Bolivia: Best of

The administrative, political and religious centre of Bolivia during Spanish rule, is still officially the capital. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sucre is Bolivia's most refined a beautiful city, a masterpiece of immaculately preserved colonial architecture, full of elegant churches, mansions and museums. It’s also the market centre for the deeply traditional Quechua-speaking communities of the surrounding mountains.

Potosí, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the highest city in the world, 4100 m above sea level, on a desolate, windswept plain. The city owes its existence to Cerro Rico (Rich Mountain), the richest source of silver the world had ever seen: its mines turned Potosí into one of the world’s wealthiest and largest cities. In the early seventeenth century its population was 160,000, far bigger than contemporary Madrid, and equal in size to London. However, this wealth was achieved at the expense of the lives of millions of indigenous forced labourers and African slaves. Estimates of the total number who died over three centuries of colonial mining in Potosí run as high as nine million. Today it's a repository of colonial art and architecture.

on the bleak southern Altiplano 212 km southwest of Potosí, the town of Uyuni, 3.668 m asl, is the convenient (and nothing else) jumping-off point for touring the remote and beautiful scenery of the surrounding region.

the streets of the colonial city centre still preserve the neat grid pattern laid out by the city founders in accordance with Spanish laws. At its centre stands the Plaza Murillo, home to both the Palacio Presidential, the parliament building and the Catedral Metropolitana. The few colonial buildings still surviving are concentrated on and around the Plaza Murillo and nearby calle Jaén. The city’s most unusual market is the "Mercado de Hechicería", or Witches’ Market, amid lively tourist stores selling locally handcrafted items. The merchandise is herbal and folk remedies, plus a few more unorthodox ingredients intended to placate the various spirits of the Aymará world. After the market we visit the Iglesia de San Francisco, founded in 1548 The baroque facade is decorated with carvings of natural themes such as chirimoyas (custard apples), pine cones and tropical birds.