Thirty Something Traveller

We arrived back in Sucre and I quickly brought a new iPhone charger and supplies before heading back to the hostel to rest. I was shown to a dorm room where I appeared to be the only occupant so I collapsed on the bed and relaxed. The next day I decided to head to Samaipata and brought a ticket from the bus station, I was again herded into using a company I wasn’t entirely happy with but i don’t sleep on night busses and it was cheap so as long as I go there I suppose there wouldn’t be a problem. The bus left at 6pm which is earlier than I thought so I set out finding some wifi for life admin and replacing some more of the things that I’d realised I’d lost, like nail scissors.

The café I chose for it’s mirador view over Sucre, was full of couples, the food wasn’t great and the WIFI sucked. I went to a place I’d been previously and spent the afternoon working. I realised at this point i was quite happy to leave Sucre. It’s a really pretty city and a great place to relax, if that’s why you want, and I’ve met people who have spent weeks doing just that but there is not a whole lot going on. After the café and the okay Thai meal I’d had the night before I decided I’d made the right decision.

I went back to the hostel to collect my things and arrived at the bus station in time for the bus. There was a lot of chaos at the office where I brought my ticket but I wasn’t transferred this time and the guy who would be looking after us on the journey showed me which bus to get on. Aboard and with everything loaded I realised I was the only passenger with no one sitting next to them must be because I’m a gringo. Still at least I wasn’t one of the people left behind at the rest stop. The bus pulled off with half the people missing. We managed to stop the bus so that most of them got on board but a guy behind me never returned despite his bag still being on the seat. Again the diver was told but didn’t seem to care.

This is probably the bumpiest road I’ve had the privilege to experience and that is saying a lot. There are a lot of cars here but I have a feeling that people tend to stick to the cites as they are far apart when you account for the state of the roads and it’s not a fun drive. I had been told that I would arrive in Samaipata at 6am but I found myself watching the bus drive off at 3am. I was in a town I didn’t know and all I can say is I’m so happy I travel with a phone and a map. I had pre-booked, another reason I do this and told them I would arrive early but myself and the hostel did not think it would be this early. After a few rings of the bell i woke up the manager and was shown to an empty room so at least I got some sleep.

I hadn’t checked the weather as Samaipata is so close to Santa Cruz, where the temperature is normally between 30-40 degrees, I felt I didn’t need to. I was a little sad to wake up to think freezing fog and drizzle. I quickly realised that today was going to be a write off and checked the weather for the next few days. It really didn’t look good! There was a lot I wanted to do here and it looked as if it was all going to go wrong. I toured the agencies in the morning and booked myself on a trip to Amboró for the Saturday as the next day i decided to hike to El Furte.

I decided to go with the guidebooks advice for linch and had a delicious steak sandwich. I then retreated to my room to watch Netflix and after went to an Italian restaurant and had one of the most delicious spaghetti dishes I’ve ever had. Maybe because it’s my first pasta dish since I arrived but it was really needed. The food is actually amazing in Samaipata and it really cheered me up.

El Furte

El Furte is a pre-Colombian fort at the top of a mountain in a strategic position. I won’t tell you about be history as it’s not my style and why bother when Wikipedia can tell you all you need to know. The fort is about 10km outside of Samaipata and I’d read a fair few blogs about people hiking up and down. The most popular thing seems to be to take a taxi to the top and hike back down but I was in need of a challenge and set about hiking the lot. This resulted me walking about 24km that day.

The hike there is not particularly hard, the first 4km is pretty flat and then the rest is mostly uphill. The same with any hike the last km is the hardest. I set off at a good pace and made it to the top im 1 hour 40min which I think is good, but it’s along a road so it’s not hard terrain. I would say that it’s not the most exciting hike I’ve ever done and the first part is just along the main road so it’s probably a really good option to just walk one way or get a taxi there and back.

I didn’t take a lot of shots along the route as despite the weather being warmer and no longer being in a cloud the sky was still pretty grey and despite what anyone says life does not look as good with a grey blanket getting in the way of the sun. Some of these shots were taken from the top.

On the way up i saw this message that made me smile.

I was really happy with my progress to the top as I’d walked 10km in 1 hour and 45 mins. I was pretty tired and struggled to walk around the ruins due to fatigue but the point in this really is about how great I am at walking not to see ancient Inca Ruins…oh. I sat at the top and enjoyed my lunch and after dropping a crisp I discovered I was sat far too close to an ants nest.

Here is what it looked like from the top.

It’s rare to see flowers in this part of the country so I snapped a few that were growing on bushes.

A sign said Eco Chamber. I assumed that this meant that if I shouted I could hear an eco. Either someone was playing a prank, this sign didn’t mean what I think it does or I’m really bad at shouting as I didn’t hear any echos.

After walking around the top and seeing more views I headed towards the ruins.

As I was by myself I decided not to hire a guide as it was expensive for one person. However this meant that I didn’t really know much about the ruins. I can confirm that in these pictures are where people used to live, sleep, eat and do general people things. It’s after writing a sentence like this that I really think I need to do some research when I get back but hopefully you are here just for the pictures.

As mentioned above one of the main reasons for visiting the fort is that it has beautiful views of the surrounding area. Although hampered by the weather I think you can see the beauty in the pics and hopefully if you ever visit you will have better luck with the weather than I did.

As I was leaving the sky’s cleared a little and I took these shots.

On the way back I passed some chickens in the road. For some reason this guy really started panicking as I tried to take some pictures of him. He ran all over the road but he did enable me to get some good shots.

On the edge of town I saw this dog lying in the road and some ducks nearby. It was at this point I realised that the duck was pruning the dog, who seemed either oblivious or not to care. It was at this point I figured that I’d pretty much seen everything.

I returned to the hostel and collapsed after walking the better part of 24k. I got talking to the German girl who was also in my room and she invited me to dinner with some of her friends she had met that day. She had a crazy day as she managed to get on a tour to Amboró, where I was due to go tomorrow, and went to El Furte in the same day. It was a nice evening and I had an interesting take on Lasagna.

The next day I awoke to torrential rain. My tour was cancelled and I was fed up with being cold and wet. Knowing I had friends in Santa Cruz I decided to call it quits and headed out on a trufi for the three hour journey.

I decided to do the hike with Cóndor Trekkers, a charity that organises hikes in the local area and supports local communities that also runs a vegetarian cafe. Again you can hike the trails yourself but they are not so clearly marked on the maps. I awoke against early, if I can’t handle early mornings when I get back to London then there is something seriously wrong and was outside the office for the 6:30 call time. I met our guide, Alex, who could speak fluent French and English and had spent a year studying in France and my four French hiking partners. I’m writing this about two weeks later so I’ve forgotten all of their names. But I was outnumbered once again and the only solo hiker on the trek. All I can say is that there are a lot of French people in Bolivia

After around an hour of driving we arrived at our starting point and had a quick breakfast, i mentioned above that one thing that Cóndor do is run a vegetarian cafe so all the food on the hike was veggie, and then we were ready to hit the road. Here are the views from where we had or breakfast.

There was a very short walk up the road to the top of the pass and here we started walking along the Inca Trail. You follow the path just over 4km downhill.

Alex told us a lot about the plants and trees and I decided to take a load of photos having been given the opportunity as my hiking partners were pretty slow, slough it’s good there were as I was still left at the back of the pack.

The path was used by villagers until about 30 years ago when a dirt road was built. So right up until the late 1980s this would have been the only method to get to the villages in this region. It’s still used by some today and you can see evidence of donkeys on the trail as the path winds down through the mountains.

One thing that Cóndor does is works with the local community as evidenced by this sign. They are an NGO and this is one reason the path is kept in a decentish state of repair, hence the sign apparently.

Towards the end of the trail it’s less well preserved although this is a good thing as it’s not so easy to hike on stones that were laid hundreds of years ago. You can see the scenery changing as we made our decent.

Soon the Inca Trail ended and we had to sign in and pay the fee. Make sure you do this if you are hiking alone. Sadly for the rest of the morning we were hiking up the new road that linked the villages. It’s a dirt road mind so don’t expect much but it’s a lifeline for anyone who lives in this area. I just prefer trails and I think in a similar way to how I don’t perceive it to be a hunk unless mountains are involved someway, and I don’t mean the hills we have back home, I don’t really consider it to be a hike if I’m just following a road.

We stopped for lunch and there were a bunch of chickens looking for scraps.

And afterwards we crossed the Roger we had been following using a rather long bridge. I went first and realised I was not scared in the slightest despite the bridge listing badly to the right and being pretty rickety. I don’t know if I’ve crossed so many now I don’t care anymore or if worrying about things being safe is something that’s better not to do here.

We then began our first climb of the hike, which to be honest was easy and I can now devour hills. I think if I was a cyclist then I’d be one of the guys that does well going up. I used to like down but i find this is where I fall the most, it hurts my legs and I’m just really slow. Going up on the other hand i just power through. I get as much speed as I can and push the others out he way, because if I stop I don’t know if I will make it. So who would have thought that? I used to hate hills. I’ll still take flat over up but you don’t find much flat in mountains. Tends to be one extreme or the other.

My fellow hikers were pretty slow here so I pushed in ahead and the guide told me where to wait for them.

We had a little break at the top but te climb seemed to have left everyone without much steam so again I pushed ahead. There was one part where the path is only about 30cm wide and is really gravelly. You are right up against the rock and if you slipped then it’s goodbye. You can see it in the photos below but with this in mind I just pushed ahead and waited the other side. Afterwards having seen the others struggle, yeah I’m amazing I know, the guide asked me if I was scared. I said no, I always think about falling but I’m not scared of the heights anymore. I’m more scared I’ll jump as I always get that feeling but I’ve walked in too many places where I’ll drop off the edge to care anymore. Besides the witch doctor in La Paz said I’ll be fine. She didn’t say I wouldn’t get hit by a bus when I get back to London mind.

After another couple of hours walking we made it to the crater and at this point my bag was getting really heavy and I was looking forward to stopping. There are two towns in the crater, an old and more, and no one seems to live in the old anymore.

After dropping out things in the hostel we hiked to a nearby waterfall.

And I wondered off to take my usual shots.

And then the aún came out a little for sunset. I don’t know if you can tell in the photos but the afternoon had been pretty grey, which is good for hiking as it’s not so hot, but really bad for photos.

I was exhausted after not recovering from the night bus and having been on the go so I took the opportunity for an early night and it was also freezing. I was sad to miss the stars as the sky cleared and Alex told me it had been amazing the next day.

And you can see the sky had cleared from the photos. So I’ve not really talked about the Crater too much but apparently far from being a crater where a meteor hit its actually an unusual situation where due to seismic activity the earth here was moved around 360 degrees which creates the lines on the mountains.

We hiked up to a small museum which was a little random and still confirms why I don’t really like museums and then on to another waterfall where we could look out over tee valley we saw the day before.

We then followed the river bed for a few kilometres before heading up our last ascent.

The most striking thing about his part of the journey for me was the colours. Remember that none of the photos below have been altered in anyway.

We stopped for a break on the ascent and looked back on the crater. It was here that I learnt that some of my hiking companions were injured and sick but we had to carry on to meet the car. Actually they could have jumped in the car here but opted not to.

There was one final push up to the top of the final hill.

At the top and next valley

And then we saw the next valley where is was a fairly quick downhill walk to the car.

When we got in the car I was told that we had ended the hike early, which really annoyed me, especially as we drove the last 4 kilometres that had the not spectacular views of the trip. I wasn’t even given the opportunity to take photos. We were behind schedule and I appreciate there were injured members of the party but they could have been put in the car sooner and I wasn’t even given the opportunity to walk the last distance which I would have been completely capable. Why even bother telling me? I was annoyed but there was nothing I could do and I think this valley was much more beautiful. There is a mountain called the white mountain and I put a point in the map where I think would be amazing to hike and I’ll come back one day. It’s a shame as until this point the hike had been perfect.

We drove for an hour before stopping for lunch. The food on the trek had been amazing, and that is impressive. There are some photos to enjoy below. And after we headed back to Sucre and for me some much needed rest.

I had one more evening and day in Cochabamba after the trip back from Torotoro. I met with Paula one last time for a fried chicken dinner and went back to the hostel for an early night. The next day I awoke early, repacked again for the fourth time that week and lost some more things in the process and headed to the bus station to buy my ticket. I took a detour as explained in the Cochabamba post and thanks to Vary I had a new camera lens. I spent the rest of the day uploading pics and writing blogs, there is a lot of admin involved in this.

I headed to the station to catch my night bus, all the busses seem to be at night here, and the reason being is that you don’t lose any time. Meaning that you can get on the bus, fall asleep and wake up in your new city. This doesn’t work for me as I can’t sleep on the bumpy roads and then getting to a city at 5am is not really helpful as you can’t check into the hostel until after midday. Anyways I’m not complaining.

I arrived at the bus station no thanks to the taxi driver that kicked me out a few blocks before and desperately tried to understand Spanish. The busses here are much more complex than in Chile, Argentina or Uruguay. There you buy a ticket, get a time and a number for where the bus will arrive. The bus arrives you take your bag to the back and get on board. Here it seems sometimes your bag is weighed, sometimes the company wants to take it, they send you to various doors, the busses can be parked anywhere it seems ohhhhh and the thing I keep forgetting is you need to buy tax ticket for each time you use the bus terminal. Whilst this adds a challenging element of fun to getting a bus it makes it more scary for me. Firstly I had to go to the ticket company and was told the bus wasn’t running and I seemed to be sold on to another company. The door they wanted me to leave by was locked and after waiting until 10 minutes before the bus left I was told to use another door. The guards wouldn’t let me out and after a while I realised I needed to pay the tax. I couldn’t find the tax office and started to panic as my bag was already on the bus. Someone saw me looking troubled and pointed me to the right place. I paid the tax, for on the bus and then it left 40 minutes late. A lesson learnt in trying to relax.

We drove through the night and arrived in Sucre at 5am. It was still dark and I hadn’t contacted the hostel to say I’d be arriving early so rather than risking sitting outside on a random street in the dark I waited in the bus terminal until 7am. Time passed slowly but it soon became light and I went and jumped in a can. The hostel luckily let me in and I had really fast wifi so I could finish my photo admin. By 10am I realised I wasn’t getting into a room anytime soon so I headed to the Cóndor Trekkers office to sign up for the Maragua Crater tour that is been talking to them about. It also turned out that they ran city tours and one was about to leave so I joined to see more of Sucre.

The centre of Sucre is UNESCO heritage protected and you can see why. It’s truly beautiful and unlike other Bolivian cities the original buildings have been preserved so you can have an idea of what cities looked like during colonial times. This is the central plaza which is a feature of all South American cities.

Sucre is also famous for chocolate. I’m afraid I’m gonna come clean and say chocolate on the whole is not great in South America, except for certain cities like Bariloche. I missed the chocolate in Bariloche and I was happy to make up for it here and we got to taste some on the tour.

Next up was Templo San Francisco and as it was a Sunday morning we got to join in with the service for a short time.

Next stop was the market and despite these being in every town and city across Bolivia the ones here seem be more famous. They are full of fresh and delicious produce. Ideally I would have taken the time to stay here and learn Spanish but I opted to volunteer at the zoo instead. If I do ever get the chance to come back for a significant amount of time this would be my first stop to enjoy the sunshine, food and take Spanish lessons.

The tour took us past more churches and we were given a tip that there was a fiesta in a local private school. The guide had never been inside either so we took the time to have a look inside.

Sucre also has a bit of a theatre scene and this is the most famous one.

There is also a huge park in the middle of the city.

After we took a bus up to a viewpoint in the city. The streets seemed to be named after cats. We were taken to a “bar” to sample some chicha. Sadly they were out but I did get to play with a puppy who lived there.

Drinking and animals

The last stop on the tour was the little market which had a lot of foos ball tables.

I returned to the Cóndor Treckers office which is also a veggie bar and took advantage of being able to eat some vegetables after all the meat. The soup was delicious but the main not so.

I returned to the hostel finally able to check into my room. I was exhausted and the hot shower was amazing. I had to get ready for my 5:45 wake up call ahead of the trek the next day. So everything was repacked again and I headed out for some more food. Being a Sunday most places were closed so I ended up with another delicious burger.

Reluctantly with my DSLR out of action I decided to head to Torotoro. This page might take a little while to load as the photos are different. Anyways at the time I had wasted two days, having fun but not really achieving much, in Cochabamba trying to find a solution and having booked a flight to La Paz from Santa Cruz to La Paz on 12th August I needed to get moving if I still wanted to see everything I had planned.

Luckily the night before I had met Adriaan and Guido who were also headed to Torotoro so I banded us together and suggested they book the same hostel. We left at 6:45 in order to get the 7am minibus from Avenida Republica so we could try and get on a tour that afternoon. And we were treated to Thai sunrise.

I was told by many people that you can either get a minibus or a bus to the National Park. The busses are cheaper and take longer so we opted for a minibus which is 35bs. They leave when full so it’s best to get there early as the journey is 4-5 hours along some of the dustiest and bumpiest roads I’ve had the pleasure to experience so far-don’t expect to be comfortable. We arrived at 7am as I was told by other travellers that if you go later you can be left waiting a long time before you get on a bus. Luckily we only waited an hour and at just after 8am we were on our way. Be careful as although there was a toilet break on the way there there was not on the way back!

After bouncing around for 4 and a half hours I was happy to arrive in the little town of Torotoro. We were especially lucky as for once I arrived in a town during the fiesta. The town was buzzing and we quickly checked in, got some water and headed to the plaza to get on a tour. There was nothing to help us in the plaza and after stopping by the town hall, which has a dinosaur bursting out of it, we went back to the hostel and were sent to the right place which luckily for us was around the corner.

You have to buy a ticket for the park which is valid for 4 days and is 100bs as a tourist and then you must explore the park on an organised tour. The office is open from 7:30-12 and then 2-5pm. Basically it’s up to yourself to split into tour groups and the cost of the tour is then divided by the number of people. Luckily there were three of us and we decided to explore the caves on the first day and were easily paired up with a Bolivian family, a father and two daughters. At around 2:40 we were in a jeep on the way to the caves and in hindsight this was a good choice as the weather started to become cloudy and that didn’t matter as we would be crawling around in the dark.

Umajalanta Caverns

We arrived at the car park and it was a short walk to the caves, passing a snack store and we stopped to register and get our helmets with some flashy LEDs. And then we were off towards the mouth of the cave which you can see below.

As we walked I to the darkness it was time to turn on the lights and we met a group of people exiting the cave. They were dusty and looked very happy to see daylight again. I asked them how it was and they said “I hope you are not claustrophobic”. This reaffirmed what Bell, from Upclose, had told me about he caves and I was nervous but determined. A big part of me did think what is the worst that could happen if I did get stuck. I mean that Tun tours here every day and it would be hard to find me.

We climbed down a ledge with the help of a rope and then back up and immediately we were crawling in a very small space which opened out into a larger cavern. Our guide Eugenio took us about the cave and we climbed up and down ladders and ropes exploring more of the cave. We reached a part where we could go no further and Eugenio asked us to sit down and turn off our lights. We spent a few minutes in the darkness which I thought was a really nice touch and then continued. I thought we would head back the way we had came but no. I was about to find out what the other group meant.

We crawled through tiny spaces that I wasn’t sure that I would fit but actually it was all a little too easy and really fun. We came to a pool and saw some blind fish and then crawled and climbed more. After about 2 hours we ended up where we had started and it was a relief to see the sky again.

The Vergal

The next day we had all agreed to go on the canyon and waterfalls tour, meeting at 8:30. I liked our little group and it was a shame they were all leaving that afternoon. The night before we had pizza and I didn’t get to enjoy the fiesta as I had a migraine due to not drinking enough water. But I was happy to explore more of the park. The group was expanded by an Argentinian girl and a man who didn’t really interact with us. He did however have a great hat umbrella. Our guide was a little late as he had been enjoying the fiesta the night before.

This was a walking tour and we were first taken to see the footprints which as over 80 million years old. Just think about that for a second.

After the foot prints we headed up the road towards the canyon. On the route you get great views of the whole park.

We left the road and then started following a dry riverbed bed. This would be teeming with water in rainy season. It was actually really fascinating to see how the water shapes the land and how powerful erosion is.

And then we reached the canyon and my mind was blown. Firstly the signs they have here are great, especially this one asking you not to shout. But the enormity of what the water had achieved was astonishing. There was a walkway out above the canyon and I went straight on, my heights fear is diminishing by the day.

After we followed the path a little further and walked down the 800 steps to the bottom of the canyon. I lost count so I can’t tell you if the number is true.

We then hiked downstream a little way before meeting waterfalls. I was a little upset not to have brought my swimming costume but then I paddled and my feet started to hurt as it was so cold! I put my boots back on and had fun jumping across boulders and walking in the river whilst some of the others jumped in.

After a quick break we headed back up the 800 steps, there was no way I was counting this time and then walked back to town. On the way we spotted a party and the guide took us along. Before we knew it we were handed free beer, food and chicha. One of the Bolivian girls commented that she wishes she was a gringo as we got free things but we shared everything we were given. Everyone was so friendly and I wish I could have stayed but everyone else left and I decided not to stay alone…maybe I should have done!

As a group we decided to have lunch and walked though the town which is really pretty.

After lunch I was alone again and decided to chill at the hostel. There were only four of us staying on this night and it was full the day before. I met a French guy and we decided to check out the fiesta later and I ended up playing games with the daughters of the hostel owners as I made the mistake of asking them what games they were playing. I actually ran around for about an hour before heading out to see the fiesta. Sadly as this was the last night the town seemed a little exhausted and there were parties but not much going on at any of them and none seemed inviting. I had one more tour I wanted to do the next day and with an early rise I decided to call it a night.

Ciudad de Itas

I headed to the office not very hopeful that I would be able to get on a tour but then lots of people started turning up. My French friend suggested that I speak to people to join a group and I awkwardly managed to join a group of 6 who were doing this in the morning and caves in the afternoon. Actually if you can this is a better way to do the tours as it’s much more cost effective.

The Ciudad de Itas is at 4000 metres and take around an hour to drive. On the way we stopped and I snapped the most famous shots of Torotoro.

Eugenio was yet again my guide and I started bonding with my new group. Two French, town Canadians and two Dutch guys.

We started by walking up nd over the first hill.

As you can see the views from here are stunning.

On this tour you see some very different cave structures which are tall and have big curved edges.

There is a lot of climbing, some of which is quite sketchy and you do need a head for heights but everything is beautiful.

We came across a second cave complex.

And saw some of the local rabbits.

After a couple of hours we headed to the lunch stop. It was at this point I was due to leave and I was told there would be transport back to town. I thought the Jeep would take me but no a 17 year old boy showed up on a motorbike. There were of course no helmets as this is Bolivia and I realised I could either walk the 8km back to town, wait for the group or jump on the bike. So I took the sensible option and got on the bike fearing for my life the entire time. He actually drove really safely but it didn’t stop me holding on for dear life. But there was another first. I was back at town and soon on a 5 hour minibus ride back to Cochabamba.

I awoke early in La Paz and decided to try and not wake the French girls in my room, failing miserably, and headed up to the restaurant of the hostel. Say what you want about the party hostel that is Loki La Paz, but they do a decent breakfast. I resisted the urge for a full English and had an interesting toaster, packed up my things and I think this is where I started to lose everything and headed to the bus station.

The bus stations are more confusing in Bolivia as I had to get my bag weighed and also buy a ticket which covers the cost of using the terminal. I failed to do the latter but luckily Simone came aboard the bus for me to Pat the 2.50bs tax. With the help of some different French girls, there are a lot of French people in Bolivia, I got on the bus sin baño (no toilet) and headed to Cochabamba. I was told the bus was due to arrive at 6pm but that was not to be. It took some time to leave La Paz but after that there is a good road until the rest stop at Caracollo. After that it’s not so fast and they are building a new road through the mountains. I was actually really lucky as the rain hit La Paz, in dry season, and they had snow so the city came to a halt as did the Uyuni tours. It mean that my progress was very slow but I was treated to a beautiful mountain drive at over 4000 metres. Seriously I’m still impressed that they can build roads at this height. Due to the weather the terminal was crazy and we were kicked out of the bus around 8:30pm. The French girls and I banded together, battled through the queued busses into the terminal, through the crowds and jumped in a taxi to the hostel.

I was late to meet Paula, one of Pippa’s friends who I had met the week before at her leaving party. When I mentioned that I was visiting Cochabamba she said she would show me around but I didn’t realise the extend to how amazing she would be. Paula and her friend Sandra collected me from my hostel and ate some local food. It was battered chicken, rice, salsa, friend potatoes and it was huge. After we walked to a bar and met Paula’s other friends before heading to a club in a taxi. Four of us in the back and three in the front. It’s not uncommon to see two people in the front seat and I can’t remember the last time I wore a seatbelt in a car or any form of transport. You have to just trust on Bolivia! I made it back to the hostel around 3am but most people seem to work on Saturday mornings so I had nothing to complain about.

I hung around the hostel in the morning and had some interesting political conversations with a Chinese girl who lives in Australia. This is one reason I love travelling is meeting people from around the world and finding out we are all basically the same. But it’s good to find out others opinions. Afterwards I met up with Paula again one her shift had ended and she took me out for Pique Macho. Im not sure if I mentioned that Cochabamba is the food capital of Bolivia and if you like meat then you are in for a treat. Pique Macho and is delicious, the plate is intended to be for two and featured sausage, chips, chicken, calamari, beef and some vegetables. Legend has that it was invented when some drunks entered a cafe at closing time and demanded food. The owner stuck for ideas just threw together everything she had. It was actually too much for us to eat and Paula asked to take the remaining away which we gave to a mother and her children. I think it’s important to remember that there are some really poor people here and it’s a side of Bolivia I’m not sharing so much in this blog.

Watching over Cochabamba is the statue of Cristo de la Concordia. I’m sure I’ve read that is is bigger than the statue in Rio but don’t quote me on that. To get to the top you can climb a tonne of steps, but I’ve read and Paula told me it can be dangerous, or you can take a teleférico. This is much older than the brand new cable cars in La Paz but through it’s slow creaking I think it has much more charm. Sadly it was a pretty grey day which is unusual for Cochabamba which at a mere 2500 metres has a much warmer climate than La Paz. But there is nothing you can do about the clouds and I’m sure the city is much more beautiful in the sunlight. Actually I know it is. Stay tuned.

This statue trumps the one in Rio again because you can climb up inside. And that is exactly what I did.

I went back to the hostel to rest and booked a flight back to London, I won’t call it home just yet as I’m not sure that it will continue to be, and a flight back to La Paz giving me a deadline to see everything in this part of Bolivia.

Later that evening I met with Paula and her friend Paula, finally not a new name to remember, and we had more meat for dinner. I’m not sure exactly what we ordered but it consisted of two giant sausages, a huge steak and chips. I couldn’t finish the dish and we were sharing. Bolivia has been hit by the craft ale big too and here I was able to sample some more ales. After we tried to go to a club that had karaoke but as no one was there we bypassed and went to another huge club with a big outdoor party playing all the raggaton hits. As I’ve said before Bolivians Like to drink and this is great. When we arrived everyone seemed fairly sober but this changed as the night went on and a big drink here is Fernet and coke, same as Argentina. I can’t stand the stuff so stuck to beer and had a really fun night dancing away. I’m starting to learn the lyrics to the songs even if I don’t understand them.

The next morning I was woken early by the annoying US engineers who seemed to have overtaken the hostel and really can’t handle their drink. I decided to take Paula up on her suggestion and tour the city. I snapped a few shots from the balcony in the hostel and these would turn out to be my last. As soon as I left the hostel my lens stopped focussing and would only take pictures in manual. I don’t use manual and I soon discovered that I had an auto focus only lens. You can see the shots at the bottom of this section.

I desperately googled and sulked for a good 30mins knowing I wanted to go to Torotoro which is known for its beauty. I was already annoyed as my washing came back missing a pair of pants and I couldn’t 100% remember if they were there or if I’d left them behind and so started a week or more of losing items and things breaking. But after realising there was nothing I could do and reception told me there was a camera repair shop I decided to stop being a grump and actually I was in a good mood. I remembered the woman from yesterday and her children and realised that it’s just a camera and I can get it fixed. I think this is the biggest change in me. Those of you who know me well will know I’m kinda a glass half empty kinda guy. But no longer. The people here have inspired me to change my attitude and I will no longer feel helpless about anything. I’ll take the proactive approve, be kind, happy and fight for everything I believe in. Wow that turned a little heavy.

I had a little walk around town and you can see the photos later. But before that I will talk about the BBQ. I met with Paula and we had some fried chicken, it’s the kinda thing I would do myself before a bbq so great minds. And then went shopping. This is the meat you can buy and there is a lot of it here. We met up with Sandra and had some alcoholic ice cream before meeting the others and being driven to Pairumani parque.

When we arrived Sandra took me on a walk to the waterfalls. You can see the photos are not quite so good but I shouldn’t complain as my iPhone has a decent camera still.

When we arrived at the falls there was a little alcove, I’m not sure that’s the right word, you can stand on with a drop either side. So I did this to prove that I’m not scared of heights. I was still scared but less scared than in the past.

City views

After we returned the others had kinda done all the cooking so I got to eat more meat. They had also brought some chicha which is a home brewed drink. I could tell that because it was in a reused Pepsi bottle. It’s the drink of choice here and works perfectly well. I had one cup and it was horrible. I was enticed into trying another and the second glass was better but after two nights of drinking I couldn’t face a third so called it quits.

We packed up and headed back to the city and to the Parque de la Familia which seems to have a show each night of fountains dancing to music. I should add the the next day was Día del Amor y Amistad, which loosely translates as friendship day. I think it’s something we should celebrate in the UK as it’s really nice and as it was on a Monday everyone was celebrating this weekend.

I also had my photo taken with this mask on. I’m still not sure why I said yes.

The next day I took my camera to the repair shop and with my bad Spanish arranged to collect it the next day. Resigned to spending two more days in the city I decided to make the most of things and explore and update my blog admin. Although the WiFi at the hostel was really slow. This gave me a lot of free time so I wondered around the city as Paula had suggested. I also met a really nice British couple Alice and Christie who it turns out know my cousin Anna. I kept running into them and we ate dinner in the hostel.

I also made fronds with Leah, from North Carolina who had an in-depth knowledge of Bolivian politics, its what she’s doing her masters in after all, as well as the world in general. We had a lot of in-depth chats and I really enjoyed finding out more about the world.

The next day Alice and Christie took me to the camera shop and I was told there was no way to fix it as the lens was broken. I was left a little confused as I was told there was nowhere in the city to get a new lens. I accompanied them to a museum which was closed and then after spotting a restaurant with WIFI I grabbed lunch and messaged all my Bolivian friends for help. I was sent to a few shops but whilst I found new cameras I couldn’t find a lens. Brad was also amazing and looked at the possibility of shipping a lens out to me. I resigned myself waiting until I got back to La Paz as there is a Nikon shop there. Brad would also have to ship the lens to La Paz.

So I decided to go to Torotoro the next day, two days late and this ladies and gentlemen proves there is no such thing as luck. In the hostel I met two people who were headed to Torotoro the next day and we decided to go together, but this will be the next post. But I’m not going to leave this with a sad ending. On the way back from Torotoro I received a message from Vary which was a pin in a google map. It was deep into the south market zone which is not supposed to be safe but k was told there were cameras there. I meant didn’t go but it was close to the bai station and I needed to buy a ticket. So there I went and showed the shop keeper my camera and he sold me a lens from a new camera. It looked as legit as I can tell and works really well. And below are the test photos I took and you can see how beautiful the city is. I really liked Cochabamba and it was an interesting and personally defining week.

Last meal

When I first read about the El Choro Trek I immediately wanted to hike the length. It’s a three day trek which starts an hour out of La Paz, and coincidently where the Death Road tours begin. Starting at 4600 metres, you actually hike up to 4800 and then the rest is mostly down hill traversing from the white mountain tops into the jungle below and finishing at 1300 metres, which I have to point out again is still higher than the lowest point in the UK.

Now if you’ve read my blog about Upclose Bolivia you will know that I chickened out of Death Road, despite even paying for a ticket. It’s actually a decision I stand by and I’m glad I didn’t do it. If you are considering it I’ve met a lot of people who have sown death road and they are all fine, but I think this makes a better alternative. Firstly you are not on a bike travelling at speed trying not to fall off the edge the entire time. So that means you can take photos when you want and look at and enjoy the scenery. Secondly, from the little I’ve seen of the death road valley I think this is more beautiful and lastly there is no one else there. I must have seen less than 20 people over the three days and it’s mostly the sound of the wind, river and yourself walking. If you have three days to spare then do it and if not make three days to spare.

Above is the map of the route. It’s 54 kilometres but it’s not a hurling hike. I’ve split this post over three days due to the amount of photos I took, which is unusual especially as I did Torres del Paine on one post and that was a nine day hike but I do things differently sometimes.

Anyways I booked the hike through Inca tours, having paid 900bs. At the time of booking no one else at any agency had booked the hike and this was the cheapest. Plus I had used the agency before and it was all fine. So I got up stupidly early again for a taxi, and this was the night after Pippa’s leaving party, so I cut back on the drink and made sure I had had at least five hours sleep. I arrived at the offices at 8:30, was given a chance to buy more supplies and was in the taxi with the guide at 9am. We drove out of La Paz and at one point when the Traffic’s was heavy my guide, who only said his name once and I have forgotten what it was, jumped out and brought some supplies. It was actually a police check and soon we were high up in the mountains.

The taxi actually drove the first 2km of the trek and we overtook a girl, who I would later find out I’d met before on the Glacier Exploradoras hike. Her name is Sara and she was a much better and faster hiker than me and she did the trek alone. So in terms of doing the trek alone it is possible. It’s very quiet and I only met 4 other hikers during the three days but the path is really clear. I probably would have done this but I sold my camping equipment back in Ushuaia and I took a tour because I wasn’t confident of doing it alone. In hindsight I’d probably had rented equipment and tried to go alone but I did really struggle with my backpack. I think six weeks of staying out in La Paz has made me weak to carrying my bags and also is topped everything up so they were heavy. I had left a lot of things in La Paz but wasn’t travelling light as I had decided to stay in Corico for a few days before returning to La Paz. So it was heavy and I was glad not to have to carry the food and a tent as well. I don’t think I would have been able to do that. Also you need to bring cold clothes for the first day and then it gets warmer until it’s tropical. It is a jungle after all.

Instead I felt like an Englishman in colonial times as I was the only person there with a guide who did everything for me, from putting up my tent, cooking me dinner, carrying all the camping stuff and brushing my teeth. I made the last one up.

So we jumped out the taxi and I immediately went to take pictures. It was much colder than I thought it was going to be and was pleased to have my winter clothes. And these are the views from the top.

After a bit of rearranging we started hiking. Straight away I could see the valley far below and before lunchtime I would have reached the end of the paths you can see in the pictures. It’s stunning and this was my favourite part of the journey. There is a river here which you will follow for the duration of the trek and see it getting bigger and bigger. Also if you want to do this without a guide you can follow the train on Maps.me

As I got closer to the valley floor I could see the Inca ruins of Tambo an old inn on the path. I should have mentioned this already but this is an old Inca Trail.

I love mountains and took lots of photos, and you can see that we are getting closer to the valley floor.

After around an hour we had passed Tambo and were walking along the valley floor. I had left the bare rocks behind and was now walking in a lush green valley.

A little further along, maybe another 30 minutes we spotted beards of llamas.

It was around this time that we reached the part of the paths that were in the distance on the previous photos.

The path took a long turn to the right and we stopped for lunch at Estancia Samaña Pampa which is a little shop selling basic supplies. You have to sign in here and as I was eating lunch in the back room Sara overtook so when I came to sign the book there were four Germans ahead of me and many many Bolivians who had started the trail the day before-if was a three day weekend. There are quite a few places where you can by supplies but I’d suggest brining a water filter. I didn’t buy water, I thought it was provided for the second and third day but turned out to only be the second. I’ll talk about this later.

After lunch the sky became more cloudy which is a shame but probably ultimately a good thing as I took less photos. It’s true the the sky generally becomes more cloudy as the day goes on so the advice is to start early. The first day was the worst and we didn’t start hiking until after 10am. The path contributed downhill, the first day is relentless with downhill, still following the valley.

After another 90 minutes you reach a small town. The guidebook says you can camp and buy things here but it doesn’t seem to be the case from what I saw. You do have to pay an entrance fee for the park and sign another book.

We continued hiking downhill and you can see that the jungle is starting to appear on the mountains. There are a few bridges to cross as the streams meet one another.

The guidebook says there is a suspension bridge across the river at Choro. You will instead find a landslide and a very small bridge which are in th Day 2 post. We camped here for the first night and I found the four Germans who were ahead of me. Sara, and three other girls who were together. They left before I awoke he next morning and I didn’t see them again.

The campsite was basic, and when I say basic I mean there was a a covering to cook under and the toilet was a pipe with rubbing water that you had to squat over. Luckily there was a puppy to play with and I chatted with Sarah as the guide brought me my dinner. It was dark a little after 6pm and got cold quickly on the first night so we went to our beds and I had a pretty cold night but nothing Like I experienced in Patagonia.