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

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'07 DL1000 '08 DR650

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

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http://vientoderipio.blogspot.com/
America is a nice continent,not a country.All people who lives in this continent are americans.Discover it in peace!

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 )

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

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

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.

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KTM 690 SMC for sale in Punta Arenas, Chile http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18077994

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

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TBS.com

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.

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...

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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.

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.

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www.culturaladventurer.com

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).

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