Sucre

We moved into the apartment we had rented, but the place was a bit of a disaster. It hadn't been cleaned and the hot water was busted. It could have been ok if the owners had fixed these problems. Unfortunately, when we told them that it was dirty and needed a good clean, the owner's brother-in-law turned up with a cloth and told us we could have just bought it ourselves from the supermarket. We only realised a couple of days later, when no cleaner had turned up, that the gifted cloth was the solution to the cleaning problem.

And then there was the hot water: after a couple of days of being told that we just weren't doing it right, we left. It was a big relief.

Since moving into a hostal a few doors down we've been to see some incredible, colourful and energetic street parades for the Festival of the Virgen de Guadalupe. The festival seems like it's been going on for almost two weeks, but apparently all the music, fireworks, dancing and costumes until today have just been practices.

Some of the costumes are incredible. Kirsten reckons Lady Gaga must have got the ideas for her stage costumes from the Bolivian festival outfits. They are bright, sparkly, silky and extravagant. The dancing's pretty cool too; beyond description. I'm a much better spectator than I would be a participant.

I've read that there's another festival next weekend, so we'll have to dust off the camera for that. We're lucky to be here at such an exciting time of year. The attached photo is the only one I've been able to download so far - working on dialup speeds and losing patience!