Cochabamba - 26th and 27th April

We decided to break with the Gringo Trail slightly and head to Cochabamba from La Paz rather than go straight to Sucre like everyone else which proved to be a bit of a mistake. The place is OK, but not a hell of a lot to do.

Bus journey there was 9 hours and was absolutely rammed with locals and no other tourists - we stood out like sore thumbs at the front of the bus. There were definitely more people than seats and one family of 4 crammed on to a double seat next to us. The whole bus absolutely reeked and there was only 1 stop to answer the call of nature. Also played some really random South American films at 100 decibels. Anyone reading this in Bolivia - don´t travel with the Trans Copacabana bus company if you can avoid it.

The bus terminal on arrival was absolute CARNAGE with people scrabbling for bags, buses nearly running people over and loads of shouting trying to get people on other buses. We couldn´t find a taxi outside for love nor money, but thankfully a woman helped us into one. The b****** driver ripped us off after agreeing a price up front and after a few minutes arguing with the clinically obese, moustachioed f***wit I decided it wasn´t worth it for 50p.

Surprisingly our booked hostel didn´t have our booking, but luckily there was a spare room. There were no curtains or towels and we were right next to reception so we made a sharp exit to a hotel round the corner the next day.

We decided to take a cable car up to see the biggest statue of Christ in South America (eat your heart out Rio) which stands at 33 and a bit metres (a metre for every year of Jesus´ life). Pretty impressive statue, but we´re sure the one in Rio is better as this one looks a bit too new and like a Lego model. Great views over the city though and brought home how massive Cochabamba is.
Decided to commit transportation suicide the next day and after chilling out for most of it, caught an 11 hour night bus to Sucre. The bus station was the usual chaos and typically our bus was the shoddiest of a bad bunch, but at least we got some leg room and a push back seat as it was a ´cama´ bus. The driver had a bit of a go at me for refusing to get on the bus until our bags were loaded and there were a few unnecessary stops, but the journey wasn´t too bad. Roads were very bumpy and windows felt as though they were going to fall out the whole way, but we miraculously managed to get some shut eye and arrive in time to catch the end of the royal wedding live - thank God.