Descending from Coroico and La Paz to Bolivia’s central lowlands meant a return to warm climate, palm trees, and all the comforts of summertime. Our next stop was Cochabamba, an agricultural and commercial center with a quaint colonial downtown that is peppered with murals and street art. This is something we’ve observed frequently throughout South America so far, and a tradition that we really appreciate—walls are normally pretty boring, and muralists here take delight in transforming them into political, cultural, or artistic canvases for the public. Cochabamba is home to what is said to be the largest market in the entire continent, La Cancha. As one might expect, it was pretty extensive; we got lost for hours in the lanes of fruit and vegetable vendors, a whole district of banana sellers, perfectly formed and iced cakes, mysterious meats, non-mysterious meats (the head is usually a dead giveaway), household items, textiles, and fake braids for cholitas that can’t or choose not to grow their own. We made an effort to stop and talk to more people, especially those selling unfamiliar fruits and vegetables, as Mika is endeavoring to document the idiosyncrasies of South American vegetation and how to survive here as a vegetarian. I got into a long conversation with some ladies selling huge mounds of devilishly spicy rocoto peppers who were very curious about the United States and what life is like there. They helped us identify the samples of mystery produce we’d purchased for lunch/scientific inquiry, and gave us another good example of the friendliness of the average Bolivian.
One of few touristy things we did in Cochabamba was visit “Cristo de la Concordia,” the largest statue of Jesus in the world. It is pretty much an exact replica of Rio de Janeiro’s “Christ the Redeemer,” but built to be marginally taller in order to take the title. Normally one takes a cable car to the top of the hill from whence our very tall lord and savior looks down on the world, but it was out of order so we had to take a taxi up. We walked back to town, passing through more local areas and sampling several varieties of street food. Food stalls on the street have been far less prevalent in South America than in Asia, which is definitely something that we miss.
From Cochabamba, we took a night bus to Santa Cruz in order to reunite with our new friend Nata and her family. Santa Cruz, Bolivia’s largest city, is the most tropical and modern place we’ve been yet. It was originally not on our itinerary as it lies far to the eastern part of the country and has relatively little of touristic interest. After our stay with Nata in La Paz’s Zona Sur, though, we decided it was a worthwhile detour. It was apparent how incredibly right we were pretty much from the moment we arrived at the modernistic mansion her family built when they moved to Santa Cruz about four years ago. We are unused to living in such luxurious comfort on the backpacker trail, but turns out that it suits us pretty well. Drinking beers and eating ceviche while sitting in the backyard swimming pool, lounging around with good music on the stereo, grilling steaks or enjoying vegetarian meals prepared by the family’s lovely and much beloved cook Ceilia—this is a life that we could get used to. Nata and her older brother Pablo (Pally), who also works for the family’s very successful import/export business, were amazing hosts, and we enjoyed hours of conversation with both. Pally is in the process of opening his own microbrewery (with a warehousing and transportation network conveniently already in place), and we sampled many of his creations. One lazy day he even started another batch in his poolside brewery station, throwing together local and imported ingredients to experiment with a new recipe. Family friends came and went, and we also spent a little time with Nata and Pally’s father, who bears an uncanny resemblance in appearance and mannerisms to a middle-aged Robert de Niro. The whole family’s hospitality will stay with us for a long time, and we’re very glad that we went out of our way to spend a long and relaxing weekend with them.
The Way and the Wayfarers 