Great thread this, one of the few petrol stations you *can't* miss (one road in and one road out :-) ) and we have a GPS reference.

The poster who said getting fuel was easy in Potosi never mentioned an address or GPS ref. And it is actually possible to enter and leave Potosi without seeing any of the gas stations :-)

So, guys, can we have road names as well as GPS refs ? Some of us do not use GPS.

(Nor do we all have large gas tanks :-) I am a glutton for punishmentt. 17l is enough for anyone...... heck last time I did it with a 15l tank :-) )

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http://www.ytc1.co.uk

Any chance that someone who has been in Bolivia, or lives there can update this thread please
Thank you.....

ioverlander.com ha a specific category for Bolivian fuel stations and it can be updated by users. Not going to be perfect but more up to date than 2012.

Hard to keep a static reference current and even ioverlander struggles because your experience today with one staff member will be different to mine tomorrow with a difference member of staff

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Tony
Click here for Travel Photos & Travel Map

Have just spent the past 7-8 weeks in Bolivia, only once was I actually refused petrol. 50/50 as to weather you pay the local price or the gringo price (Which for reference is 3.80 Bolivianos to 8.60 Bolivianos).

I had a 7 litre australian jerry can (bidon) that in the cities i just walked up and asked for petrol, when they asked for the carnet number I said i don't have one, usually they either used their own, filled up my petrol at the end of someone elses or just made it work.

A few times when I did not have my bidon i bargained with varying degrees of success with the attendant over the price. If the fill up would have costed a local 25 Bolivianos, they want to charge you 60-70. Offer 30-40, it's easy money in their pocket if you dont need a factura. They usually grumble about the cameras etc etc.

Also you will find better luck at the older style petrol stations, the newer ones tend to have this same computer system which requires a carnet number and name and some of them are very much "Computer says no". On some occasions I have just blatantly asked the person behind me to buy an exact amount of petrol on top of their purchase, and all the attendants did was ask me to fill the bike off the forecourt. Other times they have gone and gotten a larger bidon for me to use.

I think the worse case is you pay the gringo rate if you need petrol. The only station I found difficult was the only one in Copacabana just before the border as they have the navy police (lol bolivian navy) hanging around, which keeps the attendants honest I guess.

Also If you have a choice of pumps go to the one that does not have a hundred locals standing around, easier for the attendant to let you off if they do not have an audience.

Two stations for sure would be the one at the entrance to the North Yungas Road, he is really friendly and there is no problems. Also where the road from Ohuro joins the paved road between Cochabamba and La Paz they don't give a ****.

The petrol situation in Bolivia is certainly annoying but not a big problem.

A couple of months ago, at one place heading south from La Paz: I had to pay the full price. Including a full receipt for the difference between the local price and the gringo price. Couldn't be bothered to d!ck about any more.

The attendant asked my name for the receipt: I said Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Che Guevara, Donald Trump, whatever, just hurry up... I now have the receipt as a souvenir: In the name of Donald Tramp.

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Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

I've just arrived in Bolivia from Paraguay and naively thought I could buy petrol everywhere as in Paraguay (I didn't do my homework!). I entered Bolivia at Mayor Infante Rivarola where there wasn't any petrol around, maybe I was unlucky, but at Ibibobo 50 km's further, just after the immigration office you can buy some from a friendly lady who had some out back. I had no frame of reference so obligingly paid her Bs 8 per liter, I'm sure you could get it cheaper if you bargained. Currently in Villamontes and paid local rates, but couldn't fill up an empty 2 ltr water bottle. Will try and get to Tarija tomorrow with only nine liters!

I rode south and western Bolivia in 2013. I think I paid the local rate twice. There was a post that claimed the international rate is only charged within 150 miles of the border, but I have no idea if that is really true.

A few times I was waved off, the attendants claiming they didn't have gas (which could easily be true), perhaps they didn't have the receipt book, didn't want to deal with the hassle of calculating or they didn't like foreigners. Take your pick. It was really nice to get into Peru where they were happy to sell gas and the price was better...

Ultimately, whatever you pay, it's worth the price of adventure.

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Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Yes i had some trouble buying petrol in Bolivia as well. Most of the time they wanted 3x the normal price from me so i startet walking to the petrol station with my jerry cans. Only forreighn vehicles have to pay the high price not walking people: http://motorradtouren-suedamerika.de..._bolivien-peru

I drive around in Bolivia with a german plate. Recently my plate is put into my backpack and since then I have no trouble filling up at petrol stations. If you memorize a number from a bolivien plate you see along the way that is from a similar bike, you can spell it out at the station. That is to fully perfect everything.

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