Well, it's been a while so I thought i'd better get on with it and write something about our last 8 weeks or so here in Bolivia. Well, after Potosi we headed to the city of Sucre for a few days. We didn't really fall in love with the place. The highlights were two museums we visited. The first was this dinosaur park positioned near a cement factory that had discovered a huge piece of prehistoric land covered in dinosaur footprints whilst digging. It was pretty cool, and I got to see the prints of all of my childhood favourites. There were also some huge, life-sized models which were both deliciously taccy and impressive.
The other museum was about Indegenous culture and was fascinating. One of the things that really made me want to spend time in Bolivia is the strong indigenous culture here. We learnt about the Pacha Mamma (mother nature) rituals, the traditional dress and music and dances of the various ethnic groups that live in the Bolivian Andes.
With little else to hold us in Sucre, we moved on to Cochabamba.
Cochabamba was a name I was aware of long before I'd had any inclination to travel to South America. As I was becoming more aware of global issues, and generally more upset about the injustices of the world, an old friend of mine had began to supply me with a steady trickle of anarchist 'zines' and activist videos. This was how I learnt about the 'water war' of 2000. The Bolivian goverment at the time had decided to sell the city's water to a subsidiary of the American corporation Bechtel. After privatisation, water bills rocketed, and left the poorest people with bills up to 50% more expensive for the resource that should be a given right to all life.Incensed at these unaffordable price hikes, the people of Cochabamba began to organise. They took to the streets in protests that resulted in the city being shut down on three seperate occasions by general strikes and road blockades. The president at the time responded with violence, sending in armed troups, leaving over 100 people wounded and one 17 year old boy dead. By April, the Bechtel officials finally gave up and scuttled back to the states, and the people had won back their water. The Cochabamba water revoult has since become a global legend.
The 10 hour journey to Cochabamba was an offroad affair, at one point we had to navigate around a pile of debris from what looked like a recent landslide. We arrived around 5am. Our first impressions were far from positive; we knew that Cochabamba was Bolivia's 3rd biggest city, yet as we approached through the generic grids of ramshackle suburbs it felt somehow hostile, a little intimidating. Maybe we were just tired. As the taxi took us to the cheapest option in the Lonely Planet, we had our first view of 'Cristo de la Concordia'; a 112.2 ft tall, pure white and illuminated statue of Christ perched up on the hillside, arms spread apart, looking down on the city below. Apparently he's the biggest in Latin America, beating his more famous doppleganger in Rio de janero.
For a few days, we
moved from cheap hostal to cheap hostal, searching for a room in which we could get a decent night's sleep. We had spoken to someone at the organisation Sustainable Bolivia about volunteer opportunities, and had decided that we might stay for a month or so. After a few days in the city we'd decided that we liked it afterall. But, we just couldn't find anywhere to stay. In one place we were welcomed to our new room by a used condom slouched in the corner, in another the concrete balcony leading to our room was slanted at an alarming angle, with cracks that pointed to imminent disaster. And the paper-thin walls left nothing to the imagination. If our neighbour Pedro knew the things I knew about him...But then finally, we were lead to shining beacon of light - Bolivia house. For 180 US dollars per month between us, we have been staying in a gorgeous house, complete with bacony, huge kitchen and fantastic garden complete with mandarin tree and humming birds.
The other museum was about Indegenous culture and was fascinating. One of the things that really made me want to spend time in Bolivia is the strong indigenous culture here. We learnt about the Pacha Mamma (mother nature) rituals, the traditional dress and music and dances of the various ethnic groups that live in the Bolivian Andes.
With little else to hold us in Sucre, we moved on to Cochabamba.
Cochabamba was a name I was aware of long before I'd had any inclination to travel to South America. As I was becoming more aware of global issues, and generally more upset about the injustices of the world, an old friend of mine had began to supply me with a steady trickle of anarchist 'zines' and activist videos. This was how I learnt about the 'water war' of 2000. The Bolivian goverment at the time had decided to sell the city's water to a subsidiary of the American corporation Bechtel. After privatisation, water bills rocketed, and left the poorest people with bills up to 50% more expensive for the resource that should be a given right to all life.Incensed at these unaffordable price hikes, the people of Cochabamba began to organise. They took to the streets in protests that resulted in the city being shut down on three seperate occasions by general strikes and road blockades. The president at the time responded with violence, sending in armed troups, leaving over 100 people wounded and one 17 year old boy dead. By April, the Bechtel officials finally gave up and scuttled back to the states, and the people had won back their water. The Cochabamba water revoult has since become a global legend.
The 10 hour journey to Cochabamba was an offroad affair, at one point we had to navigate around a pile of debris from what looked like a recent landslide. We arrived around 5am. Our first impressions were far from positive; we knew that Cochabamba was Bolivia's 3rd biggest city, yet as we approached through the generic grids of ramshackle suburbs it felt somehow hostile, a little intimidating. Maybe we were just tired. As the taxi took us to the cheapest option in the Lonely Planet, we had our first view of 'Cristo de la Concordia'; a 112.2 ft tall, pure white and illuminated statue of Christ perched up on the hillside, arms spread apart, looking down on the city below. Apparently he's the biggest in Latin America, beating his more famous doppleganger in Rio de janero.
For a few days, we
moved from cheap hostal to cheap hostal, searching for a room in which we could get a decent night's sleep. We had spoken to someone at the organisation Sustainable Bolivia about volunteer opportunities, and had decided that we might stay for a month or so. After a few days in the city we'd decided that we liked it afterall. But, we just couldn't find anywhere to stay. In one place we were welcomed to our new room by a used condom slouched in the corner, in another the concrete balcony leading to our room was slanted at an alarming angle, with cracks that pointed to imminent disaster. And the paper-thin walls left nothing to the imagination. If our neighbour Pedro knew the things I knew about him...But then finally, we were lead to shining beacon of light - Bolivia house. For 180 US dollars per month between us, we have been staying in a gorgeous house, complete with bacony, huge kitchen and fantastic garden complete with mandarin tree and humming birds.
And, just to complete the picture, I found a cool little club called La Marka, whose owners almost ejaculated when i told them that I play drum & bass and a little dubstep. So we were set up. Amazing house, great volunteer projects and a place to DJ every weekend.
