Copacabana: Police Party and Procession

We were relieved and happy to be in Copacabana after the border crossing episode. It’s quite an interesting town with a hippy traveller vibe. Loads of travelling artesian Argentineans work in the restaurants sell their jewellery or just play bongos on the street.
After a nice meal and wine we headed back to the hostel exhausted but along the way we came across a concert which turned out to be for the police. It was the day of the virgin of Copacabana who is also the patron of the police. We stood watching the music and dangerous display of fireworks spaying the crowd but were soon in a circle dancing with Bolivian men. A hot alcohol called Te con Te was being passed around as well as bottles of a mystery liquor similar to aguadiente. Every 2 minutes we were yelling salud! Then Baile! Baile! Sante! Sante! These guys were completely insane and I couldn’t stop laughing. More alcohol was being passed as well as bags of coca leaves. In between the bands the heads of police did little skits which were hilarious. Later on men came with trays of chicken sandwiches and all of these treats were free. We danced until 1:00am then the grand finale of fireworks was set off. It was a completely random first night in Bolivia.
Our first morning didn’t let down either. We went to find the procession and discovered all the drunken men we were partying with last night were police officers. As they marched past us they yelled out, “Sasha! Sasha!” For some reason they only remembered her name. We followed the procession to the lake where the virgin was being put on a boat and people were getting on other boats to follow her around Lake Titicaca. Not wanting to miss an opportunity I told our new police friends I wanted to get on a boat as well so we boarded one yelling, “Follow that virgin!” We were the only tourists in the boat procession and some of the only few who weren’t police aboard. I just kept thinking back to the guy who told me that Copacabana wasn’t that great. It just goes to show everyone can have a completely different experience in the same place. So if you are sent on going somewhere listen to yourself not other people’s opinions and you may have an amazing crazy time.