Will be in Lima in December and would like to spend a couple of weeks in BO, but don't want to be first in line to hassle with (or bribe) the authorities at the border crossing over the new visa requirements for USA citizens. At the same time, I not exactly comfortable with the thought of mailing my passport to the BO Embassy in DC to apply for the visa ahead of time, especially if those folks haven't had experience with this sort of thing before.
The quandary is that I'd like to book the air tix from Lima to La Paz and reserve a hotel room or two, but I'm not eager to lay money down if there will be problems entering the country. Our original plans were to spend a couple of days in La Paz, see the salt flats and Lake Titicaca, and maybe bike the world's most dangerous road, weather permitting. As an alternative, we could fly to Tacna, cross over to Arica and spend some time in Lauca NP, then see Lake Titicaca from the Peru side. Another question: can we get a decent experience with salt flats somewhere in Northern Chile?
Happy trails.
Hi
I would bypass Bolivia-LP is okay for a day or tow just a city, the Most Dangerous bike road is over hyped (nice ride down a hill with some pleasant views) sounds like a lot of hassel and money to see the same sites from Peru and Chile. You can visit the Salt Flats in Nothern Argentina and the stunning beauty of the Atacama desert in Northern Chile plus no visa fees or hassels.
ENJOY
The visa requirement is new since I was there (last Dec.) but when I got my visa to Brasil I went to the office in La Paz and had no problems, though it did take a couple of days. I wasn't keen to deal with mailing my passport back & forth either... I assume that you could do something similar in Lima? To see the salt flats in Bolivia (which are not to be missed, IMO) you can go through N. Chile but you still need to get a Bolivian stamp. I disagree with the last poster's advice to skip Bolivia, it is one of the highlights in my travels through South America. The WMDR is not as exciting now that the road is not used as much, but it is still a great, fun day of biking! La Paz is a great city, love it with all my heart.
Anne
Yes. post #2 great info. Bolivia was great but come on Argentina and Peru are such a better time compared to Bolivia.
Thanks to all for your inputs. By the way, great blog Anne.
Instead of attempting to book Lima to La Paz, I'm now thinking it might be best to book the flight to Tacna, cross over to northern Chile to check out the landscape and then enter BO by bus if other travelers report that they are getting through.
Definitely don't skip Bolivia.
But to answer your question, I was just there last week. I crossed the border from Peru from Puno into Copacabana using my US (and only) passport. I did not have a visa, nor was I asked to get one...nor was there any discussion or signage or anything of the sort regarding anything like that.
Unofficially, it is rumored to become effective December 1st. But as of now, you just walk across.
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