Arriving in Cochabamba

I left California December 23rd. If everything would go well, I should arrive in Cochabamba christmas eve at 7:30 pm. LAN was more than an hour late from LAX to Lima, fortunately I had 4 hours for the transit so there was still enough time to get my connecting flight to La Paz. I arrived in La Paz the 24th at 2 pm. La Paz is, literally taken, a breathtaking city. At an elevation of 4000m, El Alto is one of the highest international airports in the world. Just after leaving the plane I already felt the difficulty to breath. Things got worse when I picked up my luggage. Carrying 60 kg at an altitude of 4000m is tough for someone who has spend most of the last 4 years sitting behind a desk. Fortunately the airport is really small, so it was just a short way to the new check-in for my connecting flight to Cochabamba, but nevertheless I felt like I had just finished a marathon. So I decided to follow the number one advice I got from many Bolivians, how to get along with the high altitude: I went to the next bar and ordered my first mate de coca, a herbal tea made from the leaves of the coca plant. I don't know if it was just the placebo effect, but i really had the impression that i felt better afterwards. The flight was almost 2 hours late, so I left La Paz after nightfall. The lights of La Paz by night are really magnificent. The elevation of the city varies from 3000m to more than 4000m, giving the lights a three dimensional perspectiv

The flight to Cochabamba only took 30 min, but these were among the most exciting flight minutes i have had. We were flying through a thunderstorm shaking us strongly with lighting in all directions. I was around 9 pm when I finally arrived in Cochabamba, where I spent christmas eve with Sandra and her family…