The night bus from Sucre to Cochabamba takes 12 hours. Bolivian buses are no way near as comfortable as their Argentinian or Chilean counterparts. Seats don't recline very much, there's no toilet and there are people lying in the aisles. Needless to say I hardly sleep and as soon as I arrive in Cochabamba I check into my hostel and sleep until midday. The hostel is the worst I remember staying in - lurid red curtains, windows that don't shut properly and wires sticking out of the walls. I have several different nightmares and attribute this to the curtains.
After my disturbed sleep I venture out on to the streets. I feel as if I'm in a huge open air market. The roads are lined with people selling everything from DIY tools to clothes pegs. Hundreds of people crowd the pavements so it's difficult to walk without being pushed and shoved in all directions.
On my way to the main square I notice smoke billowing out from the top of a building and people running down the street. I can see a fire in the middle of the road but am not sure what's going on. As I approach for a closer look my lungs start to burn and my eyes start streaming. I ask a man watching the proceedings from the side of the road if he knows what's happening. Despondently he tells me locals are rioting due to failed government promises and have let off tear gas. When I visit the main square later that evening I see that a whole row of government buildings has been torched.
(Photo - riots in Cochabamba)
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