General Info

**The Cane** · 04-11-23 10:12

Originally Posted by Eszpresszo [View Original Post]

Yep, that's what I said. Still waiting on you to post your passport stamps from some of the places you claim to have visited. How hard is that?

No, the issue is that you're all over the site holding yourself out to be Mr. Experienced I. Traveler and scolding others, with apparently nobody else ever having been anywhere according to you, but you couldn't even take the time to check to see if you needed a visa to enter Bolivia. The operative question is how hard is that? That's International Travel 101 bro LOL! Even if one has been to a place many times never assume. Always check to see if anything has changed. Now me? I say again. Over 50 countries on 5 continents! With nary a single visa problem LMFAO! And with nothing to prove to anybody.

**Eszpresszo** · 04-10-23 20:25

Originally Posted by TheCane [View Original Post]

See how easy it is to find out what you need to know? As you note it's ultimately your responsibility to know about visa requirements and not the airline's job to tell you:

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...s/Bolivia.html

Yep, that's what I said. Still waiting on you to post your passport stamps from some of the places you claim to have visited. How hard is that?

**Elvis 2008** · 04-10-23 14:13

Originally Posted by Eszpresszo [View Original Post]

WTF? Visa? Normally its the job of the airline staff at the point of departure to advise you of visa requirements. I wasn't aware that US citizens needed a visa. But it was of course, my responsibility to find out if a visa is required to enter a country, and I was delinquient in doing that. My bad, for sure. I had assumed that in South American only Paraguay required a visa for US citizens ($50) Turns out that US citizens are among the very few who need to get a visa to enter Bolivia, and a sign on the wall, (in Spanish only) indicated that a tourist visa was $160 USD! Yes, $160. I complained to her that I was just making a connection and at that point her supervisor, who spoke English looked at my ticket for my connecting flight to Lima. He announced, "You only need a transit visa. She will sell you one over there, pointing to the adjacent counter where other gringos had been waiting around for some time. Yes, everyone else had gone through customs and now "the new girl" was going to work the visa counter, taking a place in a vacant cubicle and getting advice from an adjacent colleague on how to do it! My frustration level went through the roof at this point as the other gringos waiting on their visa gave me that knowing glance. The new girl announced it would be $22 for my transit visa and took my VISA credit card (the irony of this was not lost on me), though she required some direction from a colleague. She had me look into a webcam, took my photo and went to work printing out the visa on an adhesive sticker. Eventually she handed me my passport with the transit visa adhered to an entire page. But, by that time, another flight came in and suddenly there was a whole plane of people already lined up for processing. Fortunately, she directed me to another immigration agent who stamped my passport and let me pass to the baggage area. I grabbed my bag, which was already set aside off the carousel and went through customs, where a young lady asked me for my customs form. Customs form? Wait, I saw the flight attendant handing out customs forms to certain people on the plane. But, why not me? I had to fill it out, which took some time as it had a bunch of questions on it, handed it to the customs agent who directed me to the final stage. Put you bag onto the belt for the x-ray scanner and then go through a body scanner, which was not being montiored anyways. Finally I got though and out into the airport, where I was met by a large group of Mennonites who looked me up and down carefully as if I might be the gringo they were waiting on. The airport is small but neatly designed and I found me a picked me up pronto and we roared into town. It was a bumpy ride for sure. But, at least the hotel I stayed at, La Siesta, had a friendly and helpful guy at the counter who helped me get my bags up to my room, which was surprisingly nice for the price. There was no beer in the mini bar, so I asked him where to get a beer. He walked me downstairs to the door, pointed at the corner and said "Go right, three blocks. Don't worry, it's safe. " Indeed I had heard that Santa Cruz is actually quite safe despite the relative poverty. There were ample homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk. But, nobody bothered me or even gave me a second look. Got to the square and despite the late hour there was still families hanging out there was well as couples. Finally located an "Irish Bar" as the sign claimed. Guns-and-Roses were playing when I walked in and there were no Irish beer, though some good Bolivian micro-brew to be had. I assumed they took cash, as it was an upscale place. Nope! Cash only. But, the manager took a $20 bill from me and actually gave me cash at a fair rate. Nice people, for sure. It looked like they were trying to close, but the manager asked me if I didn't want another beer. Actually, I did. So, my impression of Bolivia improved very quickly as I learned they were mostly very nice and helpful people.

Yeah, the good is Bolivians are really nice people. I would even put them ahead of Peruvians in terms of kindness. However, it is fucked up politically. In general, the USA has been aiding the wealthy Europeans in the lowlands of Santa Cruz against the native Bolivians in La Paz. It is hard to underestimate how different those two groups are. The natives are the majority and they have been pushing the Europeans around at the ballot box and that fee was left over from Evo Morales who is either a great liberator of Bolivia or a thug on the order of Hugo Chavez depending on your perspective.

If you are a white male tourist in Santa Cruz, it is almost assumed you are DEA or CIA, and the reason is the soil is as lush as there is in the world. You throw seeds of anything into the ground and three months later, you have a plant bearing fruit or worse, and there are a lot of drugs being produced in the region. You do not see many Americans there, and you can see it with the hotels. I have not been there in a while but the best hotel was on the order of a run down Best Western. In fact, the ONLY place on par with a Marriott or Hilton was the Buganvillas condo complex and I learned to stay there.

You may ask why I went then. Well, the food was amazing. There was a steakhouse there that was to die for in the main square. The people were nice. I went to a botanical garden where they made fruit juice and it was the best juice I have had in my life.

With regards to the women, I went to the strip clubs. I had a few not that great, but I found a Brazilian and Paraguayan at the clubs that rocked my world. I could see assembling a harem there for a very low price.

I thought Bolivia was a country teaming with potential, and I thought it would be an interesting country to invest in. They have so many great resources and the population is not that big. However, I have changed my mind. Despite all their potential, the country is just too fucked up politically. I think Bolivia has lost every war they have ever been in and are still fighting amongst themselves now.

It is too bad because IMO the people really do deserve better.

**The Cane** · 04-10-23 11:56

Originally Posted by Eszpresszo [View Original Post]

There were two lines into customs and unfortunately my line was being handled by "the new girl", so to speak. The immigration officer in my line was a young lady obviously new on the job as she was very slow in processing us passengers and the people behind me were going onto the other line which was moving much faster. Meanwhile, I saw other people being directed to a counter on the side. I was originally in the middle of the pack, but suddenly I was the last one off the plane and there I was with the new girl presenting my passport. She asked, "Do you have your visa? WTF? Visa? Normally its the job of the airline staff at the point of departure to advise you of visa requirements. I wasn't aware that US citizens needed a visa. But it was of course, my responsibility to find out if a visa is required to enter a country, and I was delinquient (sic) in doing that. The takeaway here is that you need to be aware that visas are required for certain nationals, in particular US citizens. I suggest you get them before you arrive.

See how easy it is to find out what you need to know? As you note it's ultimately your responsibility to know about visa requirements and not the airline's job to tell you:

https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...s/Bolivia.html

**Eszpresszo** · 04-09-23 23:43

Bolivia was on my to-do list at some point. But, my priority was Peru. I was able to book a free flight from Sao Paulo to Lima, with some CC miles on BoA with a stopover in Santa Cruz. Basically a 22 hour layover. Got to GRU and I must say the check-in was the easiest and most polite of any INTRA-continental flight I've done from GRU. TBH the times I flew to Buenos Aires and to Bogota out of Guarulhos Int'l was on LATAM and both times were a cluster fuck in which I almost never was allowed to fly out (but that was another story.) So I was pleasantly surprised by the courtesy and ease of the BoA people. The lady at the counter only told me I would need to wear a mask on the plane. Ugh. And they were serious. However, bless her heart, she forgot to tell me one other important detail.

No alcohol served on the flight, which was a plain, single-class modern 737 with the modern thinly-padded seats (Ugh). They did pass out sandwiches and soft drinks for the nearly 3-hour flight. Got to VVI on time and we were the only flight coming in to immigration (probably the only flight coming in period as there is little traffic coming into this small, but pleasant airport north of the city. There were two lines into customs and unfortunately my line was being handled by "the new girl", so to speak. The immigration officer in my line was a young lady obviously new on the job as she was very slow in processing us passengers and the people behind me were going onto the other line which was moving much faster. Meanwhile, I saw other people being directed to a counter on the side. I was originally in the middle of the pack, but suddenly I was the last one off the plane and there I was with the new girl presenting my passport. She asked, "Do you have your visa?

WTF? Visa? Normally its the job of the airline staff at the point of departure to advise you of visa requirements. I wasn't aware that US citizens needed a visa. But it was of course, my responsibility to find out if a visa is required to enter a country, and I was delinquient in doing that. My bad, for sure. I had assumed that in South American only Paraguay required a visa for US citizens ($50) Turns out that US citizens are among the very few who need to get a visa to enter Bolivia, and a sign on the wall, (in Spanish only) indicated that a tourist visa was $160 USD! Yes, $160. I complained to her that I was just making a connection and at that point her supervisor, who spoke English looked at my ticket for my connecting flight to Lima. He announced, "You only need a transit visa. She will sell you one over there, pointing to the adjacent counter where other gringos had been waiting around for some time. Yes, everyone else had gone through customs and now "the new girl" was going to work the visa counter, taking a place in a vacant cubicle and getting advice from an adjacent colleague on how to do it! My frustration level went through the roof at this point as the other gringos waiting on their visa gave me that knowing glance. The new girl announced it would be $22 for my transit visa and took my VISA credit card (the irony of this was not lost on me), though she required some direction from a colleague. She had me look into a webcam, took my photo and went to work printing out the visa on an adhesive sticker. Eventually she handed me my passport with the transit visa adhered to an entire page. But, by that time, another flight came in and suddenly there was a whole plane of people already lined up for processing. Fortunately, she directed me to another immigration agent who stamped my passport and let me pass to the baggage area. I grabbed my bag, which was already set aside off the carousel and went through customs, where a young lady asked me for my customs form. Customs form? Wait, I saw the flight attendant handing out customs forms to certain people on the plane. But, why not me? I had to fill it out, which took some time as it had a bunch of questions on it, handed it to the customs agent who directed me to the final stage. Put you bag onto the belt for the x-ray scanner and then go through a body scanner, which was not being montiored anyways. Finally I got though and out into the airport, where I was met by a large group of Mennonites who looked me up and down carefully as if I might be the gringo they were waiting on. The airport is small but neatly designed and I found me a picked me up pronto and we roared into town. It was a bumpy ride for sure. But, at least the hotel I stayed at, La Siesta, had a friendly and helpful guy at the counter who helped me get my bags up to my room, which was surprisingly nice for the price. There was no beer in the mini bar, so I asked him where to get a beer. He walked me downstairs to the door, pointed at the corner and said "Go right, three blocks. Don't worry, it's safe. " Indeed I had heard that Santa Cruz is actually quite safe despite the relative poverty. There were ample homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk. But, nobody bothered me or even gave me a second look. Got to the square and despite the late hour there was still families hanging out there was well as couples. Finally located an "Irish Bar" as the sign claimed. Guns-and-Roses were playing when I walked in and there were no Irish beer, though some good Bolivian micro-brew to be had. I assumed they took cash, as it was an upscale place. Nope! Cash only. But, the manager took a $20 bill from me and actually gave me cash at a fair rate. Nice people, for sure. It looked like they were trying to close, but the manager asked me if I didn't want another beer. Actually, I did. So, my impression of Bolivia improved very quickly as I learned they were mostly very nice and helpful people.

The takeaway here is that you need to be aware that visas are required for certain nationals, in particular US citizens. I suggest you get them before you arrive. Also, you might want to get some currency exchanged at the airport if you are arriving late. Otherwise, I only had to visit two ATMs to find one that would give me money (Bolivian ATMs are fast and efficient, unlike those in Brazil which are redundant and slow.) The area around the square if full of currency exchanges however, and they take just about all South American currencies, so I unloaded the extra Brazilian Reais at one place and got a decent rate. And then, it was off to the hoehouse!

Anyways, I am attaching a photo of my $22 transit visa and passport stamps to show that I'm not making this up (like a lot of people are doing lately).

**Jwsw911** · 11-29-21 16:53

Not too sure about laws but some places get raided randomly, though not frequently. These places are known to operate illegally and rates are around 100 BS for a quick 5 minutes. There are better underground locations that are better and have better woman and won't cost you more than 350 BS for an hour for a good time with a very good looking women. There are also some independents who are good at 350 but usually better looking independents who charge 400-700 BS.

**MarcoPatz** · 09-24-21 19:51

How are in the moment the actual covid government rules, restrictions, contact restrictions?

**Melvin45** · 02-22-21 14:01

Originally Posted by SamuRay [View Original Post]

Has anyone been to Bolivia lately? Is it possible to find decent looking, nice ass girls down there? I'll appreciate any help!

In Bolivia, prostitution is legal and regulated. It is estimated that there are over 30,000 prostitutes in Bolivia. I Don't know why you are in trouble?

**Samu Ray** · 02-06-15 16:25

Has anyone been to Bolivia lately? Is it possible to find decent looking, nice ass girls down there? I'll appreciate any help!

**Biggins230** · 11-30-14 20:35

I would be interested on any info regarding the current laws on prostitution and marriage in Bolivia.

**Fabris** · 05-06-13 20:49

For some countries is good only that it is better to be familiar with the specific laws of each country also because over time things change I'd like to know the experience of someone who has been for a long time as a tourist in Bolivia. And both with European passport. I'm Italian.

**Samu Ray** · 05-05-13 00:43

After your current visa is up, just take a visa run; cross the border of any near by country and go back in. Easy!

**Fabris** · 05-04-13 15:55

Wanting to live a period of more than 6 months in bolivia I'm looking for information on how you can make ideal would be to find those who already had this kind of experience I've already contacted the consulate and they told me that you can only 3 months in a year I have an Italian passport.

**UpToNoGood** · 02-15-13 18:28

Originally Posted by Artisttyp [View Original Post]

I've never been to Bolivia mainly because of altitude issues. Are the lowlands in itself worth a 1 month visit? Would there be mongering outside of SC?

I would consider starting in Santa Cruz but is there enough to do in the surrounding areas for one month?

How would you suggest I get there from NYC? I DO NOT want to pass through La Paz.

Thanks

Copa airlines flies to Santa Cruz without first going to La Paz.

Although I have had better times in Santa Cruz years past, its still worth the trip. I go once or twice a year.

**Artisttyp** · 11-19-12 05:21

I've never been to Bolivia mainly because of altitude issues. Are the lowlands in itself worth a 1 month visit? Would there be mongering outside of SC?

I would consider starting in Santa Cruz but is there enough to do in the surrounding areas for one month?

How would you suggest I get there from NYC? I DO NOT want to pass through La Paz.

Thanks