We arrived in Bolivia at the 26th of June 2023. We used the Kasani Border crossing, situated on the shores of Lago Titicaca. So far, this was by far our easiest and quickest border crossing during our travels in central- and south America.
Our first stop was Copacabana. Yes, there is a Copacabana in Bolivia, and it even has a beach. At an altitude of 3840masl. It was a nice place to rest and prepare to travel the rest of Bolivia.
Our travels in Bolivia brought us to La Paz, the Death Road (although it is no longer in use as a main road), down into the Amazonas basin to Trinidad. After that we drove clockwise to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Sucre, then to Cochabamba and after that in a loop along Oruro (not interesting) to Potosi, the cerro Rico and silver mines, and after that of course the Salar de Uyuni and the Laguna route to Chile. Especially the Lagunas route was a challenge because of the altitude (between 3700 and 5000 masl) and low temperatures (freezing at night) and strong winds during the day (7bft). But it also was a highlight in our travelling.
Fuel
Fuel in Bolivia is produced locally, and For Bolivians this has the benefit that they can buy fuel at the price it costs to produce it. For foreigners they ask an international price and to make sure this goes all right they installed an elaborate computer system with cameras all around. The result is that sometimes the fuel stations refuse foreigners because
- the system does not work
- they don’t know how to use it
- they can’t be bothered
To work around it, it is sometimes possible to get a jerrycan (20liters) at the local price. But then you have to fill your tank from the jerry. Sometimes you are even able to fill the fuel tank directly at local price, or at an reduced price somewhere in between. I guess at that moment the cameras really aren’t working. There is no strict rule for it. iIt depends on the person, time of day, etc.
Sometimes there isn’t any fuel at all. Then you have the choice of waiting or try your luck at another station. We started working at refuelling when the tank was half empty.
It is also said that the fuel quality in Bolivia is really bad compared to the surrounding countries but we did not have any issues, although we added anti gelling for diesel.
