Old Geezers and Old Year in Sucre

Clive was part of Team Yellow during the downhill bike ride to Coroico so many days ago. And as it dawned on us already that together we were older than the rest of Team Yellow and Red together, we also found out that we would be in the lovely city of Sucre at the same time; a time commonly known as either Old Year or New Year. So we made grand plans ... youngsters despair !

It is always a bit of an unknown what happens at Old Year in a strange place. This is actualy the third straight year that Señor Hans will not enter the new year in his beloved homeland. Paris two years ago was spent with his lovely sister, running to the Louvre to get a glimpse of the fireworks at the Champs Elysées. And the previous year friend Marco and I shared the bar of the poshest hotel in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, with the indescribably drunk American owneress of the establishment.

So this year in Bolivia´s official capital with Big Clive, rugby connaisseur and devourer of pizzas. A dynamic duo as we are, we first bought new shoes and then we did some research into what the hottest and wildest place in town would be, a place we would avoid as the plague for the rest of the evening. So it was that we went to the bar next door, where with some hot chocolate and coca tea for Señor Hans and a slightly more adventurous choice for Clive (with alcohol), we fought off the sleep from nine till eleven, assisted by the always more than sufficient decibelage of the music of our youth.

Then we headed up again to the main plaza and were surprised by the liveliness. It was filled with locals having a good time and already chancing some fireworks, mainly in the direction of the odd gringo around. Having grown up in the Mighty Fireworks Battles of my youth in Holland I wasn´t fazed in the least by the little crackers at my feet, but the locals had a blast seeing all the Germans and Frenchies jump away from every little spark, crackle and pop.

There was no real countdown, "año nuevo" just came to be as part of the ongoing festivities, with as the most entertaining the rubbing of white confetti in the hair of all (a funny sight with all those black-haired people). The party went on into the small hours of the morning, which neither of the two gladiators verified, being nicely and cozily in bed by 0.30.

The End ... and The Beginning ;-D

Feliz Año Nuevo and many adventures to all in 2006!