After 3 weeks of hard work, we needed some time to chill out and Cochabamba was the nearest place to come after Villa Tunari. We found a hostel that had a pool, and also a huge garden, which looked really nice, so we booked that and went there. It was a mission to get out of the jungle, but we did eventually get a minibus to take us to Cochabamba. We arrived late at night, to where we thought was the main bus terminal, but it was some random street, so we were a bit lost. Our hostel was out of town, in an area called Tiquipaya, about 20 minutes from the centre of Cochabamba, so we took a taxi there. It also proved to be a mission getting a taxi. We tried to get one, but that seemed dodgy, as there were a group of people all waiting outside it, then when they went to take us, a random woman stayed in the car. I was probably being paranoid, but I decided I didn't want to take that taxi, so we had to wait around for ages before finding one. A drunken man came up to us trying to help flag a taxi down, but he was doing more harm than good really. 

Eventually we found one, flagged it down, and asked the driver to take us to Tiquipaya . He didn't know where our hostel, Las Cabanas las Lillas was, but he was prepared to take us there. So we hopped in finally and made our way there. Once in the taxi, we thought we were being led away to some dodgy area, for all we knew, we could have been kidnapped. I should not have been so judgemental, as the taxi driver turned out to be so sweet, and really took the time to help us find the hostel end didn't just dump us out on the street. When we found the building, the driver even got out of the car to ring the bell, and walked up a dark alleyway to try and get the owners attention. That is really rare behaviour i've encountered in Bolivia, as not all the locals can be that helpful. So there are some good Bolivian people out there. Once we checked in we crashed out after a hard 3 weeks in the jungle in an uncomfortable bed, we finally have somewhere comfy to sleep. 

We woke up after a brilliant nights sleep, and saw the surrounding area of the hostel. It was set in large grounds with a garden, a pool, BBQ area, hammocks, and there was a big fluffy dulux type dog that was cute . We had breakfast in a massive room and they even have an over head projector that they use as a cinema in the evenings. We met a few friendly people in the hostel at breakfast. One in particular I remember was a sweet girl named Susie. I remember her easily, as she is the namesake of my aunty. 

Today we made a promise to ourselves that we wouldn't do much or go sightseeing as we just needed time to relax and recuperate, so all we did was walk to the local shop in Tiquipaya to get food supplies, and sit relaxing in the big garden. It was nice to just do nothing after working for 20 consecutive days, as we were mentally and physically exhausted. We ordered dinner to eat in the hostel and ate with a few other guests staying there. We also bumped into a couple of people who we met at another hostel we stayed at back in Mancora. We seem to keep bumping into people along the way. After dinner, one of the other couples staying there said they were going to put a film on. They had a vote and most people wanted to watch Django, I wasn't that keen as we'd already seen it, but as they were all in agreement, so we watched it again. This time it was on a big screen, and they even provided popcorn, so that was a bonus. We enjoyed the evening, and after the film, everyone had a few drinks and went to bed. 

Christo de la Concordia

So the next day, we did decide we wanted to do something . I heard there was a statue like the Christ the Redeemer here which is actually taller than the one in Rio, so we thought we'd check that out. It's called Christo de la Concordia. We decided to take a bus to Cochabamba, then we would walk to the statue. That way, we get to see a bit of the city without the hassle of actually stopping off and sightseeing different places. It was around a 20 minute walk, we just used the statue on the hill as a guide of where to walk. When we eventually found it, we had to walk around the whole thing just to get to the entrance. It was a cable car that takes you up to the statue. It was only about 30 bolivianos, which is around £3.00, so it was a fairly cheap ride up there. The only thing was as it was the weekend, there were massive queues, so we had to wait for an hour or so to get up there. I can't imagine what the one at Rio might be like, especially on a clear day. You can walk up to the statue via a hill, but there was a sign advising people not to because of muggings, so for our safety, I said we'd rather take the cable car . 

After taking our place in the queue for about an hour and a half, it was finally our turn to take a cable car up to the statue. I can't remember the statistics, but it's suppose to be a few inches more than the one in Rio. When we got to the top of the hill, the statue did look huge, but I wouldn't say that I was wowed by it to be honest. When looking at it, there were big port holes going right up it, these are actually so you can climb the stairs inside, but from an aesthetic look, it wasn't so nice. It was actually a white statue and was made of stone, but it looked plastic to me. So now we are here, we may as well take a walk around and enjoy it. The only thing putting a dampener on it was the fact that it was a grey overcast day. 

We continued to walk up the steps where everybody was doing the same. I'd imagine it isn't nearly half as busy here as it is at the Rio statue. We walked up the steps and got our photos and walked around the base of the statue. I still enjoyed myself anyhow. As you can walk up the steps inside the statue, we decided to take a walk up there. You had to pay extra for this, but it wasn't much, so it was worth it to see a higher viewpoint. We walked up to about floor 5 or 6, but the rest of it was shut off, so you couldn't climb any higher. We peered out of the little port hole windows and looked out towards Cochabamba. The views were not great as there were no iconic landmarks to look out at, like the Rio one, but it was still good to get an elevated view of the city . I really must stop comparing this to Rio. It's definitely worth coming to see it if you are in the area at all. When we returned down to the bottom, the sunshine came out, so this made all the difference. I took a few pictures while the sky was blue, then we took a taxi all the way back to Tiquipaya. 

Our last day was spent trying to find a laundrette to get our filthy washing done, as in the animal sanctuary, we had been hand washing our clothes, and I needed them to feel fresh and clean. The hostel did offer a laundry service, but they wash in cold water, so we politely declined in favour of taking it to a laundrette. We had a real mission trying to find a laundrette in Tiquipaya, we spent most of the day walking around and asking if there was one here. We got lots of different answers, and eventually, I stumbled across it. You would have never known it was there, but we found it, so dropped the lot off to get cleaned. The bad thing was that they couldn't have it ready the same day, so we have to stay another night in the hostel until it's ready to pick up tomorrow. So in fact, this will be our penultimate day here in Cochabamba.

After we dropped it off, we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the hammocks in the garden. It was a roasting hot day and I could feel the sun burning, so was going to jump in the pool, but they hadn't cleaned it out, and there were loads of bugs, so that was a no go area. I opted to catch up on the blog, as I am really far behind still. John done some research about Chile, and we chatted to another couple who were on a similar trip to us and they are also writing a blog. Later on, we had another dinner cooked for us by the hostel and got chatting to a few people. The next morning, we picked up our laundry, which was lovely and clean and smelled delightful. I was so glad to have everything back and for it not to be smelling of the jungle. We packed up our stuff and ended up sharing a taxi to the bus terminal with another girl who was also staying at the hostel. Our aim is to try and get a bus to Tupiza, but we may have to go through Santa Cruz or somewhere else first if we can't find a direct bus. Next stop is somewhere i've been looking forward to the whole trip, the Salt Flats.