Day 1 in Cochabamba

 The bus company endorsed my ticket to another company saying nice it didn’t have enough passengers, yet I was assigned to a seat too close to the toilet and suffered from the smell for 12 hours. I arrived Cochabamba in an overnight bus around 7:30 am, walked 1.5 miles to the hostel, and had an early check-in. I met a hostelmate to hike up to Cristo de la Concordia, the colossal statue that is the second-largest of its kind in the world and offers panoramic views of the city from its perch on San Pedro hill. To reach the viewing platforms around the Cristo de la Concordia statue, visitors typically climb ~1,400 steps. Although it was only about 1000 feet (300 meters) elevation gain, I was huffing and puffing due to lack of oxygen at 2,570 m (8,430 ft). 

Cochabamba, also known as The city of eternal spring or The garden city, is a vibrant and friendly city in Boliviaconveniently located on the way from La Paz to Sucre. The city is the fourth biggest city in Bolivia, is surrounded by mountains. 

It is also the "Culinary capitol of Bolivia", to offer the best international cuisine, Bolivian cuisine and street food in Bolivia. After the hike, we enjoyed a wonderful vegetarian lunch at Gopal Vegetariana. The much included a buffet-style salad bar (with great variety of veggies and salad options), nice soup, main (veganized bolivian dish), drink and dessert in relaxed and comfi vibe with outside seating in a patio for 22 Bs ($1.8 super recomended when in cochabamba. After a nap in the hostel, we got two kinds of salteñas for snacks, one with a juicy filling, known as "jigote”, and the other is dryer beef along with ingredients like potatoes, peas, etc. The name is derived from the first known baker of these delicacies, who was born in the city of Salta, but he was later exiled to Potosí.

Later we walked around town to hunt for dinner, yet settled with a fast food restaurant have a plate of chicken with potato and spaghetti for only 23 Bs. I will gain a lot of weight here!

After dinner, we walked to Cochabamba Family Park for the Fountain Show (10 Bs) which lasts about 15 minutes and quite entertaining. What a day in such a nice and pleasant city!