If you have ever looked at a world map, you know that both Chile and Argentina are incredibly long countries. We initially started our travels in the southermost part of Argentina and have been slowly making our way North. That being said, we estimate that during our time in South America (Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile) we have probably done at least 25 fairly significant bus rides ranging from 3 to 27 hours. Travel Days are often exhausting and at this point, we have a system down that seems to make them more tolerable.
Many of the long-distance buses leave early in the morning so our day begins with an early alarm clock so we have plenty of time to pack up our belongings (which at this point fit in two large backpacks and two small day bags), stuff down a quick breakfast that usually consists of bread, butter, marmalade and tea before making the trek to the bus terminal. Before your big bags get thrown under the bus, you must be sure to have certain things on the bus with you. Mainly, toilet paper (If you are lucky enough to have a functioning toilet, there will definitely not be TP provided and in Peru and Bolivia you more often than not use nature as your toilet!), hand wash (which doesn`t seem to exist in most places), plenty of snacks (we actually get excited when we see a big grocery store that might have peanut butter), something to read and a good amount of water because you never know when you will be able to find drinkable water again (you could, of course, load up on bottled water but we try not to do that.) Once you find your assigned seats, which are often being occupied by locals who choose to ignore that assigned seats exist, you attempt to read your book while the bus races down windy and often dirt roads at mach speed. And more often than not, someone sitting close to you can`t handle the ride and is soon barfing. Dave and I seem to have bad luck with this and figure that this has happened on at least 80% of our bus rides. Good times! And many of the long-distance buses also function as local buses so they stop every 2 minutes to pick someone up.
By the end of a long bus ride, your legs are cramped and you`re going a bit stir crazy so you`re relieved when you finally pull into the desired destination. But then you are in some strange bus station in a city you know very little about and you`re trying to figure out where you´re going to stay and how to get there. So...you throw your large and awkward backpack on and head out in search of accomodations. If you`re lucky, you`ll find one right away at the right price but that doesn`t always happen. And you`re starving at this point so you start to think you`ll pay any price just to put your bag down and have a snack.
And a few days later, you do this entire process over again. It`s all part of the adventure, I suppose! Tomorrow, we head north of Santiago to our next destination. Wish us luck.
Many of the long-distance buses leave early in the morning so our day begins with an early alarm clock so we have plenty of time to pack up our belongings (which at this point fit in two large backpacks and two small day bags), stuff down a quick breakfast that usually consists of bread, butter, marmalade and tea before making the trek to the bus terminal. Before your big bags get thrown under the bus, you must be sure to have certain things on the bus with you. Mainly, toilet paper (If you are lucky enough to have a functioning toilet, there will definitely not be TP provided and in Peru and Bolivia you more often than not use nature as your toilet!), hand wash (which doesn`t seem to exist in most places), plenty of snacks (we actually get excited when we see a big grocery store that might have peanut butter), something to read and a good amount of water because you never know when you will be able to find drinkable water again (you could, of course, load up on bottled water but we try not to do that.) Once you find your assigned seats, which are often being occupied by locals who choose to ignore that assigned seats exist, you attempt to read your book while the bus races down windy and often dirt roads at mach speed. And more often than not, someone sitting close to you can`t handle the ride and is soon barfing. Dave and I seem to have bad luck with this and figure that this has happened on at least 80% of our bus rides. Good times! And many of the long-distance buses also function as local buses so they stop every 2 minutes to pick someone up.
By the end of a long bus ride, your legs are cramped and you`re going a bit stir crazy so you`re relieved when you finally pull into the desired destination. But then you are in some strange bus station in a city you know very little about and you`re trying to figure out where you´re going to stay and how to get there. So...you throw your large and awkward backpack on and head out in search of accomodations. If you`re lucky, you`ll find one right away at the right price but that doesn`t always happen. And you`re starving at this point so you start to think you`ll pay any price just to put your bag down and have a snack.
And a few days later, you do this entire process over again. It`s all part of the adventure, I suppose! Tomorrow, we head north of Santiago to our next destination. Wish us luck.
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