Cochabamba

After the impressive experiences in Potosí, we have to admit that the altitude does not treat us well in the long run. And since we also do not feel like going on a multi-day tour where we mostly have to be stuck in a car, we are skipping the must-see in Bolivia, the Salar de Uyuni. We feel that Bolivia is a country we cannot fully appreciate on this trip and that we need to visit again one day, so this experience is postponed to some time in the future.

Instead, we made our way to Cochabamba, which is significantly lower at 2500 meters. The plan was to visit the Toro-Toro National Park, where one can find dinosaur tracks alongside wonderful flora and fauna. However, we were still feeling quite unwell, which led us to repeatedly postpone our trip to the park by Collectivos, and we were not very active in the city either. Cochabamba turned out to be unremarkable, and even managing basic tasks like doing laundry was a challenge for us. The visit to the local monastery was the highlight of the city, but we must admit that we had seen it more beautifully and more often during our travels in Arequipa.

In the end, we had to reluctantly admit that our bodies longed for warmth and rest, and we should head back in the direction of Peru. But we will come back, Bolivia.

So we made our way back to La Paz, where we wanted to spend a few more days before the big jump to Lima. The bus was significantly delayed en route due to service work on the bus's cooling water system and ultimately ended up in El Alto with an accident, leading to an early exit from the bus and continuation in a taxi to our hostel. Unfortunately, no one was there when we arrived, and our previous messages had also been ignored. Luckily, a guest helped us into the hostel, from where we were able to contact the owner and received instructions over the phone on how to get to our room. Very late and very exhausted, we fell into bed.