Leaving Peru....

My last days in Cuzco were made harder as there was a national holiday (Peruvian Independence (from Spain) Day) stretching over 4 days !. Very few shops or restaurants open and then the road to Puno was blockaded by villagers protesting about the price of gas (apparently...), so I was stuck for a couple of days in Cuzco.

Floating Islands in Lake Titicaca

Eventually I got back to Puno, but was not feeling too well (again), I was sure I had picked up parasites again. I decided to self medicate with the same prescription I had kept from Ecuador, but I could not read the doctor´s scrawly writing, neither could anyone else !! (Doctors, the same the world over !). Eventually I guessed the letters, but they were Ecuador drug "trade names", no use in Peru, so with help from the internet I worked out what to take again and bought the drugs from a chemist (Albendazole and Secnazole) and took them (hoping for the best).

I left Puno the next day and rode down the length of Lake Titicaca, heading for the Bolivian border, a very scenic and enjoyable ride. UNTIL the handling went all wobbly, why? a puncture on the back wheel. I got out my improvised "Puncture Repair Kit" and found the "screwdriver-tyre levers" where hopelessly inadequate !  I could not get close to getting the tyre off the rim. Oh Dear !  Fortunately, several helpful Peruvian campesinos had gathered around, I flagged down an "agricultural trike" (a 3 wheeled moto with a cargo back end) they helped load the bike onto it and I got a ride back to the last town, where there was a "moto mechanico" who got the back wheel off  (not without denting the exhaust pipe badly, I had to grit my teeth). It turned out that the orginal wheel fitter had poorly fitted the inner tube, there was a pinch in it and it had just given way (no damage to the tyre at all !). The original inner tube was of lousy quality, I´ve seen thicker balloons ! I asked him to replace it with a new, better one.

I made it to the border by 4pm. I was stamped out by Immigration, then to Customs. Straight away the customs guy said "No puede salir Peru con moto". My heart nearly stopped beating, WHAT ??? I stayed for another 3 hours, until it got dark, the guy would not budge !  As a foreigner I am not able to leave Peru on a Peruvian plated bike, I have to visit the customs office (Aduana) in Puno (150km back up the road !). I have to report to the office there at 9 o´clock on Monday morning, but it´s now a Saturday ! I´m looking all the time for a sign that I can pay some dosh and ride through, but none is given. To add insult to injury, 3 young Germans in a (German plated) Land Rover Discovery are waived through with "red carpet treatment". I could have bought a foreign plated bike with dodgy paperwork. I´d gone out of my way to get all the right paperwork (and genuine, original, log book) but instead, I´d fallen into a bureaucratic trap.

At the Aduana offices, back in Puno, on the Monday morning, I speak to a very helpful english speaking lady customs officer. It seems I CAN leave Peru but I will have to post a US$300 "non- returnable bond"   huh?. This bond is the same for all vehicles, whether a $60,000 camper or a $670 moto ! crazy !  I asked about "alternatives" as paying that much for a piece of paper I´d never need is not an option. She disappears for a while, comes back and says I CAN cross but can never bring the bike back to Peru and "winks" !!, then disappears for the final time.  I take this as a very strong hint that I can bribe my way over the border ! and decide to ride back and risk it !

In the afternoon I visit the YAVARI, a beautiful iron hulled ship that was built in the Clyde in the 1860´s, made of "mule sized" chunks (max 400lb each) she was carried over the Andes by mule train, it took 6 years !! The first proper ship on Lake Titicaca, her boiler was fired on dried Llama Dung ! no wood, no coal. She featured in Michael Palins "Around the World in 80 Days", but, sadly, the restoration is on hold 20 years later, they have run out of money, and so close to completion.

Lake Titicaca

So I ride the 150km back up the length of Lake Titicaca on the Tuesday morning. With massive trepidation I approach the border again. This time the Chief Customs Officer shepards me into his office, a good sign, he makes the "International Sign of DINERO", even better ! He turns up his nose at 50 soles, so I offer another 50 soles (this is quite a bit, about $38) and then he disappears. I am sweating at this point as the office walls are covered in "anti-corrupcion" posters and I feel the stakes are rather high, the police outside have already recognised me from before (I had to lie that I had the correct paperwork, just to get near the Aduanas). In fact, one of the vendadores says, "4 days !!! you have not crossed border !" he is quite incredulous. The Chief returns and places the "vehicle release note" in my hand !!  as fast as I can I pack up the bike and zoom past the queued traffic and into BOLIVIA !

Puno - Macchu Picchu - Puno

I was planning to ride to Cuzco but the Lonely Planet incorrectly lists the distance as 180km when it´s nearer 400km to Cuzco !, that clinched it for me, I decided to take the bus there and back, and leave my bike at a hotel.

Giant Steel Condor that overlooks Puno

On the way to Puno (from Chivay) I had to fill up from a "Man with a JerryCan" for the first time as there were no petrol stations. This requires some trust ! both in "quantities" and in exactly what you are getting sold ! but it worked out OK, a very 1920(s) experience I suppose !

Central Square - Cuzco

Cuzco was better than I expected, touristy, but not overwhelming ! great architecture (in the center) and pleasant climate too. I signed up for the "Salkantay Trek", a 5 day mountain trek (with tents & donks) which ends up, on the last day, at Macchu Picchu.
 For me, the trek was a mistake ! The mountain scenery is not up to the standard of the "Santa Cruz" trek in Huaraz and my heart is not in it, this is not helped by the fact I´m in a group of guys, just my luck, and the language is Portugese ! (most are Brazilian). I should have just made my own way to Macchu Picchu, which is not that hard to do. On the other hand, the trek is well organised, and the food is very good and plentiful (not what I´d heard for the cheaper option !!).

On the last day (of the trek) we are accomodated in a hotel in "Aguas Calientes". We got up at 3am and ran up to the checkpoint at the top, to queue with hundreds of others, just to be given the chance to walk up "Wayna Picchu" the peak next to Macchu Picchu. I only "scraped in" at No. 379  (only 400 people allowed per day !). At 06.30am the gate opens and in we rush, quite excited !

Initially there is thick mist, we cannot see anything ! A slight anti-climax ! But by 10am it has mostly cleared, and by the afternoon, it is properly clear. IT IS Spectacular ! It really does feel as if the city "faces the sky", it would not seem improbable if you were told that the original inhabitants could fly ! it´s completely different to anything in the valley below. You do, however, need the abilty to "filter out" the 5000 other tourists !  By the afternoon there are so many, that finding a shot, without anyone else in it, is getting hard....

Me at Macchu Picchu !

We depart "Aguas Calientes" on the evening "backpacker train". Everyone sleeps but I stay awake and enjoy it, it totally reminds me of my 1987 inter-railing trip across Europe (possibly because it is so slow !). 

 I´m then stuck in Cuzco for 2 days as "protesters" have blocked the road to Puno (this is no bad thing).

Arequipa and Colca Canyon

I had a few days in Arequipa and managed to get a lot done. I found a very good mechanic who fixed the bike (no "clacketing", a big relief), he said the fuel was dirty, he cleaned it all down and fitted an in-line filter, just what I wanted.  I got all my clothes fixed ! numerous zips replaced and patches made. This kind of work is so cheap in Peru I felt guilty paying the bill !!. All my clothes repairs came to 18 soles ($6) and the bike mechanic bill was 33 soles ($11).


I also, finally, gave up on trying to find tyre levers, they are just not available in Peru, I bought two screwdrivers instead, some bicycle rubber patches and a mini bicycle pump, should the inevitable puncture occur.


Arequipa is a great city to hang around in. It´s deserty so the air is clear and dry. It´s hot in the afternoons and cold at night, I love that combination (probably cos it´s so unlike the UK climate). There is fine colonial architecture in the center, and the whole city is loomed over my two extinct Volcanoes (El Misty 5825m and Chachani 6075m). I catch up with Sarah & David (from the Panama coast cargo boat trip in March), they are teaching English here now.


I left Arequipa after 4 days and head for "Colca Canyon". I´m determined to test the bike before I get too far from Lima (and any hope of a guarantee !). There is a 4910 meter pass on the way to Chivay (Colca Canyon) and I aim to get over it. Well it took all day (in 2nd gear mostly) but I made it ! At the top it´s atrociously cold, the air feels thin and I can´t get warm, so I only stop for a few minutes. On the way I notice the bike will not "tick over" and will not start on the electric starter, this is another worrying moment, but it seems to run and climb OK, so I continue (and assume it is the altitude, which is later confirmed). It´s a great run down, with tight hairpins in the road, just what a bike is great for.

The top of the pass (it´s not legible, says 4910 m.....)

I find a very cheap guesthouse in Chivay (3300m). Next day I want to get to Cabanaconde, but again (this is the other end of the same road) it peters out into a bumpy dirt track ! It´s too much, I have to turn around again and distinctly wonder whether I´ve bought the right bike (an Enduro would have had no problems). 

On the way up the pass...

So I try to take the bus to Cabanaconde, but there is a big annual festival and all the buses are full !  In the long queue I try out my Spanish and try and chat with an Argentinian couple just ahead of me, they turn out to be a brother and sister, she is working in Ushuaia. The 4pm bus is full, the 5pm is full and so is the 7pm !! I. So I get up the next day at 3.20am (it is freezing cold !) and manage just to squeeze onto the 4am bus, and stand up the whole way (can´t see anything as my head is over the baggage rack). At Cabanaconde you can walk down the canyon to an "Oasis" at the bottom, it´s one of the worlds deepest canyons and quite a spectacle and getting there and back is a day´s hike. In the evening at Cabanaconde there are Chinese style fireworks and "competing" brass bands that play the same tune all day (impressive but "not the greatest" for listening !!!) and everybody dances (the dancing is "not the greatest" either....), but all generations are joining in, and that´s something. That evening I bump into the two Argentinians again, I get a kiss from both of them ! (I am slightly shocked when he planted one), that is the Argentinian way !! I retire to my 3 bed hostel room about midnightish (I´d not seen my room mates at that point). In the early hours there is much noise, shuffling and whispering followed by (ahem...) more recognisable activities !! In the morning I recognise the two Argentinians again, they have both been picked up by my respective hostel room mates (male and female, as it turned out). Well, this is perhaps a bit too much for all of us !! they slink off a bit embarassed (as I am). Perhaps I have just experienced the real South America !!

On the way back to Chivay, despite getting on the bus early, I´m the first one in fact,  I´m the only person who gets "bumped" (by just one guy with my seat number, on his ticket, at the second and final bus stop out of town). I have to stand up the whole 3hrs back again ! and see nothing, again ! A monumental piece of bad luck.

I´m up early (05.30am)  the next day for the long, slow climb up and over the pass again, I have every possible layer on, but I still freeze, it takes 2 hours. Then I take the road to Lake Titicaca. One bizarre thing about this road is that there are old dogs, sitting by the roadside, for the last 60km to Puno. There´s nothing else out there. I can only assume they have been abandoned, but SO many of them !! How do they live, find water and food ? They quietly sit and almost spookily watch the traffic passing, it´s a mystery...

Down the Panamericana to Arequipa

Panamerican running "along" enormous dunes, those rectangular shapes are artic trucks !

Leaving Nazca was a surprise, there was nothing out there !!!  much reduced traffic compared to Lima - Ica, but nothing else, no towns and no petrol stations, I had not expected to be quite so isolated so soon. Fortunately, I´d filled up at the last one and made a mental note to carry more water.


I stopped for more petrol at Chala and decided to push onto Ocala (100km further on). 10km past Chala my backpack tried to escape, I had stupidly left one of my straps loose (of two), it had fallen off, oh sh**t !!! I then searched every inch of road back to Chala and could not find it, it was gone (and I never was able to replace it, properly). I stayed at a grotty hostel in Chala and cursed myself roundly !!


The next day the road had curves, it looped in and out of the sea cliffs and ran right alongside the Pacific in places and then along enormous dunes (see picture), it was beautiful, scenic and atmospheric, a great ride.


The next day is similar and I stop for the night at Camana where the road turns inland to Arequipa. There are no tourists in these towns, I just see their faces, on buses, as they speed past. The road climbs steeply and this is the first test for my tiny bike, can it lug me and all my stuff to 2200m ? (the altitude of Arequipa). I wanted to head straight for "Colca Canyon", I turn North towards Huambo but after 3km the road turns from apshalt to dirt and then from dirt to deep sand. My bike does not have the power for sand and I can´t ride 80km in first gear !  It´s a disappointment, and educational, as my map has this road is a proper B road ! there´s no road ! I head for Arequipa instead, but manage to watch the final of the World Cup (soccer) in a transport cafe, that was a bit of luck !


I arrive in Arequipa in the black dark with the bike making ominous "clackety" noises (to get to Arequipa you pass over a 3000m pass and I made it OK (?)). Nothing is sign posted and I ride around and around, asking the way constantly, til I find a nice little hospedaje, with bike storage, close to the "Plaza de Armas" (town square).

In the desert....

Huacachina & Nazca

Huacachina

I actually started from Lima a few days before, but I managed to pick up some food poisoning (once again on this trip) so had to stop back at Pisco for a few days to recover. On the 6th July I loaded the bike up with everything, for the very first time, and wobbled South on the Panamericana, 80km to Huacachina. Despite my best efforts to reduce to a minimum the amount of stuff I had, there was obviously too much ! I had tried, and failed, to find proper motorbike panniers in Lima (in Españole: “Alforjas”). I had decided to experiment with just strapping my backpack to the back rack of the bike, pizza bike style !, surprisingly, this seemed to actually be OK (and saved me the expense of sending my pack all the way back to Europe !).

The beautiful dunes of Huacachina.....

Huacachina is an old Peruvian oasis resort, gloriously set amoung enormous sand dunes, very scenic. It has typical resort hotels (pools, bars & music) and a nice selection of quiet old ones (I stay at one of these). I decide to stay an extra day to get the oil changed on the bike and go "dune buggying". I doubted that the Lima garage had in fact changed the oil, despite my placing a new bottle in the mechanic´s hand !. Next day I found my doubts were correct, the bike was on it´s first oil for over a 1000km !, not a very good run-in ! But, I had a very decent (and free) wine tour at a large Tacna vinyard.


The "dune buggying" was a lot more scary than I thought it would be, like being on a roller coaster without the security of rails ! Sandboarding was fantastic fun, when the board is "waxed" it really flies down the sand. I went down on my belly, some tried to stand up, but sand is not the same as snow !, they could not obviously get much of an "edge". Lying down was faster and more fun.

Next day I headed towards the famous Nazca lines. This was an eye opener for me as despite being only a 144km trip it was long and hard. The road started to deteriorate a little (from Lima to Ica it was like a European "express" road) and I had a constant head wind. At Nazca there is a steel tower to view the lines, the patterns were very difficult to distinguish from the tower, they are very faint but can tell how spookily straight they are. Overhead was the constant drone of light aircraft on tourist viewing trips. I´d opted not to go on one as I´d met a couple who said they could not see anything !!  I thought looking at photos (taken in perfect conditions) would be more interesting (and less nerve wracking !).

More of "oasis" Huacachina....

Nazca desert (taken from the steel tower), no "lines" visible...

Sandboarding down the mega dunes - look closely !  with "surf wax" you really get up to a good speed !!!

Notes on buying a small motorbike in Peru (as a foreigner)

My shiney new bike on the day I picked it up.

I really wanted to buy a second hand “big 4″ bike (i.e. Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha) but they are, comparatively, really expensive (higher prices than the states !). I was only intending to buy a small one (125cc to 250cc) but found the second hand market almost impossible to access. What I found in the end was that, in Peru, people generally buy brand new and then run into the ground ! I saw very, very few second hand bikes, the few that I saw (3) were not in good condition and the owners wanted a few hundred bucks less than the brand new price (for a 5 year old bike !), wholly unrealistic !

And so I looked to the many cheap Chinese variants that are available brand new.

I settled for an “RTM 150 G”, the second cheapest bike I could find at $672. RTM (or "tecnimotors")  claimed to be the No1 seller of Chinese bikes in Peru, 9% of all bikes sold (that has to be reassuring).

http://www.tecnimotors.com/

The buying process was quite straightforward, I needed a Peruvian address (I used my hotel´s address without the first line (name of the hotel)). I was told I needed a “Carnet de Extranjería”, I thought I´d try my luck without, and was successful (the Carnet normally costs $50 and at least 1/2 a day´s bureaucratic effort). A ”Noteria” (lawyer) has to contersign the contract between the “Garage” and myself, he asked for the “Carnet de Extranjería”, but settled for my passport instead. There was a delay of just 11 days for SUNARP (Peruvian vehicle registration authority) to produce the “Tarjeta de Propiedad” (which, fortunately, they sent straight to the garage) and I was all set. Actually, I wasn´t ! only the AAP (Asociacion Automotriz del Peru) can produce the number plate, and because of a 3 day national holiday, that was a further 7 day wait.

In Peru you need SOAT insurance (statutory 3rd party insurance) for a Peruvian registered vehicle, they ask for it at every police check point. Annoyingly, this is cheap for cars and expensive for bikes. The standard is around 550 to 650 soles for a year (approx $200) for a bike. I went to "La Positiva" in Lima and got 3 months for 300 soles ($ 105), they would not give me any less time, I only really needed about one months SOAT.

That’s all there is to say except when I tried to leave Peru ! Foreigners are not allowed to leave Peru on Peruvian plated vehicles without posting a “non-returnable bond” (an oxymoron surely?) of around $300. I did not want to pay that much for a piece of paper I´d never need again ! So I bribed my way out at the border (Yungayo), which cost me $38 (and a very sweaty 2 hours !) one day later.

The rather beautiful part of Lima where the garage was...