A simple blog about our round-the-world trip. We will update when we can. Since our readership is international, we will write mostly in English. However, from time to time, we will write in Molière's language and Mickiewicz'. Feel free to comment and ask us questions about our destinations and "coups de coeur". Don't worry, we will also tell you if we ever find ourselves in... a putrid dwelling (for our colleagues at work); a s*** hole (for our close friends). :)
Bonne aventure!
Cochabamba is the third largest city in Bolivia and it is called the city of the eternal spring, due to its mild and pleasurable climate. However, most of the guidebooks and a lot of people I talked to recommended we stay in this city only as long as we absolutely needed to because there was nothing to see there.
It is true: Cochabamba doesn't have the beautiful architecture of Sucre or the museums of La Paz. But it doesn't mean that it is not worth it to stopover for a few days between these two cities. I found Cochabamba much more "real" than Sucre. Lets be honest, in Sucre I didn’t feel as if I was in Bolivia at all. In Cochabamba I could see people walk to and from work. I could see students reading in cafes (Cochabamba is home to the biggest university in Bolivia). I could see families relax together. I felt as if I was in the middle of Real Bolivian lives, not in too picture perfect Sucre.
And Cochabamba won me over with the number of restaurants, cafes and ice-cream shops all over the place. Maybe it is not outstanding in the traditional tourist sense; maybe there are no sightseeing highlights to check off on the must-see list. However, it is a city where I can really see the lives of the Bolivian middle class and where the atmosphere is filled with a contagious joie de vivre.
Here’s my suggestion for those who are short on time in Bolivia: visit all the museums in La Paz but don’t spend too much time in the capital. Rather, come to Cochabamba to see what it means to enjoy your life à la Boliviano.
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