Entering Bolivia

This border crossing, between Peru and Bolivia, at Kasani, was we have agreed, the most efficient and straightforward of them all so far. Even the completion of on-line entry forms for Bolivia worked a dream, and we found the thing very hard to believe.

The first stop in Bolivia was in Copacabana. This place has been turned into a real tourist destination, and it was a very nice first impression of Bolivia. Being on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca was a different experience from the Peruvian side, with activities organised for the tourist industry in Bolivia, whereas Peru hasn't spent the same effort to organise things. The lake is of course beautiful from both sides.

The drive from Copacabana was comfortable, including the trip on a rustic barge, until we reached Alto La Paz. This stretch, which is the entrance to La Paz coming from the north, is pure chaos. Everybody says that driving in Lima is tough, but they haven't been to Alto La Paz! It didn't help that we didn't have data to access Google maps, and we had to navigate the old fashioned way, getting lost in the process. We learned later that Bolivia is not connected to the sim card we have, and we needed to buy a local sim for Bolivia. And buying petrol could become an issue.

We have been impressed by the country. So far we haven't seen any of the negative things that are always reported in the news. The roads are wide and well maintained, the houses are looked after and look very much cared for, and the supermarkets are well stocked. Well, these comments exclude the chaos of Alto La Paz.