Unexpected bits of good news for U.S. citizens: Bolivia and Uzbekistan are becoming easier to visit.
Let’s start with Bolivia.
As of December 1st, the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs removed tourist visa requirements for the United States, as well as a handful of other passport holders. Previously, the tourist visa rate was around US$160, and lasted five years.
In 2008, I happened to visit Bolivia with my girlfriend at the time, who had just read an article about Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat. If sunglasses were never your thing, Salar de Uyuni would remind you to make them a habit.
We first flew into La Paz, where acclimatizing oneself to the altitude was the key of keys. After all, it’s around 11,975 feet, or just about 3650 meters.
After a few days in the La Paz metro area, we overnight bussed it to Salar de Uyuni…from where we overnight bussed back the following night. It wasn’t quite developed then, and we had a time crunch to get to Copacabana, right on the shores of Lake Titicaca.
Take care of your lungs and heart, for traveling in the northwestern part of the country is no joke.
I’m seldom in South America, but do have mostly good memories of traveling around Bolivia. I’d been keen to see Yungas Road (known as Camino de la Muerte), and the silver mines of Potosi next.
For the Uzbekistan news, I should give a hat tip to fellow BoardingArea blog Live and Let’s Fly. As of a governmental decree on November 3, United States citizens will get to visit Uzbekistan tourist visa-free starting from January 1, 2026. It should be noted that since 2021, U.S. travelers aged 55 and above already had visa-free travel.
On the subject of border crossings, I visited Uzbekistan with a woman from Mexico. We had just flown to Tashkent from Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), where she was almost denied boarding. The Bishkek immigration official tried to extract a bribe by claiming that Mexico didn’t exist. It was worsened by the fact that the immigration desk was about five meters from the gate. Eventually, the official gave up and let her pass, but it was obviously a sour note to end an otherwise pleasant trip to Kyrgyzstan.
Back to Uzbekistan, she and I started in Tashkent, then went to Nukus, Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand.
Bolivia and Uzbekistan were fun times indeed, so add ’em both to your lists!
