Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BY BUS
There are three spots in the city where buses arrive to and depart from: they are the Terminal
Terrestre, the cemetery district and Villa Fatima.
STREET CRIME
Travellers arriving at the
main bus terminal
are occasionally targeted by thieves posing
as plain-clothes police officers, complete with fake documents. One popular scam involves
them asking to inspect your money for counterfeit notes, or your bags for drugs, then rob-
bing you (they often work in tandem with someone pretending to be a tourist, who will
befriend you before they approach and vouch for the legitimacy of their request). If ap-
proached by people claiming to be
undercover police
don't get in a car with them or show
them your documents or valuables, and insist on the presence of an olive-green
uniformed
officer
- you can call one yourself on 110. Scams of all kinds increasingly involve
taxi
drivers
, so on arrival it's better not to share a taxi with strangers. Worse still, travellers and
even ordinary Paceños have been assaulted, kidnapped (while the perpetrators empty their
bank account at the nearest ATM), and occasionally even killed by rogue taxi and micro
drivers. While the situation has improved in recent years, the police advise taking down
the licence plate number and colour of any vehicle you travel in, and go so far as to warn
against accepting any
food
or drink from your fellow travellers in case it contains sedat-
ives. For more information, see the section
By taxi
.
TERMINAL TERRESTRE
Most international and long-distance inter-departmental buses arrive at, and depart from, the
Terminal Terrestre on Plaza Antofagasta, about 1km northeast of Plaza San Francisco. If
you're heading to Uyuni you're better off taking the direct nightly service operated by Todo
Turismo,AvUruguay102,EdificioPaula( 022119418,
todoturismo.bo
)withdepartures
from their office opposite the bus terminal; they even have toilets on board, which is un-
heard of in most Bolivian transport. From the terminal, it's a short taxi ride or a 20min walk
down Av Montes to the main accommodation areas in the city centre. The terminal has snack
bars, luggage storage, a post office, telephones and an excellent information office (Mon-Fri
6am-10pm, Sat 8am-4pm, Sun noon-10pm; 02 2285858 or 2286061). Departing pas-
sengers have to pay Bs2 to use the terminal - tickets are sold from the kiosk marked “Bo-
letería” in the centre of the station.
Destinations
Cochabamba (hourly; 7-8hr); Oruro (every 30min; 3hr 30min); Potosí (2 daily;
11hr); Santa Cruz (15-20 daily; 16-18hr); Sucre (2 daily; 15hr); Tarija (2 daily; 24hr); and
Arica, Chile (2 daily; 8hr).
