Champange of Chica
One of the best things about living in Bolivia is the festivals. Every weekend there is a festival of something or the other, mostly to do with fresh produce such as peaches, corn and every town has its own Saint or Virgin to celebrate.
Last weekend was the Festival of Chicha. Chicha is an old incan drink made from corn and a whole bunch of other stuff which might gross people out if I tell them! I'm not such a fan of this drink, however I do like the cinnamon version, which is called Gadapiña and best drunk after a long hike of some sort up one of the many mountains here in Bolivia. People in the countryside make their own chicha and you can buy it from any house a white flag is flown from the outside. Cochabamba Department is the place to try this drink and once a year they have a festival to celebrate.
Last Sunday it was! After we spent the day wandering the streets of a small pueblo called Morachata, high over behind the highest mountain in Cochabamba, watching people watching the micro of gringos who only just pulled up into the village for the day, we hit the Chicha festival.
I got to try a number of different types of chicha, I felt like I was back in the wine country, except you just down it! Chicha de durazno and the champagne of chicha were my favourites.
To drink Chicha it seems that you must listen to chicharia music, which consists of a guitar, a charango (small guitar, sounds like a mandolin) and a woman singing in a very high pitched voice, so high pitched it hurts your ears. But the people like it at that's the main thing. Chicha has a pretty high alcohol content so when we arrived at the festival at around 7pm, people were already plastered and dancing in the streets. A favourite Bolivian past time.
And so my time passed in Bolivia consists of visiting festivals, climbing mountains and drinking chicha, what a life!
Last weekend was the Festival of Chicha. Chicha is an old incan drink made from corn and a whole bunch of other stuff which might gross people out if I tell them! I'm not such a fan of this drink, however I do like the cinnamon version, which is called Gadapiña and best drunk after a long hike of some sort up one of the many mountains here in Bolivia. People in the countryside make their own chicha and you can buy it from any house a white flag is flown from the outside. Cochabamba Department is the place to try this drink and once a year they have a festival to celebrate.
Last Sunday it was! After we spent the day wandering the streets of a small pueblo called Morachata, high over behind the highest mountain in Cochabamba, watching people watching the micro of gringos who only just pulled up into the village for the day, we hit the Chicha festival.
I got to try a number of different types of chicha, I felt like I was back in the wine country, except you just down it! Chicha de durazno and the champagne of chicha were my favourites.
To drink Chicha it seems that you must listen to chicharia music, which consists of a guitar, a charango (small guitar, sounds like a mandolin) and a woman singing in a very high pitched voice, so high pitched it hurts your ears. But the people like it at that's the main thing. Chicha has a pretty high alcohol content so when we arrived at the festival at around 7pm, people were already plastered and dancing in the streets. A favourite Bolivian past time.
And so my time passed in Bolivia consists of visiting festivals, climbing mountains and drinking chicha, what a life!
posted by Paula Pfoeffer at
7:21 am
