Peru-Bolivia Border - Bureaucracy Defined

It's Hard Getting into Bolivia
I admit it. I was too lazy to get a visa in advance.  I'd heard that you could buy one at the border and didn't give it a lot more thought.  When we purchased our bus tickets from Puno to La Paz, the ticket seller asked me if I had a visa.  She told me I'd have to pay because I was American.  "What about her?"  She glanced at the Singaporean passport and shook her head no.  On our bus ride we were given a bunch of forms to fill out.  We bounced along the western shore of Titicaca towards the border town of Desaguadero, where we'd have to get out, walk into the middle of the town, get our Peruvian exit stamp, walk across a bridge over a small river that separates Peru and Bolivia and into Bolovian immigration.

Isla Taquile, Lake Titicaca, Peru - Deeper into the Lake

Shades of Italy

I slept under so many heavy blankets that my hips began to hurt and I was forced to shed two of them in the middle of the night.  Dodo got up to pee at 2am and had to cross our little island to the bathroom building.  She said she'd never seen stars like that - they filled the sky.  After breakfast we were to take a tour of Uros and then head deeper into the lake to Taquile Island.

Uros, Lake Titcaca, Peru - The Floating Hotel

Sleeping and Eating with the Uros
When we got off the bus, Victor, our taxi driver was there to take us to the dock.  Not the main dock with the big boats, but a sleepier one with smaller boats.  We were on our way out into the lake to stay on a small floating island, one family big.  The Uros are a people who pre-date the Incas, speak Aymara as their main language and for some reason, decided to live on floating islands in lake Titicaca.  In addition to their usual trades of fishing and hunting, some of the families invite tourists to stay with them on their small islands.

Puno, Peru - Entering the Altiplano

High Plains Drifters
Just six hours of sleep separated our Macchu Picchu outing from a bus ride out of Cusco to Puno, Peru.  We are entering the top of the Altiplano, the "high plain", the widest part of the Andes and the second highest plain in the world, outside of Tibet.  On average, it's over 12,000 feet above sea level and spans Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.  Rain from the eastern and western Andes collects in the plain, and with no outlet, feeds lake Titicaca in the north and evaporates to leave behind the large salt flats of Uyuni in the south.  We are on our way to see both, we'll be spending close to a week traversing the Altiplano.

Macchu Picchu, Peru - Hike Day 4

The Final Day
We rose at 3am and waited in our tent for the usual hand delivered tea and coffee service.  We waited and waited.  None ever came.  Guess we know what the chaskis thought of our tips from the night before.  I peeked out of the tent and saw them running around in the dark, getting water, making breakfast.  They had to hurry since this was the end of the road for them.  After packing up all the gear, they had to run straight down the side of the mountain to catch a 5:30am train.  If they missed it they'd have to wait all day for the next one.

Macchu Picchu, Peru - Hike Day 3

The Magical Day
Our guide Nilton refers to day three as magical since you get to see many Inca ruins.  I slept considerably better, most likely due to the fact that the tough day two was behind us.  Day three starts with a 2,000 foot climb across Runkurukay pass, from 11,000 feet to 13,000 feet.  As usual, the Ringleader and her three Baltimore sidekicks raced off ahead of everyone and didn't wait for us at the pass.

Macchu Picchu, Peru - Hike Day 2

The "Challenging" Day
I didn't sleep alone, my high altitude headache kept me company throughout the night.  When I did manage to drift off for an hour, he tapped me on the temple to wake me up.  I don't think I slept more than 3-4 shallow hours.  I woke up feeling worse than the night before.  At breakfast there was a lively discussion.  We had the option to hire a local chaski (porter) to carry our pack just for this day.  Manny and the other guide, Nilton, were encouraging us to do so.  I didn't need any encouragement.  "I just feel if I don't carry my pack, it would be like cheating" said Emma, an Englishwoman with rosy cheeks and doughy limbs.  A few of the younger Americans agreed.  I kept my mouth closed.  We were all cheating.  Without the chaskis to carry the tents, food and cooking utensils, a chef to cook for us and guides to lead us, we'd never make it half way to Macchu Picchu.

Macchu Picchu, Peru - Hike Day 1

Surveying the Changes
I hiked Macchu Picchu for the first time 22 years ago.  Since then it has become more popular.  So much so that the Peruvian government instituted many new regulations.  The most important being that they've limited the number of hikers on the trail to 500 a day.  That is probably ten times the number that was on the trail when I first went.  Matter of fact, I don't recall seeing any other hikers the entire time 22 years ago - we had it to ourselves.  At 5am our guide picked us up at our apartment and we got on the bus to join the other 14 in our group: 4 Australians, 1 English woman and 9 Americans.  It would prove to be an interesting mix of characters.  The ring leader of the characters presented herself on the bus ride, unprompted, this way "Hi, I'm Maya, I'm Lebanese but was born and raised in Baltimore and I now live in Hawaii.  I am probably going to be the biggest complainer of the group.  Ok, you're turn."  Nobody responded.  I slunk down in my seat and rolled my eyes.  She is the only person in the photo whose face you cannot see.  She never wanted to be in any group pictures and always volunteered to take the photo so she didn't have to be in it.

Cusco, Peru - Come to Jesus

Religious Conversion by Way of Oxygen Deprivation
We were both awake at two this morning with altitude headaches.  I turned on talk radio and took many deep breaths before falling back to sleep.  Today we took a warm up hike to speed up the acclimatization, one with many stone steps and a big white statue as the payoff.  These South Americans sure love their Jesus - he always gets the best view.

Cusco, Peru - Touching Down in the Andes

Shades of Brown
Cusco is a city made of stone, 11,000 feet above sea level.  We arrived by plane yesterday and felt the altitude as soon as we stepped off.  My chest tightened as if wrapped by a belt and I could hear my heartbeat deep inside my ears, a swish-swoosh that sounded like windshield wipers.  The city soaks up an entire valley, surrounded by dusty mountains that have waited for months for the dry season to end. 

Lima, Peru - the Buzz

Pre-Hike Clean Up
Seven bucks to get a full buzz.  My friends have been bugging me for about a decade to do this.  I have always resisted.  Traveling for so long made me finally give in.  It's so much easier not having to deal with hair.

Lima, Peru - Riding the Bus

Express
There is no subway in Lima, the next best thing is the express bus.  It's set up like a train.  The buses run on their own closed roads and you board them from a station.

Lima, Peru - Immediate Comfort

Barranco Neighborhood
We're in Lima for a few days on our way to Cusco where we'll begin our hike to Macchu Picchu on Monday.  I haven't been here for twenty years and the last time I came I don't remember where I stayed.  Couldn't have been Barranco, the neighborhood we're in now.  I fell in love with it immediately.