Pedro and Maria Motorcycle South America!: Potosi to Sucre, 105 miles

We slept in as we didn’t have far to ride today into Sucre. The bed was comfortable, so regardless of the very high altitude, we both slept very well. Mike was hoping to get a delicious Saltena, Mike’s favorite since Baja tacos (a Bolivian specialty which resembles a sort of spiced meat pie) at a place recommended by our good book. We packed up and made our way to the Saltena shop, but to Mike’s dismay, it was packed with about a 100 Bolivians and he didn’t’ have the patience to wait. We hit the road towards Sucre.

Just as we were exiting the town we stopped at an oil/lube shop in hopes to change Yoshita’s oil (we needed somewhere to dump our old oil). Outside the front of the shop sat a woman with a very sweet hat on knitting a white scarf. It amazed me that it didn’t have oil all over it, if I was her I’d be knitting a black scarf… Regardless, after paying the lady 5 bolivianos (less than a dollar) Mike got out all his tools and started to work on the oil change. The woman’s 3 boys all stood around in amazement at Mike’s tools, bike and fancy oil. During the oil change Mike discovered that our bash plate is completely destroyed; thankfully we HAVE a bash plate! After about 30 minutes we were back on the road towards Sucre.

I don’t know if we climbed to an even higher altitude during our way over, but about 30 minutes into the ride I started to feel very light headed and dizzy. I had to concentrate on my breathing and for the first time felt the bad effects of the altitude. Usually when I’m on the back of the bike, I don’t notice the altitude as much because the wind is blowing in from underneath my helmet, but for some reason today the altitude got the best of me. Soon after that episode we started to descend and that was just what I needed. Unfortunately that is the road we need to go on to get back into Potosi on Monday and continue on to the Salt Flats; not looking forward to it. Nothing you can really do to help yourself from the feeling that you aren’t getting enough air; it’s quite scary.

The town of Sucre is much bigger than Mike or I expected and much more pleasant. When you compare this to the other big city in Bolivia, La Paz, this is a gem. It has all the amenities of a big city, but a very quaint and relaxed vibe. There are plenty of great places to eat and quite a few hotels to choose from. It’s also supposed be the chocolate capital of Bolivia; I hope to discover that tomorrow!

We found a nice hotel, with a beautiful courtyard where Yoshita can rest. This is the same hotel that Gareth and Ester stayed in and was one of their recommendations (thanks you two!). We also discovered we can log onto someone’s wireless if we take the laptop up to the roof!

We enjoyed a great big lunch at Joy Ride Café (another recommendation), took a rest in the room (I was feeling a little weird from the altitude again) and then a nice big dinner. These are the days we enjoy…good food and a nice town.

So long friends