Traveling so far has been relatively simple. Other than a couple complicated border crossings, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. However, that changed when I got to Bolivia and Argentina. In Bolivia firstly, because of a gas shortage, and in Argentina because of a cash shortage.

The Bolivian gas crisis: Bolivia’s gas situation is complicated because it heavily subsidizes fuel for its citizens. Non citizens though, have to pay the much higher unsubsidized price. This means that each gas station has 2 prices for buying gas. Selling gas to foreigners is more complicated than for citizens as well, because they have to do a bunch of paperwork and take down your passport number. This means that a lot of gas stations just don’t want to bother with the paperwork of selling gas to foreigners and will tell you to move along. Complicating things further, there are gas shortages happening in the country as well, meaning that many gas stations are closed and do not have gas to sell. In a country with lots of long stretches of road with nothing in between, this makes traveling difficult. I learned however, that the state owned oil company is legally required to sell gas to foreigners. I sat down and mapped out where all the state owned gas stations were along my route that I would be traveling so that I could stop at each one and buy gas. This proved to be the most effective strategy and allowed me to make it through Bolivia without running out of gas. There were some close calls though, and you learn to never pass up a gas station that is open.

The Argentine cash crisis: Due to hyperinflation in Argentina, there is a shortage of cash. The biggest bill they have is 1000 pesos which is only worth about a dollar. This means that paying for things requires huge stacks of bills, and banks have a hard time keeping the ATM’s full. Every time the ATM gets refilled, there is a huge line of people waiting to get as much cash out as they can, and it runs out quick. Argentina, especially in the rural and remote areas, is a largely cash based economy and few places accept cards. This made paying for anything extremely difficult. Fortunately I had some leftover bolivianos from Bolivia and about $20 USD that I was able to trade in for pesos. They didn’t stretch very far though, and due to a flat tire I got and had to have repaired in Argentina, I used up most of my cash pretty quick. Fortunately I was able to find a hotel that accepted cards, and a restaurant for dinner that did as well. Northerna Argentina is beautiful and I planned to spend more time there, but due to the cash situation making it hard to buy anything, I decided to move on to Chile where it would be easier pay for things.

I fortunately only had to struggle with these issues for a couple of weeks, but I feel for the people who have to live with these issues on a day to day basis with no chance of driving to Chile as an escape.