Santa Cruz De La Sierra, Bolivia

After Cochabamba, Santa Cruz is a bit of a let down.  It is still an okay city, and the vibe is not creepy or anything, but all in all it is a step down from Cochabamba.

A part of that step is not doubt due to the area of town I am in, as once I go through the busy market area directly to the south of the hostel, the dirt, debris and garbage tends to fade.  The central square, Septembre 14, has a very clean and airy feel, and the shopping area around it is both busy and clean.  I am always amazed by the sheer number of small shops that cluster and all are of the same type, whether shoes, electronics, car parts or vision glasses.  The number of small shops selling glasses needs to be experienced to believe, and the priices are very cheap as well.  Single vision glasses start at 100/BOB, which translates as under 20 CAD.  Bifocals 150 and progressives at 250.  Computerised eye exam available from 40/BOB.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the central square mentioned above.

There were 8 chess boards, and after 4 oclock, all were in use.

One Road

China is currently building a route from their borers to Europe.  This piece of infrastructure when complete will alter the economics of that part of the world.  How much this will affect the western world is open to specutaion, but the way for the Americas to counter this is simple.  Build a robust route to South America.

Currently there is no land route from South America to either Central or Noth America.  One of the reasons for this has been interference from the USA, as it is seen as making the smuggling of drugs too easy.

The majority of North Americans have come to believe that the war on drugs has been lost, and indeed should never have begun.  The way that Portugal has dealt with it, legalizing everything and turning addiction from a legal problem into a health problem has resulted in a massive society wide benefit.

USA also sees Latin America as a problem in terms of illegal immigration, but the proven way to ease the pressure to immigrate is to make staying home a better economic and social idea.  People are reluctant to move unless where they are moving to is substantially better than where they currently are.

When NAFTA came into effect, the greatest positive effect happened in Mexico.  The economic boost resulted in many jobs, better infrastructure, and more people staying in the country.

The net effect of the war on drugs in Latin America has been extremely negative.  The amount of illegal money is mind boggling, and the amount of corruption that follows that vast amount of money is very predicable.  This adds into the reasons why people immigrate, to escape corruption.  The other real reasons people leave are war and lack of resources.

Although the sea routes are a very valuable way for trade, a land route would add greatly to the trading zone that is the Americas.

If China does manage to create an inexpensive land route through to Europe, if the Americas want to stay within shouting distance for sheer size of economy, we will need to unite with our own complete north to south ecomomic zone.  They will still be larger and the total wealth potential between India and China dwarfs the rest of the world, but the chance to lift all of the Americas into the developed world through trade in a united economic zone is a political goal that any group could be proud to have a part in.

Food and eating out in Cochabamba.

I have been here for about a month now, and eating out about once a day.  For any travelers wanting a place by place breakdown, too bad.  There are way too many food stalls and samll hole in the wall places near the market to have eaten at even 10% of them in a month, let alone full cafes and restraunts.

First up, a general comment on the typical street foods.  The first type, set up their own tent/awning on the side of the street.  They will have chairs and rickety tables for you to use, and plastic plates but steel cutlery.  The plate usually starts off with both rice and potatoes.  Sometimes either fries or chunked and deep fried potato.  Yuca and fried plantain can also sneak their way onto the plate.  Very little if any salt is added.  The meat is going to be either deep fried or grilled, cut thin and quickly cooked.  Although the beef and pork are cut thin, the will totally cover the startch on the plate.  A token amount of veg will accompany all that meat and startch, in the form of either cooked veg or a hint of salad.  All places have mayo, mustard and ketchup, and quite a few will have their own sauce which varies from not spicy at all, through to medium-hot.  A 10oz glass of juice or lemonade is usually included.  Prices currently range from 14 to 20 Bolivianos.  The meals are very filling which is no surprise given how heavy on startch they are, and although well cooked, there is not much attention paid to any depth of flavour.

The true street food is hawked from out of a small cart or from a pot or two set on top of a milk crate.  The hamburgers come with a token amount of fries, and a thin slice of the local cheese, I have not yet tried the meat on a stick from a street vendor, but the ones I have had at cafes have been great.  Most street cart food is under 10 Bolivianos, and soups are between 2 and 4 B.

The Té shops seem to out number the coffee shops, but not by a lot.  The ice cream vendors out number both coffee and té combined.  By north American standards only the ice cream shops have decent hours, the rest of the cafes are only open in the evenings, the average place opening at 6.

Places I do not recommend.  Only two make that list.  The first is Burger King.  Not because they are bad, but because why?  Why travel this far for a merely okay burger?  Second is TGI Fridays.  Over priced compared to the same quality local places.

Average cafes seem to charge between 20 and 40 B for a decent meal, with beverages being extra.  20 B for chicken 25-30 B for brrf and pork and 40 for trout, which is local.

The higher end cafes which are across the river from here are a better quality place better lighting, chairs tables etc, the food seems to be better prepared, but the cost is also about 10 B higher as well.

High end local places.  Two so far, La Cantonata, an italian place with an old world feel, great atmosphere, good service and made right there pasta and sauces.  I think they have difficulty getting great cheeses, but on the other hand my waist line would then be even bigger.  Paprika, the other place I went to,  would fit in in any major city in the world, the mood is set by dark warm woods and leather seating, and the menu features some international dishes along with a lot of well prepared local foods.  With both of these, expect to pay about 120 B for the full experience, entré, glass of wine, dessert and coffee or tea.

Current exchange rate is 1 Boliviano = 0.14 USD or 0.18 CAD

Candlemas

I have never previously been in a country where Candlemas is celebrated quite so strongly.  There is an obvious Catholic presence here and in all of the other Latin America countries I have visited, but this is the first time I was made aware of the services happening on this specific date. (Feb 2)

And in an unrelated note, I walked past this hotel, and was forced to take the picture.

For any who are unaware, my daughter's name is Virginia.

Everybody Loves a

Parade.  Even with light rain.

I went out fr a walk to re-acquaint myself with the area of Cochabamba near Plaza Colon.  The day was bright and warm, with wispy little clouds, I took my camera, a bit of water, my ebook and a rain jacket.

I sat down in the Plaza in some shade and read for a bit.  At one point a young man sat down on the other end of the bench and played a few tunes on his charango. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charango)  A pleasant sounding instrument, though not very loud.  He tried talking to me in Spanish, I tried talking to him in English.  Fun but frustrating.

I continued my walk, heading North on Av de Bolivar. and as it started to rain, just a few drops coming down, a Mexican Cafe was opening up, so I sat down for some food.  Almost as soon as I finished ordering, a group of four traffic police went by shortly followed by a marching band and dancers.

For well over an hour, there were small and large groups of bands and dancers going past, one or two with the music played by speakers, but most with drums and brass horns.  The drums were being beaten on rather firmly, and they were as much felt as herd.

I did not take a lot of pictures, but here is a sample of the ones I got.

There are far worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon, and the rain did not seem to dampen the participants mood at all.

Music

There are many reasons for traveling.  New experiences in one form or another top the list.

Food is usually part of it, and a large part of it for me.

Another part for me is music.  And the spanish influence in the music here is very much front and centre.  But in addition to the local music, there are a large number of travelers who play music as well.

For some unknown reason, they seem to form in clusters.  Last week there were no people lugging guitars through the hostel, and today there are four different people in this 16 room hostel.

Last week at the restaurant Spices, a young lady treated the guests to her voice and guitar.  The hard walls gave a great acoustic space for her voice to work, and it was one of the best evenings I have spent listening to some one with a very special voice.  I have absolutely no doubt that even though I never got to hear her name, I will be hearing her voice again somewhere and should she wish it, there is a world wide audience for her singing.

There have been times I have been going past local churches at times of worship and heard hymns sung with great enthusiasm and vigour, and absolutely no other redeeming features.  I have walked past street performers who did not catch my attention, and others who held me rooted in place until they chose to stop.

Here in Pisac, every Sunday, the church bells ring pleasantly, they ring out for about two minutes, weaving a call that is far less strident than most bells, and this time around somehow they are blending into the guitar and voice of the duo practicing on the roof.

Music plays a part of every human culture, and the variety of the sounds and rhythms at times can raise us above our selves, join us together or annoy and send one trying to get out of earshot.  Today, it has given me pause and made me glad to be in this place, at this time.

New Years in Pisac

There is a lot that is the same in Pisac on New Year's Eve as the places in Guatemala where I have spent that time of year, and even in Canada.

Fireworks, firecrackers, music, drinking and all of that.  The amount of fireworks etc was far less than in Guatemala, but they have a number of traditions that other places do not.

One of their traditions involves new clothing.  Depending on what you are hoping for in the new year, you wear different colours of new clothing.  Bright yellow means you are hoping for good luck, and it seems to be the most popular, though not necessarily the most visible, because new yellow undies were on sale everywhere for about 4 days before New Year's.  Other colours included green for money, red for romance and white for health.   Those colours were also echoed by candles burned wishing for the best in the New Year.

A bit of research on line also lead to slipping dried beans into your pocket at midnight, to encourage more money coming your way, and eating twelve grapes at midnight for luck in the coming year.  I had no idea about these traditions, but I had noted that many of the green grocers had grapes displayed prominently.

In addition to the fireworks and firecrackers, there was a whole lot of yellow confetti scattered around, and it will be a while before that bit of evidence of the celebration is completely gone.  It seemed amongst the young adults and teens that trying to get rid of the confetti from your hair was not the thing to do.  I have not asked, but I assume the longer the confetti is stuck to you, the longer the good luck lasts,

On the whole, the evening was quite fun and all seemed to be having a great time.  I hate to inflict flash photography on others, so I did not take any photos, but stayed on the edges enjoying the scene.

Take care all, and have a great 2018!