Sofia Almeida
I took 47 long-distance buses through South America. The shortest journey was 4 hours and the longest 29 hours, for a total of approximately 14,500 km. In this piece I set aside the usual travel writing romanticism surrounding long hours on buses and focus on the lessons I learned while traveling through South America by bus.
The seat-class question
In South America there are buses of three or four different classes. There are many different names for the same kind of seat, depending on the company. But in essence the seat classes are as follows:
Economy / Semi-cama: These seats do not recline very much and are generally fine for daytime travel (up to 6 hours). Not good for longer periods of time. The Semi-cama / Cama seats recline to 140° to 160° and have a footrest down. These have meals and are worth the extra money for any long night trip. VIP or Suite: these beds are completely flat, and usually there are only two of them per section, so it’s like having your own little hotel room on the bus. These are ridiculously expensive, usually double the price of economy, but then again, they are like having your own hotel room on the bus, and if you’re going to be on the bus for 14 hours or more, then they are worth it.
Of the 47 long-distance buses I took throughout South America I paid for 12 Economy/Semi-Cama seats, 30 Cama/Executive seats, and 5 Suite/Cama-VIP seats. For me the Cama is the way to travel for long periods of time. The Suite can be worth it for the longest of long hauls over 14 hours and for specific routes that are particularly grueling through poor terrain.
Routes that worked well
Some routes are basically “flight corridors” with good road, good buses, and reliable operations to connect major tourist centers in South America. Here are some recommended routes to take a long bus ride, and plan ahead.
Bogota to Medellin via Manizales – 9 hours on a very good highway, very scenic. In Cama class comfortable. Cusco to Puno: 7 hours, all on paved roads (as it has been resurfaced in recent years) and all with reliable bus companies, also great for Cama class, as it is quite comfortable. Mendoza to Buenos Aires: 14 hours, flat, fast and very comfortable. The section between Salta and Iguazu, with a transfer in Resistencia (a pleasant but nondescript city) takes two days. This is a nice way to travel long distances on foot as there are adequate breaks along the way.
Routes I’d reconsider
Some routes are technically possible but consistently miserable:
La Paz to Uyuni overnight: very bad road, uncertain arrival time, cold cabin in winter. Train or flight would be better. Lima to Trujillo overnight: reported to have delays and many stops at night in small towns along the way. Flying would be recommended instead. Any crossing of a border at night: the formalities can take hours and will cost you 4 hours of sitting around in a queue.
The night I got stranded
On the bus Uyuni to Sucre overnight in November the bus broke down at a small terminal in the Andean foothills at 2 am. Three of us continued on to Sucre. The terminal had no other buses scheduled to depart until 6 am. However the next bus on to Sucre was not due to depart until 8 am. I made this version of the trip three times, the cheapest one being in the middle.
Terminal with small shop open at 4 am for truckers – had hot tea and some snacks to start the day off. Other traveler – a Bolivian woman traveling in the opposite direction to me, was also kind enough to share her snacks with me. Small amount of slow Spanish spoken between us, but nice to have some company and to be able to chat to someone local. We took turns to watch each other’s bags when one of us went to bathroom.
Not bringing a charger for my phone (it was in my checked bag under the bus), and thus it dying at 4am (when the shop at the terminal opened), meaning I was unable to look at my maps, or at my copies of contact information for various hotels, etc. I had assumed that I wouldn’t need to look at these in transit. Bring the charger for your phone, and a small battery pack, and keep them in your carry-on luggage.
The 8 am bus arrived as scheduled. The hours long journey to Sucre was without incident and I spent the entire afternoon dozing at the hostel.
The bag-on-the-bus question
All the long distance buses in South America carry all luggage (other than handbags etc.) in the cargo hold under the bus. You collect your luggage with a claim ticket that has a number on it. Almost all the time your luggage is waiting for you when you collect it.
Two precautions I now take:
Photograph the bag as well as the claim ticket to prove the relationship in case of any dispute along the way. Always pack a small daypack with the essential items such as passport, cash, phone and charger as well as a change of clothes in case your main bag gets lost.
One of my bags got a bit of external damage while being stored underneath the bus (in the cargo hold) – a small piece of material on the top of the bag got snagged, creating a long tear in a external pocket. But all was fine – the inside of the bag, and everything stored inside it, was unaffected. I had assumed I would need to check into a hotel the night before my long-haul bus trip, in order to confirm all of the details with the bus company – but it turned out to be something that I could have done the morning of just as easily.
The food situation
Long buses sometimes serve meals. The meals are not the highlight. Bring snacks. My standard provisions for any ride over eight hours:
A liter of water. A bag of mixed nuts. Two pieces of fruit. A sandwich or two, made at the hostel the night before, always travel with me on long trips. a small bag of cookies: these are only for morale after ten hours of travel.
For around three dollars you can fill your stomach for the long hours on the road instead of buying inferior products on the bus.
The single most useful habit
I write on a piece of paper the bus number, my seat number, and estimated time of arrival. I then carry this piece of paper in my pocket. This simple trick has done the most to reduce my stress caused by long bus rides. The fact that I write this information by hand and then carry it with me as a piece of paper, does not depend on my having battery power for my phone. This small backup of information has saved me many times when there was an delay in arrival at a terminal, was wrong terminal, or even an emergency at home that needs to know my itinerary details.
This is a very simple habit. I’m shocked by how much it has reduced my stress when dealing with buses. Writing down this info forces me to look at it and having a piece of paper with this info written on it by hand is a back-up that doesn’t rely on a battery.
Long distance buses are a true way of traveling through South America. It is slow and sometimes it’s not comfortable, but it is very interesting. With a bit of preparation it can also be really fun.
