Arica (Chile) to La Paz (Bolivia)

After the highlight of the Dakar Rally in Chile we head on to La Paz in Bolivia. From sea level over the Andes mountains once again. It was not long before the snow capped mountains of the Andes mountain range appeared.

The border crossing into Bolivia at 4000 meters above sea level was unpleasant. We were informed that our 30 day visas we obtained in Copacabana only a week before was no longer valid. We argued this with border officials to such an extent that they eventually let us go without stamping our passoprts and gave us a "citation" which we had to present at Immigration in La Paz and present our case. it was disappointing to have confirmed at head office in La Paz the next day that the 30 day visas was indeed only valid for one entry and not for 30 days as the stamp in our passports indicated. we had to pay a further 360 Boliivianos (roughly R360.00) each again for the second entry.

Bolivia has some intrigiung landscapes.

Upon entering La Paz we found that South African taxi drivers are not a breed unto their own. Massive Metropol spread out in a valley a nd reaching up into the mountain sides.

To add insult to injury we found to our disgust that foreigners are charged at a different rate for petrol / gasoline, in fact three times more. This was a huge issue every time we wanted to fill  up.

Discrimination