Once back from our 'trek' we ended up waiting another ten days for our package to arrive.
Whilst Cusco is probably one of the best places we could've been stuck, it was still very frustrating sitting around, all the while spending precious money and time.
But of course without Betty being fully-functioning, there is no trip at all, so we sucked it up and waited it out. She got a lot of love and care while waiting for the brake plate to arrive; by the time we left Cusco she had had a new rear tyre, new wheel bearing, new plugs, new kickstart spring, new gearbox oil, new engine oil, as well as the carb being stripped, the wheel re-aligned and a good old wash!
If there's one thing being off the bike for two weeks did do for us, it was make us even more grateful for the trip that we were doing and make us even more excited than normal to reach our next destination.
We'd now been in Peru for a month, and as wonderful as it had been we were ready for a new country and a new experience.
We whooped and cheered as we left the city; the bike was running beautifully and the feeling of being back on the bike was just wonderful. We had our freedom back and couldn't wait to explore some more.
Upon leaving Cusco we actually ended up doing our second biggest day to date mileage-wise, covering 390km in just six and a bit hours (which for us is pretty unheard of).
The ride to Puno wasn't the most exciting, but the road quality was good and despite being pretty straight and flat, the scenery up on the plains was still rather wonderful. Plus seeing flocks of flamingos standing on one leg in the mountain rivers was quite special!
Sadly we also witnessed the aftermath of what happens when a small car meets a big truck on a blind bend. The body, blood and flat car were an extremely sobering scene, that made us both re-evaluate how lucky we are to be doing something we love so much, and be even more careful on these winding roads. The awful news that one of our friends from New Zealand had died in a car accident that same evening helped to solidify both of these feelings, and gave us a new sense of really appreciating every moment, because even the best of us has no idea what is going to happen next.
We spent the night in Puno, which being a Sunday had numerous processions of singing dancing Peruvians which, while lovely to look at, didn't make navigating the city too easy!
We didn't explore much, just food and rest, but from what we saw and what we'd heard Puno doesn't offer too much aside from being a jumping off point for the indigenous reed islands on Lake Titicaca. Being so ready for change, we'd decided to save visiting the lake for when we were on the Bolivian side.
Puno to the border at Yungayo was again very flat but the scenery was wonderful and very different to most of what we'd seen in Peru. Most of the journey took us right along side the vast lake, through endless farmland hemmed in by rolling hills.
The border crossing itself from Yungayo (Peru) to Copacabana (Bolivia) was hands down the easiest of the twelve we've done so far. The Peruvian side literally took five minutes, one for getting passports stamped and four for cancelling our import permit. The Bolivian side was again not even a minute for getting stamped in, and about fifteen sorting out the import permit with a very friendly man who was teaching himself English with a handheld translator machine (so it probably would have been even quicker were he not inquiring as to the right word or phrase for certain things, but he was absolutely charming and we didn't mind at all).
And there we had it - within half an hour we were in Bolivia! We'd heard that for once the border town of Copacabana was actually really lovely and worth stopping at, so ten minutes after the border our day's riding was done. We found a basic but wonderfully located hotel and for $20 got a room with a panoramic view of Lake Titicaca, and spent the afternoon in a rooftop bar soaking in the fierce but delicious sunshine while drinking distinctly average Bolivian beer.
What we'd heard was right - while certainly very touristy the little town was really lovely and very charming. However we'd also been told that it is very much a one-off in Bolivia and not to expect anything like it elsewhere, so we tried to enjoy it for what it was and enjoy our traveller comforts while we could!
We couldn't stay at Copacabana without a visit to the nearby Isla del Sol - a supposedly beautiful island made up of several traditional communities - so we booked a boat trip. It took two hours to get there on our little 'speed boat' and we spent the next five hours exploring and walking from one end to the other. This was another activity that exceeded our expectations - the island was truly breathtaking and so varied in its landscapes- it went from looking like Mars, to the Australian bush, to a prehistoric place where you'd expect dinosaurs to be roaming. But there was a lot of construction going on and little shops popping up everywhere - I just hope too much tourism doesn't ruin this special place over the coming years.
Back on land we sampled some delicious local trout fresh from the lake, and started to make a plan for the rest of Bolivia - weighing up whether it was worth the detour to visit the famous 'Death Road', or head through La Paz towards the South. We still haven't made up our mind!