One amazing thing – Getting the visa for Bolivia

Because there is a consulate of Bolivia in Puno, we thought it’s better to try to get the visa here other than going directly to the border where it is also possible to get it because the Bolivian customs officer  all like the 50 US dollar bill. So we went to the consulate and here we had the unpleasant experience of meeting probably the most unfriendly person of this trip, the secretary of the consul. First when we went there at 10 AM nobody was there though the consulate should have opened at 8 AM. So we went back after an hour and found the secretary looking totally unfriendly and asking us what we want. We said that we would like the visa for Bolivia and handed him the documents. He took a short look and said we also had to complete a form and asked why we did not do it. We said we don’t have the form and politely asked if he could give it to us. For an unparticular reason this made him go crazy and he gave us the internet address of the Bolivian consulate and with a very aggressive voice told us that we can download and print it ourselves. So we went to the city information center because we knew that they have a printer and an internet connection and asked them to help us with the forms. Because the internet site of the Bolivian consulate was not working they called the consulate and when the secretary heard the city information center called he just told them to send us back to the consulate and he will “help” us. We had a bad feeling about this and were right because the call of the lady from the information center just made the things worse because the secretary was now really angry (more than before) because we went to the information center instead of doing everything on our own. He gave us one copy of the forms and after I dared to ask if he could give us another copy because we had to make two different requests, he yelled at us saying we have to go and make copies, he’s not going to print a second form for us. So we went and made a copy, came back and gave him the passports, the completed forms, a copy of our flight tickets because you have to prove somehow that you are not going to remain in Bolivia (the poorest country in South America) forever otherwise they will not give you the visa, and a copy of the booking of one hotel which was more or less the printout of the main page of a hotel. We were told to come back in 3 hours which we did, just to be told that again, we have to go and make a copy of our passports with the visa stamp in it because he did not want to make that copy. So, finally after making the last copies and going for the 5^th time in one day to the consulate we had the visa. But the story was not over yet as we heard that it is also possible that at the border the customs officer will search you for “fake US dollars” which of course they will keep for the security of the nation. We were lucky as we were not searched but right when we entered the office in a corner was an officer which looked through the dollars of another tourist so we knew that the story we heard was not a science fiction one.

Next stop

La Paz, Bolivia

If you want to go to Machu Picchu there are a couple of treks or options. The most famous one is the Inka Trail which lasts 4 days/3 nights but this one must be booked at least 3-4 month in advance because there is only a limited amount of tickets to the trail per day. We chose another trek where you cannot see so many ruins as on the Inka trail but which offers spectacular sceneries of snowcapped mountains. We chose the Salkantay Trail which lasts 5 days. Its name comes from the Salkantay mountain (6271m) which we passed on the second day. Salkantay means “Wild Mountain” in Quechua which is the language of the indigenous. The trekking was amazing. On the first day we started our trip at 2800m and hiked around 7-8 hours till we got to 3800m where we also spent the night in tents. The second day was by far the hardest. We woke up at 5 AM and started hiking to reach the maximum height of our journey, 4629m. This is definitely not a walk in the park as the high altitude and the rare air make the hiking very challenging. On this day we walked around 10 hours before reaching our next camping point at around 3600m. The third day was an easy one as we walked only 5-6 hours through the jungle  and reached the small village of Santa Tereza where we went to the hot springs and relaxed. On the 4^th day we reached the town of Aguas Calientes which is also very touristic as it is the last stop before Machu Picchu. Because of the high number of tourists it’s also called Gringolandia. And then finally, on the last day we went to Machu Picchu one of the most visited places in South America. We woke up at 4 AM and we climbed around 2000 stairs and were at the main gate at 6 AM because we wanted to see the lost city before all the masses of tourists invaded it. In the evening we then took the train back to Cusco which to our positive surprise was very nice and had windows also on the top so you could have a nice view of the jungle and the mountains. But to our disappointment the train’s engine broke after a couple of hours and the train had a delay of 3 hours. Because the last station was 30km from Cusco and because of the delay the driver that had to pick us up there just left so we ended up in a small little town in the middle of nowhere at 11 PM. Fortunately we found another “safe” taxi which took us to our hostel.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

Machu Picchu is really amazing as it was for sure not easy to build the city with giant bolders, with a highly advanced watering system and all this on top of a mountain in the middle of the jungle.

Next stop

Lake Titicaca

Arequipa is a very nice city at the base of two volcanos and has a nice little old town and lots of ancient small streets. Arequipa has a couple of nice specific dishes which we couldn’t miss. The main ones are Fried Cuy (Guinea Pig) and Rocoto Relleno which is now part of my list of favorite dishes. The fried guinea pig was very good and tasted a little bit like a sweet chicken meat. We were so delighted about the Arequipan cuisine that we also went to a cooking course on one day. And here we also had the opportunity to cook Rocoto Relleno. It’s a very spicy sort of pepper which should be cooked 3 times in order for it to be eatable, otherwise it’s too spicy. This pepper is then stuffed with a mix of pork and beef meat, onion, garlic, smashed peanuts and biscuits and a lot of different spices. The taste is insane.

On one evening we were invited by Max, the Swiss owner of the Spanish school to his house to play cards and taste the Peruvian Pisco Sour. It’s funny that we learnt Jassen which is one of the Swiss national sports, exactly in the opposite corner of the world.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

I find that the Arequipan cuisine is the most amazing thing for this stop.

Next stop

Cuzco and Machu Picchu

Nest stop

Still the city of Arequipa, Peru

Huacachina is one of the best places to visit in Peru. Though it technically is part of the city of Ica, it’s basically an oasis in the desert. It’s so famous that it even made it on the 50 soles bill. Travelers come here to relax and forget about everything. Though it’s a very small place you have some entertainment options and some good restaurants.

On the last day we went to a wine and pisco tasting tour to 2 wineries. One, where the drinks are produced in an industrial way and another one where they use the same technique like hundreds of years ago. Pisco is a typical Peruvian drink where the wine is distilled and leads to a sort of brandy.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

In Huacachina we took a tour with a sand buggy which is more or less a cage on four wheels. Let me tell you something.The ride was one of the craziest things we’ve done so far. You get a higher adrenaline kick than in a roller coaster plus you can add the uncertainty of safety. At some points I thought the driver is insane and all the people in the car where screaming like hell all the time. We stopped a couple of times in the desert and went sand boarding which was pretty fun, though walking the sand dunes back up was nothing to write home about. And the sunset in the desert was worth every moment of madness in the sand buggy.

Next stop

Arequipa, Peru

We were not expecting much from Lima as most or all of the travelers that we met told us they did not like Lima but let me tell you one thing, WE LOVED IT. People are extremely friendly, everybody that we met tried to help us, no scams, nobody that wants to rip you off like in Quito (ok, maybe except the taxi drivers), everybody smiled, it was a huge difference to the people that we met in Quito. And the food… oh my God… the food is excellent. We tried some typical Peruvian dishes, the best being the Ceviche which is raw fish and seafood marinated in lime juice with onions and some spices, extremely delicious. And the juice or shake of a fruit called Lucuma that’s typical for this region is a knock out.

Of course Lima also has some areas where you should not go if you don’t know what you’re doing. Like Juan from the hostel said, “In Lima if some place does not look safe, it almost always isn’t”. But the district of Miraflores is the one where most of the tourists stay and it’s completely safe. The same is valid by day for the center of Lima where most of the tourist attractions are, like the Governor’s palace or the San Francisco Church with its catacombs. We also went to the Parque Reserva where there are lots of fountains and in the evening you can watch some amazing shows of music and light projected on the water.

One amazing thing we’ve seen or done

Many cities have a park where a sort of animal is the king. In London in the Kensington Park or in New York in the Central Park the squirrels rule the area, in the Galapagos Islands the sea lions where everywhere even lying on benches and so on. In Lima, in the Park Kennedy, the cats are the kings. There are tens of them because the municipality takes care of them and people are encouraged to adopt them. Because we’re both cat lovers and are missing our tomcat back home, it’s understandable that we had to write this at “One amazing thing..”

Next stop

Huacachina, Peru