Our border crossing from Bolivia into Peru was uneventful for the most part. We did, however, accidentally overstay our visa by more than 2 weeks and had to pay a fine of 20Bs per day for the extra time. When we entered Bolivia last year via the border crossing at Lake Titikaka we were granted a 90 day visa – we had assumed that this time after crossing at Villazon we would be given another 90 days but instead had been given only 30.
Although the experience of traveling in Peru is generally not too different from Bolivia, it feels good to be back here. Logistics are a bit easier, roads are better and there is more infrastructure for tourism. We enjoyed great food in Bolivia (much to my surprise) but it's even better in Peru!
Our guidebooks don't describe much of interest between Puno and the Cusco region, both of which we visited last year and decided to skip this time, so we chose the city of Moquegua since it is about a day's drive from the border. The road itself from Tiwanaku to Moquegua was spectacular – we reached an altitude of 4,800m and ended the day at about 1,300m, passing a wide array of different climates and landscapes along the way.
Moquegua ended up being a nice surprise – a pretty town with some restored colonial architecture and a relaxing atmosphere. It reminded me of Sucre which is one of my favorite Bolivian cities. We ended up staying there for two nights (in the Hotel Pelegrino, S/80 / night with parking) in order to take a break from driving.
beautiful scenery on the pass over the Andes
Viewpoint bridge over Moquegua
Cyrelle doing some spins
Tiwanaku
