This time we leave Santa Cruz from the city’s domestic El Trompillo airport in a comfortingly large and sturdy plane – my favorite. The flight to Sucre via Cochabamba takes 90 minutes and costs US$43; the bus, by contrast, winds its way tortuously through the mountains for 15 hours and costs US$20. As much as we like to travel overland, this is seriously no contest. The flight from Cochabamba to Sucre is very short, yet so determined are TAM airlines to feed us that the flight attendant hands out the snacks as we board the plane. Can you imagine this happening on a domestic flight in the USA these days?
While the government sits in La Paz, Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia. The city lies at an elevation of 2700m (8,858 feet) so it’s back to altitude after nearly a week in the lowlands. I can feel myself breathing heavily again, but at least I’m no longer a feast for the insects of NKMNP. Our new home is the French-run La Dolce Vita guesthouse, which has pleasantly appointed rooms – bright, airy, and stylishly modern. The host, Jackie, kindly explains the tourist attractions in Sucre and we begin with lunch at the hotel, La Posada. For less than US$5, we enjoy a sumptuous lunch of fresh bread, pasta soup, beef stroganoff, and a creamy dessert set against a backdrop of exquisite colonial architecture. The combination of food and ambience are quite magnificent.
Indeed, Sucre possesses a well-conserved historic center featuring stunning colonial architecture that affords it UNESCO world heritage status. The best way to experience the colonial architecture is from the roof tops. First we visit the Templo de la Merced with its undulating multi-domed roof. Next we scamper around the exquisite Temple San Felipe Neri – part school and part church. It’s a beautifully maintained building with exquisite views over the hundreds of terracotta-tiled roofs that comprise historic Sucre.
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut wrenching, heart-wrenching, laugh-wrenching ride
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