Adventures at the Bolivian Border

Travel teaches patience and resilience. About 12 hours into what was supposed to be a 12 hour bus ride we arrived at the Peru/Bolivia border. My follow passengers and I "checked out" of Peru and then walked over to the Bolivian immigration center. The line was moving like clockwork until it got to me. The Bolivian official ask if I have a Visa and I said no. With a smirk on his face he informed me that I would have to pay $135 to enter Bolivia. I had read about these sorts of scams in the Lonely Planet and assertively said no and acted confused(this is the sage advice of the LP). After 10 minutes they still would not budge. Neither the travel agency I booked the bus ride with or my trusty lonely planet said anything about this Visa charge. I decided to involve my bus driver to get to the bottom of this situation. After a few minutes he came back and affirmed that without paying the fee I could not enter Bolivia. I resigned to this reality however there was one major catch...The closest ATM was over 2 hours away??? and I had about $15....Seems strange that there wouldn't be a ATM at such a important crossroad? By this time the bus driver was getting very impatient as my dilemma had been holding the bus up for about 30 minutes. He and his co-pilot decided I was screwed. One of them started fishing for my pack under the bus and the other went onto the bus to get my other belongings. Apparently I was getting kicked off the bus and left at the Peru/Bolivia border! In a desperate manner I jumped on the bus and broadcasted my situation to the people on the bus and asked if anyone would find it in there big heart to loan me $135 until we reached La Paz. Luckily to gracious couples (one french and the other Peruvian) pitched in and I was able to get my Visa and continue onto La Paz. Dios Mi0!!!!

1 footnote:

My trusty Lonely Planet is outdated by 3 years and this new visa charge was incorporated in 08 by the President of Bolivia who decided his country would charge an equivalent fee that Bolivians have to pay to enter the USA.