I was fed up with Peru, the trash, the rain, the altitude but I arrived in Cusco or Cuzco if you prefer, both spellings apply. America was being taken care of, her ailment was benign, and I would get her back on the morning of departure. I was a pedestrian again, and what city would be better than Cusco to roam the streets! The hotel was in the historical center, a gridded, very clean area built in the 13th century to be the capital of the Inca empire. Of course it was taken over by the Spaniards who plundered and despoiled every Inca palaces before they build their own cathedrals and imposing churches along the original central square, now called the Plaza de Armas. At night, the lights rendered the whole city magnificent. As I walked around I stumbled upon the restaurant I was recommended, La Morena, and I had the most memorable meal of the past 2 months, very chic, cocktail made on a rolling charriot at your table, haute cuisine and reasonable pricing, dollars go a long way in South America, everything was great in the world again…

Before dawn, I was picked up for my Machu Picchu experience. A bus ride, a train ride now in daylight, great vistas following a raging river on its way to the Amazon. I was a tourist that day, clicking photos like a madman, everything was fantastic, the vertiginous cliffs above, the incredibly green mountains, pure enjoyment… Another van ride to the famed site and we’re split in smaller groups. I’m in a group of seven, 2 lovebirds from Florida, another older couple from, I can’t remember, and 2 young Japanese guys, and we’re in the English speaking tour. Well, Richard, the tour guide was very personable, he’s from Cusco and his english is approximative, like a seven years old with a terrible accent, but he’s funny and repeats OK? OK? At the end of his every phrases. It’s fine with me, seeing the well preserved ruins with my own eyes is enough to put me in a delirious state of awe. Incredible! Fantastic! Click click goes the phone until I ran out of battery. Isn’t it curious how men react in front of pure beauty? We want to possess it, so we take pictures, now we own that beauty in our pockets, when we’re moved to tears and emotion from some music playing in the background, we Shazam it and store it in our phones, when we see beautiful women, well… we makes statues out of them, what did you think I was gonna say?

The next day I decided to take a tour of the city, open air double decker bus style. It was very enjoyable, more photos in the box, more memories to go back to later. I was the only non Peruvian in the group and everybody wanted a selfie… with me! I was the oddity on board of course, but it was nice, I found them all pleasant and personable, except behind the wheel of course! We were participants in a Quechuan Shaman ceremony and were all blessed and flagellated with coca tree branches, this will bring us love money and wealth, well I’m glad I took this tour! So to sum it up, Cuzco and Machu Picchu are the only 2 places worth going to in Peru, in my opinion. You do whatever you want. I guess I’ll have to come back with the lovely wife some day, she’ll love it, and will tick off a bit out of the legendary bucket list. But we’ll fly in and out of course.

I was now on my quest to reach another country, Bolivia. Two days of riding away, still high up in the Andes, still a lot of clouds, still raining. By now I’m acclimated to ride in the rain, no worries, I just have to go slower, I’m well equipped with my yellow suit, why was I complaining so much about, I’ve lost the wimpy stage, bring it on! I spend a night in
Puno, right on the main square, I was the only guest in this stately yet a bit dilapidated hotel, had a great long hot shower to thaw and rejoiced at the idea of leaving this country the next day. I was all set to make a little detour upon the recommandation of a friend, to spend a day and smell the roses as he put it, in Copacobana, Bolivia, on the shores of lake Peepeecaca, uh no, Titicaca. Didn’t know there was another Copacobana besides the Barry Manilow song and the famed beach in Rio de Janeiro, the end game of The Trip. Actually our lady of Copacobana is the patron saint of Bolivia, go figure! So on America I go and arrive at the border… and it was closed! The protesters in Peru, didn’t see any of them on my journey, had destroyed all government offices at this border town. The immigration office, the customs office burned down to the ground, the barrier between the 2 countries locked up, chained up actually, no way to pass thru it, besides the pedestrians going back and forth without any interference… So no Copacobana for me, until the one in Brazil! In the southern region of Peru, the roads were littered with the remnants of barricades, I think we are at the end of the protests for the barricades have all been half cleared. Funny, they let only one side of the road open, they just pushed the rocks, trees, debris, burned vehicle carcasses, whatever they used to blockade the roads, to one side. It became a nuisance to have to slow down every mile or so to hop over the makeshift barriers or to let the opposite side go first, too narrow to both cross at the same time. But I reached Bolivia at a busy frontier post and it was an easy and fast crossing. For some unknown reason, the officials let me go first, passing in front of hundred of truckers with their documents in hand, waiting in line impatiently. I guess they saw me with my moto boots and my Harley Jacket, what? It’s warm, and thought I would be an easier customer. I used my French passport and didn’t pay the 160 dollars my American passport would have obligated me to pay, and I was in. Yay! My tenth country so far!

I made it all the way to the capital, La Paz, that day. Approaching the suburbs, very high in the sky, the traffic was ridiculous, hundred of collectivos, those minibuses full to the hilt, all vying for the same spots at the same time, made it very difficult to advance. La Paz is built in a canyon, and lies between 10,650 and 13,250 feet (3,250 and 4,100 metres) above sea level, is the world’s highest national capital I learned in my wikipedias musings. I finally reached a freeway leading down to the bottom of this mountain and where it looked like there was a brightly lit downtown. I was right, and this was a very modern, clean and busy city center. It was nighttime by now and I was looking for a hotel, couldn’t find any just driving by, lots of skyscrapers but none of them offering lodging. Frustrated, at a traffic light, I asked a fellow motorist if he knew of a hotel nearby. He helped and directed me to this very nice hotel, all rooms are suites with a fully equipped kitchen, a living room, the works then! They offered secure parking for the night and a welcome drink, that closed the deal! 80 American dollars, that’s steep, but I didn’t care, give me give me, they have a restaurant on site with a great salad bar buffet and I jumped on it voraciously!

The included breakfast buffet was on until 10am, a decent hour, I came down at 9:55 and had a relaxed morning. I left La Paz at 1pm and it took me a good hour and a half to leave the city. Going up and up over the surrounding mountains, that was so steep! Beautiful views of the city down below though, I played photographer again. And then it was a clean shot to Uyuni, very flat, very straight, freeways (or their iterations) are free to motorcycles, wonderful! Bolivia seems more « ethnic » with most women wearing traditional Indian clothing of bright coloring and their funny little bowler hats. I pass small villages, all built with orangey brick colored bricks, and wonder what do these people live of? It is very rural and I see a lof of farm animals along the way, cows, goats, pigs… But between villages, it’s a wasteland, not a lot of arable land, rocky, sandy landscapes. I stopped for the night only 200 kilometers away from Uyuni, in the small town of Chalapata. There was no hotel in town, but a lone « residencial » that passed for one. A small dumpy room and shared bathroom I didn’t used, only for number one if you know what I mean, but I happily decreased my spending average, I paid $12.24 for that room! A chicken dinner next door, where I was of course the center of attention being the only pale customer, rounded up the day and I crashed like a fatigued trucker.

I had planned to visit the famed salt flats of Uyuni, but even though I could see the saltars from the highway, there was no road leading up to the flats… I bravely took America off the pavement and turned right into the pampa, or bushy desert, and drove for half an hour. Still so far away, the white salt was blinding in the distance and seemed still unreachable. The ground became more technical as we say in the off-road jargon, people had warned me that because of the recent rains, it would be unwise to drive in the wet salt, that may damage your bike they said… So I took long distance photos from my vantage point in the nowhere and returned to the asphalt. On the way, a herd of wild Alpacas, they’re delicious, was eyeing me surreptitiously, that was a cool encounter and a nice video shot. And on to the town of Uyuni I went for a nice lunch in a clean restaurant, the best in town! I recharged my phone while eating, my bike cigarette lighter plug does not work anymore, again! Things are falling apart, my Bluetooth speakers ceased functioning a couple days ago, no more music while riding, oh no!!! So I’m talking to myself more and more!

I decided to press on, I’ve still got a few hours of daylight, let’s run for the next country, Paraguay! Surprisingly, the scenery changed dramatically after Uyuni, incredible rock formations, red colored earth and mountains, curvy road full of twisties like we like. It’s a real pleasure to cross this enchanting landscape, very Sedona like, on a majestic grander scale of course. I’m in awe and force myself to stop a few times to capture this wild canvas. At one point, the pavement disappeared deep in a canyon, red walls towering above, magical sight, I suspect road engineers decided to let this area wild so that people would be obligated to taste in that country beauty. And this went on for the remaining kilometers to the town of Tupiza where I found a great hotel, well better than last night, and enjoyed a restful stay until now, I have to check out, right now, but I’m all caught up! See you in a few days then, that’s a date!