Bolivia. Road from Sucre - Tarija - Bermejo Border
 

We are in Sucre at the moment and are planning on heading back into Argentina but wanted to find out about road conditions from anyone that has riden this route recently.

We want to take the Sucre to Potosi road and turn off onto highway 1 to Tarija. Does anyone know if this is doable in a day and if it is paved? It's been raining quite a lot the last few days....

Also we heard a rumor that the road from Tarija to Bermejo might not be passable. Has anyone any recent experience?

Thanks in advance!
Dan

We did this at the beginning of December. Sucre to Potosi fine - asphalt all the way, some potholes but not bad. About a 2-3hrs run.

Potosi to Tarija still has about 60km of ripio after Carmargo. This *should* be dry due to the lower altitude, but Carmago seems to be in a valley that gets storms.

There were roadworks on the north of Carmargo that made the going rough. We took 2 days to do Tarija/Potosi by stopping in Carmargo.

Potosi -> Carmargo, about another 3-4 hrs.

Caramgo to Tarija, about 5-6 hrs

There is a new road being built that will use a tunnel instead of going over the mountains (all ripio, rises to 3700m, good view).

Times and speeds are all relative to how you travel of course :-)

Tarija -> Bermajo *should* be fine as it is all asphalt. But it does pass through rain forest and may have had some flooding ??

I hope this helps.

The latest info can be found at www.abc.gob.bo

Hey BruceP,

Thanks very much for the information.
We're going to hit the road today so this is very helpful to know.

Cheers
Dan

Let us know how you go as I might be heading that way in a few days

Just rode from Sucre to Tarija today and it took about 8 hours with little stopping - all in about 500kms.

The road was excellent all the way until about 60kms past Camargo where there was roadworks but it was probably only lasted a few km before the road turned good again.

Filled up with gas on the way out of Camargo (about 1km the other side) and got it for the local rate.

The tunnel is completed so that knocks another 20km off the journey time.

We had previously heard that getting gas in Tarija was very difficult and we got refused at two gas stations on the way into town. I tried all the tricks in the book but they were not having it. There is a small YPFB about 2km on the way into the town centre and they filled us up without any problems (tourist rate).

We'll probably do the next road tomorrow so will let you know if we have any issues.

Cheers
Dan

Good to know about the new road and tunnel, the road was looking near finished when we we went past the (blocked) turnoff a couple of months ago.

Carmago is an ok place to stop over :-)

Fuel ok to get on the exit from Tarija

You can also get it at Bermajo just past the barrier (they have an extra one near the border, never figured out why)

The road from Tarija to Bermejo is ALWAYS passable, since it s a vital road for the Tarija region. Some rocks from times to times fall on the tarmac but it s always fixed very quick.

In Uriondo right now (20km South of Tarija) enjoying a wonderfull mild summer weather.

Routa 1 to Bermejo to Tarija to Bolivia
 

I am headed to Bermejo today and will provide and update. Lots of rain lately, fingers crossed for good conditions.
bier

I'm sure he will appreciate it, he has hung around for a year waiting for your response :-)