The easiest way to obtain local currency or even dollars is to bring your credit card (Visa is more accepted then Master card) and withdraw the money from ATM machines, which are quite common in the large cities. Disadvantage of this is that your bank might be charged a commission for cash withdrawals; also it is quite common that the network is down and the ATMs are not working. In a large cities (La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz) credit cards are accepted in the better restaurants and shops, however outside of the large cities your credit card is next to useless. It is also a good idea to have two credit cards, each from a different bank, that way if there is a problem with one card, you can still use the other.
It is a good idea to have the emergency telephone numbers handy in the case of lost or stolen card. You should also have photocopies of your cards in some safe place together with photocopies of your important travel documents (or have the images in some internet email account, easily accessible and downloadable).
Before you leave Bolivia make sure that you have spent all your Bolivian currency (bolivianos), as it is next to impossible to exchange it outside of Bolivia. If you have too much Bolivian currency, you can change it back to dollars, before you leave Bolivia.
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