Cochabamba

Cochabamba is a city and municipality in central Bolivia, in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the fourth largest city in Bolivia.

Hitchhiking out

West towards La Paz, Southwest towards Oruro, Chile

To get out of Cochabamba and the nearby town of Quillacollo first take any trufi (minibus) - 204, 205, 206, 208, 209, 250, 260, 261, 270 amongst others - from Cochabamba to Plaza Bolívar en Quillacollo (2,50BS/0,31€). From here find trufi 261 going towards Suticollo (2,50BS/0,31€) (You can find it on the far corner of the square in the needed direction - this is its first stop, because there also goes the city trufi 261, which does not suit you). Usually there is a sign "Tranca Suticollo" on the right trufi. Tell the driver that would like to get off at the toll booth (tranca) (Coordinates: -17.47149, -66.33888 ^Google OSM ) on the main road (F4). You can start hitching right after the toll booth and also talk to plenty of trucks.

South East towards Sucre

From this place approximately Coordinates: -17.406345, -66.153442 ^Google OSM , get a minibus going to Uspha Uspha for 1.5 Bs (now 2Bs in 2023). The name is not written on the buses but you can ask and they will tell you. You can then walk until the toll station or just stay next to the road and get a lift (usually just walking along the road while sticking out your thumb should work). Leave early, the truck drivers do. Study your names on the map before as you may accept a car ride going to the south road (to Tarata or Cliza) and may lose some time there until Punata (although it's manageable and not unpleasant).

South East towards Toro Toro

Proceeding the same way, you can hitch a ride until Tarata and from there try to go to Toro Toro to visit the national park, cave, canyon... The road is much less used and it can be hard to find someone but if you're lucky and patient you will. Or you can take a minibus from Cochabamba for 35 Bs. and try to hitchhike on the way back. The national park is expensive (100 Bs., you would have to go by yourself at the office in the village to pay) and they won't let you enter in any place during the day without guides (which are also expensive).

East towards Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Ruta 4 runs east-west across the length of Cochabamba Valley and is the primary route eastward and descending to the lowlands of the department of Santa Cruz.  Continuing east from the city of Cochabamba it remains heavily urbanised for a further dozen kilometres, first passing through the city of Sacaba, the second largest in Cochabamba Department.

There is a tollbooth before Sacaba (search Peaje Huayllani) but it is still so deep in the urban fabric, on the busiest highway in the department between its two largest cities, that it really doesn’t make much sense to hitch there. 

Similarly, while there are gas stations along the route through this area your chances of getting a ride at any of them are no better than in any such urban setting. There are three gas stations past Sacaba where it would be better to try your luck: ES Villa Obrajes, ES Trans Sacaba, and Surtidor Chiñata. All are on Ruta 4 and it’s around two kilometres walking from first to third. All three get traffic from truckers, assuming there is gasoline to pump, and if there’s no gasoline they line up and wait, making asking even easier.

To get there from central Cochabamba you can grab a Trufi, of course. According to Trufi App, the 212 runs from La Cancha central market along Aroma, up Oquendo, and then turns northeast on Aniceto Arce to pass the narrow beneath the Cristo de la Concordia toward Sacaba and out to the above gas stations.

OJO: There are MANY different routes that operate under the number 212, and not all go as far as these gas stations. The town nearest just beyond them is Catachilla, which can be used as a further reference point when asking if they make it that far. The Trufi App lists many of the different routes when searching by the route number 212, but not all trufis use standardised names and descriptions. Movethathoof did not realize this and ended up at the end of a road parallel to Ruta 4 but way up the slope of the northern foothills. He ended up taking another Trufi to the entrance of Sacaba, and from there found another, with a different number, that got him the rest of the way.

Just beyond the third gas station, Surtidor Chiñata, there is a traffic light where you can also hitch (also a good alternative if the gas stations have run dry). That's where Movethathoof ended up getting his ride, almost as soon as he stuck out his thumb, right to Santa Cruz. The first tollbooth of any real use (appearing as 'Puesto de Control y Peaje - Aguirre' in Google Maps) is still another 25 kilometres ahead, by which point you've probably got a ride already, though it could be useful to trade up to a longer one.

Trufis

The combi public transport vans that are ever present are known as trufis, and generally there's one going wherever you could possibly need. On the highway it's easy enough to flag one down and ask, but their endless flow in the city makes that more complicated. Luckily, there is an app (available on both Android and iOS) with lots of information on routes and potential schedules of the trufis serving the Cochabamba area. Click the preceding link or search "Trufi" in the appropriate app store and it should show up, the icon self-evident, the images confirming it's for Cochabamba.

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