Day 1,025
Lake Titicaca
So we had a mission, we had left Peru, we were in Bolivia, and had just the small matter of cycling around Lake Titicaca, then back into Peru, more lake, then Cusco, simple!
First though, we still needed a bit of a rest, so after the ridiculously quick border crossing, about one minute each, we decided to stop at the tourist town of Copacabana. We had ridden a bit further than intended so decided to treat ourselves to a very nice hotel. It clearly had been going through some modernisation and we had a brand new bed, super hot shower and even a new lift! There was a buffet breakfast so we could eat and drink as much coffee as we wanted whilst looking at the stunning bay. We even got a room upgrade as it was quiet, so we could sit on our balcony, relaxing with not a cycle in sight, bliss.
Just one day off then back to it. The route we took was definitely the road less travelled. Stunning views everywhere we looked, tarmac 99% of the time. We passed through some remote villages with not a lot going on, but could at least buy basic food stuffs and water. We found some stunning wildcamp spots, stayed in a few rum hostels, one was actually the balcony overlooking an indoor swimming pool. We could swim, had use of about 20 toilets and showers, but the downside was the chlorine smell. Another room was cell-like, the bed had seen better days but the owner could not have been kinder. We had to wheel the bikes down a plank to get them into the courtyard, he helped us both and when the sky threatened rain he covered our bikes up. In the morning before we left, he blessed the bikes and Tom and I. He was a really genuine kind soul.
We had one boat crossing, when I say boat, don't expect anything glam. It was just a flat bottomed barge, apparently built by a blind man after a night out. The guys in charge of the first available boat waved us aboard with the bucket he was using to bail out water. Two officials at the port side were encouraging us not to board, but we decided to brave it, especially when the boatman said we could travel for free. We managed to wheel the bikes on then looked on in horror as first a full size coach drove on followed by a mini-bus. Off we went, somehow we stayed afloat and arrived safely at the other side.
Being in remote areas we become so aware of how hard life is for people living here. We could see the fields were a patchwork of small plots on land, clearly each one belonged to individual families, and as it was the weekend the whole family had turned out to work the land. The hay is harvested by hand, we saw it stood in bunches to dry out, there were no combined harvesters, nor tractors, just back breaking work. We bought some bread from a small tienda, and whilst we ate our sandwiches the owner, a clearly weary, possibly ill, old woman, shut up shop and with a scythe in her hand she set off for her field. Clearly needing a rest, she too sat down for a few minutes. After she left Tom spotted her scythe left on the bench. He jumped on his bike and cycled after her to return it. Her smile of relief when she realised what happened was lovely to behold. We also realised that she, like many older people in Bolivia and Peru, do not wear glasses, but they clearly struggle to see. I wished I had a pannier full of different strength pairs to give away.
Back on the road the Bolivia/Peru border was fast approaching. It is a strange set up, the Bolivian border post is in the town of Puerto Acosta, but the Peru border was 12 miles away in the small town of Tilali. We arrived in Puerto Acosta at around 5pm, explained to the official there we planned to stay the night in town, so he waved us through and told us to come back tomorrow. We duly complied, and two minutes later armed with our exit stamp we headed over the mountains to Tilali. We actually had several route options, the main road, which is mainly dirt, there would be traffic although not much. Or we could take the off road dirt road, which we did, but then for some reason we took a rough track, a shortcut apparently. Due to erosion it was pretty much unrideable, especially for me. After a push up we made it though and enjoyed our reward of a tarmac downhill to Tilali. Unfortunately things didn't go smoothly here. First the systems were down, not ideal when you want the officials to be in a generous mood regarding just how many days they would grant us in Peru. Finally the machines sparked to life and we approached the desk. He looked grave and doubtful, we'd just had 90 days, left 5 days ago, why did we want to come back? We put on our pleading faces and off he went to ring his boss. Twenty minutes later he was back. Smiling, he announced we could stay for 60 days! Result.
Ten minutes later, whilst Tom and I were enjoying a celebration lunch he appeared in the doorway and beckoned us over. We couldn't believe it, what had gone wrong? Fortunately he had just forgotten to take a note of our exit day, clearly the system wasn't quite operating at full speed just yet.
We returned to our really good lunch in a very happy mood. Food can be a bit hit and miss. Whilst waiting for a barge we had eaten probably one of the best soups of our entire trip, though only the day before Tom had joined the locals and tried trout and eel soup. He is still trying to block the taste of it from his mind. We are so ready for Cusco!
