Hello all,
Apologies for not writing recently. We ended up having quite an eventful weekend, and lots of partying the nights-mornings away... Spent some time with our friends too. Helgi (the Iceman who we first met in Mexico), arrived, so J and Laura (another girl who worked at the hostel) went to the Valley of the Moon.
Went to the cemetery on Sunday with Bubs, an English guy who we´d met at the hostel. They bury their dead here, either normally or in a crypt, and then they dig them up again 10 years later, and cremate them. The cemetery was HUGE, and had rows and rows of glass fronted boxes, about 1.5ft across, filled with mementoes of the person. Their life is reduced to plastic flowers, photos and birthday cards, toys that make noises (which then sound horrid when the battery dies down), and other tokens representing the person. The cemetery was busy on the Sunday with people changing the real flowers, but it had a very strange air. Photos to follow later.
Some very drunken nights in La Paz before we left, and we spent time just mooching around the city, doing a little retail therapy, eating at Oliver´s Travels pub where Loki workers get 50% off, and generally enjoying ourselves.
Until Wednesday, when we got tear gassed. We were walking to the pub and saw that there were demonstrations happening. There is a national referendum on the 25th January, and we had been seeing protests and firecrackers going off for days. We thought we were ok, as we were about 3 blocks away from them and walking away from the crowds, but suddenly the crowds came charging down the hill, followed by the tear gas cannisters that had been rolled down the hill by the police.
Been told by Hayley not to worry anyone, and just want to put in now that we are absolutely fine, and have left La Paz. Our instincts have changed as well, so if there is a next time, we won´t just stand there going ´Oh look, there´s tear gas...´! I cannot say it was a nice experience, - definitely not one to repeat. J was brilliant, and when I had stopped walking away from the gas (I couldn´t walk), she pulled me into an underground car park until we could breathe properly again and see. I certainly know now why the tear gas works so well! A vodka and orange soon sorted out the shock though...
Been looking at the Foreign Office website, and it looks like Santa Cruz is also a bit dodgy politically, so we have decided not to go there. After seeing just how quickly protests can change, we don´t want to put ourselves in any unnecessary danger.
So we got a beautiful, comfy bus to Sucre on Wednesday night. The best bus we have been on, with comfy seats and an ok driver. Arrived and checked into a cheap hotel - so strange being just the 3 of us again. Surprisingly, felt really homesick leaving La Paz. It had been our home for nearly a month, and we had a great time (although our bodies didn´t). We had made some great friends, and were sad to say goodbye. The consolation is that they are all leaving soon (if they haven´t already), so it wouldn´t been the same anyway. But I did love that grimy, dirty, polluted and crazy city.
Sucre is the judicial capital of the country (while La Paz is the parliamentary capital). With only 290,000 people, it´s small and beautiful. The white colonial buildings look stunning against blue sky and it´s a lovely place to walk around. We have found some brilliant cafes - one shows films at night, so we watched a Mexican film last night, and we are watching a film, Ímagining Argentina´ tonight, about the 1970´s juntas. Doesn´t sound a very nice film but it sounds ´cultural´, so we should probably watch it!
Off to Potosi tomorrow morning to see the silver mine where 6 million people have died, and then we will head south to Tupiza, then Uyuni. Very strange to be on the road again! But liking it just being the 3 of us again though.
Hope all´s good in the UK, and will write again soon. Now that we are doing more each week, I will try to write the blog more often. It is very difficult writing it when I am hungover!
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxxxx
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