Rainbow country

Dear future me,

O dear Cusco, such a lively and cosy town. It feels a bit like strolling down Rome, where modern life and ancient vibes mix together. Taking beautiful small alleys to walk up the hills to an archeological site right next door: Sacsayhuaman. But instead of wandering around on the large grounds of this fort annex temple complex, I took the whole tour of walking down from another archeological site 8 km further up the mountain. You get 4 ancient sites for one entry price and it took me 6,5 hours to complete this marathon of awing, admiring and hanging out. A beautiful day, but it got me back to where I was in 2010 in Cusco: feeling ill. The exhaustion got to me again and I spend extra’s days trying to get back on my feet. Finally, I could move again and found myself riding towards the Bolivian borders. Not because I was in a hurry, but after 5 weeks of Peru it was time to explore new territories. I waved at the Titicaca Lake when I passed the Peruvian borders of this giant water pool, full of floating tourist traps. Stopped to chat with a guy on a bicycle who’s been going up and down South America a numerous times. Wow, with all the mountains around I really admire that. No way I would be riding a bicycle around here, way to hilly for me. I need a gas handle to comfort me.

The sun was shining all over the place, but I must admit I saw some dark clouds behind me. I noticed some news covering where I saw the Peruvian president giving a speech, but you couldn’t hear him. Someone else was holding a press conference at the same time which stroke me as really weird. That day the president was replaced. It was too fresh to cause any problems for me at my way to the border, but once I crossed over fellow motor bikers started to report issues on the road in Peru. Sometimes frightening (beating with wooden sticks), most of the times just being held up at places. Cusco is one of the epicenters of the protests and although I love that town, I wouldn’t want to be there right now. It's sad, because I adored Peru and now it becomes a place to avoid or to hurry through for most travelers. But I do remember the protests back in 2010 as well when I was there, so the political instability is not a new thing for the Peruvian citizens.

Meanwhile I entered a new paradise. How weird, every time I cross borders I fall in love with the new country. Bolivia is amazing and so organized again. Copacabana at the Titicaca Lake was a very nice entrance and the beach was a great place to sit back and cry for the loss of our quarter finale to the Argentineans. Do I really have to visit that country too? Anyway, people told me that Bolivians are shy and hardly make contact with foreigners. Well, nobody escapes the smiles on my face and my friendly ‘buenas tardes’, so I only get very positive and sweet responses from the local people. It fits the environment, because under sunny conditions this area of Bolivia is gorgeous. Riding to La Paz, the big city high up, was a real treat. But I was surprised to discover that La Paz actually lies in a valley that appears out of nowhere from the Altiplano. El Alto is the high area and La Paz is the low area. There is no way you can overlook that once you start using the public transport in this city. Where cable cars for me is an entertainment feature on holidays, here the teleferico is just a normal way to transport yourself through the whole town. Well, I did take them all. The green line, yellow, orange, silver, blanco, red. You can’t miss them, because they are all over the place and the stations plus the cars have matching colors. Super easy. It gave me the flexibility to leave my bike at Oscar’s place and visit the markets, museums and very modern streets. And it held me dry when the rain was pouring down on La Paz. Funny to sit in a cable car when there is lots of wind and lightning too, but it is just business as usual.

Oscar’s place was a welcome home for me on this trip. In the bikers group app, people started to recommend him as a place to stay. He helps people and if they want, guides them on the famous Death Road. As I’m not particular keen on riding roads just for the thrill, I just kept my feet on the cable car grounds. Chatting at night with an Italian biker who has been travelling for 5 years now and sort of seems to have the same pace as I have. He’s been to all the places I visited so far and we are going in the same direction. But while he is riding a light bike, I am toting my 100+ kilo luggage all around. Next stop for me was heading to Sucre, the real capital of Bolivia, before I get to the salt flats where Mike the Italian is going for. I’m very happy with my decision of the detour, because wow, the road to Sucre uses the same colors as the cable cars in la Paz. Once you get off the Altiplano (yellow) you get in to mountains with all the colors of the rainbow. With the sun in my back, I felt like a kid and my face became too small for my wide eyes and big grin. And the dessert for this trip is Sucre.

See ya later,

Annemieke