Things you learn from Potosi

Potosi is one of the highest altitude cities in the world, at 4090 metre above sea level. Potosi is known for Cerro Rico, the rich mountain. It was once the silver supplier of the New World Spanish Empire. The mountain used to be a lot higher than it is now, but since the exploitation, the mountain's height reduced. Till now, there are still miners working in the mountains to earn a living. They work long shifts and in terrible conditions that cause them to become sick and die at a premature age. The people do not have a choice but to work at the mines to provide for their family, they know they will sacrifice their life but they have no choice. What I learn from briefly visiting this place: cherish everything, be grateful, be kind to others and never forget the heartache feelings I felt on the day at Potosi.

Bolivia is a land of richness.

Long bus rides to the next destination. 

Leaving Sucre, on a panic

The morning to hop on uyuni bound bus. I was suppose to wake up at 5:40am to catch bus at 7:00am at the bus station way out of town centre. I woke up at 6:26am freaking out since I was suppose to head out by 6:00am to the plaza where there would be taxis in early hours and arrive at the station by 6:30. I woke Will to help me. I chuck him 380 bolivianos (for 12 nights at the hostel) to give to the owner Mike and top it up if it's short. He carried my 13kg backpack with me outside on his barefoot for two blocks before we found a taxi already with another passenger. The taxi driver took me anyway (as it was the same direction) and got me to the station at 6:45. "Rapido, por favor! muy rapido!" I beg the taxi driver to fly over all the cars, buses, pedestrians and the traffic lights. I ran in the station with 13kg on my back, found the bus company office which they told me to hurry to the departure tax office then go to the gate. They were loading up luggages by the time I got to the bus at 6:50, almost everyone was in the bus already. I freakin' made it. What an intense 24 minutes...

goodbye pretty sucre

good bye pretty white cathedrals

good bye beautiful culture

and good bye my lovely haggle heaven public market

Bolivia yummies

Snacks, I love snacks, especially cheap delicious snacks.

Alfajores

Alfajores. Alfajores is one of those things that will make you crazy eat 6 at a time then feeling really fat about it but can't help but do it again the next time you lay hands on them. I walk by this small pastry stand open on the way back home from spanish class. I buy one every single time I see it, it's like they have magic power over my taste buds. Bolivian alfajores is kind of like macaroon but it crumbles easily with sweet dulce de leche in the middle.

the root of all evil yumminess, dulce de leche

Dulce de leche. I was first introduced to dulce de leche at breakfast on the amazon trip. It was one of the spreads you could put on breads apart from butter and jams. It's directly translated as candy of milk. It taste like caramel sugar and it's AWESOME. Kim, Ariane and I loved it when we first tasted. Ariane was so enchanted, she wanted to import to Canada. Dulce de leche became my top choice in bread spreads. So yummy, so delicious, so fat. 

fried potato wrapped egg ball

This is a street food. Cooked egg wrapped in mashed potato then fried and ate with various spice sauces and mayonnaise. It's also very high calories and the food safety is very questionable. I found this while waiting in Potosi bus station waiting for the bus to Uyuni. I ate two because it was most frequently visited by locals. It tastes pretty good considering, might be because of my hunger and need for energy. 

Saltenas mmmmmmm mmmm mmmmmmm

Salteñas. It's a popular Bolivian mid morning snack. Estephanie took me to a cafe called "El Patio" in Sucre. It's a massive colonial building with seating in the centre patio. This place only sells saltenas and it's the most famous place for it, even among locals. I got the chicken saltenas. Geezes, I immediately regretted not knowing this cuisine two weeks ago, otherwise I would've ate this every day. It's got chicken, peas, potatoes with a slight sweet spicy sauce inside. The pastry is crusty and baked perfectly. The hot ingredients inside match very well with the sweet and slightly spicy sauce... Mmmmm Mmmmm mmmmmmmmm dear saltena, you had me at first bite.

el patio on a sunny day

el patio!

Learning buddy Sean

He's one of the students in my spanish school. His classroom is next to my classroom. The classrooms are cold without heating so we all like to chill out under the sun on the balcony at recess. It's the only spot with sunshine. We can feel every pore and every inch of skin thanking us for the sunlight and warmth.

He just finished university and decided to live in Bolivia for couple months to learn Spanish and then travel around South America. His homestay parents are the spanish class owners. The apartment is beautiful. He has the whole 2nd floor for himself with private washroom, view tower and balcony with entire view of sucre. The entire complex has German school, salsa dance room, pub, and hostel. It also has private garden with tree house and hammocks. This dude probably had the best living condition in the entire sucre foreigner population, on just 60 bolivians a day.

At the pub's oktoberfest, there was a show of hot bolivian girls...

"this is awkward..."

"i don't know if it's them feeling more awkward with mini skirts or us feeling more awkward watching..."

"hahaha"

"but we (boys) all can't help ourselves but stare...."

At recess...

"where you heading?"

"empanadas"

"i'm so hungry, ill go with you"

At the empadana shop

"uno pollo empanada por favor."

"uno mas"

"mmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmm soooooo goooooooooood"

"this is damn yummy."

salsa class

"this is so awkward."

"yeah, way too intimate."

"i'm gonna rest, you take care, the girl over there has been starring at you since the beginning."

"you're not gonna protect me?"

when we all got tipsy...

"i'll let you in on a secret.."

"oooooo.... spill the beans!"

"the teacher who cornered youri last weekend? it's my teacher."

"WOWWWWWWWWWWW"

"i know."

we like to sun tan at mid morning

Youri and the godfather police

Youri youri youri. It's strange, we only hung out for a couple days but we got along like old friends.

"Hi, I'm Youri."
"Oh hey, I like your purple pants."
We met at a mutual friend's dinner gathering.

Then a couple days later, we met again at a cafe.
"Last night was scary, I got cornered by a girl"
"You what?"
"at the oktoberfest, thankfully my teacher protected me."
"how? what...WHAT?"
"it was so close..."

Youri is Dutch. He's easy going, funny and shares his personal gossip like it's someone else's. He always wears purple pants. The locals love his purple pants, it's so fashion forward, they find him crazy attractive. He is on a 6 month long virginity spell. A nun, pretty much.

"my friend got robbed and lost his camera yesterday. I'm accompanying him to the police office for the 4th time..."
"oh, that sucks"
"the tourist police speaks like the godfather."
"please take me with you, I'll be the entourage."

The camera, as we all know, will not be retrieved. The police didn't care for the car plate number or the style of the camera. It's how it works here. The only thing you can do is to get a police written report of the incident for the insurance company. We walked to the edge of central Sucre, entered the fenced police building with chilled out gunned guards. The place was so old and run down. We walked to the end of the hallway and turned into the last office. The window glasses are broken. There's weird drapes of textile hanging at one side which created a private space behind the drapes. The tables and chairs looks as if they were collected from a dump garage. I would not want to be here for any other reasons other than meeting this godfather police. We giggled and smiled when godfather came out. He's a short moustache man resembling nothing of don carleon but his low husky voice was, without any effort, the legendary godfather voice, but in Spanish.

meeting godfather this afternoon...

Bolivian baby girl's birthday party

It's Louisiana's birthday party the morning after Oktoberfest. Sleeping at 6:30am, failed to wake up to meet Sara at 9:30, waking up at 10:30 then making it to Breta's house by noon. Thank goodness the tradition is to be late by an hour or two. Red prepared mini sausages, grilled chicken and chips with avocado and salsa dips. There was a clown blasting out one particular song repeatedly, there was probably close to 20 kids and 10 adults. They all gathered under the tent in the centre courtyard watching the clown playing games with the kids. The kids were well behaved sat on the small chairs and the adults sat around the side over watching the craziness. The clown played numerous games and magic (repeating that single song on the player) then gathered the host family up for slicing the disney princess cakes and showering the kids with princess pinata full of colourful candies and toys.

This is by far the most local involved event I've participated in Sucre. How in the world would I know I'd be going to a 2 year old birthday party on Sunday morning hungover with a big bag of diaper present.

Louisiana with my glasses

house dog boss chilling under the chair

mom dad louisiana and grandpa with clown

massive disney princess pinata explosion at the end

Strolling with chef Red

Chef Red lives with a Bolivian family. He's a professional chef from Australia. He studied Spanish in Bolivia then travelled around south america then eventually went back to settle in Sucre, Bolivia.We met briefly at the Oktoberfest party and eventually became friends by multiple mutual friends. 

Sarah and I got invited by Red and Simon to their place for dinner. He cooked pork belly with potato and beet salad. The pork belly was simply done with crunchy skin and fatty juicy meat paired with a scoop of mysterious yummy sauce. Baked potatoes were seasoned simply, keeping all the natural flavours. Beet salad was just a surprise, I haven't seen these for the longest time since travelling. YUM YUM YUM. This guy is freakin' talented. 

waiting... waiting....

fooood food food fooooood

On a sunny afternoon, my second last day in Sucre, Red and I met up for a walk. We met at Plaza 25 de Mayo. Sitting on the bench. Observing people, talking with a mom and kid at the next bench. We wore sunglasses and hoodies, it's those breezy sunny day.

this fell in front of my face. pretty little hurtful things... 

We walked away from the plaza, going towards the big park. Passing the parliament, supreme court, opera house, universities and libraries... We bought ice creams from the little shop near the entrance to Bolivar Park. Unpasteurized milk ice cream with an expresso shot poured over. SO YUM. Milky and coffee-ie. So simplistic and so simple. We happily walked down the long park, passing by people picnicking, dating on the benches, teenagers chilling out under the tree. The park is surprisingly organized and well maintained. It's beautiful and elegant. 

He is entertainingly honest. In fact, our first meeting goes like this,

"do you know that girl?"

"yeah, she's from my hostel"

"she is so hot, help me out, i want to meet her"

"okay"

We found a bench at the end of the park, across the old rail station. Red told me about his trip around south america. Every location and every story evolved around meeting a girl. He even shared the phone numbers he got the night we all went out dancing. The follow-up phone calls and texts. 

"that girl with crotches was really hot"

"crotches in the club?"

"yeah, she couldn't run or hide"

"that's how you got the phone number"

"yes"

"you know that he was hitting on you that night?"

"what?"

"you are slow"

"yeahhh..."

"i want to open a club at the abandoned gas station"

"that sounds awesooome."

"don't tell anyone though"

"let's walk, i'll show you the mini eiffel tower"

plaza Libertad

bench talking at Parque Bolivar

Bolivian Lunch

Who says Bolivians don't have delicious meals? You just need to follow the locals...

Bolivian day goes like this, wake up around 8, go school/work, lunch from 12 to 2 ish, siesta, head out around 4 again then dinner around 8 to 9. Lunch is their biggest meal of the day. Many go home to eat or eat out with family. Restaurants offer menú del día, menu of the day, which is usually 15-25 bolivianos approximately 3 dollars. It usually consist of an appetizer and main with drink and/or dessert. It's mainly locals who fill the restaurants for lunch and less tourists as lunch is a light one in our culture. I actually started to eat like them and find it healthier. Lunching big follow by small dinner somehow feels better.

secret restaurant by fluven with awesome 3 course lunch. jammed
with locals. pasta potato chicken soup

main is beef  with potato, tomato, beans, onion and spices.

st germain vegetarian bean veggie soup

st germain main, veggie sprice sauce with rice and a wrap of
something  that taste like meat 

simple sugar coated cake

Celebrating Oktoberfest at Sucre

"you going saturday?"
"what?"
"oktoberfest! at fluven, starting at 8pm all you can drink beer for 49bolivians"
"for how long?"
"till 2am"
"affirmative"

Everyone kept talking about the oktoberfest throughout the week. the german spirit here surprised me, apparently the hostel owner is german, fluven is german, and the owner of my spanish school is also german, plus he got another cafe/school complex. fyi, 49 bolivianos is about 7 canadian.

Fluven's 2nd floor was were the event is, its a courtyard surrounded by wooden tables and chairs and attached to another small bar room. Will, Simon, Sebastian, Sean, Lota, Elana, Nathan, Simon, Red, Youri and everyone I knew and kind of knew were there. In this small town, everyone is a friend's friend. The night blasted away. We refilled our plastic cups again and again and again and again. The bar got so jammed and the staff so busy, they ran out of beer in light year speed. I guess they didn't expect the drinkability of travellers and the meaning of oktoberfest, because the plastic cups were not the oktober size.

half way through the beer marathon

I went to the washroom and surprisingly discovered a group of boys were chit chatting on the sofa. They gave me a secretive smile which I didn't understand until one of my friend came up to use the washroom as well...

"the boys said hi to me, then I said hi back."
"uh huh..."
"one of them reach his hand out which I thought was a friendly hand shake..."
"yeah?"
"but his hands grabbed lower..."
gasp.

"you got gay charm."

Learning español with Estephanie

"Did you study Jenny?"

"Why didn't you do your homework?"
"Oh my Jenny, why are you out everyday?"
Repeatedly was I butchered by Estephanie. She is a really great Spanish teacher. Knowledgeable, humorous and friendly with students. We had one on one 4 hours classes in the morning for ten days.

"Pan fried the rice in the pan before cooking in the pot. It's way better."
She provided cooking tips because the altitude is high so the ways to cook things are different.

"You should eat more papaya, it's good for health"
She listen to my health problems and give honest advices. :)

"Go to the restaurant down the road to the left, their 3 course lunch meal is delicious."
Estephanie knows I love food so she told me all the yummy food in town, while avoiding burning the wallet.

"You're going to the party tonight right? I'll see you there. Let's dance."
She's young and energetic. She party and enjoy socializing with students.

we like to study on the patio under the sun

the sentence making session 9am in the morning

smiling in the school

spanish school!

Gringo's Rincon Gang

Gringo's Rincon is one of my favourite hostels. It's a colonial old building turned hostel with a large wooden door.The kitchen is small, no television, no hang out lounges, there's only three showers, the owner is a bit of a character (he is always wearing orange gloves), and the wireless internet barely works. 

"Is this all the Gringo Rincon people?"

"No, give it another 10 minutes, more are on the way."

The people here tend to stay here for a long time, well, some like to leave but always find reasons to stay. We like to hang out in massive groups. I'll come back from the Spanish lessons at noon and find the gang playing shitface at the roof again. We join together to cook dinners. We ventured down the road for 2 for 1 drinks in the pub's courtyard. We hopped on taxis to the dodgy part of town's only local club. We jam the entire clubs and pubs full of our own and others that we snatched up. We see each other hook up with people and secretly smiles while fading away. We like to exchange gossip, about people in town and people staying here. We visits parks and cemeteries. We fight for the bottom bunks when people check out. We complain together on the crappy internet. We buy groceries off of each other. This place is crappy but nice. It made me feel better. Less homesick and better rested. 

It's usually the people we met not the places that makes good memories. But this place definitely has some kind of magic to it. 

Gringo cooking in Sucre

When I got to Sucre, my mental health wasn't doing great. I miss my family. I miss cooking. I miss stability. I was tired of backpacking around and sick of making friends then bidding goodbye the next day. I started cooking. The ability to cook whatever I want and the joy in creating them provided a sense of comfort. It reminded me of my mom.

I ventured out to the public market after Spanish lessons. The trick is to visit the same seller every time. The same veggie lady, same egg lady, same fruit lady and same spice lady. Haggle, haggle and haggle more. They like to rip off of gringos but after a week or so, they will feel bad and give you a better offer.

I made fried rice, for 3 straight days. Fried rice with veggies and eggs. Simple but way better than anything the restaurants provide. I loved veggies. Eating it makes me feel good, like my body is fresh and regenerated. I started liking papayas. The stalls sell massive papayas. Apparently it's a super fruit with lots of good stuff for health. They were delicious and easy to eat. I chop them in half, eat one half then couldn't help myself but eat the other half too. The free food/spice cupboard is also a must visit everyday. I found rice, pastas, spices, cooking oil, instant soups, instant noodles and even cereals.

very first self cooked meal

and then the lazy versions days afterwards

papayas the size of my face, still consider small by
the local standards

Sucre, the white city

Sucre, aka Charcas aka La Plata aka Chuquisaca. This town with four names is situated at 2700m altitude giving it an average temperature of 20C by day and 8C by night. It's the constitutional capital of Bolivia, the centre of South America freedom movement.

Sucre was apparently the best place to learn Spanish. The quality of teachers are great, the tuition is affordable and living cost is as low as it could be. I stayed here for two weeks to learn Spanish.

I've come to love this place. The friendly town where you bump into friends walking around town. The central meeting place- plaza 25 de mayo- where everyone would hang around day and night and converse with strangers sitting at the next bench. The yummy lunch spots providing cheap three course menus. Siestas that would zombify the entire town. The public markets that require extensive amount of haggling. The fruit stall square producing mouth watering fruit cups. The freestyle Spanish teacher. The infamous universities, firsts of its kind in South America. The park with mini Eiffel tower and little ponds with boats. The two popular pubs where locals and travellers mingle. The board game nights. The two for one happy drinking hours. The hills we climb to watch the sunset. The yummy empanadas and saltanias. The white churches beaming on sunny days. The museum of Bolivian history. The hilarious third world police department. The pretty white washed Spanish buildings. The street by day. And the streets at night. The libraries, cathedrals, cinemas, bakeries, convenient shops, launderias, hostels and etc...

I love this place, I love this place.

The Santa Clara convent bells, the massive convent
with nuns making yummy emapanadas

lunch time sunshine

more cathedrals!

plaza 25 de mayo, everything evolves around here

fyi, Sucre's water system is German. this is the only bolivian town that i drink tap water.

Backpacker's card games

There are 5 kinds of card games backpackers all learn to play.

Bullshit. This is a game of deception, lying and cheating. The goal is to bullshit to get rid of all your cards. If you're bullshitting when a player challenges, then all the cards on the table are yours.

Asshole aka President. The asshole game rules see wiki rules. It's basically trying to get rid of all your cards with some cards or a combination of cards having special rules. Depending on how well you do, you become president, vice president, middle management, commoner, vice asshole and asshole. No one talks to the asshole unless they want to swap positions.

Shitface is something similar to asshole but you pick up cards while trying to get rid of all the cards. The loser of the last game will trade their best cards to the winner for their worst cards.

Fuck the dealer. The dealing party rotates throughout the game, the longer it goes, the more likely you will get screwed over by the players.The rules.

Poker, obvisouly. Needless to explain this one.


Card games get us through long haul buses. Card games entertain us at siesta times. Card games accompany us in deserted lands. Card games are the after dinner activity before the night starts rolling. Card games bring all nation of backpackers together. Doesn't matter where you're from and where you're going, find a chair and join the rounds of vulgar games.

Overnight bus to Sucre

I bought an overnight bus ticket to Sucre from Copacabana 1 MEM for 130 Bolivianos approximately 20 Canadian. This company is reputable for its service however, I was still scared. I really was. The horrible stories of missing luggages, stolen bags and on board robbery... Luckily I befriended people on the way to the bus station and on the bus. I shared a cab to the bus station with a couple who are leaving at the same time. At the departing terminal, I met Andrew, Owen and Martin from wild rover. I didn't know they were taking the same bus. Then on the bus, I befriended the British couple sitting across the aisle. 

The bus took us to random places outskirts of town, stops for a long time, open storage to put packages and boxes in. I suspected they work as some sort of courier as well. We stretch our neck and look down every time the storage door opens to make sure our luggages aren't being stolen. Travellers take care of each other, we have comrade spirit. 

The ride was about 14 hours. I ate a whole tumbler of pringles and drank a litre of water then threw my head back for a looooooooonnnnng ride. The road was surprisingly smooth with new pavements. I woke up about 20 times throughout the night, bundled up in the blanket provided, spread on the big inclined seat. Between sleeps, I open my eyes lazily, looking out the window to see passings of valleys, rivers, villages and mountain ranges. The bus stops every so often by road polices for papers and security check. At around 3am, the bus stopped at an near pitch black settlement out of now where, nothing down the road and nothing up the road. It was freezing cold but lots of us got off the bus to move around a bit... The bus' headlights were left on so we could see the surroundings. 

How lucky am I to have a safe ride.

Las pampas, ending notes

The tour was with Indigena Tours. They are known to be the best in terms of sustainability and wildlife treatment. Tony took us to "find" the pampas habitats, never did he disturb/catch them to show us except piranhas which he set free afterwards. Our meals are healthy and always more than enough to get us fully satisfied. We had meat spaghetti, variety of salads, cheeses, bread, rice, and 3 different styles of donuts among other delicious yummies. They were sanitary and beautifully plated. These are probably the best meals I had since start of the trip. 

Packed and loaded. We go upstream, back the way we came. Bidding goodbye to the alligators, birds and passing by the pink dolphins... The jeep trip back to Rurrenabaque was total nightmare as the roads are rough and muddy due to the rainstorm which caused the journey to be more than 5 hours. My plane back to La Paz was also delayed by a day due to cancellations. 

Thank you Indigena, Tony Bullshit, my tourmates and the Amazonian wildlife.

lunch om om om om om eat them all!!

goodbye alligators... an allie ready to crack the bones of fishes.

little wild adventures

Las pampas, sunrise and cute wildlifes

Tony woke us up at 5 am. In pitch black, we hopped on the boat again. The moon sets on one side while the sun rises on the other. From dark blue, dark purple, vine red to orange red then the glorious sun. We hear the birds chirping, the alligators moving to their hunting spots, the pampas coming to life again. The sky was wide and limitless. The pampas full of life and energy. Fresh breeze and cold air waking us up. We stood on a little hill and gawing at this absolutely beautiful scene with circle of life playing in the background. I'll wake up for this everyday.

wait for it... wait for it....

the cirrrrrrrrrrrcle of liiiiiiiiiiiife

After breakfast, we spotted a gang of yellow squirrel monkeys hanging around the lodge. They were curious. They took our apple and bananas. You cute little monkey. So, we didn't know this, but you're not suppose to feed the monkeys...

a bunch of cute monkeys hung around the lodge, adorable!!!

Tony took us further down the stream again, spotting for more animals. We spotted a SLOTH. It was Tony's first time seeing it this year thus we were extremely lucky. These cute furry bundles move really realllly realllllly slow. He was hanging on the tree branches eating leaves. They are only active for a few hours in a day and sleep for the rest. They don't have natural predators so they are able to live a lazy chilled out life.

a SLOTH! we spotted a sloth! 

This is a crappy photo, it's almost impossible to get a clear shot of these cute pink dolphins. During dry periods, they hang around a particular deep part of the river. A lot of people jumped in the water to swim with them. They would use their mouths to poke your feet. I never knew there were dolphins in the Amazon. Let alone, Pink dolphins. 

tip of the pink dolphin