Riots in Sucre

November 27, 2007 By 1 Comment

There were riots in Sucre last weekend with reports suggesting that at least 3 people were killed.

The UK Foreign Office had warned of disturbances, but demonstrations can easily occur in Bolivia. I’ve seen pictures of the riots in Sucre and these are on a different scale – especially when you hear that there have been fatalities.

Correo del Sur even shows pictures of riot police and tear gas today. So what’s it all about?

Well, when President Evo Morales was elected, he promised to reform the constitution to give more rights to indigenous people. As it happens, the draft of the new constitution has two points that are causing unrest in the country, and neither have anything to do with his election promise.

The first I have already written about – moving the seat of Government back to Sucre. This would make Sucre the sole capital of Bolivia.

The second, and this is what appears to have caused the riots, is that President Morales could be indefinitely re-elected.

After introducing a lot of reforms, such as reducing the President’s pay, on first glance this does look like it is going in a new direction. Even if there are other countries where the President can be re-elected as often as they care to stand for office, other limit this and whilst there is probably something to be said for both systems, I am suspicious of someone who wants to change the law in this way for their own benefit.

Bolivia has seen enough dictators in it’s past who clung on to power (only to be promptly displaced by a new regime). Even if this law is on a democratic basis, it doesn’t seem to be sending the right message to the people!

Filed Under: Bolivia, News, Sucre

Teguise market

November 23, 2007 By 6 Comments

Teguise market is the place to go on a Sunday morning on Lanzarote. So much so, that it is important to go early if you don’t want a long walk from one of the many car parks, set up in fields around the town.

The market sells almost everything in terms of souvenirs and crafts that you could wish for. Most of the souvenirs that you see elsewhere on the island can be found somewhere on the market, usually slightly cheaper than normal.

Crafts such as woodwork or lace are of good quality – and the prices usually reflect this quality.

Clothes stalls sell a variety of cheap T-Shirts as well as hand-made goods. Locally-made clothes often have a label in showing that they come from the Canary Islands, so they are easy to spot, although it is useful to be able to speak Spanish if you have any special questions that you want to ask the stall holders.

In fact, although they are used to tourists and speak some English, it is not as much as in the shops on the coastal resorts so if you do speak to them in Spanish, they really open up and give you a lot more details about their wares.

The market takes place on the square in front of, and the streets surrounding, the church. Somewhere there is bound to be a band playing music, often on pan-pipes or other South American instruments.

One word of warning is necessary, though. The market has a reputation for pick-pockets. It can become so crowded, that you may not notice someone brush past you and take your wallet, so this really is a place to go where you only take essentials and keep what you do take such that you know at all times, that it is still there.

Teguise Market

Finally, do remember that amongst all the beautiful wood carvings and lava stones, that whatever you buy you probably have to take back in your suitcase – and there is a limit to how many kilogrammes that can have !

Filed Under: Lanzarote, Teguise Tagged With: , , , ,

Oberwesel

November 23, 2007 By 3 Comments

This is the fifth part of the series about my weekend walking between Rüdesheim and Oberwesel. Part four can be found here.

The next day started with breakfast at the youth hostel (Jugendherberge). The youth hostel in Oberwesel is very modern, with en suite rooms and even a swimming pool and bistro in the basement.

oberwesel1.jpgThe youth hostel in Oberwesel

Leaving the youth hostel, we crossed the wooden bridge to the castle that overlooks Oberwesel. From here, there was a magnificent view down towards the river. In daylight you can clearly see which parts of the castle have been modernised.

oberwesel2.jpgSchloss Schönburg

Rather than zig-zagging downwards through the woods on the path that we had taken the night before, we decided to use the Elfenley – a footpath that passes behind the castle and then carries on down behind the roofs of the houses towards the town centre.

oberwesel3.jpgThe start of the Elfenley (Fußweg zur Stadt)

The path is narrow and in places there are handrails on the side to hold on to. At one point there was no handrail and it became very narrow, uneven and steep – you need a good head for heights for the first part after leaving the castle grounds!

oberwesel4.jpgPart of the Elfenley behind the castle, leading downwards to the town centre

As we descended, the town and the river came ever closer. It was a strange feeling to be standing on the same level as the church tower! The path continued to wind it’s way around the face of the hill, until, at an electricity sub-station, it ended and we found ourselves on one of the streets in Oberwesel.

OberweselThe view of the church and the Rhine from the Elfenley

From here, we headed towards the river and crossed the main road by footbridge. At the river, we found the landing stage for the Köln-Düsseldorfer boats and bought tickets for the return journey to Rüdesheim.

oberwesel6.jpgThe boat approaches the landing stages in Oberwesel

Soon the boat came into view and we went on board and found a table. Now we could sit back and enjoy the journey…

Filed Under: Hikes and walks, Towns

Please click on ACCEPT to give us permission to set cookies [more information]

This website uses cookies to give you the best browsing experience possible. Cookies are small text files that are stored by the web browser on your computer. Most of the cookies that we use are so-called “Session cookies”. These are automatically deleted after your visit. The cookies do not damage your computer system or contain viruses. Please read our privacy information page for more details or to revoke permission.

Close