Week Four: The Yungas

This past weekend I headed out with some fellow Canadians to a tourist town called Coroico in the Yungas region of Bolivia, which is about three hours northeast of La Paz. The climate in the Yungas is much warmer than in La Paz as it is located between the highlands and the forests to the east of the Andes. It was a very nice place to go to relax and warm up a bit. On Saturday we took a trip out of town to visit some waterfalls, but unfortunately it is the end of the dry season and so only one of the three waterfalls actually had water falling from it. It was still a very nice excursion and the scenery was amazing.

When we got back to the hotel, we took full advantage of the pool and sauna. At night we went out for a bite to eat at a Mexican restaurant and I had some incredible chicken enchiladas. I feel bad saying this, but it was easily the best dish I´ve had in Bolivia to date. After that we headed out to a karaoke bar for the rest of the evening. On Sunday we just kicked around the pool for the morning and the early afternoon and then it was back to the city to get ready for the workweek.

Even the bus ride to and from Coroico was amazing. The bus passed through the clouds atop the mountain range and wounds its way down the mountainside, giving us a great view of the deep valleys and lush vegetation below. We took the new road connecting La Paz and the Yungas, aptly called the ‘New Road’, instead of the old road nicknamed ‘Death Road’. It is called this because it is an unpaved road on the edge of an incredibly steep cliff and there is hardly enough space for two vehicles to pass one another.

So, I have been thinking that I might start to do some ‘feature posts’ instead of simply describing what I’ve been up during the week. I thought it would be good to focus on some of the different aspects of Bolivia such as architecture, plants, animals, vehicles and food. If anyone has any suggestions of themes that they would like to know more about, please advise me and I will do my best to include them.

***Interesting Fact: Because there is so much pressure in the air in La Paz, it is extremely difficult to pour beer into a glass without getting a lot of foam. For this reason, very few bars have beer on tap.***

[The view from the hotel room]