Not So Sure About Sucre

Country Bolivia | City Sucre | | Dates June 8-10 | Accommodation Kulturhaus Berlin & Villa Impresa

We took a bus from Potosi to Sucre, a journey that took way longer than expected (only 156 km) due to the winding roads and many many stops to pick up people along the way. Upon arrival in Sucre, we noted it looked quite different than what we’d seen of Bolivia thus far – more developed with more modern looking infrastructure.

Our time was severely impacted by food poisoning, slash punishment for eating excessive amounts of street food without caution in Potosi. We missed out on the two things we wanted to do most – the small weaving village of Tarabuco and the dinosaur park with the largest number of preserved dinosaur prints in existence. Instead, we spent the little time we were able to leave the hostel out exploring solo (ill on different days)

Sucre, like Potosi, is also an Unesco world heritage site and called the “white city,” (ciudad blanco) due to its abundance of whitewashed colonial buildings. The downtown has some beautiful buildings and architecture, from churches, to convents, to main plazas and parks. Some of the ones visited include: Plaza 25 de Mayo, Callejón de Santa Teresa, Mirador, Universidad San Francisco Xavier, Parque Bolivar and a food plaza with Comido Typical.

Sucre also boasts some great museums, of which we visited Casa de la Libertad (offered great details about the Pacific War among Bolivia, Chile and Peru that has lasting implications today, and Bolivian history), Museo Textil Etnografica (had some cool textiles and poorly translated signage), and another weird museum Sarah forgot the name of.

We also both walked the steep incline to the mirador, providing a nice view of the entire city and mountainside of scattered brick-colored houses.

Mercado Central | The mercado central of Sucre was great; much larger than the ones we previously visited offering goods from food to pasta to eggs to flowers to meat to herbs to spices and more – all arranged nicely in stalls according to food style, of course! There is an upper level with food for purchase, allowing you to look down onto the entire market.

Not sure why Sucre is so highly recommended, though. It was certainly not that exciting nor our favorite place. Perhaps in large part due to the fact we spent more time dying in the hostel and puking in the shared bathroom than actually enjoying it. But I also think it just wasn’t that interesting. Other people we met agreed. I’d say skip it and spend your time in Potosi or La Paz.