..from Machu Picchu to Copacabana..

hey there :) finally I got time to catch up with my blog :)

..where to start.. well.. Machu Picchu was just INCREDIBLE!! got up at 3am to be at the bus station at 4am to be on the first buses on 5.30am and to get in at 6am having a stamp that allowed me to climb Waynchu Picchu (Machu = Old, Waynchu = Young)
I think, if you´re half an hour later, you´ll still make it.. but anyway, just wanted to do it all! ;) ..in the morning there was mist in the ruins, what made the whole place really mystic! :) then with the sun coming up, the heat was turned on and the sky got in motion :) at 7am they opened Waynchu and at 8am I entered the path. It´s really, really incredibly steep!! instead of food, I just had a lot of water in a big bottle that occupied constantly one hand, but made it pretty good.. I wonder that not more people die going up there ;) (they just allow 400 people a day, but it´s really a thrilling hike!! if you´re there, on the top, surrounded by other steep mountains, you just ask yourself how you made it here without mountain gear and how you ever get down ;D
didn´t stay for too long up there (no food :/ but saw another hike to the "sun gate" (puerta del sol). Compared to Waynchu it was just a lazy hike ;) but really enjoyed being away from all the other tourists! this time I took my whole backpack with me and had plenty of food and water.. on the hike, I met somebody who told me about Machu Picchu Mountain, another 3hour hike to the very peak of the mountain.. well.. took me less than an hour to get up ;) haha ;) could basically always cut the times in half that people were telling me..
also walked a bit through the ruins itself, but no tour and no idea what the things were made for ;) (as I said, it´s not the most cultural trip ever ;) I enjoyed the hot springs the night before, even if they were at the lower level of being hot.. sure it helped me to be more recovered the Machu Picchu day ;)
it´s hard (or simply impossible) NOT to be impressed by M.P. I have seen some ruins in my life, but I think they are just the most incredible ones! especially, how they are sited in these steep mountains with a river running around down in the valley.
so I went to every possible extreme of the place and walked A LOT! sometimes you make more distance vertically than horizontally, because it´s so steep! the hight of 2400m.a.s.l. needs some fitness to do that ;) especially if you climb then to the peak of 3600m and all the way down to the river again at 2000m. When I started on the peak (I heard just about 50 ppl a day do that ;) my knees were shaking.. but then I made it all the way down and another 13km along the railway back to Hydroelectric, where I luckily got picked up by a passing collective-taxi (would never have made it before dawn..) didn´t feel my feet anymore ;)
I had a lot of thoughts during this day.. one thing was about Paula.. that even if our ways part forever, she would not regret what happened between us. I hoped it would be something beneficial for both, so both can learn and grow and not somebody being attached then forever.. thought also about taking care of my open bill and hoped, the people are not freaking out about all that and hoped my Mom is fine, after I left the message that I scratched a car :)
and then in the end, things ran even smoother than I visualized them.. making friends with Paula, wishing each other all the best for the future (even if I know that letting go can be so hard and had still many (painful) experiences to made, when I was her age..). The people were super relaxed and the final solution proposed from then didn´t even occur me.. paying the 250 USD in Cuzco at a bank.. so nobody has to drive 4 hours with me to pick up the money. My pannier got fixed for about 17USD (cheap and good work). Well, doesn´t close as good as before, but was already pretty used.. so it´s almost no difference at all. The other guy got his car fixed (had to wait there I guess) and the bike was still where I left it (thought, they made put it away, so I would not just leave). But actually they would have guarded it well for me, just locked accidentally the weel, so they could not move it.. but took everything off that could get lost (I was too careless leaving it behind, but they took good care of it). Chained it on a pole and even let their dog sleep next to my bike to protect it! :D these people are just AWESOME!!! :D
so talked a bit to the driver and had to wait and find the owner to get the receipts and bank account. When I left (as early as I could), the police followed me and catched up when I had to stop at a construction site.. they heard about the accident and were asking for my datas and asked some questions, but I got the feeling they were more protecting me or being sure that not the other guy has to pay and not me ;)
but told them that everything already handled :) ..I learned that sometimes you have to pick your cheque book and make things right. Felt doing the right thing, showing greatness and being winning again ;) (haha, how could it be different ;)
really noted that I wrongly estimated this road.. was small and not all weather (while the other big dirtroads are all-year). So I´ll adapt speed better the next time! being back on the unpaved but good drivable road, felt a lot of difference (how you can break and change direction) and then being back on asphalt, the bike was just glued on the surface! (I´m very used to drive like that.. most of my experience comes out of this, so I´m already very confident againg of my driving, especially on asphalt).
then I had to wait for an hour, because they have some road work and just open up at noon.. I really tried to negociate, so they would let me pass (a bike always passes ;) but they had their orders.. and then, when I was at the start an hour later, there was actually a worker hurt by a falling rock and I thought, the guys were so right to not let me pass ;)
when I started in the morning, it was really hot, but when I reached the top of the mountain, it was pretty chilly.. getting into the clouds that are sweeping over the crest and down again to Ollan... there are people booking a tour to drive down a bicycle this mountain, but I figured out, it´s waaaaaay better on a motorbike!! haha :D
got all my stuff together in Ollan and drove on until Cuzco. Stayed in a Lonely Planet place with a lot of other travelers and in a stinky dorm, but met a cool guy this evening and we talked a lot, had some beers, played pool and I was really happy, I made this happen (pay more for less but have good company).
Payed the bill the next morning at a bank and took off direction Bolivia.. thought, it would take me tree days to do that, but actually not.. was cloudy when I started, then opened up and got sunny and then covered again with some raindrops.. shortly some hail grains at 4000m.a.s.l. but bearable to ride. you can drive around a mountain and it changes until the next mountain.. enjoyed the ride throught the Altiplano! (looks like in Bolivia around LaPaz :) I´ve seen some dogs along the road, unfortunately half of them were roadkill already :( the road is so flat and straight that people drive fast.
my idea was to stop in Juliaca, but when I made it there, I just lost half an hour in the traffic, to figure out that all places are fully booked :(( (and I thought, it must be cheaper and less busy than Puno).
So I was forced to drive on to Puno.. another half an hour, getting cold and dark and I was less forgiving to chaotic drivers after my issue.. honking (what I did a lot more on the way out ;) and light-signal and showing them my finger, if I had to bail out right, because they were passing a car and haven´t turned in again.. :-/ there are some horrible drivers around here!
I finally found a place for 10 bucks, where they helped me to park the bike in the foyer and had all the facilities I wanted :) ..just in time, because little later a storm came up with lots of rain and lightnings..
I was tough so tired of the long riding day (especially the extra part) that I just stayed in my room and watched TV :P was happy to have some chips and an energy bar from hiking before.. so I didn´t fall asleep with completely empty stomach ;)
then today in the morning I woke up early, had early breakfast in my room watchin Tom&Jerry ;) and was in notime at the Bolivian boarder.
Was super, super easy and relaxed to pass.. even if they were a busy with a bunch of cars (and the owners ;) that participate in some kinda Rally from Brazil around South America. Never got searched on this trip.. never bothered at a boarder. Just nice and friendly people who help you to get the paper work done ;)
then I asked for 60 days instead of 30 and got them!! :D that´s exactly what I need! (a month too short, three month too long). I´m happy I don´t have to go out after 30 days. When I was here five years ago, I had to pay some days extra, because they delayed so much with my one-year-visa. I wonder, if I could have asked for 60 days too then.. they told me, it´s just an issue if you go out and come in again (then I think it are 30 days only).
the last time I didn´t realize that Copacabana has a road going to Pero (thought it´s on an island ;) but the only ferry I´ll have to take it to get to LaPaz.
So the plan is.. tomorrow Isla del Sol and then straight to Cochabamba (2 days riding) and then being there for about three weeks.. eventually get my tattoo extended, but above all buying cloth and things for roleplaying back home ;) I´m looking forward to get cheap customized things from local artesania people!! :D
contacted my friends and I´m sure will have a great time in CBBA! :D then I have time to plan other things I want to do in Bolivia and eventually going back to LaPaz, taking another road passing the Yungas. But first throw myself into living a more local life than just doing the traveler-stuff ;)
I really love to be back in Bolivia!! I hike two hills here in Copacabana in the afternoon (the hight almost knocks me out ;) that I climbed five years ago, when I was here for a weekend.. yes, lot´s of memories came up and I enjoy to re-visit the place! :) ..took some pictures with my 10MP cam, after I never looked at the same pictures five years ago with my 5MPixel cam :P --> that´s why I don´t take too many pictures ;) I´ll be back before I look at them! ;D haha ;D
Bolivia seems still to be very cheap.. my hotel is 7USD a night and I´m sure you would find a cheaper one here.. just had dinner for 2 USD (but the Papaya-juice costed almost 1.5 USD ;) so it´s really strange how this differs, but I think, I can live here very cheap and getting cheap things/clothes from the market in CBBA and I will have a lot of money to buy Roleplay equipment, as I live a lot under my daily budget ;)
hmmmm.. is that it? probably.. had so many thoughts in the last days and was "I have to write that down" :) so that should do it..
oh.. someone said, the people in Bolivia are not THAT nice, because not too much used to tourism, but when I got here, I realized in my case, it just depends on a smile and a positive vibe and people treat you as good as in other places.. I´m happy to be back in Bolivia!!! :D passed all the difficulties from the last days and flying high above through the clouds again! :D