Up to date advice please, fuel in Bolivia

[Pip and Mouse]

Anyone got up to date advice on the current situation in Bolivia with fuel? Best thread I found on HU ran 2012 to 2013 so about 2 years out of date now. Is it still a problem getting fuel if you are a foreigner and is it still leaded fuel? Gonna reach there in about 3 weeks, entering from the south working our way slowly to La Paz then into Peru. Many thanks.
(riding an R1200GSA 2011)

[Groschi]

Hi Pip and Mouse,
please post your experiance afterwards, I am looking for the same info, also entering the country from Chile/Arg. but only in about 6 weeks time.
saludos,
Groschi
(I will be looking for Diesel and Petrol prices,
traveling with both, camper and bike!)

[ridetheworld]

It's hit and miss sometimes. In my experience;

La Paz area; pretty bad, but possible if ask around. The 'sin fracture' trick does not work here.

Lowlands & Santa Cruz; outside of Santa Cruz ciudad never a problem, usually paid local price too.

Uyuni, salar and aliplano areas; usually get it for around six or seven per litre, just ask for sin fractura. Otherwise I bought gas in villages - going rate between 5 and 10 depending on remoteness.

Yungas - no problems usually at local price too.

NB - sometimes I think they genuinely don't have the special receipts or just don't know how to do it and don't want to get fired; if you're really stuck they often will fill up a bidòn (jerry can) if you park your bike around the corner!

As a general rule of thumb less modern more rural stations will sell it and for local price. Busy ones in cities not - people have outright lied to my face claiming there is none and after seeing them full up the next vehicle that arrives they then say they don't have any of the special tickets left. Sometimes this is frustrating but I've never ran out of fuel and local people have helped me out. It's a really badly implemented and time consuming system so not really the attendants fault.

The gasoline is not leaded here as far as I know but it's pretty low octane and I'd highly recommend you clean out your tank, filters, lines after leaving if the crap that came out of my tank was anything to go by! Gasoline is subsided here through taxation (hence foreigners paying more) and I suppose this is why it's pretty awful quality.

If you can stay away from the main routes you'll probably have a great time here, it's been my favourite county so far in Latin America. I found the lowlands to be amazing and great for biking. A little patience is required and at times I've really had mine tested but overall I've found it a great country for adventure biking and found people on the whole to be very friendly and helpful.

RTW

[Tony LEE]

Agree with the great country and nice people.

We used diesel so at least were were never on the tail end of a queue of 30 local motorbikes each taking a couple of litres, but as stated there is no rhyme or reason to it. Five stations in a row in one area flat out refusing to give us fuel at any price followed by one that fills the tank at local price and then a couple with soldiers on duty standing right next to the pumps - that at least fill you up at the gringo price with receipt, then a couple who charge the full price but refuse to provide any receipt except for locals price.

Pretty soon gave up my idealistic notions that we should pay full price only because it was obvious that anything over the local price was not getting beyond the attendant or the boss.

As long as you can get fuel the price really doesn't matter simply because fuel is a similar price in adjacent countries anyway so why fret over a price we aren't entitled to. Anyone from Britain or Europe or Australia won't even blink at the gringo price in Bolivia

At least there are a million roadside sellers with a few litres available and as long as it is in a reasonably clear bottle, or you can decant it first, you are unlikely to get stuck except in really remote locations such as the Uyuni to san Pedro route.

[ridetheworld]

You can buy gasoline discreetly from the 4x4 drivers when they drop off the tourists at the hotspring bath on the southwest circuit - I did and met another guy on a Vespa who did also - and there is black market gas at Quentana Chico or whatever that village is called east of Laguna Colorado. Of course better just to carry enough to arrive at SPDA but there are options available to you if you fancy exploring that amazing region. Expect to pay 10B per litre, arguably a fair price given the area.

[Peter Bodtke]

You can usually find gas in any little town, but not every little village or cross road. You may have to ask around to find who sells gas. Recently in the mountains of Peru on a tour we bought gas from a shack that bore no resemblance to a gas station. Gas was brought out to our bikes in large metal pitchers.

An hour south of Oruro I stopped in Poopo, a small town within sight of the PanAm. Bought 10 liters of gas in a dusty little store. Around La Paz I was turned away from modern stations that claimed to not have gas. Sometimes I believed them, sometimes I didn't. Truth be told, not all Bolivians like tourists. The locals have been exploited for generations and for some this is their small measure of payback. I don't blame them one bit. If you knew you were going to sell all of your gas before the next shipment, wouldn't you save some for your countrymen and let the outsider go packing? Don't forget, its a very poor country and the locals have been kept down of decades. Check any notions of entitlement at the border and enjoy the raw and powerful beauty.

Stop for gas when you see a station. Carry extra with you and if you have nothing else, fill up large soda bottles as spares. Once you get to Peru it is such a relief to buy gas from friendly attendants... The price is a touch more than you might pay back home, depending where you are from. But here in the US gas prices are currently very low. I live in New Jersey which has one of the lowest state taxes on gas, so the prices are low in general. On January 3, 2015 I saw regular unleaded for $2.26 a gallon. Which is easily $1.00 less than 6 or months ago.

Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it off to forced conscious expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.” ― Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

[ridetheworld]

Peter, do you really think that people think like that? I'm very surprised you came away with that impression. I've been here 3 months, worked here, travelled and studied here - I've never encountered any apparent resentment myself for being obviously foreign nor the calculated spite or jealousy you spoke of. I don't think it's true at all that Bolivians would hold it against you for colonialism or the ravages of US drugs policy or WTO neo-liberalism. I don't think most people really care where you might be from and the ones that were cheaters, liars general scumbags were so for much the same reasons people cheat, lie or generally **** others over as they do in the states, or anywhere else. Maybe you were just projecting your own stuff there?

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Originally Posted by ridetheworld

Peter, do you really think that people think like that? I'm very surprised you came away with that impression. I've been here 3 months, worked here, travelled and studied here - I've never encountered any apparent resentment myself for being obviously foreign nor the calculated spite or jealousy you spoke of. I don't think it's true at all that Bolivians would hold it against you for colonialism or the ravages of US drugs policy or WTO neo-liberalism. I don't think most people really care where you might be from and the ones that were cheaters, liars general scumbags were so for much the same reasons people cheat, lie or generally **** others over as they do in the states, or anywhere else. Maybe you were just projecting your own stuff there?

RTW, my white face was snared at on a daily basis so I concur with Peter, I truly got sick of it, in the end we made a BOLIVIA sticker for our rego plate and that worked fine.

Ellen was robbed and beaten, fuel was anyones guess at gas stations (easy in the small tienda in the little towns) and pretty much Bolvia was the low of our trip, Bolivia is beautiful ... it is just full of Bolivians.

We found so much negativity there it started binging us down so at the end of 3 months we were happy to hit Brasil for normality and as long Bolivia have Capt Handout leading the place they are ****ed and with time and progression will make a 4th world.

Sorry we don't present a shinny picture, we are Kiwis and we say exactly has it was, no sugar coatings or BS,

Cheers Andi

[ridetheworld]

YMMV mate :shrug

[Pip and Mouse]

Dear all
many thanks for the info and sorry for a late response having posted the question. Been staying on a farm near Santiago for a week and had no internet connected.
We seem to have mixed opinions but a consensus that getting fuel can be problematic to one extent or another. Two Moto Kiwis - we're going to be on our guard and trust our instinct. We have anyway on this trip but in honesty we've been getting a bit relaxed in AR and CH because travelling is generally easy and safe.
Thank you one and all for taking the time and trouble to answer.

[Two Moto Kiwis]

Originally Posted by Pip and Mouse

Dear all
many thanks for the info and sorry for a late response having posted the question. Been staying on a farm near Santiago for a week and had no internet connected.
We seem to have mixed opinions but a consensus that getting fuel can be problematic to one extent or another. Two Moto Kiwis - we're going to be on our guard and trust our instinct. We have anyway on this trip but in honesty we've been getting a bit relaxed in AR and CH because travelling is generally easy and safe.
Thank you one and all for taking the time and trouble to answer.

Heya Pip and Mouse

Stick to the smaller towns and it will be a lot easier and don't wait till you REALLY need fuel then it will allow you some leeway.

And yes, Arg and Chile is a breeze compared to Bolivia, Brasil is very easy too, amazing what one border does.

Enjoy Bolivia as best you can, just be prepared to have to go further for semi normal things to happen.

Cheers Andi

[Hemuli]

What is the longest stretch in Bolivia without fuel stations?
What would be recommended range with a bike over there?
I know, I need to fill the tank whenever there is fuel station...

[garrydymond]

Wewere there in August 2014. We were on a Vstrom 1000 and never went more than 150 miles before being able to fil the tank.
You can frequently get gas in "Gomerias" and avoid the haggling at the gas stations. . We normally paid between 5 and 7 Bolivianos a littre.
Hope that helps.

[Hemuli]

Originally Posted by garrydymond

Wewere there in August 2014. We were on a Vstrom 1000 and never went more than 150 miles before being able to fil the tank.
You can frequently get gas in "Gomerias" and avoid the haggling at the gas stations. . We normally paid between 5 and 7 Bolivianos a littre.
Hope that helps.

Thanks garrydymond,
Did you go to Atacama?

[garrydymond]

If you mean from Uyuni, no. We met a Colombian guy who rode across. He arranged gas, food and transportation of his luggage with one of the many4x4 tour companies. Noidea what they charged him.