Crossing the Border from Argentina to Bolivia

Throwback to 2021, when I attempted to enter Bolivia.

I spent quite some time inSan Salvador de Jujuy when I decided to go to Bolivia. San Salvador de Jujuy had so much more to offer then I expected before. I went toHumauaca, and Purmamarca.I hiked in river valleys, in gorgesand I also visited a beautiful waterfall. But it was time for a new country. It was to close to skip it And I also wanted to meet a friend who I met two years ago in Colombia and now she lives in Tarija.

Let’s go to Bolivia!

Unfortunately it wasn’t as easy as I expected. I had to turn back because I didn’t have Covid test. Accommodation was too expensive in La Quiaca so I decided to go Back to Jujuy. Only 5 hours by bus.

Of course, I was a bit naive on the second attempt as well. I thought it would be good if I just showed the documents on my phone. I was wrong. I had to walk back the town to print. There was only one shop that undertook printing, so there were long queues in front of it. After waiting for more than an hour, I almost gave just when another shop opened and finally I managed to get it printed. At that time it was only around 2-3 pm. It never crossed my mind that I couldn’t make it before closing time. The line was long and moved very slowly. And the case managers like to disappear for longer or shorter periods of time. The proceedings were also quite interesting. First, we had to stand in a line where the Argentines checked whether we had the papers required by the Bolivian authorities. If they found this okay I could stand in the next line, where Argentina signed that I had left the country. The third line was still on Argentine soil, but already led to an inspection by the Bolivian authorities. If they also found everything in order, it was possible to cross the border, but it was still not over. I had to go to another office, where another clerk went through my papers. When I was standing in the third line, it was already almost seven o'clock, but I wasn't nervous yet. I thought I still had more than an hour to get through, when a person in line pointed out to me that Bolivian Time is an hour further away. So there were only a few minutes until closing. In the end, I was probably the last one to leave the border, but for that they also had to mix up my papers and search for them for a quarter of an hour.

Maybe I should have just crossed the river…

Pictures from La Quiaca and Villazon.