We knew going into it that crossing into Brazil from Bolivia would be strenuous. This blog post from Along Dusty Roads, which we regularly check for recommendations, did not leave us feeling confident. We found other similar horror stories going from Brazil to Bolivia, but we figured we were prepared -- we had our Bolivian visas (read Salar de Uyuni for more info) and we already had our Brazilian visas! Now well into Brazil we can happily report back that, although the trip was an extremely long one, we made it into Brazil unscathed!
Our trip to Corumbá, Brazil began from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Our bus left in the evening and arrived at the border around 6:00am. Shockingly, this bus was not only comfortable, but also the roads were paved the entire way!! This was by far the best night bus taken on this trip. The bus took us to Puerto Suarez, Bolivia and from there we took a short taxi to Puerto Quijarro, Bolivia where customs is.
All in all from arriving at the border to ending up in our hostel with a hot shower took about 6 hours, which compared to the standards of how long you can travel by bus in South America to go very short distances, this wasn't too bad.
Our trip to Corumbá, Brazil began from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Our bus left in the evening and arrived at the border around 6:00am. Shockingly, this bus was not only comfortable, but also the roads were paved the entire way!! This was by far the best night bus taken on this trip. The bus took us to Puerto Suarez, Bolivia and from there we took a short taxi to Puerto Quijarro, Bolivia where customs is.
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| Waiting...and waiting |
We arrived to a line of about 50-60 people waiting and the customs office (on the Bolivian side) did not open until 8:00am. Expecting a long wait to both leave Bolivia and enter Brazil we decided beforehand to book a hostel in Corumba, Brazil for that night and then begin our Pantanal tour the next day to avoid any issues, so we knew we had time. The owner of the tour company we used instructed us that upon arrival to the border to just walk through into Brazil and go back to customs later in the day to deal with it. Although we saw other people doing this, as well as cars and motorcycles driving through without stopping, we decided to wait it out figuring any future issues with customs officials was just not worth it.
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| Getting closer |
Eventually we made it through Bolivian customs around 9:00am. The road bends into Brazil and at first glance it looked like we were home free. But rounding the corner we saw yet another line with all our new best friends waiting in the Brazilian customs line, (which only opens at 8:30am...) hooray! Again, this was relatively painless compared to other accounts and after 2+ hours we found our passports fully stamped and in Brazil.
All in all from arriving at the border to ending up in our hostel with a hot shower took about 6 hours, which compared to the standards of how long you can travel by bus in South America to go very short distances, this wasn't too bad.
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