Just before dawn the bus stopped to refuel at a roadside petrol station. I needed to go to the toilet so I left the bus for a convenient spot in the open. This sparked a mass exodus from the bus as other like minded individuals formed a atery perimeter in a semicircle round the bus. The driver asn´t too happy with this delay but, as earlier, necessity prevailed over nicety. We all tiptoed back onto the bus under the simmering gaze of the driver and as the bus pulled away everyone relaxed in good spirits.
We reached Sucre around 9am and a mini crisis hit our seat. The womans daughter who was by now standing in the aisle turned to her mothe as if she as about to say something. Suddenly she began to heave. She put her hand to her mouth as she as about to throw up. I as full sure she as going to thro up on me but fair play to her she supressed it, I don´t kno how, until her mother got an empty bag for her. It wasn´t a pleasant experience.
I got a hostel in the centre of town. Sucre is a world away from La Paz. One of the first things you notice about the place is that its a white city. Most of the buildings are whitewashed. This used to be the old colonial capital of Bolivia until this honour passed to La Paz after independence. Sucre is a very elegant city with all its wealthy colonial mansions and stately public buildings. The centre is quite small so it doesn´t take too long to get around. The courtyards of some of the mansions are particularly beautiful. The street front of these houses can be plain enough but once you pass through the foyer and into the courtyard you can get an idea of the ealth and splendour that was here.
Sucre is a young and glamorous place. It has a university and so caters for the influx of students. The bars have a familiar feel here. You could be back home in some of them. THey certainly cater for western tastes in this ton. Also, people look different here. There´s a lot of mixed blood whereas La Paz is domiated by indigenous people. People here are glamorous, confident and ealthy looking. Cars look new and expensive, so do the clothes. There are, however, a proportion of poor and vagrants. Most of these are indigenous people. While Sucre is a moneyed city it is one which I doubt holds much support for the President. Whereas in La Paz almost all the graffiti is pro-Morales. Here it is much more mixed. There is a lot of ant-constitution slogans. One passing car had a poster hich depicted Morales as a dictator alongside Pinochet.
In the evening while I was walking around town lads tried to get at my rucksack. On the first occasion I was in the main square when I felt something at my bag. A young lad had tried opening the zipper and when I turned to see what was going on he came around on my other side and started asking for money!! I just laughed at him. 15mins later I as walking around the market area which was busy. Again I felt something at the bag. I turned quickly and a lad in his 20´s pulled his hand away before brushing past me. I was ......annoyed. He was only a few yards away so I followed him. I stayed behind him as he turned up a side street. He turned and saw me following. A few more yards He looked back and I was still there watching him. He crossed the street but I kept parallel with him. When he looked a third time and saw me still with him he ran. Its just as well he did. I don´t know what I was doing. I was annoyed. I expected this in La Paz, not in Sucre. I go to sleep tonight slightly bitter towards Bolivians.
No comments:
Post a Comment