Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cliza, Punata and Arani
Cliza market: Sun • Punata market: Tues • Arani market: Thurs
The rural centres of
CLIZA
(40km from Cochabamba),
PUNATA
(45km) and
ARANI
(55km) all make interesting excursions, especially during their bustling weekly
agricultural
markets
, when peasants from the surrounding districts come to buy supplies, sell produce,
meet friends and drink
chicha
. The women wear the characteristic brightly coloured
pollera
skirts and white straw boaters of the Cochabamba Valley, and carry their goods on their backs
in luridly striped shawls. The markets are rather prosaic compared to the more tourist-orient-
ated market at
Tarabuco
, and there's almost nothing in the way of handicrafts on sale, but it's
still interesting to watch the energetic scenes, as people haggle over great piles of fruit and
vegetables, live sheep and cattle, and cheap manufactured clothes. The liveliest markets are
in Arani and in Cliza; the market in Punata, 45km from Cochabamba, is smaller, but the town
is famed as home to Bolivia's best
chicha
. With a tart, yeasty flavour
chicha
is definitely an
