Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The village also has several other
historic buildings
: the Palacio Consistorial (govern-
ment palace) of President Melgarejo (built in 1872) and the homes of President Mel-
garejo, General don Esteban Arce and General René Barrientos.
Huayculli, 7km from Tarata, is a village of potters and glaziers. The air is thick with the
scent of eucalyptus being burned in cylindrical firing kilns. The local style and technique
are passed down from generation to generation and remain unique.
From Cochabamba, taxis (B$6, 30 minutes) leave when full and
micros
(B$5, 45
minutes) leave every 15 minutes between 5am and 8pm from Avs Barrientos and Mag-
dalena. There are no
micros
to Huayculli, but minibuses running between Tarata and An-
zaldo can drop you here.
CHICHA IN PUNATA
This small market town 50km east of Cochabamba is said to produce Bolivia's finest
chicha
. Tuesday is
market
day
and May 18 is the riotous
town festival
. Access from Cochabamba is via
micros
(B$6, one hour) and taxis
(B$10) that depart when full from Plaza Villa Bella at the corner of República (the southern extension of Antez-
ana) and Av 6 de Agosto between 5am and 8pm.
Incallajta
The nearest thing Bolivia has to Peru's Machu Picchu is the remote and rarely visited site
of Incallajta (meaning 'Land of the Inca'), situated 132km east of Cochabamba on a flat
mountain spur above the Río Machajmarka. This was the easternmost outpost of the Inca
empire and after Tiwanaku it's the country's most significant archaeological site. The
most prominent feature is the immense stone fortification that sprawls across alluvial ter-
races above the river, but at least 50 other structures are also scattered around the
12-hectare site.
Incallajta was probably founded by Inca Emperor Tupac-Yupanqui, the commander
who had previously marched into present-day Chile to demarcate the southern limits of
the Inca empire. It's estimated that Incallajta was constructed in the 1460s as a measure of
protection against attack by the Chiriguanos to the southeast. In 1525, the last year of Em-
peror Huayna Capac's rule, the outpost was abandoned. This may have been due to a
Chiriguano attack, but was more likely the result of increasing Spanish pressure and the
unraveling of the empire, which fell seven years later.
