Bolivia: Tarabuco Market, Sucre & the Cordillera Mountains

Tarabuco

There are 21 of us slammed in here like sardines. There are babies, kids, parents, travelers, and old men chewing coca leaves like they are going out of style. Nobody is comfortable yet nobody seems annoyed. Is this normal everyday life in central Bolivia, I wondered?

The van that we are traveling in is smaller than the Ford Aerostar van that we had when I was a kid. I am sitting on a small pop up seat near the door (that I hope doesn’t fly open). The seat is much better suited for kids than grown adults but I’m game for adventure. I couldn’t get any pictures of the craziness because we were too tightly packed in there to reach for a camera.

We are on our way to the Tarabuco Sunday Market located 65 km southeast of Sucre, Bolivia. The market is an artisan market that is hosted by indigenous Yampura people who live in the surrounding countryside. We had a fantastic time taking in a leisurely Sunday morning walking around the market. We even bought a few souvenirs, which we rarely do. The town seemed remote and quiet and was a nice retreat from the much larger city of Sucre.

Sucre

After our amazing 4×4 adventure though the salt flats, we had made our way to Sucre which lies a 10 hour bus ride east of where our tour had ended. We choose Sucre because of its laid back feel and surrounding mountains that beckoned to be explored. We ended up spending a total of 5 nights in Sucre and decided that we wanted to just kick back and relax before embarking on a hiking adventure. We stayed at a guesthouse up in the hills, which was one of the best accommodations we’d had on our trip. Our room was quiet, spacious and featured a spectacular 180-degree view of the city below. A kitchen on the top level of the building also had the same great view, which we really enjoyed. The countless trips up and down the hills were worth every second for this place.

Besides cooking nearly all of our meals in the kitchen, we also made daily trips up to the top of the mountain peak near our guesthouse. The path up was all stairs and basically a grueling 45 min straight up. From the top you could see the city and the entire surroundings. It was a great way to start our morning and get in a good workout. With an elevation over 9,000 feet, the climb really got your blood pumping!

Cordillera Hike  

Our main purpose for visiting Sucre was to explore the mountains. In town, we found a non-profit tour company which sponsored hikes to support the local communities. After selecting our trek, we set off on a 3 day, 2-night adventure with a great group of people. We had a gentleman from Spain, a younger couple from Denmark and a local guide who did this for fun as a volunteer.

Day 1

The hike started from the top of a mountain nearby the town of Sucre and began with a steep decent on a portion of the Inca trail (that’s right, Peru isn’t the only country with an Incan trail). After descending for several hours, we followed a river through the valley. Along the river were countless donkeys that appeared to be on a mission to find some food. Then after a great vegetarian lunch, we started climbing – eventually reaching a mountain peak with amazing views. From the top, you could see the western face of the Cordillera and then the awesome Crater de Maragua, which is one of the more impressive and beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen. The views were sweeping and never ending! After spending some time at the top, we worked our way down into the center of the crater where a remote local village laid. This is where we would spend the night. Our lodging was owned and run by the local village as a way to make money. We found it to be pretty nice. It contained a kitchen and bed for everyone. It did lack heat, however this would be a trend in Bolivia. We found there to be zero heat in the whole country over the course of the 3 weeks we spent there. During the day it heats up nicely into the 60’s or 70’s but at night, it drops quickly into the 30’s. We definitely had to bundle up at night to stay warm!

Day 2

After getting a good night’s sleep we were up early and back on the trail. We hiked out of the crater and enjoyed the sweeping views back over the entire crater. Afterwards we made our way to a spot where dinosaur footprints where discovered. The place is known as Ninu Mayu. I’m not sure if I believe that they are real or not but it actually seems pretty feasible.   After lunch, we followed another large valley with magnificent views over the small villages and farmlands. We kept high on the mountain ridge above the Pilcomayo River before descending into the small village of Potolo where we would spend the night after another long day of amazing hiking.

Day 3

Today there weren’t any hiking on the menu. Instead, we just made our way back to Sucre. We ended up taking the public bus, which was quite an experience. I could not BELIEVE the amazing scenery and scary roads that the bus took. The road was dirt, very bumpy and wound up and down the Cordillera de Los Frailes Mountains. It crossed rivers which flowed across the road and even had to back up a few times because the hairpin corners were too tight. It was definitely one of the most scenic and craziest bus rides that I’ve ever been on.

We really enjoyed our time in and around the Sucre area. The Cordillera mountain range was spectacular! The mountains contained every hue of green, red and brown. The farmlands that we walked through were remote – in fact we didn’t see a single other hiker on the trail either of the days that we hiked! Each time that we passed through a farmer’s field, our guide would pull out his coca leave sack and give a generous handful to the grateful farmer. The indigenous people (both men and women) in these parts are really addicted to chewing coca leaves. The coca leaves are pretty controversial, as coca is known throughout the world for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The leaves themselves don’t produce the same intense high as cocaine but are said to give you more energy and help with altitude sickness. There is debate about that as well (just don’t tell the farmers in Bolivia that). As for us, we just avoided the stuff altogether and instead took in the absolutely amazing mountain scenery of this beautiful country! We really enjoyed getting to know the other hikers from around the world and really engage with the locals. This was definitely one of our favorite hikes on the trip!