After Hugo's departure I have to adjust my way of traveling again. I decide to stay in Potosi for a day or two longer to rest a bit before I head for Argentina. The last weeks were pretty hectic and tiring, so I could do with some lazy days. I just want to sit, lie, work at my blog and maybe have a drink. Hugo and Martina have just left and I'm sitting on my ass in the lounge, just minding my own business. Before I know it I'm invited to join some people of the hostel for a swim in some kind of volcanic hot pool. That's how easy it is sometimes to meet people in South America. I have nothing else planned, so why not and I join the Swiss Neli, Dutch Renée and weird Argentinian guy Pablo (although he seemed normal for the first half an hour) for an afternoon of swimming. In the evening we have dinner together in the hostel and that's where I meet the Irish guy Emmett and the French Roman. Little did I know I would end up traveling with those two for a longer time.
La cena with Neli and loco Pobla in hostal Koala Den, Potosi
After my second lazy day in Potosi we go for dinner and drinks with a big group of the hostel and I seem to get along pretty well with Emmett and Roman. A good drinking evening, who doesn't like that. We even continue the night with drinking some Singana-Canada Dry in my bedroom till late, or should I say till early in the morning, mainly discussing about sports and music.
In my room for the Singani-Canada Dey drink with (left to right) Roman, Pablo, me and Emmett
I have such a good time with the guys that I don't feel much to start traveling on my own now to Argentina, so I join Emett, Roman and Pablo to Sucre (the real capital of Bolivia, isn't it Roman ;-) ) and later on even to Santa Cruz. I really get along with Emett and Roman, they even understand my humour, which, as I discovered during my travels, is not always easy. I'm not in such a big rush and I like Bolivia so far, so why not explore a little bit more of it with them. Argentina can wait a week longer, it's not running away...
Big swimming group, waiting for the bus back. Nice scenery though
Weird statue of a footballplayer in Potosi
Pablo was also still with us, but each day he was getting more and more on our nerves. I think deep down he was a good guy, but once he had a glass of alcohol he was impossible to handle, made strange thinking curves and spoke incomprehensive English. Luckily he left us after Sucre because he was annoying us but especially Roman who was at the verge of killing him :-)
Sucre pictures:
Sunset on the bus Potosi-Sucre
One of the many lazy mornings. In Sucre as well as Santa Cruz we also met up with Neli who was doing the same travel trajectory
... and shows us how you can even mess up spaghetti
Sucre by night with the silhouette of a smoking Roman
More Sucre by night
Enjoying a healthy breakfast at the market after an unhealthy drinking evening
Neli and Roman talking at the city view
To summarize our days in Sucre and Santa Cruz: going out for eating and drinking till late, sleep till midday, go for brunch, hang around the hostel and the city, go out again in the evening. We found Sucre actually a pleasant city just to hang out and stay for a few days, although we only did some sightseeing for not more than a couple of hours. But who needs all that sightseeing anyway? To actually live and feel the life of a city can be so much better and more rewarding than looking at buildings. One day we even went to experience the atmosphere in the stadion for an international football game: Bolivia-Venezuela. The level of skills and pace of the game were a bit disappointing (they don't play at the level of Argentina or Brazil), but we still enjoyed the night out and experience some real South American vibe.
Emmett perfectly fitting in my jumper. He kept on loosing his jumpers, and I had one too many I wanted to get rid off. Charity between travelbuddies
Maybe two small stories about our ten days together to conclude this message.
Traveling in Bolivia is always a surprise and often funny, especially when you almost didn't sleep and still have some liquor in your body. Our flight from Sucre to Santa Cruz, departing from the small domestic airport of Sucre, is a good example. According to the travel agency, it was really important that we had our passports with us. Not once did somebidy asked our passports during check-in. Moreover, our luggage was never checked at all. I could have been carrying a stick of dynamite in my hand and step on the airplane without anyone saying anything. Pretty incredible! Another remarkable fact was that at the check-in desk they told us we had to board through gate 1. This was really important! Once we got to the boarding area (10 meters from the check-in area, passed an out of order luggage scanner) there appeared to be only two gates, two glass doors almost next to each other and ending on the same piece of tarmac. Yes, I can understand why it was so important to go through gate 1, because if we went through gate 2 we would have been completely lost and probably entered the invisible airplane standing next to the only one visible airplane at the airport ... Bolivia, you got to love it!
Sucre domestic airport, gate 1. All the other gates, i.e. gate 2 is just to the right of this picture. Be sure to take the correct gate!
I stayed in Santa Cruz for a few days, although the first days were pretty dull, because I had some physical problems. I'm not going to get into details (believe me, you don't want to know), but I spent three days going to the hospital and doctors to sort out the problem, mainly because I was two times wrongly diagnosed in the hospital. I hope I never get into the hospital in Bolivia for something serious, because you can start saying your prayers then. Anyway, my problem got finally solved after 3 days of running and calling around. This must not have been much fun for Roman, since we were just traveling with the two of us at that time, but luckily he was there to join me and act as translator. My limited knowledge of spanish is far too less to go and explain myself in a hospital and understand all of their explenations. I was happy he was there because getting medical problems when you're traveling on your own is a bitch. Thanks Roman, it was truly appreciated!
The beautiful plaza of Santa Cruz
I visited the zoo of Santa Cruz with Roman. His favourites were clearly the puma's and jaguars. One of them liked to jump against the tiny fence. Let's hope it holds
Final night with Roman and Emmett, ready for another all-nighter :-)
Music this time from The Thrills (which happens to be an Irish band, so here you go Emmett), because this song is really suitable for the journey from Sucre to Santa Cruz. We had two options: an 18 hour long bus ride or a 30 minute flight. Hmm, difficult decision! What to choose, what to choose??? “Santa Cruz, you're not that far”. At least not when you take the plane...
A second song is of the semi-french band Manu Chao, one of Roman's favourites. Boliviano, Clandestino:
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