Puno is a mini-me of La Paz.
Set on the Peruvian shore of Lake Titikaka, it spreads along the water’s edge and cascades down the steep hillsides like a waterfall of cheap red brick and reinforced concrete. The buildings are all functional but unfinished in any decorative sense. The ground floors are often glazed while the upper floors are open to the elements.
We travelled 8km from Copacabana to the border between Bolivia and Peru. There is none of Chile’s fresh produce hysteria here. Crossing the border is a reasonably quick and utilitarian experience, if a little uncoordinated.
Different officers tell you to complete different forms and you too and fro between desks which cannot process you without the documents which minutes ago you were told were not necessary. Multiply this by twenty-two and the process of moving a truck and its human cargo 50m across the surface of the earth becomes a frustrating but ultimately amusing game, all undertaken with good nature and pigeon Spanglish.
Different officers tell you to complete different forms and you too and fro between desks which cannot process you without the documents which minutes ago you were told were not necessary. Multiply this by twenty-two and the process of moving a truck and its human cargo 50m across the surface of the earth becomes a frustrating but ultimately amusing game, all undertaken with good nature and pigeon Spanglish.
With the exception of Shay, who occupies a mysterious and enigmatic place in Cindy’s manifest.
If Alex was to be believed, he was part lone-gunman, part spy, part assassin and part jovial long distance traveller, often seen twenty yards from the group with his thousand yard stare concealed by his secret service sun glasses. He lacks the earpiece and the white wire curling from behind his ear but somehow you just know.
If Alex was to be believed, he was part lone-gunman, part spy, part assassin and part jovial long distance traveller, often seen twenty yards from the group with his thousand yard stare concealed by his secret service sun glasses. He lacks the earpiece and the white wire curling from behind his ear but somehow you just know.
As we bounced from Bolivian pillar to Peruvian post, Shay was nowhere to be seen. The Bolivian National Grid doesn’t possess sufficient voltage to make him talk, although the lights dimmed once of twice before he walked out of the anonymous border office, smiled wryly and said nothing of the brief but brutal exchange that saw him cross the border.
While I do have twenty-five types of currency on me at any time, my Bourne Identity moment was restricted to a grin from the immigration officer as he waved a piece of paper with my name on it - before I filled anything in.
Was he waiting for me with crocodile clips and a 12 volt battery?
No - bizarrely my name-sake had crossed the border twenty minutes before me.
While I do have twenty-five types of currency on me at any time, my Bourne Identity moment was restricted to a grin from the immigration officer as he waved a piece of paper with my name on it - before I filled anything in.
Was he waiting for me with crocodile clips and a 12 volt battery?
No - bizarrely my name-sake had crossed the border twenty minutes before me.
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