Finally, a break! A break from 3 long days of bus travel through the Peruvian and Bolivian mountains and countryside, and a break from the cold mountain temperatures.

We traveled almost 8 hours yesterday from La Paz to Cochabamba, and the ride took us from the Altiplano (3,650m above sea level) into the valley (2,574m). Man, what a difference! It is almost tropical here compared to the mountain climate we've been used to (warm days and cold nights!) In Cochabamba, we've switched from pants and sweaters to tshirts and shorts! And the difference in climate is evident in the plant life too - we have trees again! Willows and palm trees line the city square!

We arrived around 5pm last night, check into a hostel near to the main square, and headed out on a search for dinner. Cochabamba is supposed to be the gastronomic capital of Bolivia so we were pumped to taste some tasty and authentic Bolivian food. The only problem was, around our neighbourhood, all we could find was fried chicken restaurants!!! If there are good, quality Bolivian restaurants around the main square, they are either extremely well hidden or closed in the evenings.

There were a few packed restaurants on the main road - they were packed because the Bolivian national football team was playing the Columbians. Their menus were very western but they had big TVs!! We settled on getting sandwiches and fries at a local ice cream shop (this city is packed with ice cream places and bakeries!!!!)

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel for an early night - bus traveling is apparently exhausting!

We got up this morning to find a great breakfast at a local cafe - yogurt and musli, fruit salad and scrambled eggs to replace our normal buns with jam.

Our goal for today is to book our way into a National Park in the area and get out of the city entirely by tomorrow. And enjoy being on the ground instead of in a bus!