Quite literally that is. We took a night bus to Puno, arriving at 5am. We then boarded a 6am bus to Copcabana, Bolivia. We got maybe 5 minutes out of the bus terminal, before our bus came to a halt. The riots/strike/political protest were still going on, so the road was blocked for easily over a mile. Our bus driver asked us to quickly close our curtains as we obtained a police escort through the riot. IT was a very slow process because they had to remove the giant rocks that protesters put in the roads to block traffic. Nevertheless, we inched our way through the riot and I couldn't help but peek out of the small gap between the curtain in the window. It was a rather passive crowd for a riot; some folks were shouting into megaphones and there was even a marching band. Ooooo a parade! It's starting to sound like 4th of July! Small bombs were being set off (some uncomfortably close to our bus), filling the air with the sulfur smell and loud bangs that until now I've only associated with 4th of July and model rockets. Looks like we didn't even have to wait for nightfall for some independence day excitement! It took about an hour and a half to pass through the strike, but I was more fascinated with watching the sunrise over Lake Titicaca. Periodically the sound of broken glass, or the crowds of riot police would draw my attention. It made me a bit nervous to see so many people with guns and cracked windshields on all the police vehicles, but I never felt like my safety was in jeopardy. I'm not sure what the riot was entirely about - some say it was a strike by the teacher union, others say it was residents protesting a proposed dam. Regardless, I thought it was really cool to witness such fights for civil freedoms, especially on our independence day.
So while Marcia and I have sparklers and stupid red white and blue glow stick glasses to celebrate our national holiday, it's really not about fireworks and bbqs. It's about freedom. And that word has gained so much more weight for me since I began my travels. More on this later...I want to tell you more about how we spent our July 4th.
A few hours after successfully passing through the riots, we had to navigate our way through the Peruvian/Bolivian border crossing. This crossing was possibly the most confusing experience ever. We were awakened abruptly from our slumber with our driver shouting out directions for executing the border crossing. I picked up enough words to get the gist of what we had to do. We started in one building to get our Peru immigration papers and passports checked, and then moved on to another building to formerly exit Peru. We then had to walk for a few minutes near to the actual Peru/Bolivia border, where we entered a buliding to apply for our Bolivia visa. We then had to go to another building to photocopy our passport for the visa applicaiton, and then return to the other side of the previous building to formerly enter Bolivia. Marcia and I came out, each holding a random pile of paperwork, our passports, $135 poorer, and royally confused about what just happened. Whatever, we made it to Bolivia! We held hands as we official walked across the border to meet our bus, complete with a celebratory independence day "God Bless America".
When we arrived in Copacabana (a ridiculously small town), we flipped through our guide book to find a hostel to stay in. We got off the bus, gathered our bearings, and ventured to the infamous backpacker's splurge - Hostel La Capula. Complete with a heater (Bolivia is cold, folks!), clean towels, and views of Lake Titicaca, we kind of wished we could have stayed longer. We had barely been in our room for 5 minutes before Marcia was hanging up pictures of fireworks on the wall. I'm so glad that I'm not the only one that loves celebrating the 4th of July!
We spent the afternoon on a boat ride to Isla del Sol - a really cool island in Lake Titicaca that is home to a rich Incan history and a is spiritual center. We didn't wander too much of the island, rather we took it in over a hot cup of coffee. We perused the local handicraft and watched boats going in and out of the docks. As we waited for our water taxi back to Copacabana, Marcia skipped stones with a little girl, who looked really confused when Marcia would count how many skips she got in a half french, half american spanglish. They both were having a blast, regardless of the language barrier, and I could only sit back and smile at the grand time these two were sharing together. Meanwhile I sat with another little girl on the dock nearby, helping her count all the super rad rocks she found in the lake. Gah! Bolvian children are so adorable! As our taxi pulled away, the little girl was still skipping stones from the shore. For those of you who don't know - Lake Titicaca is one of the 7 earth chakras. I have invested a lot of spiritual significance in the place, and watching the sunset on our way back to Cocacabana was nothing short of amazing.
When we got back to our hostel, we broke open our red white and blue glow stick glasses, and pocketed 2 boxes of sparklers. We met two other travelers - both British- on the front patio of the hostel. We chatted with them for a hot second, and then I, forgetting they were British, asked them if they wanted to play with sparklers with us to celebrate America's independence day. Oops. Marcia watched in amusement/concern as the fact that I just asked two brits to celebrate the anniversary of a battle their country lost went way over my head. They kindly declined. The first and only fizzle of the night. HA
Marcia and I sat in adirondack chairs overlooking Lake Titicaca, singing freedom songs and plowing through all of our sparklers. We started up at the gorgeous night sky - milky way and all - telling fond memories of past 4th of July celebrations. We watched a lightening storm roll in across the lake; a childlike joy and freedom washed over me - there was nowhere else I would rather be. I fell asleep with Pete Seeger stuck in my head, reminiscing on this one of kind independence day. From the booms and bangs from the strike near Puno, to dipping my toes into Lake Titicaca, we surely must have made America proud. God Bless, Team. Stay tuned.
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