Often times on the race, I find myself in a moment of complete awe. There are days that I still can’t believe I’m actually on the race, that this is actually my life. All I can say is “only on the World Race”. There are other times that are so ridiculous that all we can say is “only on the World Race.” I had plenty of both these moments on our travel day (week) to Bolivia.
As we hugged and said many a tearful goodbye to our friends in Laredo, I was filled with a realization that I may never see these beautiful people again. I hope to someday, but it’s unlikely. Our goodbyes in Ecuador were not nearly as emotional seeing as we said goodbye every two or three days, so this one really hit home for me. I realized I am going to have to do this every four weeks. Only on the World Race.
We hopped on a bus with most of the Dub and headed to Lima. Once in Lima, we had 12 hours to waste until our next 17 hour bus ride to Arequipa. In that time, we definitely ate at Chili’s for Rikki’s birthday and got Starbucks (the joy was overflowing). Once on the best bus of life with leather seats and glorious leg rests, I passed out. When I woke up, the sun was rising over the ocean. I turned on some worship music and watched as we drove precariously close to the edge of the cliffs and how the water changed from a grey colour to bright, sparkly blue. I kept thinking about how I never thought I would ever be here, in the middle of nowhere Peru, admiring the intense beauty with 57 others that I only met four months ago. Only on the World Race.
We arrived in Arequipa and hopped directly on another bus to Puno, about an eight hour ride. Josh and I sat together and entertained ourselves by talking in British accents for at least three hours. God painted us a glorious sunset over the mountains and we soon fell asleep. We both woke up with about two hours left and talked to people around us. The two girls behind us are both on Josh’s team and were both feeling extremely sick from the altitude. We got the opportunity to pray with them and comfort them. I didn’t know what else to do so I sang to them and rubbed their backs. Then, one of them threw up out the window. I told her it was 50 points if she hit a taxi. Only on the World Race.
Once in Puno, we piled into our hostel and went to sleep. The next morning, 28 of us got up early and went on a tour of the floating islands on Lake Titicaca. The entire island is made of reeds and they have to put a new layer every 15 days. All of the people who lived there were dressed up in their traditional garb which consists of skirts and hats and vests of extremely bright colours. My kind of place. I even got to ride in a reed boat. Only on the World Race.
We woke up extremely early the next day and got on yet another bus to the Bolivian border. We had to walk across the border and get visa’s on the other side. I, of course, didn’t need a visa because I’m Canadian (hollaaaaa). As I sat around waiting for everyone else to get their visa’s, I got to talk to a cute, little french man who said that he lives in France now, but he lived in Quebec for 29 years. Then I talked to an Irish couple with Sean, who also didn’t need a visa. Then, Josh met a man named Daniel, who wasn’t a Christian, but was curious about it and he wanted an english bible to practice his english. It just so happened that no one else had their bible on them, and I love to give bibles away, so before I knew it, I was volunteering mine. He was the sweetest man and he was so grateful. As we got back on the bus, he came on with us until our next stop in Copacabana. He saw me and came over. At first I was a little nervous because I wanted to talk with him, but I don’t speak spanish. But luckily, my bus buddy, Emily speaks fluently. We were able to show him how to find verses and he told us a little bit of his testimony. As we got off the bus, we were both in awe of God’s intricate planning, and so excited that we got to be a part of that man’s testimony. Only on the World Race.
Once in Copacabana, we got on another bus (yes, another), and headed to La Paz. About half hour into the ride, the bus stopped and we were told to get off. We were at one of the shores of Lake Titicaca – which is so big that it spans between Peru and Bolivia – and we had to take a boat across. We watched as our bus drove onto a little wooden farey and we got in a little motorboat. We joked about how we were the only ones on the whole boat who didn’t get life jackets and laughed as we realized you could see the water through the floorboards of the sketchy little boat. Someone mentioned that it would probably be faster to build a bridge. Only on the World Race.
We got to La Paz and all piled into the coldest hostel of life. When we went to leave for dinner, they told us that the doors to our rooms can’t be locked, but they had a security guard, so we were not to worry. As much as this sketched us out, we decided food was more important. We prayed over our bags and headed out to dinner. Only on the World Race.
The next morning, we hiked a block and a half to the bus station with our big packs in extrememly high altitude (which equals no oxygen). We hopped on yet another bus to Cochabamba, another 8 hour ride. Once on the bus, we settled in for our final ride. As we were nearing Cochabomba, we were all entertained by Nathan as he danced around the bus and made jokes in different accents. Accents are clearly the most entertaining thing on bus rides, especially on your fifth day of travel. Only on the World Race.
Once in Cochabomba, all the teams dispersed and we went into the bus station. We didn’t have the address to our hostel, so we ended up sitting in a corner of the station for a good hour while we attempted to figure it out. Eventually, we found the address and piled into two taxis. Our bags wouldn’t fit in ours so they were put on the roof rack, not strapped down. We once again prayed for our bags. Only on the World Race.
We made it to our hostel, bags intact. We climbed stairs to figure out that our hostel’s advertisement was somewhat of a stretch. There are four beds crammed into a tiny room with a table and two chairs. There is no wifi. There is no kitchen. There is no way to do laundry. But our bathroom has toilet seats. AND hot water. Both of which equal happy World Racers. Welcome to Bolivia. It’s gonna be a good month.
