Day 38- Peru, Bolivia and the Loophole

So apparently tourists (Bret and Niki) cannot buy a car in Chile and drive it into Peru. We got to the border and they turned us away. So we decided to drive over to the Bolivian border, since they didn’t have the same restrictions. We got in! Triumph #1, don’t tell our mothers, but we had to drive at night AND sleep in the car that night and it was freezing! 

 This was the view we saw when we awoke!

So we went into La Paz, Bolivia, stayed the night filled the car up, got cash, found the church and some food. 

Its a big city, and this is only a small view...

Before I forget, we had not planned on going into Bolivia, so we didn’t plan for the $270 visa fee, (maybe we should have stayed longer in Bolivia?) We were about $30 USD short. So we walked around trying to sell some uneeded clothes, namely shoes, yes Bret and Niki sold shoes in order to gain entrance to Bolivia. Long story short we asked about 50 people until we were led to the right group where they were very interested. Even though they haggled us down $5 for my Asics we made it. The only problem we had after that was to pay the toll to get to La Paz (the roads are in terrible shape, I kept wondering why we were paying to drive on such terrible roads, I would hate to see the roads otherwise!). The gateman let us by and we went to get cash, there was however no ATM’s. So we had to sell some juice to a thirsty looking couple, and returned to the toll guy. Then we prayed that we would have enough gas to reach La Paz. None of the gas stations accept credit cards, its not even an option, not until we got into the very downtown part of La Paz. The Lord was definitely watching out for us!

We went to church and were impressed that they had a piano player (male no less). We enjoyed the meetings, surprised that they building had Wifi (so we took advantage of that!), and then planned out our trip to Peru. We were both nervous that they weren’t going to let us into Peru, but honestly it was simple and easy, way easier than at the Chile/Bolivia border. We were both extremely pleased to get into Peru. The roads here have speed bumps, (speed reducers) at nearly every 5 km, so that added at least an hour to the travel time. 

We have had the awesome chance to see some Nephite ruins, see the timeline, that totally corresponds with Book of Mormon dates!

The top says that "the capital of the Tihuanaku empire, in its clasical period constituted a densely populated centalized state. Consisting of a select group of superior artisians and agriculturists who created a diverse products resulting from diferent ecological levels."

So the chronology says that this particular civilization started in 1580 B.C. hmmm interesting- lasted until 1200 A.D.

Here is a view from the ground up to the restored parts of the pyramid, they aren't even 1/4 done, but it still looks cool. There was a pool in the very top where they would watch constellations from the reflection, pretty ingenious! This part represented to them the life before earth.

This is a view of the main temple, it may have been very similar to King Solomon's temple, as the Elders told us at church before we left... I will let you decide... it has an outer courtyard, a main entrance gate and as one guide told us, represented man's time on earth. 

A third underground temple, represented the afterlife, I didn't get a photo of that...sorry!

Here is another view of the Earth temple, with modernish steps, you can at least tell the size of the walls here.

We have driven around the whole southern coast of Lake Titicaca (120 ish Km) to get to Puna, Peru…although not highly recommended, provides us with a nice stopping place before going into Cuzco manana! We are in Peru, Triumph #2!

Our view westward going towards Puna, Peru from Bolvia.