Kicked out of Bolivia For Life
After long bus rides to visit Bolivia for a couple of days, we got our exit stamps in Argentina and go to immigration to get our entrance stampt to Bolivia. We get to the front of teh line and the cop tells us it's gonna be $135 US/ea to enter...
1st - We only have 7 Argentine pestos on us.
2nd - They don't take Visa and
3rd - only reason we were gonna go to Bolivia was to pass through for about 3-5 days and head over to Brazil.
We were taken back when they asked us to pay and felt like the cop was being shady because the bus attendant had never seen an American pay for a visa, our lonely planet book said it was free and after he told us it was a new law and pointed us to the poster, the poster said $100, not $135. After about 10 minutes of going back and fort, and holdin ghte double decker bus up, we decided to get the money out to not have the bus lag. Took a taxi to take money out, came back and paid. As we gave them the money, they then asked for our credit cards... ummmm No. I then asked for the cops name, and he wouldn't say. We had begun to fill out the paper work to get our visa, when we decide we felt way too uncomfortable to hand over our credit card and give our social security number, so we went to the cop and told them we would rather go back to Argentina, and at that point they said it was too late and wouldn't give us our money back. We sat there explaining that after knowing all teh requiremetns we don't want the visa. We yet had not recieved our visa's or completed an application, yet they wouldn't give us our money back. Things escalated and people crowded. A worder came over and said taht we had already started filling out the application so they couldn't give us our money. That's when I took the paper, rippid it up and said "Now it's not" The cops eyes grew and they got pissed. I then heard teh cop say "Take their passports, and I quickly went for them at the same time the other officer went for them. I pulled them out of his hand, and his eyes were aggressive and so MAD. After being kicked out of the immigration office, we went to get our belongings off the bus to cross back to Argentina. The cops came out and locked our exits to leave, and kept pushing Brendan towards what we're pretty sure was jail. Brendan kept refusing, and we were eventually taken itno teh immigration office. People came off the bus to fight for our right, which was so extremlely nice; they told us to calm down and to try and prarticipate and that nothing would happen to us, but that I shouldn't have ripped up the paper (Damn, my hot head go t te best of me.) The press showed up and recorded an interview between us and a female representative of the immigration office. That's when she said that we were nefver allowed back on Bolivian soil. When the press got there, they cops let us go! Thank you press! Never we so happy to be on Argentine soil!
1st - We only have 7 Argentine pestos on us.
2nd - They don't take Visa and
3rd - only reason we were gonna go to Bolivia was to pass through for about 3-5 days and head over to Brazil.
We were taken back when they asked us to pay and felt like the cop was being shady because the bus attendant had never seen an American pay for a visa, our lonely planet book said it was free and after he told us it was a new law and pointed us to the poster, the poster said $100, not $135. After about 10 minutes of going back and fort, and holdin ghte double decker bus up, we decided to get the money out to not have the bus lag. Took a taxi to take money out, came back and paid. As we gave them the money, they then asked for our credit cards... ummmm No. I then asked for the cops name, and he wouldn't say. We had begun to fill out the paper work to get our visa, when we decide we felt way too uncomfortable to hand over our credit card and give our social security number, so we went to the cop and told them we would rather go back to Argentina, and at that point they said it was too late and wouldn't give us our money back. We sat there explaining that after knowing all teh requiremetns we don't want the visa. We yet had not recieved our visa's or completed an application, yet they wouldn't give us our money back. Things escalated and people crowded. A worder came over and said taht we had already started filling out the application so they couldn't give us our money. That's when I took the paper, rippid it up and said "Now it's not" The cops eyes grew and they got pissed. I then heard teh cop say "Take their passports, and I quickly went for them at the same time the other officer went for them. I pulled them out of his hand, and his eyes were aggressive and so MAD. After being kicked out of the immigration office, we went to get our belongings off the bus to cross back to Argentina. The cops came out and locked our exits to leave, and kept pushing Brendan towards what we're pretty sure was jail. Brendan kept refusing, and we were eventually taken itno teh immigration office. People came off the bus to fight for our right, which was so extremlely nice; they told us to calm down and to try and prarticipate and that nothing would happen to us, but that I shouldn't have ripped up the paper (Damn, my hot head go t te best of me.) The press showed up and recorded an interview between us and a female representative of the immigration office. That's when she said that we were nefver allowed back on Bolivian soil. When the press got there, they cops let us go! Thank you press! Never we so happy to be on Argentine soil!
What a shady world (Apple store, Bolivia).
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you can try and get in from another side of the borders or by flying in.