After coming back from Samaipata to Santa Cruz we spent another day there and then took a plane to Sucre (US$50 per person, stopping in Cochabamba). Sucre turned out a beautiful and mellow city. It’s the “constitutional capital” of Bolivia, i.e. the capital according to the constitution. Practically, since the end of an tin-vs-silver civil war the congress and the government have relocated to La Paz – the capital of tin. The congress still convenes in Sucre once a year, however, as required by the constitution. Sucre is also the permanent seat of Bolivia’s supreme court.

Sucre’s attraction include la Casa de Libertad – the original seat of Bolivian congress where the congress returns once a year and that serves as a museum of Bolivian history for the other 364 days. You learn a lot of interesting bits of Bolivian history, including the complications in choosing the name. Before independence, Bolivia was known as “Alto Peru”, “La Plata”, and “Charcas.” None of those names were deemed appropriate after independence: “Alto Peru” suggested too close of a connection to Peru, which was eager to annex Bolivia (Portuguese speakers would point other good reasons to not use this name), La Plata implied too much of a link with Argentina (which used that name before independence), and Charcas supposedly had too much of a colonial connotation (though, I am not sure why). The country was eventually called “Republica Bolívar” in honor of the Libertador Simón Bolívar, who was also chosen as it’s “honorary president”. Bolivar, however, did not approve of Bolivian independence, as he preferred that it be part of Gran Colombia. Republica Bolivar took offense at this and changed it’s name to “Bolivia”, we were told, to distance itself slightly from the Libertador. Despite this conflict, Bolivar seems to be well-liked in Bolivia, and La Casa de Libertad includes a humongous bust of him in one of the rooms.

In addition to historical landmarks and plenty of churches, Sucre had a colorful market with many many types of potatoes.