Tiwanaku

I went on a tour to Tiwanaku today, and as we were trying to exit La Paz, I noticed that the bus made a few turns back into the city.  Finding this a little strange, I asked the tour guide what has happened, and he shared that there are blockades and 2 of the routes we had tried were blocked. 

We were lucky that we managed to get out at the 3rd route we tried, but in the process wasted an hour, though we got a pretty good different view of the city.  I am hoping that I will not have any problems with getting to Copacabana tomorrow!

Tiwanaku is a small town located about 70km outside of La Paz.  This is a really important town in the historical period, as it was said that the Tiwanaku was the civilisation before the Incas (between the period of 2,000BC to 1,500AC).

Riding down the World’s Most Dangerous Road

63km downhill; 3,500m vertical descend; 3.2m wide gravel road.  Put it all together and you have the World’s Most Dangerous Road.  Riding it down on a bicycle within 4 hours and you get pure adrenalin rush!

Definitely not for the in-experienced nor for the faint hearted, as a lot of focus is required to keep eyes on the many dangerous bends one will encounter and combining it with good control of the bicycle and speed, otherwise one may find themselves at the bottom end of a 600m precipitous cliff drop!

This was definitely one ride I was looking forward to doing ever since I heard about it while researching on La Paz. 

The road between La Cumbre (located about 1 hour from La Paz) and Coroico was called the World’s Most Dangerous Road in an IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) report, due to the number of fatal accidents that had taken place on this road.  In 2007, a new replacement road opened, and all traffic has since been diverted to use that main road. 

A little Cuba in Bolivia

It seems that Bolivians must generally eat early, as when I asked for food recommendations from a lady at a travel agency, she said she likes the food at Sabor Cubano, and added on saying that she thinks that it should still be open at this hour (only 8pm!).

Sabor Cubano is located just a couple of blocks away from the travel agency and I was starving by the time I get there. 

It has a nice cosy atmosphere, with walls filled with writing of all kinds and some Cuban images.  There was only one other patron when I entered the restaurant, who was having his meal and also enjoying a Cuban cigar.

Witch Market

The Witch Market in La Paz isn’t one of those hocus pocus, spells and witchcraft sort of market. 

Apparently it sells certain herbal remedies, ornaments and a few more unorthodox ingredients intended to manipulate and supplicate the various malevolent and benevolent spirits of the Aymara world. 

An example is llama foetus, which the locals believe that by burying it under the cornerstone of a new house, it will encourage Pachamama (local term for earth god) to bring good luck within. 

I easily saw many of these llama foetus of various sizes and stages of preservation, which at some points it looked pretty scary. 

Nevertheless this made for an interesting walk to see the various kind of remedies they use for all sorts of stuff!

Day 131 : Morning Adventure in Cochabamba

Writing this on the bus to La Paz and what an experience I had this morning!

Having covered all that I would like to see, I decided to leave earlier than planned from Cochabamba.  So I waited for a taxi and hopped on.  Just as I was about to leave on the taxi, a guest from the hostel ran out and asked if she could take the same cab to the bus terminal as well. 

Since we were heading in the same direction, of course I said yes, and the moment she hopped into the taxi, she asked for the price.  The taxi quoted 10 pesos (approx. S$2) per person, and she started bargaining with the taxi driver saying that it was too expensive and that each of us will pay 5 pesos instead.  The taxi driver was speechless and so the deal was closed!

Dining in Cochabamba

Street Food

At the cheapest end of the spectrum, was street food from the market.  I ordered a Meal Completo for lunch, which basically includes a soup and a main dish.

There were many stores at the market that served food, and I could hardly understand what to order as the menu was in Spanish and some dishes are rather local.  I finally settled into a street store, where the guy was a little more patient in explaining to me about some of the dishes.

So I ordered a Soup Mani, which is a soup with some pasta pieces and some potato chips in it.  Funny combination, but it tasted fairly good.

Day 130 : Cochabamba

So you think that Rio de Janeiro is the only place with a huge statue of Jesus Christ? 

Before coming into Bolivia, I thought the same way, and only found out that there is another Christo here in Cochabamba, and apparently it is even taller than the one in Rio! 

Also perched on top of a hill, it was definitely much cheaper visiting the Christo here, than in Rio.  Craftsmanship is definitely not as refined as the one in Rio, though the facial aspects of Christo in Cochabamba is much more defined than the one in Rio. 

Parting Ways

The bus ride to Cochabamba is much faster than I expected, as it took us 9hrs instead of the expected 12hours, arriving at 5am. 

We got off the bus, and headed to look for accommodation.  As we settled into one, Pedro said he will head out for a while.  Within 15 mins, he came back, and said he will be moving to a different hotel around the corner, while I can have the extra space in this room where we are in. 

It is really difficult and stressful to be planning for 2 people when the other party has different ideas about how the travelling should be done, both budget and time wise. 

So after this and a few other incidents, I decided that it would be best that we travel separately, before additional incidents happen that may cause our friendship to turn sour. 

Pedro didn’t seem to quite understand reasons for the decision, but respected it anyway.  So we parted ways and wish each other well for the journey ahead. 

I certainly do hope that it was parted mutually on a good note!

Hostel Recommendations : Sucre – Wasi Masi

Wasi Masi is located just a couple of blocks from the centre, and yet not too noisy. 

Clean rooms with comfortable beds, circling the main courtyard, with fairly decent warm showers.

Other than the above, there are a few other things I liked about Wasi Masi :

1. Breakfast : On top of the standard bread and butter offerings available in most of the other hostels, they also provide small touches.  For example, tea / coffee are served to you personally in fancy porcelain wares, and small sweet items to end the breakfast.  On one of the days we had a banana milkshake, and another a fruit salad.

2. TV room : This is a common sitting area where one can watch TV with a variety of programmes including English cable television.  If you are not interested with the programmes on TV, there is also a wide selection of DVDs for choosing and viewing.

3. Book collection :  Like their DVD collection, Wasi Masi also boast a huge collection of books, including Lonely Planet and other travel guides to various destinations.  It is kept under lock and key though, which also means there is still good quality in the books they have under their possession.

4. BBQ : On the last night we were there, they had a BBQ made available at a really reasonable price.  The food was good and it is a good way for the people in the hostel to mingle and know each other.

Prices at the hostel were really reasonable too!

Day 128 – 129 : Sucre

Sucre is a beautiful town filled with white washed colonial buildings, designed in Spanish style.  Totally different from Uyuni, and much much bigger than I expected. 

I really like this town, it is pretty and bustling, and really pleasant to walk along the streets.

Day 127 : Blockade

After about 10 hours of journey on the road, we finally came to a stop, and was told that we have to get off as the bus could not travel any further due to some blockades ahead. 

We were told that we will have to walk for about 10 mins before catching a cab into Sucre at the other end of the blockade.

We had 1st heard of a blockade when we were transiting in Potosi.  Pedro had initially wanted to stop in Potosi for the night as he didn’t want to be taking the bus in the dark, but when we heard about a blockade happening in Potosi the next day, that would prevent any travelling from taking place, we went on as planned.