Leaving the thin air in Potosí was a welcome change. The bus ride to Sucre was an easy three hour affair that took us through some scenic Bolivian countryside. Since we started our trip in the mostly desert-like southwest, this was the first glipse we had at Bolivian agriculture. The small fields of wheat and corn were familiar sights but what was amazing was the lack of farm machinery. I can’t recall any other time that I have seen people out harvesting wheat by hand. Bolivia may be a poor country but the land is fertile and the people certainly work hard.
Visiting the town’s market was good fun. Fruit juices are very popular in Sucre and the market’s selection did not disappoint. The market also had lots of old ladies selling every type of potato you can imagine and then some. Did you know that there are literally hundreds of types of potatoes in Bolivia and Peru?
The narrow streets of Sucre and clogged with small buses, many of which are surplus from Japan. Most of them still have the original paintjob complete with Japanese lettering, phone numbers, etc. What I haven’t been able to figure out is how they convert them from left-hand drive to right-hand drive while still maintaining the original paint scheme.
Amy had her turn with food poisoning one of the days we were in Sucre. That was the day we had planned to go to Tarabuco, a small village about an hour away, to see the once-weekly market. I headed out there on my own and decided to use the local transport (shared vans) instead of the tourist bus. It was a cheap ride but the legroom was painfully limited! On the way home I talked my way onto a tourist bus for the price of shared van. Go me.
The market was quite touristy but it was still fun to have a look around. I ran into our Dutch friends (from the salt flat tour) in Tarabuco and we grabbed some lunch. My soup had a nice surprise!
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