Cochabamba... Is this still Bolivia?


I'm in beautiful Cochabamba, at an altitude of around 2,600m. I came here several days ago to check out the UrkupiƱa Festival of the Virgin in the nearby town of Quillacollo (I will write more about this, and post photos, soon).

I'm staying with as AWESOME host and we usually stay up till the early hours of the morning having great conversations - the last one was about uranium, the enrichment process and alternative sources of energy.


Cochabamba is an ideal place for a number of reasons:

1. The weather is always great - it's supposed to be winter now and the temperature is still in the mid-20's. Never too hot, never too cold.

2. It's surrounded by Andean mountains, meaning there is beautiful scenery from anywhere in the city.

3. Everything is cheap (welcome to Bolivia!)

4. Thanks to the high altitude there are no mosquitoes. Yay!!!

5. It's developed, with great restaurants and a good expat community.

6. There is little pollution, as the people here generally don't use (or have) power and use gas for car fuel.

7. It is cleaner and more organised than most Bolivian cities.


[Above] One of the colorful buses of Cochabamba.

[Below] This is what the sky looks like almost the entire year round:

For me, so far, Cochabamba is my favorite place in Bolivia. Though this didn't stop me from getting another stomach infection the other day. Poo! (Actually, a LOT of poo.)


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