Painfully Into Bolivia

Continuing on we reached the Bolivian border near the resort community of Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. At the border processing out of Peru was simple, it included getting our passport exit stamp and closing out the temporary motorcycle import permit. The process getting in to Bolivia was not simple. First of all Bolivia has instituted a $135 USD “USA Retaliation Fee” excuse me visa charge. They would only accept it in US dollars. Canada, Australia, UK citizen? Nada for the fee. Then the process itself required many forms, copies from the local copy store, at our cost of course, and multiple buildings. The first problem was we didn’t have $135 cash with us and the border didn’t have a bank or ATM like the other countries that require a fee. So the Immigration Officer said he would hold our passport while we ride in to Copacabana and get the Visa fee. That was fine but the Customs Officer demanded a stamped passport and Visa before he would allow us to bring the motorcycles in to Bolivia, even for the four mile run to the bank. We eventually agreed to leave our motorcycle titles with him to make sure we would not run off into Bolivia undocumented. Then the National Police decide to get in the act. They want to see our Passport and import papers before allowing us to leave the border area. After some explanations, they allowed us to pass. Then when we get to the only bank we could find, the ATM is only for Bolivian citizens. The bank would, however, generously give us a cash advance against a credit card plus charge a 5% fee. At this point we were seriously considering getting our Peru permits back and going straight to Chile from Peru. After taking a “timeout” we decided to continue on. After getting our Visas and import permits, from now smiling Immigrations and Customs Officers, we have our last problem. Again the National Police have to check that your paperwork is in order and hand write down an entry in their official log book. They also put their stamp on the import permit, with a noisy authoritative banging the stamp down on to the paper as if they were killing an insect. Well after going through that ritual the boss Police Officer, surrounded by two of his comrades, places the two Import Permits on the desk face down, looks at us and asks us for money. After telling him no in English and Spanish, he still persists. I then sensed it was time to show them a mild sense of outrage. I also recalled Ricardo’s, from Quito, advice to just make stuff up when they make outrages demands. So I told them, in my best “Spanglish”, that their government sent me a nice letter saying that I had to pay $135 USD to get in to their country. They explicitly said to pay nothing to the Customs or National Police. At that point the main guy waved on and we departed.

We rode into Copacabana for the second time. I was simmering but then fought hard to keep reminding myself that the objective was to get in the country and we had done that. Copacabana is a colorful tourist town with jam packed markets selling all things Inca. At the town we asked about a ferry but everyone we talked to, including the police, told us its total highway to La Paz. The GPS showed land between Copacabana and La Paz except for a narrow stretch of Lake Titicaca water. We figured maybe they built a bridge since the highway was freshly paved and the town people insisted its highway all the way.

After climbing to about 14,000 feet and then descending back to lake level, we discovered open water and some contraptions that hardly fit our sense of what a ferry would look like. As I rode up the loose plank ramp they separated and my rear wheel started falling. I gunned it and got the motorcycle on to the ferry. Once on the ferry we found nothing to secure the motorcycles but us. From the shore the water looked calm. The channel was about a mile wide. Of course when we reached the middle of the channel the wind picked up and the waves started to roll and pitch the flat bottom ferry. It took a lot of effort to keep from getting pitched in to the cold waters of Lake Titicaca. I looked around for the normal Coast Guard approved flotation devices. They must have been carefully stored below deck somewhere. It was hard to believe but the ferries even carry those large passenger buses. I was told that they do send the passengers on a separate ferry.

A look back at the boarding boards.

Shoving off after a harrowing boarding process.

A driver's look that inspires real confidence. The guy in the Peruvian Hat seemed to be in charge. During the entire crossing he was chomping on Coca leaves.

The other problem was the ferry had a fixed bow, meaning we had to back the motorcycles off the ferry and down another loose plank ramp. We made it off the ferry with only one tumble. Chris and had the same reaction after were safely on firm ground again. We were both pleased that we were on a one way trip.

Peruvian Mountain Road Entertainment

Before returning to Cusco and on to Bolivia, we decided to try a little of the road that takes you closer to Machu Picchu than Ollantaytambo. It was a brand new road through some of the most interesting scenery of snow capped mountains and little Peruvian villages. I’ll let some pictures tell the story.

It was amazing that the road was in such good shape and well maintained given the remoteness of the area.

Here is the highest point of the road, about 14,500 feet above sea level. I was feeling the altitude.

A few lightweight water crossings at the switchbacks added to the entertainment.

I think that is a glacier....but not sure.

Machu Picchu....Finally

Here is the "Postcard"view of the ruins ....after getting that Llama to stop poking his head in front of my camera. I’ve been told that Machu Picchu is one of those places everyone should see. I was a little worried that the hype may lead to a big disappointment. I’ll save the suspense. It delivers the “Wow”. In short it was one of many Inca cities. It was thought that Machu Picchu was a city for the elite Incas, however that worked. The city consists of an urban area and the agricultural area, noted by the terraces. It was rediscovered in the early 1900 by Hiram Bingham. You can read his book that gives an account of his discovery by downloading his book at the Guggenheim Press web site. Its free. I’ll use pictures to tell more about the site. This is the main doorway to the city's urban area.

At first I was thinking having a guide was a waste of time. He seemed a little to interested in rewriting to increase the impact of the Incas on world history. When he got down to explaining the Machu Picchu site it got interesting. For example in the picture below, the sun will come through the middle window and line up with the Inca Cross on the right, during the solstice. This indicates its time to plant the harvest…provided its not a cloudy day.

Another example about the Inca Cross. The three edges, or steps of the cross represent the 3 animals important to the Inca believe system. The lowest step is the snake. The middle represents the Puma and the top represents the Condor. The guide likened the soring Condor in the sky to the Christen concept of the promise of heaven. Later as we rode through Peru I realized there are many images of the cross and the three animals, especially the Puma.

Eddy you will recognize this rock.

A view of the agricultual area.

Inca stone work.

Without the guide's help we would have wandered right by this rock. He demonstrated with a compass that the points of the rock line up perfectly with the North, East, South and West.

The surrounding mountains are beautiful. Below is a shot of the local power station. If you ride closer to Machu Picchu you can walk the remaining distance along the rail tracks to Aguas Caliente. Later we rode part of the road but more on that later.

Our guide pointing out how the rocks form the wings of the Condor before taking us throught the embalming area.

It was a tight squeeze.

You can see the road we took up from Aguas Calientas.

On the train ride back to Ollantaytambo this guy enjoyed waking up sleeping passengers with his toy Llama. It really spooked me to see that face as I came out of a deep sleep. A word about the trains. There are two classes of tickets, Backpacker and Skydome. We took the Backpacker to the park and returned on the Skydome. We found the Backpacker equally comfortable and the best value. The airplane meal and slightly bigger windows hardly justify the extra cost of the Skydome. On to Bolivia to experience the Death Road and the Salar de Uyuni salt flats.

Machu Picchu...Getting Closer

Could that actually be him in Peru? Before we could continue on to Machu Picchu we were required to listen to a pitch on the Peruvian version of the stimulus package by an Obama helper. Actually he was trying to sell us some oil paintings...similar to the type that are sold art the Holiday Inn Starving Artist Shows. He swore he painted them. Funny how they looked just like the paintings being sold in Cuscoe. The elections have had an interesting impact on the trip. Initially the locals genuinely wanted to talk to a US citizen about the election results and the new president. By February the locals, that make a living off tourist, added “what do you think of Obama?” to “where are you from my friend?”. …the global impact of the Obama phenom spreads.... You can take a four hour train ride from Cusco to Machu Picchu followed by a 20 minute bus ride to the park entrance and then another 20 to 30 minute walk before you actually see the “Postcard” view of Machu Picchu. What a production. We found there were some options. We opted to ride our motorcycles closer and stay at a town called Ollantaytambo. The train from Ollantaytambo reduces the tiresome four hour ride from Cusco. An additional advantage is riding the motorcycles through and area called the Sacred Valley, named because of the numerous other Inca ruins in the area and the Inca Trail. There is an option to ride closer to a town called Santa Teresa, but it involves finding a place to store the motorcycles, cabs, local buses and a walk along an active train track. The Ollantaytambo option was a lot simpler but cost more. My friend welcomed us to Ollantaytambo, even though we could barely pronounce the name of the town. In Ollantaytambo we stayed at the KB Tambo Hostel that had a place to store the motorcycles while we the one day tour of Machu Picchu. Ollantaytambo is a very small Peruvian village that is adopting itself well as a tourist destination. In addition to Machu Picchu, it offers a jumping off point for mountain bike, horseback and treking tours. The town has its own ruins that are visible from the hostel.

This seems to be a typical dress of the local men.

While sitting at the village plaza taking in the sights, this little tike adopted me. He walked up and just stared at me and the candied peanuts I was munching on. Of course I had to share some with him and that made him linger even more. Cute guy.

You have heard the story about how to get the monkey off your back. Apparently this little mutt hasn't. This couple wandered around the square along with the little tike and the guys in colorful outfits. A lot to digest when you are just trying to sit around and relax at a local plaza so far from home.

This is a part of the Ollantaytambo ruins. It looks like some type of mythical shrine to the Inca Gods, but in reality it was simple mountain store house for the harvest. You can see how far it is up the mountain by going back to the picture of the kid and looking on the lefthand side of the picture.

The town had an interesting water management system from the mountain steams.

OK back to the objective of getting to Machu Picchu. We wait for the train to pick us up at Ollantaytambo. While waiting, I realized I was not the only one with a stupid looking hat on to block the sun. The locals must think we tourist are fairely odd looking with a peculiar range of hat habits.

My contribution to entertaining the locals.

Finally the train shows up. We board it and are off to Aguas Calientes the little city at the base of Machu Picchu. The train ride is one and a half hours through a valley with a raging river. We finally arrive in Aguas Calientes. The kindest thing I can say about the town is that it does not live up to the Machu Picchu hype. It does look like the Peruvian government is trying to clean up the town a little to make it more befitting of the entry point to the famous park. Next stop Machu Picchu.