After Joao survived the WMDR (Most Dangerous Road), it was time to move on!
On our way to Peru, we took the bus from La Paz to Copacabana, which would be our last stop in Bolivia.
Copacabana is set on the shores of the Titicaca Lake. Next to it there is a smaller lake called Wiñaymarka and both are connected by a small strait of water called Strait of Tiquina. The trip was a fun ride because we had to cross this strait in a ferry: we in one boat and the bus in another one. Everybody out of the bus and into a tiny boat! The bus itself rode a different boat – looked more like a raft actually and it was much slower.
On our way to Peru, we took the bus from La Paz to Copacabana, which would be our last stop in Bolivia.
Copacabana is set on the shores of the Titicaca Lake. Next to it there is a smaller lake called Wiñaymarka and both are connected by a small strait of water called Strait of Tiquina. The trip was a fun ride because we had to cross this strait in a ferry: we in one boat and the bus in another one. Everybody out of the bus and into a tiny boat! The bus itself rode a different boat – looked more like a raft actually and it was much slower.
We safely reached the other side of the river on the passengers’ boat and had to wait for the bus to arrive. It was a fun sight, all buses riding different boats and we were observing the race! We read later on that there was a proposal to build a bridge there which was refused by the locals – after all, the ferries’ business is what it is generating their income!
But our trip had also a particular event, both interesting and disturbing. On our bus we were surrounded by school kids with their teachers, which we figured they were returning from a school field trip to La Paz. First, the kids were painting the faces of some incautious colleagues that were asleep. They used anything they had in hand: the typical pen or toothpaste. The weird part was still about to come. After re-entering the bus after the ferry trip, the driver realised that two male teachers/supervisors were missing. The kids started to shouting that they were probably in the 'bodega' (bar). When they finally made their way to the bus, we've realised that the kids were right because the two teachers were pretty much wasted! After the next first kilometres they were already half-asleep trying to process all the beer they had drunk. It was when the kids started to paint their faces, using this time ketchup. The teachers eventually woke up and started to mumble typical drunk stuff, with their faces all painted and dirty. We were both amazed and shocked. Everyone was laughing at them, including some other female teachers! We wonder what is the impact on the kids of having such examples, but hey, maybe it is a cultural thing.