Entering Peru and Riding through Protests gets Sketchy.

According to information online, Peru had a border office in Tilali, but the Bolivians thought the Aduana (Customs) office got burned down and maybe I would need to go to Puno.  So I tried the 35km to Tilali first.  It was a rough road, that in normal times would see very little traffic.  There were a few small trucks and cars doing the same but it was still pretty quiet considering.

When I found the temporary(?) Tilali Migracion office in the town square, the young official running the office was standing alone, outside the front of the building.  There was no electricity and I should wait for now.  The rest of the square was quiet and looking normal, with everyone enjoying a warm sunny day.  Eventually, he gave up waiting for the electricity and we did the process manually, leaning against my motorcycle out in the light much of the time.  I then had to ride 2km down the road to the Sunat Office (aduana or customs).  No power there either and we again did it manually.  I was the only person for the whole time.

The day was slipping away from me.  Of course I really had no idea of a timetable but I did still have about 180km to go before I was confident of finding a hotel I would prefer to stay in.

The road was sealed most of the time but quite slow going.  I had no idea what to expect with any protesters or roadblocks.  I was seeing evidence, where rocks and mounds of dirt were covering half the road but no one around.  Soon though, I came to my first protesting group of around 10 people, with a chain across the road.  It went fine, they were just chatting and a few were having an afternoon glass of red.  They dropped the chain as I approached and gave me a friendly cheers to move me on my way.  Well that was a positive start.

I arrived at a town called Huancané.  The entrance was blocked by a mound of dirt, to channel the vehicles, and then rocks across that.  The four wheel drive in front stopped and a priest got out to talk with the protesters.  This was my chance too and I pulled over to join in.  He was finished when I arrived.  He was Irish and we chatted quickly.  He said, follow straight behind me, they probably won’t want to let you through but just stay close.  It worked and he was right, some of them did realise I was slipping through and didn’t like it, but didn’t really have the determination to address it, so I was past.

I followed the priest for a little while but he was stopping in the town, so I waved him thanks and continued on.  I followed my mapping app through the town but reached a more permanent roadblock.  Nobody manning it.  Things were starting to get a bit more serious.  I back tracked to find another way.  I was starting to see people were getting ready for some event or action tonight.  I passed a small local square with 20 people gathering and someone with a megaphone.  Down the hill another larger group were getting ready.  I tried to get my bearings and work out how to exit.  I came across another mound of dirt, this one was not too bad on a motorbike, I just couldn’t see what was on the other side.  I went over, and joined up with another road that had a couple of other cars.  They seemed to be pushing through another block that a young guy had been put in charge of.  He wasn’t sure what to do and was buckling under the pressure, we got through.

I moved on and had a pretty good run for a while, riding through some nice agricultural areas.  There was still some light and I did pretty well until Juliaca.  This is a big sprawling dusty city and hard work to get across.  There was no evidence of current problems but they had obviously had troubles, with evidence of detoured roadblocks, burnt out cars, and tyres littering the streets.  I didn’t know it at the time but 17 people had died here, when protesters tried to take over the cities airport.

It was dark by the time I got through Juliaca but I knew Puno was a better place to stay.  I was getting close.  The highway through to Puno had issues.  Protesters had strewn large rocks across the highway.  I’d be riding along in the dark and suddenly there are large rocks across the road.  Sometimes, somebody would wave a flashlight or torch to warn you.  I really don’t know what the intent was.  I think they were the protesters?

At one point I spotted a Peaje (road toll) up ahead.  This is going to be interesting, I have no Peru cash yet.  When I reached the booths, they were in darkness and just a burnt out shell.  That solves that.  Towards the end, I followed a line of trucks into the outskirts of Puno.  They were going very slowly but my instincts told me to just back off and go their pace.  It turned out, there were more rocks across the highway.  At one point, I rounded a corner and saw a poor fellow in a 4WD changing his front wheel after he hit a rock (he was safe at least).

By 8pm, I was settled in my nice hotel by Lake Titicaca and was glad to be there.  The next day I went into town to finalise my Peru entry admin.  I finished off my Migracion paperwork, bought 60 days of SOAT from La Positiva (3rd party vehicle insurance) and got some local cash.  Puno was normal and everyone was going about their day.  I had a nice lunch out and enjoyed my day.  Such a country of contrasts so far.