Hola, last time from Peru ... next time will be from Bolivia

Today another long cycling day, we have 145 kilometer to cycle to Copacabana. It is also the last day that we will be in Peru, and we will enter Bolivia. Nice to goto a new country, also sad that we are leaving Peru, it is a nice country with very nice people, and I am sure I want to go back to see more of the country. Maybe by bike again, or rent a car or motor-cycle. I think that Peru is also very suitable to travel by offroad bike... anyweay, we are going to the Peruvian border today. In the morning we had a small issue with one of the trucks, the accelerator was broken, so that had to be fixed before the trucks could hit the road to the border. After a small delay, we were suppost to leave at 7 in the morning because of the possible delays at customs, we left the hotel in Puno at 7:45. The road was good, wind was not bad, and was sometimes in the back or at on of the sides. Lunch was not arranged, because one of the trucks was broken. Around 80 kilometers there was a little village called Juli. We decided to stop there for some lunch. Before we reached the centre, we had to climb for about 50 meters. Which was nice because after lunch we only had to climb another 50 meters. At the plaza there was some kind of ceremony with the Peruvian flag. There were kids marching on the street, and a band was playing. We got a lot of attention from the locals. There was also another Dutchman by bike, fully packed with luggage, the way it should be... after some drinks, snacks and chocolade it was time to move on. At the border, at 135 kilometers from Puno, we didn´t get any problems. First we got a stamp on the exit paper, then I had to goto another building to get the exit stamp in the passport. After that we crossed the border with Bolivia, and had to fill in the immigration papers. No issues, no questions asked, only a smile and he tried to pronounce the name of all country´s where we were comming from. Also money was changed, from the Peruvian Sol to thr Bolivian Bolivianos. Always good to have some money in the pocket. Bolivia seems to be cheap, but if you run into some trouble, you can bye someting or get a taxi. The ride from the border to Copacobana was only 8 kilometers, so we arrived into the hotel quite in time. Hotel was at the Tikikakka Lake, nice views. After a warm shower, finally a shower that normally worked, we went downtown. Very nice restaurants, bars and places to have a drink in the sun. Dinner was in a small restaurant, and there was an old woman sitting in front of the restaurant that kindly invited us in. It took a while before we got our food, but it was nice. I had a typical Bolivian dish with beef, sausage, potatoes, onions and lots and lots of peppers. I asked them for poco picante, but it was pretty hot. Halfway I had to quit and started to pick the pieces of meat and sausage. 3 Fantas and lots of water later we left the restaurant and went back to the hotel. Two days to go and we are in La Paz, capital of Boliva, and higest capital of the world, we will see what that is like.

Adios Amigos !!