Another Travel Blog

Unfortunately, I didn’t stay in Sucre for more than one day (the city is wonderful, laid back and still the constitutional capital of Bolivia, La Paz is de facto the capital now) I won’t find such great accomodation for this value but I need to make the loop back towards Rio and I am longing for some beaches, too. You won’t find any beaches here in Bolivia, being one of the landlocked countries in South America (and being famous for it as it lost it’s coastline to Chile in the War of the Pacific in the 19th century and is still claiming the coast area). Sucre has a nice center including a large plaza with many colonial buildings and I spent the day with walking around the town and having a nice dinner. I headed towards Santa Cruz in the evening (one of the biggest cities in Bolivia which meant another 15hrs bus ride) Fortunately, I opted for a expensive bus which meant more sleep and less hopping as the road didn’t get any better than on the journey from Uyuni to Potosi. It is my second time in Santa Cruz (the first time was Santa Cruz, CA, US though) so I wont’ start to compare! The bus arrived in the morning and I used the day for lingering around Santa Cruz as the previous days have been full of rushing through Bolivia. My next matter of business was going to buy tickets for the horrific bus trip through the Gran Chaco to Asuncion in Paraguay (as in of my loop needs to get towards Rio) The journey is supposed to take 30 hours or more and I opted for the bus which was $5 more expensive in hope of getting one which doesn’t beak down and has proper wheels as this has been the case on the journey from Uyuni to Potosi. But it will might be a Paraguayan bus and I have no idea how their standard of vehicles is.. Also, I have been warned by some people taking this bus ride, already back in Rio as it is supposed to be an adventurous and torturing trip. The Gran Chaco is located between the Paraguay river and the Andes and is sparsely populated having a unique, more or less unexplored ecosystem. Also, I will be definitely leaving the standard ‘Gringo trail’ with this journey, as Paraguay is less visited by travellers.