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2003-01-21 - 2:46 p.m. (I've finally written my entry about Puno and Copacabana, and I've added some pictures to the La Paz entry. Just so you know. I'm almost caught up. Almost.) For those who were concerned, I did make it to Cochabamba. In fact, I was so relaxed on the bus that I fell asleep on about five different occasions (my capacity for sleeping on public transportation never fails to amaze me). Things seem to be calming down here - I think the jubilados have reached some sort of agreement with the government, and lots of groups are denouncing the leader of the cocaleros. There are still road blocks, but not anywhere that I want to go. Chances are very good that I'll be able to get out of town this weekend, when I head off to Sucre. On my first day in Cochabamba, I celebrated the fact that I was finally at a lower altitude (2570 meters!) and that climbing a simple staircase no longer left me gasping for air by climbing the hill to the Big Jesus.  I wanted to take the cable car originally, but I heard someone say that the wait was two hours long. I didn't want to ride the cable car that badly. So I took the stairs.  It was Jesus. It was big. There was a nice view of Cochabamba below. For 1 Boliviano (about 15 cents), you can climb inside the Big Jesus, up a series of rickety staircases. But you can only get up to his arms. Here's a view from inside the Big Jesus: 
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