Fuel costing 3X more in Bolivia for foreign registered plates
 

For those who haven't already heard, the Bolivian government is trying to charge foreign plated vehicles 3 times the cost for their (shite) fuel.
I had heard this law was put into effect as of December 1st, 2011. Through Bolivia, I only paid the bs foreigner price once. This does not seem to be an issue with the fuel station attendants as we had attendants telling us that there were cameras around. I looked up, and sure enough, there they were. I was able to get fuel on several occasions in small towns that had no cameras (for example, in Colchani, 20 k's north of Uyuni near the entrance to the salar) and at other times, I was in medium sized cities where all the stations had cameras and none of them were allowed to sell to foreign vehicles. So I was forced to buy some even worse fuel from the side yard of someone's garage. Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know.

so what's the cost per gal/liter before vs 3x?

It was something like 3.47 Bolivianos per liter normal, 8.6 - 8.8 for foreigners. I think thats around $1.25 US per liter. If the fuel was at least decent, then it wouldn't be so bad. But damn 85 octane leaded crap... not cool. Not to mention the hassle when you're in a town and no station will sell to you.

simple answer is, boycott bolivia. it's not like many people NEED to go there...

What??????That is a sad comment.:funmeterno:

what ???
 

what ?? are you crazy ?? if you havnt been to Bolivia you missed one of the most exciting countries on this planet, and you havnt seen South America. pls dont miss out on this, just because of a law that hardly anybody enforces anyway.

I boycott two other countries, but this is another story ...

saludos de salta
mika

B.S law is NOT B.S
 

Dude. Consider the facts.

The Bolivian government obviously subsides the fuel cost for it's some odd million inhabitants. The populace pays it's taxes, and receives this benefit. WE, the tourists/travelers, do not pay said taxes and do NOT receive this benefit. It's hardly a difficult scenario to understand.

This law was in affect, as far as I know, several months prior to Dec, 1st, 2011. While I was there in November '11, my friends were there in October '11, and others a few months earlier in the same year, the same B.S. was going on.

You should consider yourself lucky to have found fuel in Colchani, as when I passed there, there was no fuel and I was able to siphon from the gas tank of my Bolivian friend/guide's Land Cruiser.

Further more, in nearly all towns, if you speak Spanish, you can find a gas station that sells tourists fuel, though you will indeed pay the tourist price. For example, in Oruro, the only gas station that will sell a foreigner gas (as far as I know) is named "Cinco Esquinas" (Five Corners).

Also, I never had a single issue with the fuel on Bolivia and my '07 DR650 consistently returned it's trip average of 40-42mpg, regardless of where I purchased the fuel. So, maybe you had bad luck with the "crap 85 octane leaded fuel" as I didn't mind it.

The foreigner fuel price is only 2.5 times the standard Bolivian National Price. Not 3 times.

Bolivia KICKS ASS.

Bolivia is an amazing country and I can't wait to go back! It was the first country I travelled to 12 years ago and to now have the opportunity to ride it is a dream!

But I'm glad you've given us the information


Cheers

Louise

" normal is a failure of potential"

Wow, sad to read that, Bolivia is one of our major points of interest for our upcoming trip, BTW the fuel is cheaper than in NZ so I am very happy to at least get it let alone cheaper anyways.

+1 Wot bigalsmith101 said, we can't wait to get there (although we will have to :smartass:)

Just pack your sense of humour and take it with you, it will be your most useful tool.

I just passed through Bolivia and though I was told many times that they either couldnt sell to foreign plates, or charged a foreign plate price, I never paid the foreign price.

I would either wait until they sold it to me at the regular price, negotiate a price in between, or go to another gas station(when possible).

There seems to be a lot of misinformation about this law. No one was able to show me anything regarding said law, and most would sell to me after I told them that I have traveled in Bolivia for 2 weeks without paying foreign plate prices.

Dont let this stop you from going to Bolivia. It included some of the best riding of my trip.

Can't be that hard to get somebody to manufacture you a Bolivian number plate that you cabletie/ducttape on just to fill up, then remove again when you're round the corner. Could even have your numbers/letters.

Bolivia is great. Even the dogs are a lot less likely to chase your bike than their canine bretheren in Peru.

Chris

Emergency fuel bags
 

From my time riding in Bolivia, I found that the same attendants who couldn't sell fuel at a fair price (or at all) because of paperwork/plate issues would gladly fill one of their 4-liter emergency bags (or a normal gas can or whatever size) at the normal price. Granted, going back and forth to your bike parked around the corner can be a pain, but when you get stuck and nobody will sell you gas it's a good solution.

I'll support the other comments, this is no reason to skip Bolivia. Beautiful country!

Luke

Now in Bolivia.

Normal price is 3.74 bolivianos per liter, extranjeros price is 9.09 bolivianos. At the bigger routes the pumps sell for 9.09 or ar not allowed to sell to foreigners. The pumps in smaller places just sell for local price (they probably ar not allowed to sell, but just sell).

If you buy fuel at houses the price is 6 or 7 per liter.

in Bolivia in 1 or 2 weeks
 

Thanks for the info guys.

I should be there in a week or two.

I guess I have to be ready to buy, again, some gas out of the barrel.

Damn just had my carb cleaned...

Staying south of Tarija right now.

I was sold gas for 5 Bol in the village where i m staying. I got charged 5 Bolivianos as well at the gas station south of Tarija after the control. It s all about how good the seller will percieve you. The plate from Europe impressed them and they didnt charge the "gaucho" argentine price. Another frenchy on a Paraguayan motorcycle was charged the local price.

A good sense of humour and language skills will certainly help...

We`re in northern Argentina now and will be heading to Bolivia in the next day or so. Very excited but good to know all this. Cheers.

Reece

Good to know they might like European plates and drivers who love to haggle :-)

I'm living here, a 5 boliviano tip can get you the local price.

When I was there, 2009, exchange rate was 7B to 1 USD. If that is still the case fuel is cheap, pay the rate and smile. You could be in Malawi where the black market is 30 to 50 Rand per L. 8R = 1USD.
Bob:scooter:

we just drove 2000kms with our two bikes, and had to pay the 9Bs price only once. For the rest, we bought it in jerrycans on the side of the road.
In Uyuni, the gasstation on the south, sells for normal price to foreign plates; please tip the guys a bit!

I enjoyed boycotting the government, so just bought fuel at local shops so Bolivians can make some money...
Just drive to a super small village and ask in a tienda; mostly they will sell you for 6,5-7Bs/liter. They will be a bit shocked when you ask for 40 liters though...

Last comment was 3 weeks ago, has anyone been thru more recently. i intend to head up there in a bout 1 month (do i need to buy a jerry can?)

Are there still blockades in some parts of the country?

Thanks

Delb

Heh I think Bolivia is the most amazing country in South America....

The reason for the price increase is because Bolivian fuel is subsidised by the government so it's not exactly unfair.



lol

we were there a month ago, and didn't run out while we drove 2000 km's through this amazing country.

- No blockades
- Yes, buying fuel sucks. In big cities you can buy legaly, but for 3x as much and it is bloody hard to find that one gasstation which is allowed to sell you any because they need some special documents. We only bought like this once for 9 Bs/liter
- In smaller villages ,go to the local 'tienda', where they sell bread and Coca Cola. They will have jerrycans with gasoline, and you pay about 2 times as much as the bolivianos at the pump. (6-7 Bs/liter)
- On the side of some roads (e.g. also the Road of Death) you wil lsee signs of people selling fuel from jerrycans. We did this also a lot, prices between 5-7 Bs/Liter.
- Two times we could buy like being Boliviano, the gasstation on the southern entrance of Uyuni simply sells you some, and in some other village we got away with it. 3,7Bs/liter.
- Don't think you can walk up to any gasstation with your jerrycan, without your bike. They will not sell it, as it is also illegal!

I had a 20 liter jerrycan on the back, but never needed it.

Go to Bolivia, it is amazing.
What pissed me off more, is the price increase to enter the park down south... from 35Bs to 150Bs. That is about 20 USD each, and you do not even get a map!

No brutal price increase recenty so no blockades.

If you are travelling, you ll pay the gringo/gaucho price at gas stations. If you stay for a while in an area, you ll get friends to fill up gas in jerrycans at the local price.

The best option for you is still stopping in small villages and pay 5 to 7 bolos a liter.

Oh, and Bolivia is not only great for travelling, it s also great for customizing your bike for cheap. Since it s difficulut to find original parts, bolivians developped an incredible gift for crafting all kind of parts out of metal, plastic or any kind of raw material.

If your bike needs repairs or customisation, stop by in Tarija, there are brilliant handcrafters!

Be warned from now on that selling gasolina in Bolivia in jerrycans is prohibited. You wont be able to find cheaper gas in small villages anymore.

How to get gas in Bolivia...
 

I was travelling in Bolivia some weeks ago and the first time I needed gas was in La Paz. It was terrible, I probably showed up in about 8 different Gas stations to hear "no hay" or "no gas for foreign plates". That was really annoying. I saw that some gas station hang out a paper that says that it is prohibited to fill gas into cans, vehihuls without plates and with foreign plates.
After thinking about this rule I found that it makes sence, if they are really short of gas. There are so few foreign travellers with there own vehicules on their way in Bolivia, so that I think that these rules are not made for us, but for Peruvians, Argentiniens etc. who cross the boarder just to get gas, or for foreign companies who make a lot of money in the country but profit from cheap gas prices.
Finally I did not want to pay for their mismanagement and logistical problems and invented the following storry which I always told when they didn´t want to give me gas:

"At the boarder I was told, that tourists are an important economical factor for Bolivia and the gas distribution rules are not made for them. So, the officials told me, in case of problems to get gas I should show my vehicle permit and say that this officially allows to sell gas to me even if I have a foreign plate. In case that this wouldn´t work we should call the police and insist on them to make a report about the incident in written and sent to duane and ministry of tourism..."

It was never necessary to call the police, we always got gas without any further discussions. But even if the story I told them was invented, I would have called the police and let them write a report. I am shure that information flow in this country doesn´t really work and with an official paper in your hands and a convincing story a lot of thinks become possible...
Another solution would be: if you see that they fill up a car without plates or if they fill up cans, just take a photo. If they don´t want to give you gas, show them the photo and say it´s obviously possible to work arround this rule, otherwise you would instantly call the police and ask why they brake the law for someone else and not for you... they will give you gas, sure :-)

And: don´t pay any tourist price, never pay more than the indicated price!!!

To be honest, I don´t believe that the Bolivians want to hinder tourists in travelling, they just didn´t think about all side effects when they released that gas distribution rules... so I found it acceptable to work arround the described way :-)

So, enjoy Bolivia

Best regards
Christian

I'm in Bolivia at the moment. I haven't had a serious problem with not being able to get petrol, although I have been asked to pay the 'international' price. If you smile and chat, that price can come down.

I'm in Bolivia now and have traveled through Tupiza, Potosi, Sucre, Samaipata, Santa Cruz and the Jesuit Mission circuit. I've only paid the international price once. When I pull up I say "full, por favor" or "lleno, por favor" and "no necessito una factura, en effectivo" ... That's I don't need a receipt I'm paying in cash. I often round up the payment a few pesos as a propina/tip.

The first gas station I pulled up to said that it would be easier for them and me to sell me gas at the local rate in my jerry can. No worries, they fill jerry cans.

Some stations do run out of gas, so I started carrying 10 liters extra all the time. My suggestion is that if you ride into a town where you will be staying, try to fill up before you go to your hotel if gas is available. They may run out by the next morning.

Bolivia is definitely worth a visit and the gas issues hasn't slowed me down that much.

Enjoy

Did a bit the same route. Never had problems up untill trinidad. Santa anna was more difficult. But now in Rurre the only way to go is black market. But I was told before that the north of the country was most difficult to get gasoline. Still only pay about 6Bs per liter so it´s still cheap. I feel more sorry for the locals who have to go trough this 365days a year.
Starting up to La paz tomorow. Hope the roads will be a bit do-able. Its been raining like hell the last week. And there´s the issue of will the road be closed for the works during the day. Guess we´ll see tomorow.

Apparently that has changed, providing the petrol station has a computerised till they will fill it for you (at local rate), even if it is attached to your bike. All they need is a form of ID (passport etc).

This appears to apply to locals as well.

We have also read in the papers that from Jan 2013 all cars will have to have a "sticker" with an RFID chip to buy petrol (we think it means to buy petrol in drums etc). This may be only near border towns. We are going to try and get more details.

Oh, and our experience now shows that YPFB always have the paper work. Some towns (Oruro) are sticklers for the rules so hunt out the YPFB just north of the old north railway station (Major junction).

Guys I was just reading this thread and I was wondering:

-seems a lot of you filled up from gas barrels in small towns. But what kind of gas is there to be found there? I know that you never can be sure but at least are they claiming to be at least 90? And in gas station what octane level can be found?

1) I have never had to fill up out of a gas tank in a town, I believe that is only needed if you go across the salt flats between Chile and Bolivia.

2) Octane varies, but you will not get 90. From what a local has told me it will be about 70-77. And it is leaded. That is just the way it is.

2 Years ago our fuel injected bikes (Aprilia Pegaso Trails) were fine.

This year we have just spent a month in Bolivia on a Rotax powered carbed Funduro. It still works.

Just biy some STP Octane booster at any main gas station and use that.

Main issue is getting served any petrol in 100k radius of La Paz.

fuel Bolivia
 

yes, the octaan is low in Bolivia and there is a good reason for it. Your bike will do much better on high altitude with lower octaan. :D
As far as we could find out, the fuel is unleaded everywhere in Bolivia. Afther Bolivia (the octaan isn't that much higher in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia ....) we drove around 30.000 km extra untill Canada and we had NO PROBLEMS AT ALL ! not for the GS 1150, not for the F 650 GS.:scooter:

It is right, you might get some problems to get fuel, specially in La Paz. So make sure you fill up and take some extra if you go there.
In the rest of the country, we could buy gas for 5 bolivianos or less. Sometimes in cannisters, sometimes immideatly in the bikes.

If I would go there again, I would fix a "fake" bolivian lincenceplate and put this on my bike, just before entering a fuelstation. I think that's far out the easiest way.

And please, go to Bolivia!!!! It was one of the best expierences on our trip!!!

Kiss the ride,
Ils

We where almost 4 weeks in Bolivia and we never had to buy from barrels. But we did take a extra cannister with us. (good for at least 450 km)

Hi,

I prefered to bay from barrels as they offered me a better price. Otherwise take cannisters with you and walk to the station to fill up. Cannisters are not foreign vehicles.

Adventure Motorbike trip around Southamerica: Chile and Argentina part 1

Tobi

Hey guyz! What is the current state of affairs on this.

I am entering Bolivia tomorrow and I have just learned about this issue.

Cheer!

There is no universal state of affairs. Every station is different and every station has different staff who do different things depending on what day it is.
Use the filters on iOverlander to just display the fuel stations and read the recent checkins on a selection of stations along your route.

Even if you are caught out and have to pay foreigner price, it is very little different to what you have to pay in many home countries. No big deal, especially on a bike.

Maximum I paid four months ago was 6.5BOL and that was only because the attendant refused to serve me because there was a policeman on duty to stop selling cheap to foreigners. So I offered 6 Bol to the policeman and his counter offer was 6.5 BOL which was fine. Filled the tank on the F350 plus a couple of 20 litre cans as well. I don't feel bad about trying to get as close to the local price as possible (and mostly succeeding) simply because the stations that refuse to supply at lower than foreign price very rarely give you a receipt for the full amount so they just pocket the extra - so I insist on getting my share of that ripoff. The attendants who pump for local price always get a tip up to around 5 BOL per litre which is fair since they probably run a slight risk because of the cameras everywhere.

Petrol in Bolivia
 

Agree with Tony
The fuel price is still low even if You have to pay an triple price and then compare to Your home price. I drove through Bolivia in July and in La Paz I was able to pay local price but they needed to enter a lot of personal info incl. passport number into their 15 years old PC. In Oruro I refused to pay higher prices than displayed and paid local price too, as I wasn't aware the double pricing system yet, they were a bit angry but ... :scooter:
The main issue in some places is that a huge number of gas stations have been converted to LPG system only especially in big cities.
Octane number is extremely low, less than 80 but on the high altitude I felt that my 650GS got a new life with extremely fuel consumption level
ziggy

I rode the length of Bolivia in 2013 from south to north. Including back tracking from La Paz to Surce, Salar de Uyuni, La Paz, then Peru... I only recall getting the local price once in a small town late at night.

Paying about the same or slightly more than you do at home is the price of adventure. Same goes for Brazil, where the fuel prices are high and the octane levels are low. In Bolivia, the pain in the ass part is station attendants that will wave you off as they don't want to fill out the secondary receipt and make the extra fee calculation. And then there are the gas stations that truly are out of gas. I paid the extra fee a time or two and the attendant refused a give me receipt. Fill up early and often. In Uyuni, the gas station was out of fuel and a long line appeared the next day after the tank truck showed up. It was refreshing to enter Peru where the gas station attendants are happy for your business.

I have a love hate relationship with Bolivia. It is an overwhelming beautiful and brutal country. One day I will ride her again.

Our first trip in late 2014 was pre-ioverlander and getting fuel at any price was a real trial, especially when we needed 100 litres at a time. Quite normal to get waved away at 5 stations in a row and threatening to sit in their driveway until they gave us fuel at any price didn't help at all. Still never paid Full price though although close to it and never a receipt for more than the local price.
Last time (this year), having a long list of places marked on the map that had provided fuel previously to foreigners and at what price and under what conditions made things infinitely more comfortable. Being able to cherry-pick the fuel stations meant that we were never refused and only a couple of times had to resort to filling jerry cans.

As Peter said, fill up early and often

Location of stations visited by overlanders in the last 6 months. There would be many more if the time range was extended to 2 years, but these are all pretty fresh. Some will be at international price, but majority will be at or close to local price

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cN...c2n0=w503-h198

Hello guyz,

We entered the country on saturday in Copacabana. We filled up (bike and canister) just before leaving Peru and we couldnt get Bobs from the atms in town so we rode to the Cordillera Real and we camped there. (Amazing place!) We spent the day in the mountains and arrived in La Paz at around 3pm. It was Sunday and most gas stations were closed and the few that were open were out of fuel.

Entering La Paz on a Sunday was surreal! Almost no cars on the road, 98% of businesses were closed and the streets had been taken over by pedestrians. Even the beautiful tow lane highway into town had become a soccer field, a pic-nic spot, walking grounds, kids on tricycles in the middle of the highway, food markets, street food, on the highway!. Our first time here and our eyes could not believe it.

Now we know this is typical Sunday for them.(Edit: it was election day)

Got some effectivo from BCP atm and got a hostel.


Today I just went to get gas in La Paz. The attendant made me get in line a second time because I had come the wrong way on the one way street. (For 20ft) anyway after waiting a second time, she looks at my back plate and she asked us where we are from.

"somos de Canada" with a big smile

She replies, "disculpe, no puedo vender gasolina"

With the knowledge picked up in this thread, I respond "puedo pagar un poco mas, tengo effectivo y no necessito factura"

Then she filled me up (63 Bob) I gave her a 100, she gave me 20 back and we were done.

I love HH :D

:thumbup1:

welcome to Bolivia, I can see you have learned something on your way down from Canada. If you ride the Ruta del Che and you come to Samaipata, let me invite you for a beer.

Saludos mika:scooter:

The going rate for tipping a nice attendant is to pay 5 Bob per litre and they keep whatever is over. Same deal if you get a taxi driver to go and get some fuel - 100 Bob for a 20 litre can, he pays local price and keeps the change to pay the fare and a tip.
I'm extremely averse to tipping and have been chased out of the USA several times, but in Bolivia, I'm happy to pay

After a week in Bolivia:

Filled up in Caraniva, paid local price and attendant refused tip
Filled up on the F3 near Death Road, charged us 5bob/lit and rounded up to nearest liter.
Filled up in Quime and paid local price(3.99)
Pazña on way to Uyuni paid 7bob


So far getting gas has been a lot simpler than getting wifi or a good bed.

I was riding in Bolivia 2 times last year. As mentioned by Tony Lee there is nothing firm to this. Sometimes I paid local price, sometimes I paid «Gringo» price, sometimes I paid in between those prices. Sometimes I was even denied to buy fuel at all, not so often though. And one time I really needed fuel as I was going from Cochabamba to La Paz (400 kms) and I was denied to buy fuel at 3 stations in a row I god a bit irritated and let it shine through - and suddenly they let me buy fuel nevertheless! And for local price too!

A good advice is to carry a jerrycan, you can then park your vehicle out of camera reach and walk into the station and in most cases they will fill up the jerrycan for local price.