Bolivia - camping gas

I would take a Trangia stove and use a cheap spirit you can buy in La Paz called Ceibo. It burns very very cleanly. We bought 3 bottles and used it over a 2 month trip through the countries you are planning to go to.
The petrol in Bolivia is very dirty and has high amounts of lead in the fuel, which would mean a lot of cleaning if you were to buy a multi fuel. We went to a few outdoor shops whilst in La Paz and I cannot remember seeing gas canisters. We stayed @ the casa de cyclistas where like minded folks come and go, they often leave gas but I wouldn't bank on that before leaving.
Have a great time,
James

You can buy burning alcohol quite widely in Bolivia because they use it for funeral rites and traditional animistic ceremonies. Ask for alcool para quemar, and funeral parlours and witchcraft stalls (hechicería) are likely sources. Likely to come in fairly small bottles from these sources. I haven't the patience to use it though, except as a priming fuel for my multi-fuel.

Sometimes you can get white gas in Bolivia, the expedition agents on Sagárnaga in La Paz are the best place to try and get some. The difficulty is that the oil company only sells it in huge drums, so you have to find someone willing to re-pack it into practically sized containers, and the mountaineering expedition companies are the only people who sometimes do this. It is called bencina blanca.

I have used Bolivian petrol in my multifuel stove, even at 4800m. I had to do a lot of cleaning but it worked and was cheap. I also tried to use kerosene, but it turns out kero is really difficult to get in Bolivia as it is used in the first stage of turning coca leaves into that notorious white powder, and thus subject to considerable control When I did get some black market kero it was so terrible I couldn't get the stove to run on it. Fortunately I tested it before I set off into the wilds with it.

As sabres says, you won't find camping gas. Bolivians don't go camping - few of them are wealthy enough to go on a western type holiday at all - it's only a few nutcase foreign tourists who go camping in the wilds.

Btw in Chile bencina blanca is widely available in hardware stores and cheap too. Curiously not Argentina.

Many thanks for your advice...
The truth is that I dont really know which way to go...
Many people tell me I will not find gas bottles for camping in la paz and that I should use a multifuel stove. I do have a multifuel stove available but its not half as eficient, clean and practical as the MSR stove which is wonderful... makes life so much easier after a 7 hour day pedalling!!
One person tells me that in la Paz you can buy Doite gas bottles for camping (propane / butane mix).

I cuote:- "Several shops with camping gear in Calle Illampu in tourist area of La Paz sell Doite gas bottles for camping (propane / butane mix). None have websites. Some trek agencies in same area may also have it. You can also find them in some other hardware shops / markets in La Paz."

Any further advice to help me take a decision?! Sabres28, can you tell me which model of Trangia Stove you used. Did this work ok at high altitude above 4.000m?

Many thanks in advance for any further info. you can offer me.

Kind regards
Jorge .

Is your MSR not a multifuel then? MSR don't like mentioning that their white gas stoves also run on car petrol/gasoline. But they do. Given the price/availability of white gas here in Britain, we routinely use car fuel. And I have done likewise in places as varied as Guatemala, New Zealand and Ethiopia.

When I hired a guide in Sorata to take me on the Illampu circuit, he certainly had a gas stove, but he ran it off a heavy steel refillable gas bottle that the mule carried. I forget what he did the day we had to send the pack animals back as they can't go to Laguna Glacial, but there was only one night in tent after that. I had my MSR with me for extra cups of tea and to process drinking water without chemicals, maybe I lent him it for the night to keep his load down.

Doite is a Chilean brand, and when I was in CHile 15 years ago they didn't sell gas bottles and their camping equipment was all rubbish - they'd show a picture in an advert of their tent camped half way up Aconcagua but such a tent would be quickly destroyed in such a location. But maybe they sell better stuff these days as Chile has got a lot wealthier in the meantime. And if they are now selling camping gas bottles, then maybe they get to Bolivia. Certainly the trekking agencies are the place to look. But be aware that you'd have to buy all the gas you need for all your time in Bolivia as you won't find it anywhere else. And that's the main reason to use a multifuel stove if you are going on a long bicycle ride in Bolivia.

Many thanks for your advice... I now usually use MSR REACTOR gas stove. Very efficient, quick and clean.
I do have a multy fuel but avoid it, if I can.
I usually only cook at night so dont use too much gas... I carry special "powder food" with me for the rest of the day.
I have been confirmed from a Trekking Agency in La Paz that they do sell these Gas canisters... so I think I will go for that.

Happy Peddalling!!

Jorge.

I do have a multy fuel but avoid it, if I can.

They do require skill to use, and if they don't suit your temperament I can understand you seek to avoid it. A friend was severely inconvenienced when her multi-fuel stove stopped working in Peru and she couldn't get it going again; back in England a friend fixed it in 2 minutes. I once spent all afternoon struggling to get my MSR going again.

I usually only cook at night so dont use too much gas...

I cook only once a day too, but the main reason a litre of fuel would only last me 5 or 6 days in a place like Bolivia is that I find boiling the safest and most convenient way of processing drinking water. And a large hot drink goes down well when it's freezing cold in the morning and evening. For lunch, you can usually find bread or near equivalent in small places where not much else is available, though if it is bread then it tends to go stale fairly quickly. I used to throw stale bread at dogs that were annoying me - first they'd think it was a stone and retreat, then they'd discover they could eat it and I could make my escape. Though Bolivian dogs aren't as bad as Chilean.

Three months in south america on a bike: Go for a multifuel stove!! you will always find petrol around. Used my MSR XGK at 5500 meters in Chile with gasoline - no problem. Had no problems with my XGK stove in Bolivia when cycling there years ago.

Hi Jorge,

I used a gas stove whilst I cycled through South America for more than a year and don't regret it. Propane/butane gas cylinders are available in La Paz, though I cant tell you the store, but I remember buying some there. In Chile and Argentina they are widely available, often even in smallish towns.

There are many advantages of using a gas stove over a multifuel - much easier to use, no maintenance, safer, no priming, quieter, more reliable. etc etc. I've used a 15 dollar simple gas stove at 5000 metres, no problem.

The gas costs more than petrol of course, but then the stove itself is much cheaper. BTW you can also find camping gas in Quito, Lima, and big cities in Colombia.