Bolivia - a jumpstart in the rainy season (Cocha & Torotoro)

(For more pics, please refer to the link on the right hand portion of the site!)

Cochabamba - Plaza de Colón

Christian de la Concordia

Cochabamba, situated at the center of Bolivia, located at 2574m with spring like weather all year round, probably the most comfortable weather in all of Bolivia. I toured the city with detachment and unperturbed by the beautiful church and the city centre. To me, Cochabamba is a transit city before my next destination. Nonetheless, I visited the biggest statue of Christ in the world (yes, bigger than that of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil) called "Cristo de Concordia" up on a hill in Cochabamba.

Other than that, a stroll in "La Cancha" (one of the biggest outdoor market in Bolivia) is always an enjoyable experience where ALL THINGS are sold on the streets, from rolls of toilet paper, to clothes, to cheese and electronics. I was later told that this outdoor market used to be very dangerous, where locals don't even dare to go with a group no less than 4-5 people!! People would shop quickly and leave ASAP, otherwise assaults and robberies happen very often. However, it is a lot better nowadays, a blessing to know!

Interesting episode : The amont of ambulant merchants selling chicklets (unanimously name given for gums), candies, rolls of hygienic papers and popcorns ABOUND in Bolivia, as well as in Peru. To which, I normally declinde politely with a "no, gracias", until today. One mid 20-something youngster approached me with a bag full of kleenex and asked me buy some from him. He first pleaded in with his hands in a prayer position, to which I refused and then approached and kissed me gently on my cheeks. I was a bit stunned by his behaviour and immediately agreed. At that moment, I haven't yet internalized the reason why I agreed, but I felt confused and dazzled. I believe it was partly confusion and a heart-felt human connection. After the purchase, he kissed me again on the cheeks and was about to kiss me on the mouth, out of gratitude?! He said lightly something in English to thank me, and left me dazzled with a pack of scented kleenex in my hand... His forciful marketing scheme worked...

On the day of my birthday, I decided to go Parapenting. I had to get up at 5:3am in order to be on top of the hill by 7am. Since it was still during the rainy season, one needs to get up early before the rain pours down and ruins the day. As we got ready, me strapped in tandem to the instructor in my back, I was instructed to run towards the cliff and keep running into the abyss. The sound of it made me cringe... but as an exemplanary student, I put my instinct in parking, swallowed my doubts and lept...!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......

As soon as the ground disappeared under my feet, we were pulled upward by the warm air. The view downards is that of beautiful greens hill, houses and cattles. The rest of the ride was smooth and serene. As I have no handling work to do, I contended myself to be carried into and out of the clouds. The especially strange feeling was when we rided into the clouds, where up, down, left and dright, every direction I looked, I was floating in white fluffiness! We were riding into the clouds :)

The whole ride lasted less than 15min of swirving up and down, leaping from a height of 2600m.

It was an enjoyable first time experience, however not as I have imagined. I had expected more adrenaline rush, but aside from the initial leap of faith, it was almost too smooth! Bird's eye view or fish's eye view ya say? I much prefer shark's eye view or better, a sea turtle in the ocean, crusing the "underworld" for eternity :)


National Park Torotoro - An authentic virgen paradise

Torotoro lies at 148km from Cochabamba but the local bus ride lasted 6hrs and was later told that we were lucky, as times it lasted up to 9hrs!! Cuz it is pure gravel road and riverbeds. We left Cochabamba on a standard school bus at 6pm, parked at 6:30pm for dinner... (now you know why the ride takes soooo long!), for half an hour, when we continued trodding onto the bumpy road. I vaguely recall waking up several times and saw the 3-4 younsters that were sitting almost directly on the dashboard, getting off several times off the buss, in a rumble, in order to remove some massive size stones out of the road and got back on in a hurry. Other times they got off to give directions in the dark, or to help push the bus through what used to be road but turned into mud by the rain.

The next morning, I woke up to a gorgeous yet serene view of the mountains. Which was a pleasant surprise in the midst of the rainy season! I decided to spend the day crusing through the town and ended at a river crossing, where on the other side, 2 ladies were washing clothes with 2 children playing in the river. She saw me perplexed at the opposite side and waved her hand at me and invited me to cross over, indicating that one must remove the shoes. What a fantastic day it was. I ended up hanging out with her and her daughters all afternoon, shared some crackers with her and her, some cooked potatoes with me as she washes the clothes and i dipped in the river and then sun-bathed with the kids in the sun.

With luck on my side, I met the founder of the National Park of Torotoro, a Bolivian Mason, who is in the process of building the most beautiful hotel in the village, with a touch of arabic artwork. We had a very engaging conversation and he invited me to a typical Bolivian dish called Silpancho, consists of breaded meat covered with a fried egg and salad, the whole sitting on top of a bed of french fries.

That evening, as we parted, he offered me to stay at the blue suite of his hotel, the most elegant and luxurious room (basically the presidential suite!) when he saw the condition of the hostal in which I was staying, lol. It's rather rustic, but I don't mind as I have a nice view of the mountain on the 3rd floor :)

The next 2 days were full of adventure, where the real tour began !!!

• Dinosaur footprints! of biped and quadruped dinosaurs, theropods and sauropods from the cretaceous period 120 million years ago.
• A stunning canyon: where the canyon floor is surrounded by sheer rock faces 250 meters high (watching from above the canyon gave me more vertigo than parapenting!!! I kid you not!)
• Dipped in the refreshing freezing pool and waterfall at the bottom of the canyon
• Walked over stone bridges and a natural stone stage
• Climbed in and out of Cueva Humajalanta, for miles northwest of the town of Torotoro, 4,600 m long and 164 m deep, one of the longest and deepest caves in Bolivia, with stalactites and stalagmites, blind fish and waterfalls.