Sniffing Cochabamba

Not sure why we came here, something to do with visiting a friend and it being half way between La Paz and our next stop, Sucre. Rumors abounded of the city being unsafe with very few tourist attractions so what better time to arrive than 11.30pm and your accommodation being a block from the main bus terminal, which incidentally, is usually in the dodgy part of town! We already had a place reserved with the same owner as our upcoming La Paz apartment so that was a good start even if it was in the not-so-attractive area.

We decided to flag a taxi to take us the supposed four or five blocks to the apartment where her uncle was awaiting our arrival – not sure how long he had been waiting as the bus was probably two hours past its due time! The taxi drove farther in the hundred yards in the opposite direction to make a U turn than he did to get to the apartment, but better to be safe than sorry. Our digs for the next five nights were on the seventh floor and in a city at an altitude of 2600 meters lugging our backpacks upstairs turned out to be an unpleasant end to the evening. We did luck out as the views of the city were amazing and the apartment was extremely clean with all necessary amenities.

The highlight of the town for me was wondering the endless aisles of ‘La Cancha” market and the hike up to Cristo de la Concordia which overlooks the city. Cochabamba is Bolivia’s largest market town with the enormous La Cancha market selling everything imaginable – that’s if you can stand the crowded, chaotic, and claustrophobic aisles. I ensured that a visit to the market was a daily occurrence with replacement clothing purchases, clothing and shoe repairs, and the best reason to visit Bolivia – it’s fresh orange juice squeezed right in front of you for a few cents. It was so cheap and it makes you wonder how so many people can sell the same items and still make a living!

The lowlight of the town for both of us was the constant gathering of glue sniffing street kids, locally known as Los Cleferos, hanging out directly below our apartment window. Apparently the “in” place to be for them is San Sebastian, a plaza a couple of hundred yards away. The addiction had no boundaries, affecting adult men, women and children, and however sickening it was I would continuously be watching their antics from the window. Sometimes they were curled up around each other, sometimes we could see them squatting to pee on the sidewalk and more often than not they were passed out on the side of the road, or even in it. They were continually passing around multiple plastic bottles of glue and two liter bottles of what looked like soda but probably was some sort of alcohol. This was our first sign of the poverty and destitution that occurs in Bolivia and we were blown away by the fact that the authorities, the police and the general public walk on by and turn a blind eye as if nothing is happening!

Fortunately there are local NGOs trying to alleviate the problem and steer street kids away from this downward spiral, specifically one where our friend Josh was volunteering, Performing Life Inc. The work they do is pretty amazing but sadly only touches the tip of the iceberg! Also through Josh, we had the chance to go to the opening of a small Mexican restaurant just outside of Cochabamba where all proceeds go to CECAM, another small local NGO that improves living conditions for poor Bolivian families through the development and manufacture of solar and efficient cookers. Donations can be made to both of these NGOs by following the above links and will be greatly appreciated.

Against people’s recommendations we took the risk of walking the 1300 steps up to the statue, and although it didn’t appear to be a big deal there have been numerous robberies carried out. We also did it at dusk which made us even more vulnerable! It was a nice walk other than hearing Andrea whine and complain about having just completed her Blogilates workout and not expecting to now be walking uphill for thirty minutes. Suck it up honey, suck it up!

The views of the city were impressive and the statue up close had a very good resemblance to Christ the Redeemer in Rio. Perhaps due to the fact that all thirty three meters were modeled after it, except the Bolivianos tacked on an extra few inches as they say that Christ lived for thirty three years and a bit, hence the extra height.

We noted a couple of observations on our walks throughout the city, notably the use of barbed wire to protect the small trees planted on the sidewalk and around the central plaza, and the use of children by their parents to make money from, amongst other things, busking, singing on buses, or dressing in traditional clothing. Maybe some of them were budding entrepreneurs operating on their own initiatives, but the morally wrong use of children was rife for sure!

July 14th – July 20th 2013