Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cupied. This enormous white mansion, which could have inspired the TV home of the
Beverly Hillbillies, was named after his wife. Albina was presumably as fussy as her hus-
band when it came to the finer things in life and the elegant French décor of the main
house and the Carrara-marble mausoleum seem fit for royalty anywhere in the world.
There's a formal garden, complete with topiary, and the family mausoleum in which the
don and his wife were finally laid to rest.
To get there, take a Pairumani
trufi
from the Plaza Bolívar in Quillacollo and get off at
Villa Albina. It's only 18km from Cochabamba, but the trip can take a couple of hours so
you might consider a taxi.
Inca-Rakay & Sipe Sipe
The ruins of Inca-Rakay, in the Serranía de Tarhuani, are the most readily accessible ruins
in the Cochabmaba Valley, but they are mostly crumbling stone walls these days and
you'll need some imagination to conjure up their former glory. It has been postulated that
Inca-Rakay served as an Inca administrative outpost that oversaw agricultural colonies in
the fertile Cochabamba Valley. That seems unlikely, however, given its lofty position and
the difficulty of access. The rare Spanish-language book
Inkallajta & Inkaraqay,
by Jesús
Lara, contains good site maps and theories about its origins and purposes.
The site includes the remains of several hefty buildings and a large open plaza over-
looking the valley. One odd rock outcrop resembles the head of a condor, with a natural
passageway inside leading to the top. Just off the plaza area is a cave that may be explored
with a flashlight. Legend has it that this cave is the remnant of another of those apocryph-
al Inca tunnels - this one linking Inca-Rakay with faraway Cuzco. If you're there on a
smog-free day, the plaza affords a spectacular view over the valley.
Do not camp or spend the night at the unattended ruins. Several readers have reported
serious violent incidents while camping here. The access town for the ruins is the quiet
and friendly village of Sipe Sipe, 27km southwest of Cochabamba.
If you're in Sipe Sipe on a Sunday between February and May, try to sample the local
specialty - a sweet grape liquor known as
guarapo
.
