CHILE

Out the other end of the tunnel they drove, and now they were in Chile.  They took care of the necessary border paperwork at the aduana checkpoint next to Portillo ski resort and soon headed down the other side of the Andes towards Santiago.  On the way they bathed in a cold creek before dropping too low in elevation.  Santiago was enormous but had toll roads and underground tunnels which enabled them to rapidly navigate the city avoiding chaotic downtown traffic.  These roads were pricy to use but avoided a lot of headache.  Gas was also expensive, as were hotels and food, but one bonus here in Chile was the complete absence of police checkpoints.

Coming down into Chile

Quick dip 

Pat and Debora continued sleeping in the car and cooking their own meals to save money as they made their way south from Santiago.  The nights were comfortable and getting cooler day by day.  Easy to find, safe sleeping spots were available in almost any town.   The toll road which runs the length of Chile's northern region was fast and well maintained, though quite expensive, and along the way there were rest stops with free hot showers!  Yes, living out of their car in Chile was proving to be very nice.  Along their route they visited the surf town Pichilemu, drove by numerous wine vineyards, and saw lots of snowcapped mountains and volcanoes to the east as they neared the beautiful town of Puerto Varas.  One major regret along the way however, was passing by an easily accessible waterfall off the roadside called Saltos De Lajas.

Punta Lobos, Pichilemu

Puerto Varas

They spent a night in Puerto Varas, and even put a few bucks into some slot machines at the casino in hopes of increasing their dwindling budget.  In the morning they made their way to nearby Puerto Montt where they began searching for options to navigate Chile's southern half.  From this point on, dirt roads and ferries were the only available options for navigating the region by car, and there are numerous ways to combine these modes of transportation.  Debora and Pat decided to take a cheap and quick ferry from Pargua to Chacao on the Isla Grande De Chiloe, drive the length of the island visiting fishing villages and points of interest along the way, and then load their car onto a small ship headed from Quellon to Puerto Chacabuco.  From Puerto Chacabuco they would drive along La Carretera Austral for the remainder of their time in Chile before crossing back into Argentina.  And so they did.

The first ferry was cheap and fast

The second ferry not so much

Once the car was loaded onto the ship in Quellon, it left the dreary port at dusk and began its 30 hour journey through the maze of islands and canals.  Deb and Pat slept a few hours in their seats and on the floor of the passenger area during the night, and in the morning they awoke surrounded by lush costal mountains lined with cascades pouring into the ocean.  The ship spent all day winding its way through island channels past small villages and distant mountaintop glaciers in the clouds.  Just after dark they docked at Puerto Chacabuco and unloaded.  

Very remote village

Pat on the bow

Covered peaks

They slept in the car not far from the port, and in the morning headed towards Coihaique, the largest town in the region.  There were dank forests, gushing rivers, and beautiful waterfalls along the way.  After passing through Coihaique, they entered more attractive scenery, and upon rounding one corner, suddenly encountered an especially gnarly looking mountain called Cerro Castillo.  Pat's mouth watered at the sight of jagged spires and steep snow filled chutes with which the central peak was ridden.

Back on land

Cascade 

A different cascade

Cerro Castillo

Just a few kilometers further down the road the asphalt turned to dirt and remained so for several hundred remote kilometers to come.  They drove through forests, past little lakes, and along big glacial rivers, eventually reaching the enormous glacial turquoise lake called Gral. Cabrera (aka: Lago Buenos Aires in Argentina).  They continued for many kilometers following its shore and spent one night in the car about half way along.  By afternoon the next day after passing another amazing lake called Laguna Verde they reached a town called Chile Chico next to the border with Argentina.  They patched a flat tire which had been punctured during the last few miles of the journey, and bought some groceries with their remaining Chilean pesos.  Then crossed into Argentina for the second time.

Glacial river

Countdown to start cooking

Lake Gral. Cabrera 

Very long and beautiful lake Gral. Cabrera 

Stunning Laguna Verde near Chile Chico

TRICKS

- Take advantage of the rest areas.

TROUBLES

- Expensive tolls and the most expensive gas so far.

CHILE

Chegaram do outro lado do tunel e agora estavam no Chile. Fizeram a papelada necessaria para cruzar a fronteira na imigracao e aduana perto da estacao de esqui Portillo e logo continuaram descendo pelo ocidente andino em direcao a Santiago. No caminho banharam-se num riacho frio antes que estivessem em altitude muito baixa. Santiago era enorme, mas tinha estradas ao redor e tuneis que permitiram a passagem rapida pela cidade evitando o trafego de carros do centro. Estas estradas tinham pedagios caros, mas evitaram bastante dor de cabeca. Gasolina tambem estava cara, assim como hoteis e comida, mas uma vantagem no Chile foi a completa ausencia de inspecoes policiais.

Pat e Debora continuaram dormindo no carro e cozinhando suas proprias refeicoes para economizar dinheiro. As noites foram confortaveis pois cada dia o ar ficava mais e mais fresco. Tambem havia lugares seguros para dormir faceis de achar em quase todas as cidades. A rodovia paga na parte norte do Chile era rapida e bem mantida, apesar de cara, e pelo caminho havia pontos de descanso com chuveiro quente de uso gratuito! Sim, viver no carro pelo Chile estava provando ser muito bom. Pelo caminho visitaram a cidade de surfe Pichilemu, dirigiram por inumeros vinhedos e avistaram muitas montanhas e vulcoes cobertos de neve no este conforme aproximaram-se da cidade Puerto Varas. Uma coisa que se arrependeram de nao ter feito foi parar para visitar as cascatas Saltos de Lajas de facil acesso pela estrada que dirigiram.

Passaram a noite em Puerto Varas e ate apostaram alguns dolares no cassino local com esperancas de aumentar sua renda cada vez mais escassa. De manha foram a cidade portuaria Puerto Montt para pesquisar opcoes de como chegar a regiao sul do pais. Dali em diante as unicas opcoes disponiveis eram dirigir por estradas de terra e/ou ir de barco, e ha muitas formas de combinar esses meios de transporte. Debora e Pat decidiram tomar uma balsa rapida e barata de Pargua ate Chacao na Isla Grande De Chiloe, dirigir ate o sul da ilha, visitando vilas de pescadorese e pontos de interesse no caminho, e carregar seu carro num barco indo de Quellon ate Puerto Chacabuco. Do Puerto Chacabuco dirigiriam pela Carretera Austral o resto do caminho antes de cruzar de volta a Argentinha; e isso fizeram.

Assim que puseram o carro dentro do barco em Quellon, deram adeus a chuvosa e escurecida cidade portuaria e comecaram sua jornada de 30 horas por passagens entre ilhas e canais. Dormiram algumas horas deitados em seus assentos e chao do setor de passageiros comum e despertaram rodeados por verdes montanhas costeiras com cachoeiras caindo sobre o oceano. O barco passou o dia todo navegando e fazendo caminho por canais de ilhas, pequenas vilas e glaciares escondidos por nuvens nos topos das montanhas. Assim que a noite caiu chegaram a doca do Puerto Chacabuco onde desembarcaram. Dormiram no carro perto dali e pela manha partiram em direcao a Coihaique, a maior cidade da area. Havia florestas humidas, rios fartos e belas cachoeiras pelo caminho. Depois de passar por Coihaique entraram numa area de belos cenarios, e ao fazer uma curva, depararam-se com uma montanha especialmente radical chamada Cerro Castillo. Pat ficou babando com a visao dos picos afiados, trilhas e descidas imponentes da montanha coberta por neve.

Apenas poucos quilometros depois a estrada asfaltada deu lugar a uma de terra e pedras a centenas de quilometros por vir. Dirigiram por florestas, pequenos lagos e, seguindo grandes rios de agua glacial, finalmente chegaram ao gigante lago de agua glacial turquesa Gral. Cabrera  (chamado Lago Buenos Aires do lado argentino). Continuaram por muitos quilometros mais, seguindo sua costa, e acamparam no carro na metade do lago. Na tarde do dia seguinte, depois de passarem por outro lago lindissimo chamado Laguna Verde, chegaram a Chile Chico perto da fronteira com a Argentina. Remendaram uma perfuracao no mesmo pneu danificado previamente, que ocorreu durantes os ultimos quilometros da jornada e fizeram compras com o que sobrou dos pesos chilenos. Depois, adentraram a Argentina pela segunda vez.

DICAS

- Faca bom proveito das areas de descanco.

DESCABELOS

- Pegagios caros e gasolina mais cara ate o momento.

ARGENTINA 1

Debora e Pat chegaram a fronteira da Bolivia com a Argentina perto da cidade Yacuiba ao meio-dia e tudo estava indo bem ate que foi requerida prova de seguro de carro com cobertura na Argentina. Sendo um pais que obriga o motorista fazer seguro de carro, esse foi o primeiro a nao ter seguradora disponivel nas imediacoes da aduana. Como a permissao de importacao de veiculo na Bolivia ja havia sido cancelado  e seus passaportes estampados, decidiram deixar o carro estacionado na aduana argentina e procurar por seguradoras a pe. Depois de perguntar a oficiais da fronteira e residentes locais, alem da opcao de ir ate a cidade Salta localizada a centenas de quilometros dali, descobriram a possibilidade de haver seguradoras de ambas nacionalidades por perto . Depois de tomar taxis pelas redondezas tanto do lado argentino quanto do lado boliviano em busca de seguradoras, descobriram que nao havia seguro disponivel para veiculos estrangeiros, somente para veiculos argentinos e bolivianos. Assim, parecia que estariam em maus lencois. Tentaram uma vez mais mostrando o seguro que compraram na Colombia, mas nao funcionou. O oficial da aduana que ja os tinha atendido antes estava incredulo da situacao dos viajantes. Depois disso foram a uma casa de internet para procurar um seguro que pudessem comprar online. Encontraram um oferecido pela empresa Clements Insurance que provia seguro de autos para ex-patriotas americanos em muitos paises, incluindo Argentina. Poderiam comprar um plano por US$ 180,00, mas tudo o que queriam naquele momento era uma prova impressa com os dados do carro que pudessem levar a aduana e poder passar com o carro pela fronteira e dirigir ate Salta onde comprariam o seguro "oficial" mais apropriado e barato. Debora preencheu o campo com o numero de seu cartao de credito, mas teria que clicar no botao SUBMETER antes de conseguirem uma pagina para imprimir. "Ops", ela clicou. Imprimiram o atestado  do seguro que nao parecia muito oficializado e minutos depois escreveram para Clements por email para que por favor desconsiderassem seu pedido de seguro explicando o "acidente" e pedindo um reembolso. Eles nao se sentiram bem ao fazer isso, mas apelaram a essas medidas desesperadas porque a unica outra opcao seria dirigir centenas de quilometros de volta a Bolivia. Ao voltarem a aduana, o mesmo funcionario estava la e ao olhar o papel, suas expressoes faciais nao pareciam muito prometedoras. Ele mostrou o documento a outro funcionario para ver o que achava. Pareciam nao saber, e as coisas nao estavam parecendo muito boas. Mas um novo funcionario entrou na sala pronto para comecar seu turno. para a sorte de Debora e Pat. Ele recebeu o papel e ignorou qualquer falta de similaridade com o seguro que provavelmente sempre recebiam ali, aceitando-o e dando aos viajantes a permissao para entrar com o veiculo na Argentina. O proximo passo era passar pela inspecao do carro que foi atraves de uma maquina de raio-X impressionantemente grande e depois disso era so partir para a viagem. Essa definitivamente conta como a fronteira mais longa a ser cruzada por eles (sem incluir os tramites de envio maritimo pelo Darien) durando mais de 7 horas.

Na manha seguinte, engatinharam para fora de sua cama na traseira do carro que estacionaram em Tartagal, nao muito alem da fronteira, e partiram em direcao a Salta. Houve muitas paradas de fiscalizacao de narcotraficos pelo caminho feito por policiais impertinentes. Em Salta acharam seguro de carro que custou cerca de US $ 150,00 e que cobriria Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguai, Argentina, Chile, Uruguai e Brasil por 4 meses. Eles tambem pesquisaram as opcoes para consertar a direcao hidraulica que comecara a falhar, mas a parte do carro Toyota Tacoma fabricado nos E.U.A. nao estava disponivel. Outras tarefas do dia incluiram compras de supermercado e comprar uma lampada para a luz traseira do carro que estava queimada. Antes de escurecer ja etavam de volta a estrada em direcao as terras de plantacao argentinas. 

Os proximos 2 dias cruzando o norte do pais foram por areas calidas e planas. Dirigiram longas distancias por fazendas de plantacoes e criacao de gado, que tornaram-se em deserto seguido por amplos vinhedos ao se aproximarem de Mendoza. As tres noites seguintes dormiram no carro suando num calor insuportavel, Pat e Debora descobriram que as longas siestas toda tarde permite que argentinos festejem noite a dentro todos os dias da semana, e causa noites barulhentas. Isso fez com que fosse ainda mais dificil de dormir. Alem de tudo isso, Debora ja nao falava com Pat ha mais de um dia por causa de uma briga por causa de navegacao na cidade de San Miguel de Tucuman. Mas ao aproximarem-se de Mendoza as coisas comecaram a melhorar. Entraram nas bases das montanhas andinas na saida da cidade e encontraram um rio popular para relaxar e mergulhar em suas aguas refrescantes.  Ali cozinharam um macarrao delicioso que foi acompanhado por uma garrafa de vinho barato.

Refreshing dip

O ar noturno estava fresco, entao puderam dormir bem. De manha, dirigiram mais alto em direcao ao topo da cordilheira e fronteira com o Chile. Pelo caminho avistaram Aconcagua ( montanha mais alta de toda a America do Sul), e depois de algum quilometros descendo pela estrada, entraram no longo tunel que permitiria a passagem ate o Chile.

Aconcagua 

DICAS

- Certifique-se em fazer seguro de carro em uma cidade grande antes de chegar a fronteira.

- Nao conte com os turnos regulares das 9:00 as 17:00. Lugares geralmente fecham entre 13h e 18h dependendo de quanto tempo precisam para tirar suas siestas.

- Nao desista quando o assunto e conseguir cruzar fronteiras. Funcionarios publicos gostam de dizer NAO mesmo sem ter certeza das coisas, por isso insista ate cança-los.

- Vinho barato na Argentina.

DESCABELOS

- Barrados na fronteira por mais de 7 horas.

- Calor insuportavel para dormir no carro.

- Tudo começou a ficar carissimo incluindo hospedaria, comida e gasolina.

- Nao ter chuveiro disponivel.

ARGENTINA 1

Debora and Pat arrived at Bolivia's border with Argentina near the town of Yacuiba mid-day, and all went well until they were asked to present proof of car insurance covering the vehicle in Argentina.  For a country that required insurance to drive, this was the first that didn't offer it right there at the border.  With the Bolivian vehicle import permit already canceled and passports stamped, they decided to leave the car parked at the gate and search by foot for insurance.  After asking border officials and locals, without traveling hundreds of kilometers to Salta in Argentina, they found out about some offices in the border towns on both sides that would possibly provide the coverage.  After some taxi rides around town in both countries, they discovered that there were no insurance plans available to foreign vehicles, only those from either Argentina or Bolivia.  So they were apparently screwed.  They made another attempt by showing an insurance card they had purchased in Colombia, but it wasn't accepted.  The familiar aduana official was becoming very skeptical of their situation.  Next they walked to an internet store and searched for an insurance plan they could buy online.  They found one offered by a company called Clements in the U.S. that offered such coverage to ex-pats in many countries including Argentina.  They could get a plan for the cost of $180, but all they wanted at the moment was a printable statement that would get them through the border and across the relatively short distance to Salta where they could find a more suitable plan at a better price.  Debora's credit card number was entered into the system, but she would have to press submit before they would have something to print.  "Whoops" she pressed it.  They printed out a marginally official looking statement of their insurance plan, and minutes later they wrote to Clements by email explaining their "accident" and the need to cancel the policy immediately for a refund.  They didn't feel good about it, but they resorted to these desperate measures because the only other option was to drive hundreds of miles back into Bolivia.  When they returned to the aduana window the same official was there, and as he looked at the paper, the expressions on his face weren't promising.  He passed the document to some coworkers to see what they thought.  Heads were shaking.  It didn't look good.  But then, to Debora and Pat's luck,  up walked a new official ready to start his shift.  The paper was passed to him, and after shrugging his shoulders at remarks from his predecessor, he issued the vehicle import permit for Argentina.  Next came the car inspection by an impressively large x-ray machine, and then they were ready to drive onward.  It was officially their longest border crossing (aside from the Darien Gap) lasting more than 7 hours.

The next morning they climbed out from their bed in the back of the car, which was parked on the streets of Tartagal not far from the border, and they headed for Salta.  There were a number of narcotics check points along the way with nuisance policemen.  In Salta they found an insurance plan costing about $150 that would cover the car for 4 months in the countries of Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil.  They also investigated the possibility of replacing their power steering pump which had begun to fail, but such a part for their U.S. made Toyota Tacoma was not available.  Other errands included grocery shopping and buying a new light bulb for their broken tail light.  Before dark they were back on the road heading south through the farmlands of Argentina. 

The following 2 days spent crossing the northern region of the country were hot and flat.  They drove long distances through farmlands and cattle grazing country, which turned into dry desert, followed by expansive wine vineyards as they approached Mendoza.  All three nights in the car were miserably hot and sweaty, and Pat and Debora learned that long siestas away from work every afternoon enabled Argentineans to party into the wee hours of the night every day of the week, which made for loud and noisy streets.  This further hindered their ability to sleep.  On top of all this, Debora had stopped talking to Pat for more than a day after a fight over navigation in the city of San Miguel De Tucuman.  But as they rolled into Mendoza things began to change.  They headed into the foothills of the Andes outside of town and found a popular riverbank hangout where they took a dip in the refreshing water and cooked a delicious pasta meal accompanied by cheap wine.  

The nighttime air was cool and fresh, so they slept well.  In the morning they drove higher towards the crest of the range and the border with Chile.  Along the way they viewed Aconcagua (the tallest mountain in Earth's southern hemisphere), and a few kilometers down the road they entered the long tunnel granting passage into Chile. 

TRICKS

- There is no car insurance provided on the borders for international cars so make sure to get it at a big city before hand.

- Don't count on having the regular shifts 9-5 you find in most places. Here places were usually closed from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. depending on how long they needed their siestas for.

- Don't give up when it comes to making it across the borders. Staff like to say "no" even if they aren't sure about something, so insist until you win them over.

- Cheap wine in Argentina.

TROUBLES

- Stuck at the border for over 7 hours.

- Too hot at night to sleep well in the car.

- Everything started getting very expensive including hostels, food and gas.

- Not being able to shower.

BOLIVIA

Pat e Debora cruzaram sua 14ª fronteira adentrando a Bolivia sem muita demora, apesar de tentativas pateticas de extorcao por policiais em ambos os paises fronteiricos.  No comeco da tarde ja estavam em Copacabana no fim sudoeste do Lago Titicaca e logo partiram em um barco para a Isla Del Sol, o qual custou poucos dolares. Segundo o mito, foi dessa ilha que  veio o primeiro Inca entregue pelo Sol e nascido de uma pedra sagrada. Eles desembarcaram no primeiro porto de chegada e caminharam por horas, de vila a vila, por caminhos rurais. Alcancaram uma bela praia ao por do sol onde tomaram litros de cerveja e encontraram um quarto por cerca de U.S. $ 4,00. O vaso sanitario estava quebrado e nao havia chuveiro, mas a vista frente ao mar era excelente. Continuaram a caminhada no dia seguinte admirando montanhas cobertas de neve do outro lado do lago. Chegaram ao litoral norte perto do meio-dia onde muitos jovens turistas, a maioria sul-americana, tomavam banho de sol. Pat e Deb aderiram a boa causa antes de tomar o proximo barco de volta a terra firme onde seu carro amado esperava em um estacionamento de hotel.

Copacabana

Lake Titicaca and its giant mountains

Our village for the night

Lake front for $4.00

The north end of Isla Del Sol

Ao sairem de Copacabana foram forcados a parar por causa de uma corda esticada na rua onde policiais de merda os convenceram a pagar uma "taxa obrigatoria", a qual era simplesmente um roubo. Muito desgostosos continuaram seu caminho tentando apreciar a beleza natural enquanto aproximavam-se da barca que os levaria numa pequena travessia para o leste do lago. Rapidamente carregaram o carro na barca, dirigida por um menino habilidoso, e logo disseram adeus ao Lago Titicaca e partiram em direcao a La Paz. Uma lua cheia apareceu detras de montanhas gigantes e iluminou seus picos brancos. Mais tarde doque gostariam chegaram ao centro de La Paz e dirigiram por ruas lotadas de pedestres que nao pareciam nem um pouco preocupados com os veiculos motorizados que tentavam abrir caminho pelo caos. Depois de passar pelo centro chegaram a outra periferia da cidade onde, finalmente, encontraram um motel. Debora insistiu para que trocassem os lencois ja que obviamente tinham sido usados recentemente e de manha o recepcionista tentou cobrar mais do que o concordado na noite anterior. Isso foi o bastante de La Paz na opiniao de ambos entao partiram ao sudeste em direcao a Cochabamba.

Captain of the ferry

Milk and coffee in Cochabamba

Passado o deserto e algumas montanhas comecaram a descer sobre um grande vale onde estava a cidade turistica de Cochabamba. La terminou a presenca marcante da cultura Inca, notada desde o norte do Equador e intensificado-se por todo o centro e sul peruviano ate o norte da Bolivia. Ao dirigir pela cidade tudo comecou a parecer mais familiar: roupas de industrias textis em vez de roupas de la costuradas a mao; casas modernas em vez das de barro com teto de palha; menos manadas de ovelhas nas cercanias da estrada, etc.

Depois de passar a noite numa hospedaria agradavel dirigiram por mais montanhas e viram-se de volta a selva. O carro passou por uma busca detalhada pelo ponto de inspecao de narcoticos e ao cair da noite pararam em Warnes, que parecia ser uma cidade suburbana da classe trabalhadora da cidade grande Santa Cruz De La Sierra. Ali conseguiram um bom quarto por um preco razoavel. No dia seguinte passaram por Santa Cruz em direcao a turistica Samaipata e cidades vizinhas que sao parcialmente famosas devido a presenca de Che Guevara na area pouco antes de sua execucao pelas forcas bolivianas e estado-unidenses. As ruinas de pedra de Samaipata proveram um pouco da historia local e exercicio com sua caminhada curta. Depois disso pagaram para acampar em Cuevas e visitar sua magestosa cascata pela manha.

Ruins of Samaipata

Waterfall at Cuevas

Esse dia comecou com chuvas bem pesadas e no caminho de volta tiveram que esperar tratores removerem derrumbres recentes da estrada. Depois de centenas de quilometros na rodovia pararam em Camiri, sua ultima parada em Bolivia antes de chegar a fronteira com a Argentina. Naquela noite, enquanto caminhavam algumas quadras a procura de internet e um lugar para jantar, uma chuva torrencial comecou a cair durando somente cerca de uma hora. As ruas transformaram-se em pequenos rios. Eles esperaram dentro da casa de internet ate que a chuva cessasse antes de voltar para seu doce quarto. O ultimo que teriam por semanas a fio.

DICAS:

- Gasolina relativamente barata
- Ultimo pais visitado com comida, estadia, souvenirs, etc., baratos, entao aproveite!

DESCABELOS:

- Muitos policiais corruptos. Os mesmos frequentemente cobravam os pedagios, que tambem frequentemente nao tinham preco postado.
- Direcao hidraulica do carro comecou a falhar.

BOLIVIA

Pat and Debora crossed their 14th border into Bolivia quickly enough, aside from pathetic attempts at bribes by police on both sides.  By mid morning they were in Copacabana on the southwestern end of Lake Titicaca and soon hopped on a boat headed for Isla Del Sol at the cost of a few U.S. dollars.  According to myth this was the birth place of the first Inca who was delivered to the island by the Sun and came to life out of a sacred stone.  Deb and Pat landed on shore at the first available port and walked for several hours from village to village along the rural island pathways arriving on a beautiful cove beach at sunset where they drank liters of beer and found a room for about $4.00 U.S.  The toilet was broken, and there was no shower, but the shorefront view from the bedroom window was great.  The following day they continued along on foot admiring the snowcapped mountains across the lake.  By noon they reached the north shore where lots of young South Americans and other tourists sun bathed on the beach.  Pat and Deb joined in before catching the next boat back to Copacabana where their beloved car waited in a hotel parking lot.  

Upon exiting town they were forced to stop at a rope stretched across the road where scum-shit cops convinced them to pay an "obligatory exit fee," which was really just robbery.  With a very bitter attitude they drove onward trying to appreciate the surrounding beauty as they approached a short ferry crossing to the east side of the lake.  They quickly loaded themselves and their car onto a boat, skillfully captained by a young boy, and soon they said goodbye to Lake Titicaca driving into the night towards La Paz.  A full moon rose from behind the giant roadside mountains and illuminated their snowy peaks.  Later than they would have liked, Debora and Pat rolled into down town La Paz and navigated the busy streets packed full of pedestrians who were not at all concerned by the motorized vehicles forcing their way through chaos.  After penetrating the city center, they passed on through to the other side of town and eventually found a (pay by the hour) motel in its sketchy outskirts.  Debora insisted they change the sheets and blanket as they had obviously just recently been used, and in the morning the clerk tried to charge more than originally quoted.  That was enough La Paz for them, so they left and headed southeastwardly through the desert towards Cochabamba.  

Out of the desert and over some mountains, they descended into a large valley where the touristic city of Cochabamba sat.  This marked the end of the dominant presence of Inca culture along their route,  which began to appear  along the Andes in northern Ecuador and intensified in southern-central Peru and northwestern Bolivia.  Driving into this city everything began to look more familiar again: more factory produced clothing than hand knitted wool attire; modern houses instead of mud buildings with grass roofs; fewer herds of sheep along the highway, etc.  After a night in a nice hostel they headed up and over some more mountains and found themselves back in the jungle.  Their car underwent a thorough search at a narcotics checkpoint, and by dusk they stopped in Warnes, what appeared to be a suburban working class town to the nearby city of Santa Cruz De La Sierra, and they got a room for a reasonable price.  The following day they drove through Santa Cruz and up a river valley towards touristic Samaipata and its surrounding towns, which are partly famous for Che Guevara's presence in the area just before he was captured and executed by Bolivian and U.S. forces.  Samaipata's nearby archeological site provided Deb and Pat with some mild historic interest and a little exercise with its short walk around the stone ruins.  After that they payed a couple of bucks to camp in nearby Cuevas and visited the impressive waterfall in the morning.  

This day started off with heavy rains, and on their way driving back down along the river they had to wait for road workers to clear new landslides from the road.  After a few hundred kilometers on the highway they stayed in Camiri, their last stop in Bolivia before heading towards its border with Argentina the following morning.  That evening, while they walked a few blocks to find some internet access and dinner, rain suddenly fell in a torrential downpour lasting for only about an hour.  The streets turned into small rivers.  They waited and watched from inside until it stopped then headed back to enjoy their room.  It would be the last one they'd have for weeks to come.

TRICKS:

Relatively cheap gas.

Last country visited with cheap food, rooms, souvenirs, etc.

TROUBLES:

Many corrupt cops, and they controlled a lot of the toll road pay booths which often didn't have prices posted.

Power steering pump began to fail. 

PERU

The first place they visited in Peru was the beach town Mancora situated less than 300 miles from the border. This town as well as all the peruvian west coast is in the desert. They slept in the car there and continued their trip to the south in the morning. The road in the deserted area was in great condition and in a straight line which allowed them to drive a long distance. They arrived to Trujillo in one more day and its surprising messy traffic: cars making absurd turns and blocking traffic and completely ignoring right of way, for instance. They were amazed they didn't see any car crashes amongst all that disorganization. They slept in a very simple hostel and left to Chimbote for some grocery shopping in the morning. When they were about to get in the city they were stopped by a transit cop who tried to convince them they had just made a speeding traffic violation and would have to pay a ticket, or give him some money instead. After a while denying the infraction or paying a "carino", "registro" and "contribuicion" - like they prefer to name extortion - the cop gave Pat's documents back and let them go.

West coast desert

The straight and fast road of the desert gave way to one with no pavement and filled with rocks where they would enter the Cordillera Blanca range. The road started to show some signs of pavement when they got to Huallanca, which improved the speed a bit. They passed by rivers, waterfalls and many tunnels before getting to a touristic town called Caraz. It was there that they noticed the right rear tire was flat, the first time since they left California, and spent the afternoon and part of the evening searching for a mechanic shop to plug it. Despite the problem they were lucky to have made it to Caraz where there was auto service shops and was one of the few beautiful towns they drove through in the country. Also the town is the starting point to get to Laguna Paron and its turquoise glacial water coming from the highest mountains of Peru.

Rough road scenery towards Cordillera Blanca

Popular Peruvian fashion

Lake Paron in the morning

They slept in the car and in the morning took the really slow and damaged road towards the lake. When they arrived Pat decided to hike up a nearby mountain to get a panoramic shot with his video camera while Debora stuck with the trail near the lake. The weather wasn't very good for the first couple of hours so Pat couldn't get a good view, but at least he could see some snowfall at the top while Debora walked in the rain trying to take some still pictures below. The weather cleared up and made way to a beautiful and sunny afternoon when they were returning to the car. After that they drove to Carhuaz from where they would drive to Punta Olimpica, the highest pass of the Cordillera Blanca at 4,890 meters above sea level. The road and its surroundings was almost exactly like the road to Paron with its plantations, sheep, cows, llamas, dogs, chickens and village people traditionally dressed. After driving by valleys, rivers and waterfalls and admiring the mountain peaks, especially Mt. Huascaran, the highest in Peru reaching 6,768 meters above sea level, snow started showing on the sides of the one lane road. They now could see glacial water lakes and views of mountains and valleys from the top. They got to the Punta Olimpica and decided to go back down the same path instead of continuing over the mountains to the next town since they would have to drive even longer on bad roads.

Cordillera Blanca Range

Glacial valley runoff

At the top in Punta Olimpica

Snow in the peak of summer

Huascaran

Breakfast cooking spot view

After leaving the Punta Olimpica road they continued through the main road - paved but completely full of potholes - to Huaraz that has a lot of tourists and facilities, but can't compare to the charming Caraz. They slept again in the car and took off towards the coastal road in the morning trying to void the slow and damaged roads.

A little after dark they arrived in Paracas which is a touristic location due to the Paracas Natural Reserve and specially the Ballests Islands. The couple didn't do much there, only walked around town, ate ceviche, slept and bought the first small gifts before reentering the andes that would take them to Cusco and the awaited visit to Machu Picchu.

They went to Nasca, not to visit its ruins but to take the road to Cusco which seemed to be the most direct and efficient way to it according to the map. This road was long and took many hours of driving although it was all paved it was loaded with sharp turns, ups and downs. The towns on the way they thought could have hostels or safe places to park and sleep were tiny and undeveloped, very few of them had electricity. The villages lacked public services were very separated from each other, but one thing remained the same: people traditionally dressed with wool clothing, women with their long black braids and hats, llamas, alpacas, goats, cattle, dogs all over the place, some on the road very far from civilization.

Thirsty sheepy

Curious alpacas

Floating island fashion

After driving near 2 hours into the night they passed a toll booth and decided to sleep by it. Early in the morning they cooked breakfast and continued towards Cusco where they arrived in the afternoon. A lot of people say that Cusco is one of the most magical and special places they have ever been to, they are probably not talking about the city. After driving around in search of a nice area and find a hostel and not finding anywhere very pleasant, they finally found the colonial neighborhood, which is where the touristic conglomeration is and therefore is nice. They found a good hostel with internet so they could make better research for Machu Picchu, write blogs, and take showers.

As they already were expecting Machu Picchu would cost a considerable amount of money and they had stipulated US$ 150,00 for each to spend with admittance fees. After researching they agreed that they wanted to take the Inca Trail because they didn't want to just see the ruins, but the trail according to internet and personal research would cost about US$ 400,00 a piece and required reservations to be made beforehand. Not believing that it would be too hard to do the trail they went to Ollantaytambo to look for local tourism companies that might have vacancies and a better price. In a hurry, because he was leaving to his 2 hour lunch break, the tourist information center worker told them there weren't any companies in town.  They would have to go back to Cusco to make a reservation or take the train direct to Machu Picchu ruins.

The couple went to the train station to find out the cheapest fare would cost US$ 30,00 each way per person plus almost US$ 60,00 each to enter the ruins. From the train station they walked around town while thinking what to do. They met a local who was offering transportation to Cusco and told him they had just arrived and were trying to figure out what to do about hiking the Inca Trail which at that point seemed hopeless. The man assured that they didn't have to make reservations or have a guide, all they needed was camping gear, drive to kilometer 82 and start hiking with a group. The couple immediately overflowed with joy, thanked the man and started making plans. For a moment they thought the man could have mistaken it with a different trail, but no, they had been very specific about hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and why they were having problems, so they decide to follow his advice.

Ollataytambo

They drove to kilometer 82 and packed, but the weather started to get ugly and they decided to stay and sleep in the car that night and start hiking the next morning. Because the (probably) 10 inhabitants of the town had already seen the travelers around - due to the fact that tourists can't blend in with how the locals look and dress -  they noticed what they were trying to do. When they woke up in the morning the couple was very excited about the hike and were finishing packing when they were interrupted by  two locals wearing blue jackets. The men said that they couldn't go by themselves, would have to go back to Cusco, hire a guide through an agency then go back to the trail. Debora and Pat tried to ignore the negativity and go nonetheless. When they were about to start the trail another man in blue jacket came rushing to say they weren't allowed to go plus the same old history.

Discouraged they took the trail by the train tracks towards Machu Picchu. Soon enough they realized that it probably wouldn't be good enough to walk for days along the train tracks if they could just take the train and see the same things. Also they were closer to the ruins now that they had drove to kilometer 82 and figured the train fare would be a lot cheaper. One of the maintenance workers said that the fare to the ruins from there costed only US$ 3.00 and it would be coming in the next couple of hours. Of course the price wasn't for tourists as made sure of another warning local. For tourists the price would still be US$ 30.00 so the couple got very irritated and chose not to help the organized crime against the tourist and just leave the area. Instead of paying a fortune to people that hadn't built the ruins they used it to buy souvenirs to family and friends. After all that confusion and disappointment they got to a decision of never going anywhere unless they made a detailed research about paths and prices beforehand. 

As they already were on that side of the country and had seen Manu National Park amongst the best places to go in Peru they decided to try to go, but first would look up information online.

They couldn't find any internet before Pisac when they saw the first sign. They stopped to use it but the town was out of electricity and the owner of the internet place offered to give information. He said that Manu was gorgeous, the road there had recently been paved and it was cheaper than Machu Picchu. They believed him because he was very nice and travelled and took the road towards the park. Unfortunately it wasn't new, it was still being built. They drove through the dirt and muddy road for nearly 3 hours before they arrived to Paucartambo where they finally found internet. Even though they were expecting it to be a tourist town because the map showed an airport on it, there was none. Instead all people were residents and still traditionally dressed and again it was impossible for the travelers to blend in and go by unnoticed. A local drunkard accompanied by a sober friend invited them to a volunteer firefighter party to celebrate their 13th anniversary. They went for a little bit before searching for a hostel, because they didn't feel safe to sleep in the car there. The only 2 hostels/hotels smelt bad and weren't clean. They agreed on driving back during the night from where they came from since their internet research didn't end up well: a visit to the amazonian park would be as expensive as Machu Picchu and reservations were required. 

Even after all the frustration they still wanted to visit other touristic places such as Arequipa and Lake Titicaca. After sleeping in the car in San Salvador they discussed going to Arequipa, which even though seemed to be gorgeous in pictures it was way out of the way. They resolved to go straight to Puno, the city itself isn't attractive at all but it is the take off point to the man made Uros Floating Islands and the main attraction on the peruvian side of the lake.

After sleeping at a hostel near the lake they walked to the ticket booth sales in the morning to buy their entrance to the islands. They got the tickets that supposedly included all the tour, when a man dressed in a blue jacket said they had to buy another ticket also to be admitted in the islands. When they arrived to the first island they watched a little presentation about how the islands were built followed buy sales of crafts. After that they were basically forced to pay extra to take the handmade boat to the next island. They did and when they got to the next island there were more people begging to buy their crafts and a small restaurant to buy some food. During the 45 minute wait in the tiny island they talked to a few peruvian tourists who assured them the fee the man in blue jacket made them pay was barely optional and they shouldn't have to pay.

"The islands are very interesting and cheap but the misleading and cheating of the touristic industry is revolting. The full tour price at the beginning  doesn't mention the extra pay to go from one island to the other, and doesn't warn the tourist the 3 hour tour in the islands takes you to only 2 islands and is long just because the boat is a snail or that the boaters are lazy to take you anywhere else.", says a disappointed Debora about the lack of consideration towards the tourist in the country.

From there they left towards bolivian Copacabana, which border they would cross the following morning.

Puno

One of the Uros islands 

Man made boat

TRICKS

- Research well before trying to go anywhere.

- Don't buy too many souvenirs in Peru if you are going towards bolivian border, because you can find the same things for half the price.

- If you decide to buy souvenirs in Peru the largest variety is in Cusco even though it will cost a little more.  Compared to Argentina and Chile, Peru has crafts a lot cheaper if you know how to bargain.

- Try to blend in with a group if you are gonna poach the Inca trail. For more advice on poaching Machu Picchu go to: http://travelogue.travelvice.com/peru/sneaking-into-machu-picchu/ 

- Ask for "menu" at small restaurants. It is a super cheap and very good deal and comes with a starter and main dish.

TROUBLES

- People begging for you to buy their stuff.

- People begging for money, not because they need it, but because you are a tourist.

- Flat tire due to rocks on an unpaved road. 

- Disappointment with difficulty and price to visit Machu Picchu.

- Dishonesty of many people involved with tourism.

- The worst traditional music in the world trophy goes to the peruvian.