Twilight in the tropical forest

It is kind of strange to be somewhere else, after two weeks into the tropical forest region of Eastern Bolivia. To think that only two nights ago the bus I was riding over there stopped in the middle of nowhere, the night was falling and a huge truck full of cattle was stuck in the mud ahead of us. When we, the passengers, came out to walk around the dirt road while waiting for a solution, some things happened: First, we were eaten by mosquitoes, always there at dusk; Then, the mosquitoes were eaten by hundreds of cruel dragonflies... I mean hundreds or maybe thousands flying around our heads but not touching us; After that, a very heavy electric storm could be heard in the distance and the lightning could be seen in the horizon, one every 3 seconds more or less, it looked like a horrible war being fought somewhere else; It was finally getting dark, and suddenly all around us was full of lights coming from glow-worms (Is that the right word for the insect with a light? In Spanish we have a beautiful word: luciérnaga); Until it was completely dark, in the middle of the jungle, and the sky was... so full of stars, all over, and the cloud of the Milky Way could be seen, and the Southern Cross... Well, couldn't ask for a better night for the star gazer. And, some people may know, I lose a lot of time looking at the stars.

Finally the truck was pushed and taken away, and our bus kept going to the town of Concepción. It took 9 hours for 185 kilometers. That's the way it is around those places, time and space don't work the same.

That was almost at the end of the two week trip that took me deep into the forest, close to amazing mountain ranges, to very old churches built by Jesuit priests in the 18 century, to the discovery of baroque music in the middle of these jungles, to endless rides in bus and train, to see amazing starry nights, to meet incredible people who live and work here, and to a state of mind and soul and heart where, I think, it was possible to think about the future again. Then it is also true that I got sick (stomach, because I ate misterious food without the usual beer, in my opinion), and got well again. Visited markets, walked around beautiful towns, sometimes under burning sun, sometimes in the middle of the night. And I climbed a magic plateau!

I am writing this from the city of Cochabamba, in the middle of Bolivia. Here the tropical forests have already dissappeared, and now the trip is going up into the Andes. And up it goes, really.

There are two reasons to stop here in my trip to La Paz. One, is to get used to high places. Cochabamba is 2,800 meters, quite high, but still 1,000 under La Paz. The second one is to go to what may be the biggest market of the region, and one of the most amazing of the world, "La Cancha".

Why go to a market? To talk to people, get information about ingredients, recipes, and take pictures. Did I mention that very soon there will be a new blog a bout food and cooking? Well, now I will just have to do it.
(Luis Cordova in Cochabamba, hoping to adapt quickly to the 2,800 meters)