Excuse Me, Are You A Tourist?
14 November 2005 (Monday) – Cochabamba, Bolivia
The minute the words ‘Parque Nacional Torotoro’ came out of my mouth, the Tourist Office lady shoved me some brochures and seemed to wave me away, telling me everything is in there. Only from further specific questions did she inform me that the bus to Torotoro leaves only on Sundays and Thursdays. But, she scribbled down another telephone number, telling me this is a private company. Perhaps, they leave on other days.
I called the company, and the lady said they leave Wednesday evening at 7pm. She also confirmed I could get a hotel, a guide there easily.
I thought through and figured that perhaps, it was better if I had at least one companion to go to Torotoro together, for security and also, for sharing the price of the guide. But where to find them??
My cheap hotel was full of Bolivians. Frankly, I had not seen that many backpackers walking around. And I was not sure which hotel here in Cochabamba was a gringo-favourite.
I was walking along the street when I crossed path with a brunette. I stopped her and asked if she was a tourist. Nope, she was studying anthropology here and sorry, she did not have time to go to Torotoro. To be honest, she had not heard of Torotoro.
In the late afternoon, I walked all the way to Palacio de Portales, which is the mansion built by tin baron Simón Patiño. At one point, in the 1920s, he was one of the richest persons in the world from his wealth from tin-mining. However, when this house was built over a period of 22 years, he was in Europe as an ambassador to Bolivia. By the time he returned, his poor health meant that he could not live at this high altitude. In the end, he died in Argentina, without stepping foot on this house. So, it seemed, he could not live at low altitude either.
There was a nice garden which was very good for resting in the shade, as I don’t know why, but I was exhausted from the walk here. Later, the Spanish tour started at 5pm and I joined it. I spotted 2 blonde tourists and asked them the same question about Torotoro. Well, they again had not heard of Torotoro but alas, they were leaving for Santa Cruz tonight.
Well, I could only follow perhaps 70% of what the guide said. So, at 5:30pm, when the English tour started, I abandoned this tour and joined the other one. This time, the English guide was much more brief and she did not explain as many things as the Spanish guide did. So, the 30% that I missed, remained missing. Anyway, I cornered the 2 Brazilians at the end of the tour and asked the same question about a trip to Torotoro. Again, sorry… the Brazilian lady was a student here and she could not go as she was studying for her exams. But, where is this Torotoro again? Oh well.
I must add that the mansion of Simon Patiño is truly luxurious, although we saw only a small part of it. One of the hall is a replica of one of the halls from the Vatican Museum. Imagine that!! The walls are covered with velvet or the finest of silk. The cedar wood was from Lebanon. The marble slabs were from Italy. The architect and artists came from France and sculpted and painted all over for 22 years. The lovely billiard room, my favourite, is Arabic-themed. Everything was just intricately, ornately and lavishly done up. Astounding.
Back in town later that night, I continued my sniff around for tourists. Sometimes, I would pass by a gringo couple but when I sensed bad energy from them, I did not approach them. I came upon a rather nice couple later, but, again, they were not tourists, they were doing volunteer work here. But they suggested I could leave a note at 2 very popular backpackers’ hotels along Calle 25 de mayo. I did just that. I wrote that I would meet whoever who is interested in doing this trip together at Pasteleria Sofia, a pastry shop, tomorrow evening.
Frankly, I doubt I would have any luck. But why had no one else heard of Torotoro and yet, I had come all the way to Cochabamba to visit Torotoro?
Tags: 09) Bolivian Rhapsody, Cochabamba
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