Sucre, Bolivia

Sucre is often referred to as Bolivia´s ¨white city¨, because almost all of the buildings in the downtown area are painting a gleaming white. Combined with the relatively high altitude, this means that sunglasses are a must when walking around town.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Sucre is more picturesque than it is interesting. There is not much to do here beyond strolling the pleasant streets, wandering into any number of churches or convents that are open to the public, or eating the mediocre food (I got spoiled in Peru!). Nonetheless, it´s been an inoffensive place to relax for a couple of days on my way to the Eastern lowlands. If you only have a few weeks in Peru, I wouldn´t necessarily recommend a trip to Sucre, unless you´re using it to acclimate a bit to the altitude before heading up to higher ground such as La Paz, Potosi, or Lake Titicaca.

Speaking of altitude, if you have never had altitude sickness, I don´t recommend that either. Unless you enjoy spending your Friday afternoon deliriously laid out on a rusty hospital bed with an IV drip in your arm. Awesome!

Tonight I leave on a bus for Samaipata -- el territorio del Che! I´m staying at a recommended organic farm, http://www.lavispera.org/, where you can volunteer in the gardens and enjoy the slower vibe and warmer weather of the low altitude life. From there, I am excited to visit a number of Che Guevara sites--I finally get to see where it all went down!