It was hilarious this morning because the ladies that I had
taken the tour with the day before all arrived a little after our agreed time,
7:30, and we all were worried we would be late. What I thought was hilarious
was that all four of us were ready before the office even opened. That’s the
difference between the culture of countries like the United States and France,
and that of Bolivia – the office clearly said that they would open at 7:30, but
in reality didn’t open until about 10 minutes later.
The day today was longer than I had expected, but it was
still a great one! We went on a tour with Timateo again to the Ciudad de Itas
and Canvernas – both were basically really large natural structures that had
been carved out over long periods of time by water.
The Ciudad de Itas was basically an area that was kept from
the conquerors of the area, kept as a secret area for the original people who
lived there. The above-ground caves
looked amazing – not to mention that everything was on the sides of mountains
and at pretty high altitude, making for great pictures. The mountains of the
foreground almost reminded me of Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca in Copacabana,
and the mountains in the background, which had a blue-ish tint, reminded me of
the Lake itself. Great views.
Our second stop, the caverns/caves were just as impressive.
I have been in caves before – a long time ago, but we have caves that are in
the Austin area. This one we visited was a little different because it required
a lot more physical activity. The entrance to the cave was really large, but
there were parts of the cave that were extremely narrow – we had to crawl in
several of them – or extremely steep – we had to use ropes to help us go down.
Apparently, the condition of the cave wasn’t that great
because there are so many tourists. According to an evaluation by some Italian
scientists recently, the cave can take about 20 tourists a day to avoid
pollution. However, there are way more people than that and tourists used to
take off parts of the stalactites and stalagmites as souvenirs. I see why,
because the stalactites and the stalagmites are truly incredible – but it’s
such a shame.
When I got back, it was easy to get all my stuff ready to
return to Cochabamba. The views on the way back were incredible! The sunset
made it even better. I got back to the city too late to go to Sucre so I’m
staying one more day in Cochabamba. I’m considering going to the ruins or just
chilling. I regretted not trying that chocolate mousse in the café I spent so
much time in, so I might try to go there. We’ll see.
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