3 Ways Through a Bolivian Vigilante Tollbooth + 1 Last Resort

When travelling through the High Andes of Bolivia, you’ll probably encounter at least one vigilante tollbooth: a guy or gal demanding tribute for using the road that travels by his or her land. After rigorous testing, we recommend the following strategies:

The colourfulpaper technique

Bolivian vigilante tollbooth operators are attracted to colourful paper with numbers and portraits of famous dead people on them. If you have some of this paper to spare, spare some, but stick to the low, single numbers.

The “Look, a condor!” technique

Bolivian vigilante tollbooth operators have a fascination with these titanic Andean carrion birds. Point with gusto to a space in the sky and shout, “CONDOR!” Once the operator has turned to look, make your break.

The blissfully ignorant technique

Bolivian vigilante tollbooth operators crave attention, then feed on your reaction. Ignoring them can be effective. But be warned, these are tollbooth vigilantes. You will want to ogle. And once you interact… well, just don’t.

The last resort

If you’re travelling to Bolivian vigilante tollbooth territory, bring someone you can sacrifice: your party’s weak link, the one who sleeps in, never makes food, and always flats. This person might be great at Sudoku, or even be your husband or wife.