Bolivia > The Sunday market of Tarabuco

Today we can sleep in. We don’t leave until nine o’clock, taking the bus (the same one as yesterday, cramped with hard benches) to the Sunday market in Tarabuco. Fortunately, the road is in good condition. After sixty kilometers, a one-and-a-half-hour drive, and one stop for a puddle, we arrive in the center of Tarabuco. Around the plaza and in the side streets, the Sunday market is in full swing with many stalls lining the streets. People from all surrounding towns have come to Tarabuco, filling the streets with a rich display of different traditional costumes.

Bolivia - The Sunday market of Tarabuco

However, it’s not easy to take a good photo here. Many market visitors do not want to be photographed at all or ask for money for a photo. On the market square is the vegetable and fruit market. Here, goods are not only bought but also traded among the locals. In a courtyard a little away from the hustle and bustle of the Sunday market, we have a drink and, on Kristina’s recommendation, try peanut soup.

Bolivia - The Sunday market of Tarabuco

It’s very tasty, though it tastes more like curry soup. By a quarter past one, we are back at the central plaza, but the bus is nowhere to be found among all the other buses. Kristina goes looking, and after some searching, she finds the bus in a side street. By half past two, we are back in Sucre. On a Sunday, there isn’t much to do in a city like Sucre. Fortunately, the weather is beautiful and pleasantly warm. Walking through the streets, we arrive at the park, which turns out to be a combination of an amusement park, a playground, and a narrow park. In the middle of the park stands a 15-meter-high Eiffel Tower, which the children are climbing. On the way back to the center, we visit the market (limited on Sundays) and enjoy a drink on a balcony café at the plaza in the sun. After a short break at the hotel (time to read up for La Paz), we go for dinner at a pizzeria. Kristina recommended this pizzeria to us. We just aren’t sure if we are at the right one. The layout of the pizzeria is quite simple and plain, but the pizzas themselves are very tasty. For coffee, we go traditionally to Café de Joy Ride, where practically the entire travel group is already gathered. Together we enjoy a few drinks and, around eleven o’clock, walk back to our hotel.