The Case of the Missing Flight

We ambled around the collective Cochabamba markets again this morning, which really are the heart of the city. It is such a joy walking through the aisles, taking in the colour of the products as well as the people buying and selling, without being harassed (take note, SE Asia).

After seeing everyone tuck into bowls of soup and plates piled with freshly prepared food, we couldn't help but sit down to our own lunch on the comedor vegetariano, "El Maná".

Manna from heaven

The lunch was a simple three-course affair following a very similar mould to last week's offering: a salad, a soup of rice and potatoes, and a pasta dish. Whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the Bolivians love their carbohydrates. I once heard it helps with the altitude, but it's also more than likely because it makes for a cheap and filling meal.

With no postre to our almuerzo completo, we were glad to see a lady selling crunchy, chewy fried churros, filled with sweet dulce de leche.

Our day of gourmandising came to an abrupt end as we returned home and began to check on the preparations for moving on from Bolivia. Our next destination is Cusco in Peru. Rather than take a lengthy (and by many accounts risky) bus journey across the border, we decided instead to put our safety in the much more regulated South American airline industry. Amaszonas, to be precise.

We had booked ahead of time a flight from Cochabamba to Cusco, necessitating a change of planes at La Paz. However, warned by other travellers that Amaszonas has a tendency to alter flight times with little forewarning, we attempted to confirm the flight details by phone. It transpired that the route from Cochabamba to La Paz had been permanently suspended, and nobody from the airline had thought to inform us. Instead, we had been rebooked onto a flight leaving from Santa Cruz.

Nonplussed, I informed the airline that we should like to be transported from Cochabamba, as per the original booking. Fortunately, our very kind Bolivian host offered to act as a Spanish-speaking intermediary, which eased the negotiations somewhat. He managed to arrange for a three-leg journey - from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz, thence to La Paz, and finally to Cusco - leaving at 6:15 in the morning. This would involve an extra connection, with the attendant risk of missing it, or losing our baggage in the process, but it seemed the path of least resistance.

Later in the day, however, when no new itinerary arrived by email, I became suspicious. Calling Amaszonas revealed that while the first two flights, as far as La Paz, could be undertaken on the day of travel (1st July), the next connection to Peru had been booked for the following day. This would necessitate an overnight stay in La Paz, for which we neither have the budget nor inclination. I failed to get this resolved by phone and emails went unanswered. All in all, it was a frustrating afternoon and we went to bed uncertain of how or when we would arrive in Peru.