howzit,
about the fuel- a friend of mine traveled through bolivia with a chilean plate and he simply offered the people at the gas station 1 bolivian for every liter they sold him at the regular bolivian price. and if that doesn't work, you can always try and buy some in a jerrycan and then fill up from that.

p.s. there's this site (now under construction, worked until a week ago) of the bolivian transportation board that shows which roads are open and which are problematic. it's not always up to date- it's always best to ask the locals, but it's another source of info.

And just to complete the saga...

Tupiza to Vilazon was blocked in three different places - two before the border and one at the bridge which is the actual border.

These were a lot trickier to pass - I managed to get into Villazon by fording a river and going cross country for about 10 miles. The miners explained in no uncertain terms with their sticks of wood with nails protruding that they would perforate my tires if I tried to cross the blockades.

But the real fun was in Villazon. There is a place where you can cross the river which is the border 50m down from the official, blocked crossing on the bridge. This I did and promptly presented myself to Argentinian customs saying I would like to enter.

They said I had entered illegally and impounded the bike. This happened at 4:34, at which point the "how much is the fine" aduana man said his weekend was starting, so I need to go back on Monday to see if the fine is worth paying. The good news at least is that I'm free to leave Argentina without the bike.....

So to cut a long story short, I would strongly advise you not to enter Bolivia , and esp. South Bolivia until the situation is resolved.....

Happy travels.

__________________
http://sginsa.wordpress.com

wow, quite a tragedy, I don't know how much did you pay the bike, but it's a mess

I should cross Bolivia at the beginning of July, hoping that protests will be finished; I'll look for information before leaving, but considering that even now that the news is fresh, it was not easy to read news about it (on Google News, only a couple of articles, seraching explicitely for Bolivian miners protests) I'm afraid that there could be the chance to enter in the country convinced that everything is ok, whilst something is going on

apart this, please, could you tell me which temperatures did you find? road blocked by snow or similar?

many thanks and hope you will solve the bike seize issue,

kind regards,

Nelik

We are hoping to go into Bolivia in July also. We will be leaving the Santiago area around the 5th or 6th of June and heading North, so this is of a lot of interest to us.

Thanks for sharing. How do you think they would view tourists in a foreign registered truck/camper? I don't think i could switch it off and push it anywhere :-)

Anyone else got any more info?

Merv.

As of today, the Villazon border crossing is now unblocked (it was blocked for a total of 6 days). I have no idea whether this is because they've agreed to be friends and all the blockades are gone or not and have no intention of finding out ;-)

On temps. There's a 20C temp swing each day, and night is I think around freezing, no snow anywhere, but maybe different in July.

I sat down and did my sums over the weekend and figured by the time I ride the bike to BA and ship it to London and sell it, I end up with US$600 in my pocket. It's highly unlikely given this the fine will be worth it, the aduana man hinted it will be of order 20-30% of the value of the bike, which I'm sure they will not value at US$600. But given all this I go into negotiate with aduana not caring too much either way, which is always a good position to be in. I'm lucky this happened 6 days before the end of my 4 month trip.....

__________________
http://sginsa.wordpress.com

I'm sorry for the bike problem, anyway at least you could attempt to find out which would be the fine , since in my opinion they could be "convinced" by some dollars

It could be a matter of one hour discussing and excusing and explaining, etc but finally I cannot imagine that they will really seize your bike ... it should be also a problem for them, where to store it, what to do with it etc, so it could be simply a way to convince you to give them some money

You just made your sums, so try to find out the maximum you could give them and then on Monday, after some discussion (not immediately, otherwise they will think you could raise further money you will say "Men, I can pay XYZ dollars for the fine, this is my maximum, otherwise enjoy my bike, I'll leave without it!"

thanks for weather information and good luck with your adventure

kind regards,

Nelik

We are currently travelling in Bolivia (in La Paz at the moment) and can confirm the country is in blockade season. We have got through recent truck driver blockades in Sucre and Potosi (they didn't mind pedestrians and bikes gooing around the trucks, but no cars/trucks/buses), then a villagers blockade near Cochabamba (only pedestrians allowed through but they agreed to let us pass on our bike for some reason).

My understanding is that the current blockaders are public sector employees (ie teachers etc) not miners, although the miners may have joined in as well for all I know. Most of the main roads are blockaded during weekdays, but not usually on weekends as this would interfere with their social life too much. So we rode from Cochabamba to La Paz on last Sunday without any blockades. Plenty of protests in La Paz last couple of days with the usual noisy fireworks and occasional stick of dynamite, main road into La Paz has been closed and police everywhere. But all the locals, shops and markets are still going about business as if this is normal - I guess it is.

We also sometimes had problems getting gasoline until we got a 5L container. The problem is they don't always have the foreigner receipt book for gasoline and even if they do, they don't like filling it out. Most of the stations on the main roads now have government cameras to check they are complying with the government rules. Now we just park a short distance away from the service station and walk in to fill the container. Provided they have gasoline, it always been quick and easy and although I don't mind paying the foreigner price (9 B/L), I am almost always charged the local price (3.7 B/L). Trouble is when we need 10 or 15 L they don't always like filling the container a second time. An extra 1 B/L can help or sometimes the next service station is easier, but this all takes time out of your day.

Despite the problems we love Bolivia, if it was easy where would be the adventure? If it was the same as home, why would you leave home?

s445203 - We also like Argentine, but don't think all your problems are now over, just wait until the first few times you have to line up for 30 min or more to get money from the ATM or all the ATMs are empty or line up for 1 hour or more to get gasoline or there is no gasoline and then you line up for 30 min or more in the supermarket checkout and then they have no change. Bolivia may then not look so bad.... Sorry to hear about your bike, that is a bummer.

John & Alanna Skillington