Potosi & Sucre, Bolivia

From Uyuni, we caught a 3 hour bus to Potosi, found a market nearby the Potosi bus station to purchase some food and supplies, and quickly caught a local minibus to a hot spring-sourced lake/crater about 15km outside town. After a short hike uphill with our heavy packs we came to the lake and set up our tent right next to the water. There were a few groups with tents set up, and a few more that were swimming. Shortly after we got our camp set up, the afternoon sun transitioned to dark clouds, and eventually a heavy rainstorm. Fortunately, the rain stopped not long after and we were able to make dinner and enjoy a few beers while the sun set.

The next morning we packed up camp, hiked back down to the road, waited until a local minibus with enough room stopped to pick us up, and headed toward Potosi. We had heard of a hostel that was fairly cheap ($6/p), so we went there and booked a room and decided it was time to do laundry. It was a nice old building, and our room opened up onto a pretty covered courtyard. We walked around that afternoon and evening, wrote the blog for Uyuni, and relaxed. After carrying our backpacks up the hill to the lake, and struggling greatly, I finally decided I needed to get rid of some of my stuff. I have been much happier having lost ~5 lbs of clothes and a 300 page spanish textbook... why I thought that was a good idea to bring will always remain a question.

The next morning we woke up late, collected our laundry, looked online for hostels in Sucre, and took the 4 hour bus to Sucre. When we arrived, I was feeling cheap and decided 10 bolivianos was too much for a cab. I thought the hostel was probably just a few blocks away... after walking half way across town we realized I was mistaken, but had already come too far to pay for a cab! We walked a bit further, found a tourist information kiosk, and finished up the last two blocks. 

We enjoyed Sucre far more than Potosi. The whole place was beautiful and clean. The general population we saw on the street was younger and less traditional than most other parts of Bolivia we visited. We celebrated our 4th anniversary by each ordering our own plate of food! Marcela had a Gyro, and I ordered a Philly Cheese steak, which was great. We also enjoyed an episode of "Caso Cerrado", a funny TV show which essentially is a combination of Judge Judy and Jerry Springer. I also found out I was accepted to grad school at UCSB (the only school I applied to) during our night in Sucre, so that was cool.

Wine & chocolate