Cochabamba: Ciudad de los Flojos y de la Buena Vida

Beyond my political sentiments and observations, it must be said again that Bolivia is simply gorgeous. Flying over El Alto is a unique site as the red brick homes fade endlessly into the horizon. It doesn’t take long to reach cruising altitude as the township sits at over 4,000 meters. The half hour flight to the hillside country is flabbergasting as the snowcap Andes soar above the clouds and the terrain progressively becomes flatter and browner in front of your very eyes. Before you are even able to finish your matesito, the plane is already descending and the laid back city of Cochabamba settles into the foreground.

Cocha is the place to be for young, social and lethargic individuals. People eat, drink and eat. It is an amazing town filled with cobble road streets, colonial style plazas and copious restaurants. I had my first pique macho and devoured an entire duck with some good friends. People are lighthearted, the nightlife is tremendous and taquina is actually not that bad. But above all, everything seems to be cheap. Rumors say that you can live as a king for less than a thousand dollars a month. I’m pretty sure that is about the equivalent of minimum wage in France. Talk about contrast.

One may argue that this depiction is the life of a select few and that the majority live with less than two dollars per day. While there is some truth here, I was surprised to find that the everyday Cochambino adopts similar cultural patterns. The layout of the third largest Bolivian city is quite heterogeneous and it is not uncommon to find a chicheria tucked away right next to a bar. The atmosphere is always jovial in these cheap family owned homes and everyone seems to be playing cacho, not unlike the average middle class. I am not trying to brush away disparity, I simply find it fascinating that the warmth of the Latin American culture is visible in all walks of life.

I am back in La Paz but tomorrow we take off again for Coroico, a notorious landmark in the Yungas jungle. Photos to come!