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Published: February 2nd 2013
From Cochabamba to La Paz Let’s admit it. There are loads of stories going around travelers’ world with regards to all the danger waiting for you in South America. Some of the things really happened and some stories were ‘improved’ when passed from traveler to traveler - just like any other good gossip. Safety on night buses might be just one of those things. People are scared to take them, it is a fact and when you hear all these ‘
dos and don’ts’ you create an image of danger in your mind immediately. We had already taken night buses in Brazil and Paraguay and they were just fine. I guess it is different in Bolivia because of the rough terrain and road conditions so in Uyuni we faced a tough decision. We contemplated if we should stay overnight or take the dreaded by everybody night bus. We both agreed that the night ride to Oruro would be far better than staying in this shithole.
We booked a nice and comfy semi-cama (sleeping bus) for double the price of a standard bus which still came to a very reasonable 70B/10$ per person. We even got nice lama blanket to keep
us warm at night and by the time we even noticed they rushed us out of the bus in Oruro at 3 am. That was a shity situation to be in - at night and in front the closed bus terminal with loads of homeless and drunk people around. We did not like it at all but there was not much we could do. The morning bus was supposed to go in 2h and we were cold and sleepy. Fortunately Bolivians have at least a little bit of entrepreneurial spirit and there were colectivos (minivan taxis) for
Cochabamba waiting for potential customers. We had to wait 45 minutes for the car to be filled up but at least we were safe and warm in it.
We made it to Cocha around 8 am and began the usual
‘find the room’ ritual. We could not find anything cheap and decent as Cocha is full of midrange hotels for 150-200B and budget options are scarce. All the hostels were booked up and even simple posadas were all full. (LP mentioned some but after having a look I would really not want to stay in any of them). After an hour of
looking we were almost at the edge of giving up when I happened to walk by a nice old villa and saw an ad about the hostal (in the historic centre, between Equador and Espana Street). Went in to ask for a room and was surprised to learn that they offered beautiful newly decorated rooms facing a garden and a courtyard for 80B/12$ only. You cannot even imagine the smile on my face. Once again, persistence in looking paid off. As additional bonus this place was just next door to a fabulous eat-as much-as you can vegetarian buffet restaurant that charged only 18B/2.5$ for gorgeous meals.
We spent a nice time in Cocha, walking around historic centre, admiring architecture and watching people go by. Plaza de 14 de Septiembre offers amazing cafes with folk music and international newspapers if it happens to rain when you are there. We took a cable car up to the
Christo Mountain as we missed the big one in Brazil. It was fun and I really enjoyed the views but Cocha was not really as stunning of a place as we expected it to be. However the centre of our stay in Cocha evolved
around a sad event that happened in our hotel. A few days into our stay we were woken up by some shouting and crying. We listened carefully to what had happened but could not make much sense of it. Only later on our new neighbors told us what had happened to them. They arrived very early in the morning and when they came into the courtyard, some guy greeted them and welcomed them to ‘his’ hotel. He then spoke to our land lady and suggested for them to see the room and leave all their bags in the reception area. You probably figured that it was the last time they saw their bags right? They were devastated, as all of their valuables (DSLR, Ipad, Ipods, wallet, cards, passports etc) were in the stolen bags. They immediately started to say that they had heard Bolivia was such a dangerous place as they had traveled from Mexico down to Bolivia and had had no problem whatsoever.
It was a sad story but we could not help but wonder. How come people who have been backpacking for 4-5 months already, were stupid enough to leave bags with a stranger? It has nothing
street of La Paz
have to love their lookto do with Bolivia, it can happen anywhere, even in UK where they come from (we know very well, as we had our backpack stolen in central London). It is about common sense again. Of course they were tired after a night journey and let their guard down for a minute, but very often in places like that 30 seconds or less is just what they need. We then spent our day recalling how many times somebody offered to take our luggage for us or to watch it in different places. Never, ever would allow that and if we really had to, we would leave the big luggage only as nobody is interested in dirty clothes anyway. And really who puts credit cards and passports in their bag anymore? That is why somebody invented a money belt so that people carry things with them all the time, right? I sound a little bit harsh on them, I know, but just want to point out what can be done to avoid this kind of situations and have a pleasurable stay in Bolivia or any other country for that matter. We met them later on in La Paz and they seemed perfectly
fine and over the drama of this horrendous theft.
Last day of our stay I got food poisoning. What is wrong with Bolivian food? Second time within 2 weeks? Even back in Asia I was sick only once during the period of 11 months. We had to delay our travels for another day then. We reached
La Paz the next evening and went straight to a LP recommended
German Hostal in the historic town. We liked it – it was simple, clean with kitchen facilities and wi-fi for 80B/12$ per night. Again, even though it is said to be dangerous we walked all the way from the terminal to the hostal (15 min) and felt no danger at all. Besides La Paz is full of police on every corner which gives you some peace of mind. The next day we treated ourselves to a nice breakfast in a trendy café and then went exploring. The old town is not as preserved as Sucre or Potosi but it has its charms. It is chaotic, colorful with a blend of everything. There are sellers of Chinese crap, sweets, fast-food and amazing French rolls on the street as well as modern malls
and restaurants around them.
If you are interested in folklore this is the place to be. We had seen Bolivian women wearing traditional attires but only here you see the splendid ones. They are dressed to perfection in beautiful fabrics, matching scarves, hats and shoes. Everywhere you look you could see one wearing different color or pattern of their clothes. I just loved it and could not get enough of it. We sometimes would just sit and watch them go by their daily routines. They seem to be quite sensitive to a camera so it was not easy to get a nice pic of them but the image will always remain in my mind.
Witches Market happened to be a little bit touristy for us although we saw some interesting things over there. We think that La Paz is an excellent place to buy some souvenirs and with loads of artesanas to chose from you can get what you want for what you want, really. We bought some table clothes and Tomek really wanted one of those alpaca (lama) sweaters that everybody wears around. Fine with me as for 10$ is not an expansive thing but surprisingly warm
in the park
women definitely stand out in Bolivia and comfy. La Paz is also full of museums but we really wanted to see only 2 of them: Coca Museum (fantastic and very informative) and Folklore Museum (even more fantastic). We have learnt so much about Bolivian culture and traditions, shame it was at the end of our stay in this country. As we are a little bit of history freaks we also took a day trip out to see
Tiwanaku ruins. We were so excited as they are said to be the most important ruins in Bolivian culture. It is a pain to get there (see below) and when we finally arrived we learnt that the ticket price is no longer 10B but 80B/12$. What they hell? Together with a transport cost it was not a cheap day out then.
They distributed a map of the Archeological Park to us and we really could not wait to see the pyramid. We walked around and we only could see a pile of mud….Oh, somebody forgot to tell us the Pyramid was not yet excavated!!!! They give you the map with a drawing and ask you to IMAGINE one….all of that for 12$!!!! We got really angry as it
takes like 2h one way to get there. I could imagine things at home if I wanted to. At least they had some other temples in a little bit better state of repair and decent museum so the day was not totally lost. I have no idea really why we got so angry? Maybe because we had kept our hopes and expectations so high or maybe because we knew we lost time and money when we could have done something entirely different. It is needless to say we would not recommend this trip to anybody!
We stayed in La Paz for 6 days instead of 3 because of my silly and unfortunate mistake. My love for dogs (and all other creatures) is probably very apparent through out of the blog and so far I did not really put much thought behind it. When walking through the Witches Market I saw a puppy and played with it for a bit. After we walked away I noticed I had my thumb scratched and bleeding. F**k, f**k, f**k … I was not even sure if it was the puppy but it had very sharp teeth so it was more than probable. I
contemplated for the rest of a day and finally decided to go to the clinic to get injection. Bolivia has a really high risk of rabies and it is a deadly disease in the end. The man with foam running from his mouth, who was taken from out train in Siberia, came to my mind and I just had to do something. Better safe than sorry.
As it turns out finding the right clinic in not that easy in La Paz. The vaccine centre LP pointed out was closed and other hospitals did not do the service to foreigners. Finally I was directed to a local emergency clinic where they took care of it. I was really scared that it would be the painful stomach injection but times have luckily changed. They saw my scratch and gave me the ‘that is all’ look but said it was probable so we had better do something. The service was surprisingly free of charge but I would have to take 5 of them altogether within a month. All of that for a stupid scratch??? They gave me a 1
st and 2
nd injection within 3 days and a note for other clinics in
Peru where I would have to complete the treatment. Little did I know back then it was easier said than done….It did not alter my dog stroking – I was already being treated right?
Additional Info: •
Direct bus Uyuni-Cochabamba goes only once a week (Friday as far as I remember) and other than that you can take any La Paz bus that will drop you in Oruro (35-80B depending on company). •
From Oruro to Cochabamba you can take a bus for 25B or a collective for 40B, which comes handy if you happen to be at the terminal in the middle of night. Just pass the terminal building to the main road and they are waiting over there •
To get to Tiwanaku you need to first catch a collective or taxi from downtown to the Cemetery Terminal and then another minibus to Tiwanaku (15B one way). There is a walking distance of maybe 1km from the road to the museum entrance so don’t fall for what taxi drivers are telling you (we were told it was a 5km walk) •
As far as food goes in La Paz, we have to mention that options are much better than fabulous breakfast
french rolls with guacamole in any other place. You can treat yourself to nice and very affordable cafes, restaurants or just eat with locals in many available bistros. For 10B/1.4$ you can have a beautiful chicken soup with whole chicken leg or some meat and papas fritas. It is a bargain. For breakfast we discovered something special – French rolls with fresh guacamole sauce – amazing!!! There is a lady sitting on the corner of our street who sold them for 3B/0.4$ each. On the way from the terminal to the centre you can find a Turkish Kebab place that serves big portions for 12B/1.5$. Cochabamba was more difficult with budget food as it is more difficult with budget accommodation. We cannot recommend anything really.
•
We must mention that safety has really improved in La Paz when compared with notes from the guidebook. Everywhere where LP says it is dangerous you have an officer (or two) standing there which limits options of anything happening to you. It was the only city in Bolivia that we felt comfortable walking around at night – really. We were followed once by some elderly guy who was really bad at this but when he noticed we knew about him he just back out. Keep your eyes open and you will be fine!!!
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His Dudeness
Ralf Kreuze
With you on the common sense
I have noticed that 99 out of a 100 times it is just because of not using common sense that something bad happened to a person. Of course there is always this 1 time, where they did all the right things and still got robbed, it happens. But, yep, mostly bad reputations are built on stupid mistakes by tourists, who instead of admitting it, blame the country or the locals, saying it is just a dangerous place, full of bad people. And so the reputation perpetuates with every successive generation of backpackers. I never had anything bad happen to me anywhere in S. America, not because I was particularly lucky, but because, like you, I kept my wits about me at all times, as I would do back home as well if I were in a city I didn't know.