If you haven’t already had your fill of Simón Patiño’s legacy in Oruro and Cochabamba, you can visit Villa Albina in the village of Pairumani and tour the home the tin baron occupied. This enormous white mansion, with its long palm-tree-lined entrance roadway, was named after Simón's wife, Albina. She was presumably as fussy as her husband when it came to the finer things in life, and the elegant French decor of the main house seems fit for royalty.
As well as the house, there’s a formal garden, complete with topiary, and the family mausoleum, made from Carrara marble, in which the don and his wife were finally laid to rest.
The villa is only 18km from Cochabamba, but traffic can be bad. Best to take a taxi and try to avoid rush hours. Alternatively, from Quillacollo, take a Pairumani trufi from the Plaza Bolívar and get off at Villa Albina.
