Bolivia

Understand

Sometimes referred to as the Tibet of South America, Bolivia is one of the most "remote" countries in the Western Hemisphere; except for the navigable Paraguay River stretching to the distant Atlantic, Bolivia and Paraguay are the only two landlocked nations in the Americas. It is also the most indigenous country in the Americas, with 60% of its population being of predominantly Native American ancestry. It shares control of Lake Titicaca (Lago Titicaca), the world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,821 m), with Peru. Bolivia's geographical composition can be easily divided in three major terrains or regions: Lowlands; valleys; and high plateau or altiplano. Because of this country's history, from the times when the first humans arrived up until today, population distribution and land surface is inversely proportional in these three regions. The altiplano is the smallest and has the biggest portion of the population, the lowlands occupy more than 1/2 of the country and have about 1/3 of its population. Original natives in all three areas are also of different ethnic origins. All this is explained simply because since colonial times, Bolivia was a mining country in which the economy was based in the mines that were high in the mountains and the valleys fed them. The rest was the frontier.

History Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simón Bolívar, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups. The loss of the Litoral Department and the port city of Antofagasta along the Pacific coastline to Chile in the aftermath of the 1878-1884 War of the Pacific dealt a major blow to the nascent country and access to the Pacific has remained a recurring point of dispute between the two. C

See

Bolivia has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In the eastern department of Santa Cruz there are the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, the Inca site El Fuerte in Samaipata and the Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos. Near the capital there is Tiwanaku, an archeological

Getting there

Unlike many countries on the continent, citizens of most countries can obtain a visa on arrival or visit the country without having to apply for a visa in advance.

Entry requirements

Citizens of Mercosur member states ― Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru ― enjoy freedom of movement in Bolivia. They can just enter with their National ID card. Citizens of Mexico, Canada, Turkey, all EU member states, Australia, Japan, Russia, and many others can visit the country without a visa or obtain a visa on arrival. A Bolivian visa on arrival costs $160. You can get one at one of the country's international airports. Citizens of Afghanistan, Angola, Bhutan, Cambodia, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Laos, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Timor-Leste, and Yemen are required to obtain a Bolivian visa in advance. All business travellers and individuals wishing to stay more than 90 days in Bolivia must obtain a visa in advance.

By land It is common for tourists to travel through a land border at the north-east of Chile and South-West of Bolivia. Bolivia has many land border with its surrounding countries, checkout the border crossings in the following:

Guayaramerín from Guajará-Mirim, Brazil Puerto Quijarro from Corumbá, Brazil Puerto Suárez (Paraguay#By boat) from Concepción, Paraguay Villazón and La Quiaca from Argentina Bermejo from Argentina Villamontes and Santa Cruz from Asunción, Paraguay La Paz from Arica, Chile Desaguadero from Peru

By plane The main airports are in La Paz to the western side of the country and in Santa Cruz to the east. The arrival plan must be based mostly in the purpose of your visit to the country; you have to remember that La Paz re

Getting around

By bus

Bus transportation in Bolivia is a nice cheap way to get to see the beautiful scenery while traveling to your destination. Unfortunately the buses often travel solely at night. Keep in mind that roads are occasionally blocked due to protests, often for several days. So ask several companies at the terminal if you hear about blockades, unless you are willing to spend a few days sleeping on the bus. Bus travel is usually pretty cheap. Estimate that it will cost you about US$1 for every hour of travel (it's easier to find travel times online than actual price quotes). Prices do change based on supply and demand. Buses generally do not need to be booked ahead, especially for common distances served by many companies. There are great bargains in it for you the shorter you book ahead. Just arriving at the station one hour before the buses leave can often give you a 30-40% discount over bookings several days before. However, as always, shop around and do not go with the first vendor that intercepts you when you arrive at the bus terminal. Hawkers are constantly crying out destinations in the bigger bus stations cajoling potential riders to take their bus line. If you need to buy a ticket in advance, a good website is: Tickets Bolivia. Note, that by bus travel anything of the following is meant, which falls into the same category but obviously differs in price and duration: bus (national), minibus (regional), servis (regional van), micro (city bus), trufi (city micro bus with fixed route), and colectivo (city taxis with fixed route and price). Servis' are often 50-100% more expensive than minibuses or buses, but go more often than buses. Buses should be a little cheaper than minibuses, but buses usually cover larger distances. Contrary to Asia where buses go when full