INFO: Border Crossing – Kasani, Bolivia to Yunguyo, Peru

We knew there was a border crossing to Peru via Copacabana. Finding it was not as easy as we had imagined.

Leaving Copacabana to the SouthWest, first we tried to fill up our tanks with some of that awful-cheap Bolivian petrol to give us a “soft landing” in Peru. However the petrol station would not sell to us at the reduced local rate, and even a private petrol seller refused us after a bit of negotiation on price. This upset us a bit at first, but looking back, it was probably the best scenario because the border customs guy, though friendly, did ask us whether we have any petrol in our tanks and I expect that he may have confiscated it were they to have been full.

The route to the border was as follows:

Leave the town on the main road (Av 16 Julio) SouthWest, which crosses with the main tourist strip (Calle Jauregui) in town. Turn right at the T-junction on to the Ruta Nacional 2 (the road with the petrol station if you had gone left).

This coastal route turns to sand shortly after leaving town and after less than 1Km there’s a steep looking dirt track heading up the hill to your left – take this turn off up the track. (You may have to ask around a bit if this description isn’t clear enough but I recommend asking a few sources and comparing results before you move on.) The road alternates between dirt and asphalt for at least 2Km and then eventually becomes an asphalted road which leads to the border crossing at Kasani.

The Bolivian side of the border crossing is of course closed from 13:00 to 14:00 so be sure to time it right or be prepared to wait – we lost time finding this route so we waited. Border exit formalities were quick and painless. The Bolivian aduana officer looked a bit miserable but didn’t give us any hassles luckily.

The Peruvian guys were all quite friendly – they came and stood with Ebru at the bike and chatted away while I went to sort out paperwork. Peruvian customs was computerized and straight forward. The only thing I had to do was get some photocopies of documents, but there were facilities right next door, including money changers aplenty at both the Bolivian and Peruvian sides.

The road to Puno continues on good tarmack.