“T
hey’ve closed the frontiers,”
I write in my journal. It’s June
2005, late at night in an
anonymous hostel in Cochabamba in Bolivia.
“Things are changing rapidly here and as I
write, my stomach is churning with something
like excitement or, maybe, fear. I think
there’ll be a coup within the next two weeks...”
I didn’t mean to get involved. I doubt
anybody but war reporters deliberately show
up to situations like this. I came to Bolivia in
search of witches’ markets and jungles and
lagoons that change colour with the wind.
When I crossed the border from Argentina,
my desert-sore eyes were distracted by red
fl ags and shepherds tending lama. From my
comfortable, squishy seat on the overnight
bus, the unrest on the news seemed unreal.
Yet, within days of my arrival, it was clear
something serious was going to happen. And
by the time I got to Cochabamba, it was just a
question of what. Every day another rumour:
there’s going to be a civil war; the airport in
La Paz is shut; the frontier with Chile is
closed; the president is going to resign; the
president is going to be assassinated; the WORDS BY EMM A RUBACH
BOLIVIA
RIGHT PLACE,
WRONG TIME
In 20 years of travelling,
Emma’s been trapped
for 24 hours in the Masai
Mara and charged by
an elephant — twice.
She’s written for The
Independent, The Times
and The Big Issue, among
others. To her relief, she’s
now head of content for
The Mix charity and a
mum — so most days she
only makes it to Tesco.
@emmarubachAmericans are involved; the Israelis are
being airli ed out. No, the Americans are...
But here in the bubble of Cochabamba, the
high, thin air is fresh, the sky is blue, the
fruit in the market delicious and plentiful,
and the ice cream excellent. The only
whisper of trouble is at the bus station. Every
day I visit it to check whether I can leave. The
roads between Potosi, Sucre, Cochabamba
and La Paz are all blockaded by outraged
campesinos (peasant farmers) burning tyres.
People have been trapped here for over a
week and the army has started feeding them78 natgeotraveller.co.uk
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