Greetings from Cochabamba. The weather here is a perfect summery January 25 degrees (77 Fahrenheit). We’re in the middle of the rainy season, so the hills are a vibrant green.
I went up to La Paz on Sunday to fix a computer problem there. I had never made this journey during the rainy season, and it was wonderful to see the Andes so green. Normally, like California, things are “golden” during the dry season (March-November). The trip is normally seven hours, but took up eight and a half hours. I fixed the problem there quickly, and then came back to Cochabamba on Monday (seven and a half hours). In two days, I travelled for 16 hours to fix a problem in less than a half hour! But the scenery was so beautiful, it made the trip very much worthwhile.
Travelling from the Cochabamba valley, the bus quick climbs to the top of the Andes and then proceeds for about four hours to pass along the peaks of this incredible mountain chain giving the riders views of immense valleys. Most Bolivians travel overnight so as to not miss a day, but the journey is really worth giving up a day. After four hours or so, the bus arrives on the Altiplano near Oruro. The journey from there to La Paz is a little more boring — traveling over the high, flat plain — but I found during the rainy season that even the Altiplano shows more green and is quite beautiful.
The violence which gripped Cochabamba a couple of weeks ago has now mostly passed. The people are out and things are back to normal.
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