You can usually find gas in any little town, but not every little village or cross road. You may have to ask around to find who sells gas. Recently in the mountains of Peru on a tour we bought gas from a shack that bore no resemblance to a gas station. Gas was brought out to our bikes in large metal pitchers.

An hour south of Oruro I stopped in Poopo, a small town within sight of the PanAm. Bought 10 liters of gas in a dusty little store. Around La Paz I was turned away from modern stations that claimed to not have gas. Sometimes I believed them, sometimes I didn't. Truth be told, not all Bolivians like tourists. The locals have been exploited for generations and for some this is their small measure of payback. I don't blame them one bit. If you knew you were going to sell all of your gas before the next shipment, wouldn't you save some for your countrymen and let the outsider go packing? Don't forget, its a very poor country and the locals have been kept down of decades. Check any notions of entitlement at the border and enjoy the raw and powerful beauty.

Stop for gas when you see a station. Carry extra with you and if you have nothing else, fill up large soda bottles as spares. Once you get to Peru it is such a relief to buy gas from friendly attendants... The price is a touch more than you might pay back home, depending where you are from. But here in the US gas prices are currently very low. I live in New Jersey which has one of the lowest state taxes on gas, so the prices are low in general. On January 3, 2015 I saw regular unleaded for $2.26 a gallon. Which is easily $1.00 less than 6 or months ago.

Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it off to forced conscious expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.” ― Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

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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