Once the centre of attention

The last leg of our Bolivian journey took us North East through Potosi and Sucre. At one point this region was the most powerful in South America but today......not so much. So, after another painful bus ride, this time only 7 hours of dirt roads, we arrived in Potosi.

Potosi is claimed to be the highest city in the world at 4,090m (i haven't had the time to confirm this fact but it certainly was tough walking around the streets) and was once the richest city in South America. We found this a little surprising given it's current state but there was some evidence of a once great coloniel town. The town itself sits below the 'Cerro Rico' (or Rich Mountain) which during the 18th and 19th Centuries supplied around 70% of the world's silver and thus providing the Spanish Empire with near unlimited resources. Sadly, once the volume of silver declined the mining slowed and the town suffered.

We decided a couple of nights in Potosi would be enough. We took a walk around the old town, checked out the main plaza and looked through a couple of catherdrals, it was all pretty standard stuff. The highlight of stay was the tour of the 'Casa de la Moneda de Bolivia' (or the National Mint), which given the silver mining was one of the biggest mints in South America. Overall, it wasn't the most exciting place we've visited but with such an amazing history it certainly made for a memorable stop off.

Next stop, Surce, only 3 hours on the bus, what a pleasure! Sucre is a beautiful city with white wash walls, bustling plazas and a few parks. The city was home to wealthy that benefited from the mining in Potosi, who preferred to live in the more furtile valley at 2700m. It's also rich in history, once the Capital of Bolivia (now La Paz) and also the starting point of the revolution that liberated Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina from the Spanish Empire in the 19th century. We ended up spending 3 days in Sucre, just soaking up the culture, and covering off the usual tourist sights (no, we didn't make it to all 12 cathedrals....).

From Surce, we took a flight to Santa Cruz (a hot and ugly city in Eastern Bolivia), spent 8 hours there and then jumped back on a plane to Campo Grande in Brasil, 'cause 'we're going to Rio.................de Janerio'