weren't going to the main Dino Park but a separate site near the outskirts of Sucre. I went along with the girls and Ian who had missed it the day before. The journey out to the site was quite hairy as I was feeling half dead, especially when we passed on of the military check pints. The axels of the car scraped noisily against the speed bumps.
To get t the dino prints from where our taxi stopped required a 40 minute walk through a drive river bed up into the mountains. The walk itself was quite spectacular though tough when you’re running on Sprite. The final ascent involved a rather tough walk up the side of a large hill on loose gravel surrounded by thorn bushes and cacti. The mountain side was littered with numerous footprints. This had apparently been caused by a meteor crash which had forced the prints upwards, hardened them and also protected them from the elements. After taking a collection of photos we all headed back down. Along the way I had a chat with our guide. He had learnt his English in Utah and was a bit of a foodie which made conversation easy.
After lunch as everywhere was closed for the public holiday we went on one of the walking tours of the city. This took us down to a large park with a replica of the Eiffel Tower. Here we all just sat and relaxed for a while. After this we had a quick dinner and boarded a night bust for Cochabamba.
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