Bolivia, please let me in!

Taiwanese needs 3 months or more to obtain a Bolivian visa, Allen was thinking of some how slipping through the border by tips posted on a backpacking website contributor. We visited the Bolivian department in Puno to just poke around which then I made sure Canadians will have no problem entering.

We bid our goodbyes. Departing, separating with my 2 week travel buddy. I was so damn scared. Carrying a big backpack, barely know anything anyone says. All I wanted was to arrive in La Paz's hostel safely. 

The bus was late for almost an hour, quickly hopping on the bus, the Romanian couple I waited the bus with finally stopped mentally torturing me with all the travel scary stories. The only comfort, to my relief, was that Bolivia was apparently the safest country to travel in South America (Do I care the authenticity of this statement? No.)

It's a 8 hour bus journey, taking the road along Lake Titicaca straight to La Paz, Bolivia's financial capital. We arrived at Desaguadero, the border town to Bolivia. Instructed to get an exit stamp then walk across the bridge to enter Bolivia's border office. The Bolivian border is heavily armed with police forces... Being happy and exited, I'm almost there, almost at safety. Turning my passport to the photo page, I handed it to the police to get an entry paper to fill out. 

"..... you are Taiwanese, where is your passport?"

"No, I'm Canadian." flipping to the cover of the passport.

"No, no, no. You are Taiwanese, you are born in Taiwan."

The Romanian couples came to my rescue, using their limited Spanish to translate

"She is born in Taiwan, but a Canadian citizen (pointing to the part that states CANADIENNE)"

"No, no, no! (finger pointing at me) I will hand your passport to my superior, we need to check if you are on the list of Canadians who can come in."

"WHAT?" I was terrified.

This town is not safe. It's well known for not being safe. If I was to get dropped off here to head back to Puno... The back of my head started planning out all the different scenarios so I can react to whatever is to come. 

Waiting around in the office for more than half an hour, while everybody is already on their way back to the bus, the back of my head start to get numb and anxious.

The bus attendee asked me "How much money do you have?"

"$20 dollars" That's all I had in the pocket of my jeans. For some reason, I didn't tell him truly how much money I had.

The officer waived me in the office full of police officers, he handed me my passport with serious look,

"Impossible. No."

The nightmare, the worst possible outcome, has presented itself. HOLY SHIT. Tears circling my eyes, I looked at him with sadness and helplessness because I knew, I KNEW it was not a problem for me to enter because the Bolivian embassy said so just yesterday. Why? WHY???

Then he suddenly smiled and said "Welcome to Bolivia" and handed me an entry paper to fill out. (you were joking with me???)

"Gracias, gracias, gracias." I hugged the officer, and everyone in the office laughed. 

They must knew, they all knew. It must not be the first time this happened. They can read the difference between Canadian and Taiwanese. Why did they make it difficult?

The Romanians simply said "They wanted bribe, wanted to make some money off of you." 

Fuck you Bolivian border police. Pick your victims wisely, why would you pick on a backpacker, a tshirt & jean girl with no make up and accessories? If you're going to operate this dirty business, do it efficiently!

Guess what? I was picked on again when a police officer entered the bus to check on everyone again. 

"Taiwan! You are Taiwanese, where is the visa?"

Tired and mentally weak to go through it again, "This is a CANADIAN passport (point) and I am CANADIAN (point)."

"Oh, really?"