Death Train, our travel experience in Bolivia

Our initial plan was to go from São Paulo to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, on the death train, and from there backpack through Bolivia to Peru. Like any good trip, it must be well planned, but when it comes time to see it, it’s a rush that never ends, there’s no denying it.

We researched a lot about this route, read some reports and bought a guide, but even so, nothing prepared us for the rush that was crossing the border and facing more than 20 hours in a train car.

Check our backpacker experience on the Train of Death, leaving São Paulo, Brazil, to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, to Machu Picchu, Peru.

The train company paralyzed passenger transport during the pandemic and has not yet returned. As soon as I have more information I will update the post.

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São Paulo to the border with Bolivia

But let’s get to the summary:

• We left São Paulo, for a change with a delayed flight, to Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul;

• Next we would take a bus to Corumbá, still in Brazil, to cross the border calmly and carefully, but of course the plane delay made us miss the bus we had scheduled;
• But by providence of the saint of travelers, we managed to catch another one with a very close schedule (UFA) and arrive in the city without everything being lost;
• In Corumbá it was that mess:
  • We took a taxi to the border and arrived running at the immigration point
  • Fortunately, the queue was short, everything went quickly and we entered the city of Puerto Quijarro, Bolivia
  • We took another taxi on Bolivian land to the train station and here is a funny story. As I said, we were running a lot, worried about the train’s departure time, so we only realized the gambiarra that was the car we were in, when it had already left. Taxi drivers buy used cars from England, which have the steering wheel on the right for the English hand, and change the driver’s side “by hand”. And they still complain about our Brazilian way... lol

• In the end, we managed to get to the station, exchange money and buy tickets, only to find out that the train would be 1 hour late! 🙂

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Death Train in Bolivia

There are several legends about the reason for this name, many of them involving dictatorship, Bolivian gangs and even the disappearance of backpackers, but in fact the railway line was named after a malaria outbreak during its construction, which ended up killing thousands of workers. The service is provided by the company Ferroviaria Oriental and is quite used to transport cargo and passengers around the country. So if you’re scared, don’t worry, despite all the mythology, it’s just a train (old and dirty, but a train).

We didn’t buy tickets in advance, as we knew the risk of missing the schedule and also because at the time there was no online sales, but today there is an option to purchase via the website and Current rates and times are on the official website.

But let’s go to our experience.

Our backpacks were in a separate carriage, it was a company rule, so it is very important that all documents, valuables and some food and water are in your carry-on bag. We travel first class, which is not very comfortable, but better than the standard option. And here you already notice the difficulty that the Bolivian people have, in the most expensive cars you practically only find tourists, the majority Europeans, while local passengers survive the 20h journey uncomfortably.

The journey is even peaceful, as the train sways, time passes and landscapes and cities appear and disappear in the window. The benches are harder than a stone floor (exaggeration… lol), but it is possible to take a nap. And, of course, we had some curious moments, which I’ll tell you here:

• The train makes numerous stops, at stations and really small villages, where it is common for vendors to enter selling orange juice, fruits, typical foods and local trinkets. At one of these stops we saw a lot of people around a child holding a shoe box, of course the husband wisk went to see what it was: a small monkey, which was bought by a lady for something around 20 reais. :-O
• And a few hours later, as night fell, I was trying to sleep, when I heard a noise. I turn towards and see two huge eyes glowing in the dark and staring at me! So scary! 🙁 I “calmly” asked Edson for help, who woke up the little monkey’s mother, who calmed him down and put him back in the box… hahaha… how afraid he was of thinking I was a giant banana, who knows. :- P
• Another story involving the monkey, is that when realizing that the said was hungry, the aunt takes my breasts out and feeds him. Yes, you read that right! All the tourists in the carriage fell silent at once.

Aside from these “weird party with weird people” facts, you might find the local army pouting security on the wagon overnight or kids begging for money. Either way, riding the train of death is a unique experience, so much so that it doesn’t leave our memory.

With a tired body we arrived in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, we took our backpacks without any problems and went looking for a hotel to just take a shower, because we ended up deciding to go to La Paz on the same day. The city, even being part of one of the most prosperous regions of Bolivia, does not have many tourist attractions. The points we visited and liked were San Lorenzo Cathedral and 24 de Septiembre Square . The square had a group playing typical music and a small craft fair.

To top it all off, we ate our first Pollo y Papas (of many) of the trip and headed to the bus station to face the freezing 12 hours of travel to La Paz and Copacabana.

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