With only five days left on our tourist visas it was time to leave the much loved Bolivia. So we made a bee line north following our plan to spend a few days in Brazil. After leaving the pampas tour we needed gas and ended up with our easiest most enjoyable fuel up yet so we gave the attendant some of Sarah's cookies and then headed north. The road was outrageously bad for a while but eventually turned into a wide basically smooth red gravel surface. There seemed to be big ranches hidden down long drive ways on either side of the good road and after passing through a town called Australia we were beginning to wonder who owned these vast farms that didn't seem at all Bolivian. Sadly though we witnessed a lot of deforestation evident in the charred black tree trunks remaining in some fields, while others were still totally black and smouldering after the destructive fires had swept through.
The red road seemed to stretch endlessly and the further we drove the more the fine dust penetrated every crack and gap in the Dodges seals leaving us with a fine layering over everything in the car... months later and its still emerging from unseen gaps. We whiled away the miles eating Sarah's baking and scoffing the popcorn, it was during this time that we decided we really needed to get this trip moving. Rather than go to Brazil where we would always be pushed for time, we would cut east directly into Peru at a northern crossing shown on our map. So we spent the night camping on a recently bulldozed fire break in the red dust and hit the road again in the morning.
That day after a few bridgeless river crossings that required us to drive aboard a barge we made it to the tax free town of Cobija, which lies on the border between Bolivia and Brazil. Hoping for an electronic bargain we looked at a few shops but found the Nikon camera we have been eying was comparatively expensive and they had a strange array of lenses, none of the ones we wanted. Though we picked up another hard-drive and got a ripper bargain on some new Havanas for me at only $3.40! With the shopping done and a good nights sleep we just needed fuel before making our way to Peru easy right - wrong.
As the Bolivian fuel is so heavily subsidised and therefore much cheaper than in Brazil (who lies just across the river), it's hard for even the locals to get fuel. So to prevent fuel smuggling in Cobija fully uniformed army soilders run the gas stations. Furthermore it is so controlled every local holds an official card which states how much fuel they are allowed per fill and in what time period complete with a limit on the total quantity of litres per year. So as you can imagine when we pulled into the gas station Will was surrounded by a group of soliders all questioning why we wanted fuel, where we were from and where we were going. After a lot of document showing and displaying of our route on a map a phone call was made to the Captain who said we needed to come down to the main barracks for special approval. At this point Will jumped on the back of an army motorbike clutching all our paperwork including passports and our hand marked map in one hand and was riden across town to explain our situation to the Captain. Meanwhile leaving me with the Dodge at the gas station to hope he hadn't been kidnapped. An hour later he finally returned amazingly with the paper work we needed to get the 50L of fuel and even at the local price! The paper work got checked a few times but they fuelled us up and we were soon on our way. If only we had told the army guys of our plan to drive to Peru they might have saved us a whole lot of time...
So we followed ever faithful google maps over some questionable 'roads' - clearly only dry season roads - on route to the border. On the way we passed three different police checks and only one officer questioned the possibility of our border crossing. We should have realised that this wasn't going to be a large border and we didn't have the necessary Bolivian exit stamp. But after crossing into Peru over a precarious log bridge we meet the Peruvian police who checked our passports and promised we could get our entry stamp and car papers in the next big town 140km away. Pleased with this news the road soon joined the interoceanic highway and we pushed on over the crazy 72 speed bumps that ensued. Eventually arriving in Puerto Maldonado in the dark with plans to see immigration in the morning.
Our first night in Peru was welcoming, we found a nice little place to stay with secure parking and had a quality dinner with real lemonade. I can't say the same for the immigration office the next morning though. They monotonly informed us that we were in Peru illegally and that we must return to Bolivia immediately. He said the only way to enter Peru this far north was to leave Bolivia then enter Brazil for 120km and then finally enter Peru. This news was a hard blow to take, we would have to back track some 300km all the way to Cobija then drive another 342km just to get back to where we were sitting now. Why did the police at the borders let us pass and why did we think this would work out given the size of the crossing arggghhhhhh.
So without delay we crossed the 72 speed bumps again, speed past the police checks without stopping (even when asked) and landed back in Bolivia. We then drove around in circles a few times between Bolivia and Brazil looking for both immigrations which were logic defyingly hard to find. So much so we had a police officer accompany us to the Bolivian one. In Brazil we had no hope of understanding anyone as the language was now Portuguese. Luckily the immigration guy spoke english and at the fuel station we smiled lots and managed to get a free juice and the windows washed! Now that was something you don't get in Bolivia. As darkness approached we were tired and frustrated by this big waste of time, but pressed on for the border planning to car camp right outside the office. It was 10km out of the border town Inapari that our luck you might say changed...
A couple in a red hatch waved us down for help and we discovered that they had a bad oil leak and were looking for a tow. We established this with many hand gestures and in various languages before offering to tow them home. In return they amazingly offered to take us in for the night in their spare room. So after a pretty rough tow for the inexperienced towee we made it to Victoram's and Camilla's house. The detour was now becoming very enjoyable as they then insisted on taking us out for dinner. After which we spent the rest of the evening having a fun though slow google translate conversation. We were Facebook friends in seconds and in online photos together in minutes. In the morning Victoram's and Camilla's generosity continued as we awoke to a huge array of breakfast delights, all for us insisted Camilla saying she didn't eat in the morning, wow. By 9am we had said our thank you's and good byes and as always said that they will always have a home to visit if they ever come to NZ.
A couple in a red hatch waved us down for help and we discovered that they had a bad oil leak and were looking for a tow. We established this with many hand gestures and in various languages before offering to tow them home. In return they amazingly offered to take us in for the night in their spare room. So after a pretty rough tow for the inexperienced towee we made it to Victoram's and Camilla's house. The detour was now becoming very enjoyable as they then insisted on taking us out for dinner. After which we spent the rest of the evening having a fun though slow google translate conversation. We were Facebook friends in seconds and in online photos together in minutes. In the morning Victoram's and Camilla's generosity continued as we awoke to a huge array of breakfast delights, all for us insisted Camilla saying she didn't eat in the morning, wow. By 9am we had said our thank you's and good byes and as always said that they will always have a home to visit if they ever come to NZ.
Two hours later we were finally legally into Peru so we drove all day to make up for lost time heading for Cusco (and yes over the 72 plus speed bumps one last time). Not quite in Cusco and wickedly tired that night we pulled off the road basically out of sight in the region of Ocongate and slept in the car. We both had terrible sleeps due to the sudden altitude gain of nearly 4200m and left early in the morning. A few weeks later we learnt that we had slept very very close to where some American overlanders had also pulled off the road to camp and after a major misunderstanding had been attacked by a whole village resulting in there car almost being destroyed and them lucky to be alive, see http://adventureamericas.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/nightmare-in-peru/. It's certainly made us think twice about free camping though to date we have had no problems with anyone, the large majority of people we have met have been very friendly and keen to help, we have also had nothing stolen. We certainly hope it stays that way but also believe we conduct ourselves as safely as we can and the Dodges alarm, steering wheel lock and tinted windows seem to help.
By 7am we pulled into the surprisingly chic city of Cusco only two days late. Craving a good breakfast we checked out the guide book recommendations but they were closed so we gave in for the second time on this trip and had McDonald's for brekkie mmmmmm. Welcome to Peru!
Rochelle & Will
By 7am we pulled into the surprisingly chic city of Cusco only two days late. Craving a good breakfast we checked out the guide book recommendations but they were closed so we gave in for the second time on this trip and had McDonald's for brekkie mmmmmm. Welcome to Peru!
Rochelle & Will