I hope to be in Bolivia within a week or two...

Does anyone have any info regarding the fuel situation for the Ruta lagunas between San Pedro de Atacama and Uyuni? Fuel can be bought privately at the villages right? I was hoping to do a straight run through, but a bit anxious about running out of fuel and/or water... Also, during in September/October, how is the climate for the Atacama and nighttime lows? Any info on this would be great

Cheers,
Rtw

What villages? Take a look on Google Earth. I think there is one village that i remember driving through and it was relatively close to Uyuni. I think it was here -21.403144, -67.597387 . I don't know if there is black market fuel for sale there or not; and furthermore if the fuel would be clean.

It is relatively easy to get lost in this area since there are millions of trails/tracks without signs and not on GPS or paper maps. I was lost for about 4 hours once. I recommend that you follow a local guide Landcruiser around so that you do not become lost. Even the GPS tracks maps I had for the area (best maps available) where off route by 2kms or more. It can be a nightmare if you don't have a lot of extra fuel. Don't expect much help from the Landcruiser guides if you break down, they are busy with their tours.

Carry as much extra fuel as you can. Get some disposable bottles full of fuel. This is one of the most remote and hostile climate areas in the world. It is not a joke. This is probably the most extreme area you will ever travel in, so don't leave anything to chance.

climate is cold all the time
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyuni#Climate
It was -8C in Uyuni in March at night when i was there last. My diesel fuel was frozen.

To my surprise, public saunas can be found in Bolivia. There is a large and inexpensive sauna in the north east side of Taija. I saw one in Sucre, but didn't have time to visit. Ask at the tourist information centers for directions.

You may encounter hail or snow going south from Oruro to Potosi as you will be high up at that point. Dress for cold, possibly mixed with rain. It can really suck. I rode (slowly) through an inch of wet sloppy snow. Keeping to the tracks pressed by cars that went before me. In the three times that to travel in this area I encountered hail.

Riding over the mountains through a mix of snow and hail, I saw a shepherd sitting in the side of a steep slope tending his flock. He was hunkered down, wrapped up tight in a blanket with a blunt felt coned hat. Tough as nails.

Unless it the improvement project has completed, the highway south of La Paz is deeply rutted by truck traffic. It is tricky navigating this crap and it when on and on, maybe for 10 or 15 miles.

Get gas early and often. Collect a couple of 1 liter water or soda bottles and fill them up to get you through. Many stations won't have gas, don't like tourists or others don't want the hassle of filling out the paperwork when selling fuel at ~2.5 the price paid by nationals. They prepare one receipt for the baseline charge, a calculation then prepare a second receipt. In a small villiiage north of Potosi I bought gas on the side of the road at a price somewhere between the local and tourist rate.

Having failed to follow my advice I left Oruro with maybe a half a tank. Further south there is a small town, Poopo, I found gas being sold in a dusty general store. "Donde se venden la gasolina?" is a phrase to practice.

The road from Potosi to Uyuni is all smooth tarmac. On arrival there was no gas for sale, only a long line of cars waiting for delivery. It came soon enough...

__________________
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

Hey, thanks for replying...

Google maps is rubbish though? On my map I see a road that goes through points in the map - Puripica, Quetena, and then north to a crossroads labeled Soniquera, and then north again to San Cristobal where a fuel pump is labeled! The route highlighted on google is the most westerly road, which on my map is nothing more than a track. Given my limited experience, I wanted just to stick to the road on my map, and was hoping that this would be fairly easy to follow - even if it does mean I`ll miss a few sights along the way...

Cheers,
Rtw

PS does anyone know if there is usually fuel at the boarder between Chile / Bolivia? i.e. Ollague? I was thinking maybe of refueling there after the Lagunas route, and then heading east to Uyuni. Thanks again!

Google Maps can be rubbish. I don't know the western road that you mention. I have never driven that entire route. Do what i suggest, use Google EARTH to view the so called towns and roads. You can see from the satilite photo if the town is large enough to potencially have fuel or you may even see the pumps themselves. Around Uyuni Google Maps is pretty bad. The best maps for this area are Rutabo for Garmin - which is a locally produced map by Arturo Welzel. His maps do have all the fuel stations on them.

Hi matey,

Thanks for getting back to me - and sorry for hijacking thread somewhat - but given you`ve done this, can you just confirm the customs/aduana proceedure? Am I right in thinking you check out of Chile in San Pedro... but then for Bolivia? My map has no features or nothing available on Google maps either... any ideas?

Cheers!

Coming from San Pedro, you would do exit migraciones/aduanas in San Pedro, then drive the short drive to the turn off for Bolivia. At the border, there is Bolivian migraciones/aduanas -22.881013, -67.798788 . There is also a Park office for which you must pay the entrance fee to the park in Bols or Chile Pesos. No US$ accepted.

You can use GOOGLE EARTH to find the location. That is how i got the coordinates listed above. Very simple. Use Google Maps to find the general location, then switch to Earth View and zoom in looking for roads, tracks, structures.

Is this info regarding the aduana in the Bolivian side up-to-date? Back in 2012 when I entered Bolivia at that location there was only immigration. For aduana I had to ride to Apacheta.

__________________
John
MotoGreece.gr | personal blog | my G+ profile

Don't bet on it. The northern regions in Chile have very limited places of getting fuel. Borders especially!

It has been said before, make sure you carry enough fuel. Calculate the distances and don't rely on refuelling...

The Land Cruisers that run the tours have 100 liter drums on the roof and have 1.000 km calculated range.

Adventurous greetings,
Coen

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- On the road since 2003 in a vintage Land Cruiser

Thanks every one for the info. We are going to be entering Bolivia in a couple of weeks and start finding the best way to cross this country. I will be posting any extra info on the road/gas situation.

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