El Cristo and we’re off again

El Cristo from a distance

When you visit Cochabamba, it is absolutely necessary to make a trip up to El Cristo, located at the top of one of the mountains that surround the city. It’s a beautiful statue, with an even more amazing view of the city from where it’s situated. 

waiting on the cable car

extremely nervous on our way up

but it was that or more than 1,000 stairs to the top

 

 

Cochabamba

And just like that, our little vacation came to an end. Another 12-hour bus ride back to Santa Cruz and then to Palacios. Back to work for my last three weeks. Cochabamba definitely gets my vote for my favorite Bolivian city.

Sipe Sipe and the Inkarakay ruins

on our way in the trufi

Another day trip to a nearby town: Sipe Sipe. I had read that in the outskirts of the city lay aymara ruins, the Inkarakay ruins, where these days the aymara visit the site for the aymara New Year’s celebration on June 26^th. We began our day with the plan of finding the ruins. A couple trufis (shared taxis where they stuff 12 people like sardines in a van) and only 30 minutes later we arrived. Another pretty plaza, but the rest of the town wasn’t much of a sight.

Sipe Sipe's main plaza

town's main market

main road leading away from the plaza

I was scared for her life. her mother didn't even notice!

Luckily we asked some locals where the ruins were, or else we would’ve headed the wrong way, seeing as there were no signs whatsoever pointing us in the right direction. And talking with several people, we found out the ruins were a 3-hour hike up the mountains. One small detail I must have read somewhere but had forgotten. 

starting our trek

beautiful view of Sipe Sipe

some houses along the road

finally a sign of the ruins

worshiping spot along the road

Even at 10 AM when we started our hike the sun was beaming down. And no shade anywhere. Well we did find stumble upon the only tree along the path after an hour and sat down a while.

But not for long. Eventually a couple cars rolled by, not one offering us a ride to the top. Even a man on foot passed us.

old man that passed us

After two hours, without seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, we stopped and watched the last truck that passed us slowly ascend the mountain next to us, where our path was headed. After seeing it reach the top, and how long it took, we decided to abandon our mission to get to the ruins.

somewhere near the top is the white truck that we watched wind in and out

We returned to the city, and ended up returning to Restaurant Tunari for dinner. Alek ate lomo emborrachado (literally, “drowned beef”; a chunk of beef in a soup of wine and beer with onions, peppers, and fries) while I, since it was our last dinner in the city, decided to repeat the delicious chorizo criollo. 

always a nice, cold beer to accompany dinner (not for me though)

Alek's lomo emborrachado

La Angostura

Only half hour away from Cochabamba is an artificial lake, La Angostura, a popular weekend getaway for most cochabambinos for fishing and kayaking. There we headed our second day in search of their well-known, well-cooked fish (grown in that lake).

view from the dam

only 10 AM and already suffering under burning sun

view on the other side of the dam

the few house/restaurants in the area

I was expecting more than we found, which was only a couple restaurants and an abandoned railway. Nonetheless, the most important reason for the visit was to try the local fish. That’s one of the many things I have missed since I arrived in Bolivia. Due to its land-locked status, meat is a much more popular choice than fish or seafood in Bolivia. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

abandoned railway

We explored the area until lunchtime. When it was finally time, we ran to the closest restaurant, too hungry to even pick between the multiple (only 2) choices. The restaurant had a floating deck, and an amazing view of the lake and surrounding mountains. I had a local fish called pacú while Alek had pejerrey.  And the fish was DELICIOUS! … although to be honest it was the ugliest fish I have ever had the pleasure of eating. And then to top it all off, Alek ended up eating its eye!

my pacú

ugly little thing.. isn't it?

We returned to Cochabamba, full and satisfied with our little excursion, for another afternoon of walking around town. For dinner we chose a different restaurant, Casa de Campo. And what a bad find that was. A cute restaurant but horrible food.

nightly walk on El Prado before dinner

My favorite fountain on El Prado. The statue in the center are three faces representing the cultural diversity in Bolivia, all tied together with a braid symbolizing a common goal of peace, prosperity, and harmony seen in its moon shape.

Third and final trip: Off to Cochabamba!

My last vacation during my six-month stay in Bolivia. Alek and I chose Cochabamba as our destination, a city between Santa Cruz and La Paz. We were simply looking for a couple relaxing days. And that’s exactly what we found.

Of course, the beginning of the trip is identical to all others: catching a bus in the afternoon, a 12-hour trip and finally arriving the next morning. But at least this time… I slept! And thanks to my tired state, the ride seemed a lot shorter.

First impression of the city: amazingly beautiful. Well, at least compared to the other Bolivian cities I have had the pleasure of visiting thus far. A city very easily explored. The first day we wandered around. Nicky, one of the volunteers at the clinic, had lived in Cochabamba while in language school for two months before heading to Santa Cruz; she recommended a couple of local spots so that's where we headed. The local market, La Cancha, didn’t impress us. It wasn’t much different from other open-air markets around Bolivia. However, the plazas were beautiful. Not like in Santa Cruz, every couple blocks you found a plaza, park, or round-about full of grass, trees, and flowers. You could tell a little more importance was put into the city’s ambiance.

DON'T HONK!

colorful city buses

cathedral on the main plaza

Cochabamba

For lunch we found a cochabambino restaurant, our favorite discovery: Restaurant Tunari (named after the mountain range Tunari that surrounds the city). There we found the best chorizo that I have ever eaten, chorizo criollo. My food of choice, Sillpancho (tenderloin, two eggs on top with rice and French fries underneath), wasn’t bad either.

chorizo criollo

my sillpancho

And to end a long, tiring day, a quick walk down El Prado, one of the city’s main avenues and back to Tunari for the famous Pique Macho, a cochabambino original. This delicious dinner included fried chicken, udder, Argentinian chorizo, blood sausage, beef, chancho (pork) and my favorite chorizo criollo. All on top of French fries. Mmm mmm.

Pique Macho!

nighttime on El Prado