Cochabamba

In case you are wondering what the question mark shape is that appears on all my photos from now on, let me explain.  On my last day in Madidi National Park a small hair (or scratch?) appeared inside the lens of my camera.  I don´t know how it got there or how to remove it – I didn´t fancy opening up my camera myself, nor taking it to a Bolivian camera shop, nor trying to buy a new (decent) camera in Bolivia.  Hopefully the power of Photoshop will fix them when I get home.

After leaving Madidi National Park I flew back to La Paz and then caught a super cheap (7 hours for 2 pounds) but quite comfortable bus to Cochabamba.  After I eventually found a place to stay (the first three places I tried were full!) I spent a couple of days exploring the city and enjoying (more) delicious food.

Mini buses on strike (this one was called Emmanuel)

The first day all of the colourful micro buses were on strike and blockading the roads in the city centre.  There is always some kind of protest, march, blockade happening in Bolivia but it meant that the city centre was blissfully traffic free.

The north and south of Cochabamba were a real contrast.  The south side by the bus station was full of mainly indigenous people and a big and super busy market, while the north was very americanised with more of a mixture of people driving around in nice cars.  The north end reminded me a bit of Maracaibo.

Cheese empanadas in Cochabamba

I visited a not very good museum but did eat the most delicious empanadas ever!  First cheese ones, baked in the oven and full of delicious mashed potatoes and salty Bolivian cheese and then vegetable ones (though not on the same day).  I also discovered chirrimoya (an exotic fruit called custard apple in English) ice cream and at that point knew I couldn´t stay in Cochabamba too long otherwise I would get fat (and sick) from eating too many cheese empanadas and ice cream! I also got my first proper coffee in Bolivia in Cochabamba, so I was very happy.

My photocopy business in Cochabamba

It turned out my other life is running a photocopy business in Cochabamba.

Alongside the bus station was a series of market stalls, which only seemed to offer sunglasses, fortune-telling, or road-side tattoos.  I certainly wasn´t tempted to get a tattoo on the side of a busy, dirty road in Bolivia!

The Jesus Christ statue in Cochabamba

Cochabamba is proud to boast the tallest Jesus Christ statue in the world, beating the one in Brazil by a few centimetres or so. According to the signs it was too dangerous to walk up and down to the statue so I took the cable car.

Statue stats