Sucre - Bolivia

I had decided to fly to Sucre versus a 20 hour bus ride though twisting and turning gravel roads. I arrived late to the airport, and was quite stressed about possibly missing my flight. Happily the flight was late, and apparently everyone else on my flight was aware that these flights to this city was always late, and I was still the first to arrive. Also enroute to Sucre was the Sucre soccer team.  Louis introduced himself and I began an introduction to a sport I find terrifying to play. Think of me running, if I didn't manage to trip over my own feet, through a soccer ball, and other people trying to kick the soccer ball away from me.... A cacophony of broken bones would loom in my future. Louis has had a long history of playing futbol. He has played in Italy, Georgia in the US for over 6 years (equalling fluent English), And through out South America. Upon arrival in Sucre after more than an hour delay, he gave me tips and ensured I didn't overpay for my cab. Sucre is a beautiful city, and again I have discovered a self proclaimed "La Ciudad Blanca" - the White City. I find this city is much more beautiful than Peru's version in Arequipa. Smooth white stucco buildings often with low rivers tone facades at the base, oversized decorated wooden doors; intricate wrought iron balconies over look the roads and cover the windows of homes and shops. The city has earned its reputation of the Paris of Bolivia. The churches remind me of the Greek islands, with white bell towers standing tall over the streets. The main square is filled with palm and jaricanda trees. Benches hide in the shade of the trees attracting tourists and locals alike to sit and watch the world walk by. In Latin America the city seems to revolve around the main square. People come here to relax, let their children play, or walk their dogs. Shops, businesses and restaurants are all attracted to the area for the high volume of passer-bys. As my life long quota for rice, potatoes and quinoa has been met I keep trying to find new food and expand my horizons. I decided it was finally time for Che-fa. Che-fa is the South American version of Chinese food. Run by Chinese immigrants it really isnt that different from our Smerican or Canadian Chinese food, just instead influenced by the local produce and meats here. I decided that I couldn't go too wrong with spring rolls and chicken chow mien. It seemed like a safe bet.  The spring rolls were to die for. I would easily travel back to Sucre specifically for the spring rolls! The chicken chow mien was pretty good, only real difference was the use of spaghetti noodles. It iwas strange eating chicken chow spaghetti. My time in the beautiful city was short. I would happily return to relax under the trees of this Bolivian paradise. A 9 hour bus would transport me from Sucre to Uyuni, my next destination. The bus ride allowed me to watch the Bolivian landscape pass me by. After passing out of the heart of Sucre, the red brick adobe houses, with rebar reaching out of the tops of the buildings returned. In South Smerica many houses and buildings will leave rebar sticking about 12 inches out of the roofs of the houses. This is because once a house or buillding is finished the property owners must begin to pay taxes. However an unfinished property is exempt from taxes. There rebar suggests that the building is not complete, and a second story could be added, therefore live in a house that is a bit ugly, tax free..... When I build my house I may leave some siding off one area of the house... The desert passed by me, the sandy rolling hills reminded me of the desert I Arizona, the drive between Phoneix and Tuscon. Suddenly out of no where a long stretch of low green pasture in a low lying field extracted itself from the desert. A literal desert oasis with grazing llama, cows, sheep, pigs, burrow, and horses. Windswept hills in the distance with sand so white it looked like snow hid the bases of 2 lonely jagged peaks which rose out of the far horizon. We rounded the corner of the desert oasis, around the snowsuit sand hill. Suddenly just as dramatically the sand turned purple.  Purple sand piled into purple mountains, purple shale scatter down the side and spilled onto the blacktop of the road. Poking up through the purple desert were little hairy white caps on saguaro cactus. Long white hair stood tall on the tops of these cactus. the land seemed to change in a blink of an eye. Having picked up local passengers hit hiking on the streets we detoured into a small village called Puneayo. Bits of rusted metal stitched together with barbed wire outlined fences of matching rust red mud brick houses. An obvious mining town the city seemed to  have settled in the desert with the dust. Shortly after our last detour into Puneayo we arrived Uyuni.