The night bus to Sucre wasn’t quite as plush as the one to Cochabamba, but then again it didn’t cost as much. After the film had finished (it was “Honey I Shrank the Kids“…) I managed to tune in to the BBC and the latest news is that Israel has suffered missile attacks from Iraq. This complicates the conflict somewhat and I feel sorry for the many Israeli travellers I’ve met who must concerned about what is likely to happen next.
The road to Sucre was rough but I managed to get some sleep by tying my head to the seat using my pullover. Eventually we reached the Sucre terminal and I got a micro into the centre to find the Hotel Bustillo where I checked in. After breakfast I found an information office and they sent me up the hill to Plaza Pedro de Anzúrez to get a good view of the city. This attractive plaza, and seemingly most of the buildings in Sucre, are whitewashed, with beautiful red tiled roofs. The climate is warm and dry and all-in-all this is a very pleasant city – I’m very glad I took the decision to come here rather than head on down to Santa Cruz. Fun fact: Sucre is actually the judicial capital of Bolivia, though it doesn’t look anything like a capital city.
I wandered back in the centre to the “Plaza 25 de Mayo” and took a couple more photos. I don’t know what happened here on 25th May. For reasons that I perhaps won’t go into, I’m pretty sure that 25th May is an important date in Argentina too.
After lunch the sun was strong, and I associate warm whitewashed towns with siestas, so I headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. Thus restored I headed out to visit the Casa de la Libertad (Freedom House). At the information office, I was able to discover that I might find some traditional Bolivian live music later at “Plaza Peña”. This turned out to be good advice and after some dinner I was at last able to listen to a bit of the folkloric Andean music that has eluded me completely this far. This was mixed in with other musical styles, all played by a small group of musicians in a “peña” (which seems to mean “bar/restaurant with live folk music”).
I’m curious . . .
25th May (1809) in Sucre . . .
“On May 25, 1809 the Bolivian independence movement was started with the ringing of the bell of the Basilica of Saint Francisco.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucre
. . . which might also explain why it is the constitutional capital of Bolivia.
Not the same as the 25th May (1810) in Argentina . . .
“The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810.”
” This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and parts of Brazil.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Revolution
Always good to learn a little more history.