Nuevo Continente Bus from Cuzco to La Paz
After evaluating several bus options to go from Cuzco to La Paz by bus, we chose to travel with Nuevo Continente because of their non-stop option. Other companies will stop in Puno or Copacabana and you may have to change buses.
Pricing and Schedules
The Nuevo Continente bus leaves from the Terminal Terrestre which is pretty much at the bottom of Avenida del Sol. A taxi should take you there for 3 soles, like for any other place in downtown Cusco. You can buy your ticket at the counter, but you can also buy it any of the travel agencies in town, it seems there is no markup on the ticket prices. A ticket for a semi-cama seat (reclining to 150 degrees) is 90 soles or you can splurge for 100 soles and get a cama seat (reclining to 160 degrees, those seats are on the first floor of the double deck bus).
Our bus left at 10:30pm and it took 14 hours to arrive at the very centrally located bus terminal in La Paz
Border Crossing Between Cuzco and La Paz
The border is to be found a little ways from Copacabana and we reached it at about 7:00am. It is a fairly disorganized process for which you need to bring quite a bit of patience. Thankfully, if you are starving, you can dig into a bowl of ceviche on either side. You can also convert some change here at a decent rate. On the Peruvian side, you will be in line with other travelers getting in and out of the country which delays the process some. You should only need the immigration card that was given to you upon your arrival.
Requirements for Americans Traveling to Bolivia
Jess’ government is apparently no friend to the Bolivian’s. Something to do with the drug war against the ancestral coca plant. Though she could take care of her Bolivian visa at the custom post, she had to pay $135 (in cash) and provide the official with :
- proof of yellow fever vaccination,
- a 4×4 photograph,
- her passport valid for at least 6 month and one free page, and
- proof of economic solvency (a copy of a credit card worked).
