Sucre, Bolivia

Yesterday we managed to find a taxi that brought us safely to Sucre, the former capital of Bolivia. It was definitely more expensive than it would normally be, but it was under $15, still pretty cheap by my standards considering it was a 2 and half hour ride. Sucre is really nice, a very lovely city. It's very historical, essentially the birthplace of Bolivia. As a result it looks like a Spanish colonial town, lots of white stucco houses and buildings built into the hills. It's very clean and more tourist friendly than Postosí. The hostal I am staying in is a renovated mansion, it's huge and beautiful. My room is on the top floor way in the back so everytime I enter I feel like I am going through a maze.

The situation here is Bolivia hasn't changed much, the government implemented price increase on fuel has caused the price of food to go up. For me, the increase doesn't seem like much, but for the majority of the people who live in this impoverished country, it's a very big deal. There have been some protests around the country, but nothing major. The main thing is that the transportation strike is still going on, making it difficult for me to travel. We have decided the best thing to do is to fly, so tomorrow we are headed to La Paz as it was the only city in Bolivia that we could get a flight to. Plus after talking to several people about the situation, we have decided that location wise, La Paz is the best place to go since it is close to the borders of Chile and Peru so it will be easier to leave Bolivia from there. Our plan is to go tomorrow, feel it out and if it feels safe enough we will stay there for New Years as originally planned. If it seems too crazy, we will either try to get a flight to somwhere in Peru or Chile, or see if we can get to Peru by boat across Lake Titicaca. I have been told that might be a good option, plus it's supposed to be a very nice lake so that could be interesting. I have yet to feel unsafe here, there are military and police men all over, so that seems to be keeping things rather peaceful. They are a bit intimidating though, even regular security guards here carry multiple weapons: guns, tasers, mase; they are well armed.

I am definitely enjoying my time here regardless, I'm glad we made it to Sucre, it's definitely one of my favorite cities I have been too. Last night we got all cleaned up, I put on my only dress, and we went to a folkloric dance show. It was a very nice show and we were served a very fancy dinner. It was nice to do something like that, I always love going to dance shows. Bolivia is a country full of culture and tradition, I am glad I am able to experience it.