For those who haven't already heard, the Bolivian government is trying to charge foreign plated vehicles 3 times the cost for their (shite) fuel.
I had heard this law was put into effect as of December 1st, 2011. Through Bolivia, I only paid the bs foreigner price once. This does not seem to be an issue with the fuel station attendants as we had attendants telling us that there were cameras around. I looked up, and sure enough, there they were. I was able to get fuel on several occasions in small towns that had no cameras (for example, in Colchani, 20 k's north of Uyuni near the entrance to the salar) and at other times, I was in medium sized cities where all the stations had cameras and none of them were allowed to sell to foreign vehicles. So I was forced to buy some even worse fuel from the side yard of someone's garage. Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know.

so what's the cost per gal/liter before vs 3x?

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R90S, R80G/S PD

It was something like 3.47 Bolivianos per liter normal, 8.6 - 8.8 for foreigners. I think thats around $1.25 US per liter. If the fuel was at least decent, then it wouldn't be so bad. But damn 85 octane leaded crap... not cool. Not to mention the hassle when you're in a town and no station will sell to you.

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

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!

what ?? are you crazy ?? if you havnt been to Bolivia you missed one of the most exciting countries on this planet, and you havnt seen South America. pls dont miss out on this, just because of a law that hardly anybody enforces anyway.

I boycott two other countries, but this is another story ...

saludos de salta
mika

Dude. Consider the facts.

The Bolivian government obviously subsides the fuel cost for it's some odd million inhabitants. The populace pays it's taxes, and receives this benefit. WE, the tourists/travelers, do not pay said taxes and do NOT receive this benefit. It's hardly a difficult scenario to understand.

This law was in affect, as far as I know, several months prior to Dec, 1st, 2011. While I was there in November '11, my friends were there in October '11, and others a few months earlier in the same year, the same B.S. was going on.

You should consider yourself lucky to have found fuel in Colchani, as when I passed there, there was no fuel and I was able to siphon from the gas tank of my Bolivian friend/guide's Land Cruiser.

Further more, in nearly all towns, if you speak Spanish, you can find a gas station that sells tourists fuel, though you will indeed pay the tourist price. For example, in Oruro, the only gas station that will sell a foreigner gas (as far as I know) is named "Cinco Esquinas" (Five Corners).

Also, I never had a single issue with the fuel on Bolivia and my '07 DR650 consistently returned it's trip average of 40-42mpg, regardless of where I purchased the fuel. So, maybe you had bad luck with the "crap 85 octane leaded fuel" as I didn't mind it.

The foreigner fuel price is only 2.5 times the standard Bolivian National Price. Not 3 times.

Bolivia KICKS ASS.

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NJ, NR, NBTTN

Bolivia is an amazing country and I can't wait to go back! It was the first country I travelled to 12 years ago and to now have the opportunity to ride it is a dream!

But I'm glad you've given us the information


Cheers

Louise

" normal is a failure of potential"