How to Deal; Keeping Yourself Busy on Long Bus Rides

     All of you traveling gypsies on a budget will agree, that traveling by bus is definitely not going to be the quickest option out there. However, the majority of the time, not only is it the most affordable method of travel, it usually is the most common, especially if you plan on going beyond the major cities. During my time in South America, and here in the States, I have taken (beyond) my fair share of lengthy bus rides. I've actually taken a Greyhound from New York City down to Jacksonville, Fl, and didn't think twice about it considering the busing days on end I had experienced. 

     

     A great thing about many of the countries I have been to in South America, is that they actually have a great busing system that caters to, and are prepared to serve you for these lengthy trips. For example, even the most economical National buses in Peru, will either provide you with meals, or will stop often, have a nice, clean bathroom, and you will be entertained with movies in your reclining chair (sometimes even treated with English subtitles if it is a tourist company) the entire trip. Not to mention, the experience of seeing the amazing rural country sides that can't even be fathomed by the poor soul riding in an hour long airplane trip. It is important to see first hand the backroads that make up the culture of a new country instead of limiting yourself to the major cities your lonely planet has recommended. 

(dirt road in Colombia)

      The most unique aspect of the transportation in S.A I found is that at any stop you make, you will have the opportunity to buy from, or at least be entertained by all of the regular street vendors who literally just bombard the bus, sometimes four at a time. You will see everything from home-cooked full meals and drinks to random toys, clothes, or recharging your Movil or Claro! cell phone. You will even have the occasional guy who tells you his true or possibly not so true story about how he needs your donation because he is sick and can't afford surgery (think the New York subways). I remember a time in Ollantaytambo, Peru, a lady carrying a traditional Peruvian wrap on her back, filled, to the point I thought she may fall over backwards, with huge pieces of some type of meat on a stick jumped on, and was selling her food for a solid thirty minutes.  I just kept glancing between her small town, that was now just a mere dot in the horizon, than to her lack of reaction to the fact she was a more than a couple miles down the road. Would she have to walk all the way back ?! 

(little cutie I met at the bus station in Quito, Ecuador)

     The busing system, I have found, is relatively safe. Especially if you are considering one of the other options, sharing a car with strangers; which while it may be cheaper at times, has no sort of security blanket whatsoever. Many bus companies will require your passport number, fingerprint and some even video tape you going onto the bus. I only had a two incidents I felt "unsafe", which isn't a term I use loosely, and both were in Ecuador. Their transportation system is more geared toward locals rather than tourist which I had been accustom to in Peru. Possibly the reason I had an uneasy feeling these specific times.

(broken down for four hours in Peru, luckily it was a nice view!)

     All in all, even though the major bus companies DO try their best to make sure that you survive your twenty plus hour bus rides, you WILL be bored without a doubt, and at times, want to literally jump off of the bus and possibly the cliff that the your driver, who was obviously trained by Nascar, is barely avoiding. So, I decided to start a mini series of post with my favorite bus-trippin' past times. So check back and look out for these post! Until then, stock up on the generic Ambien you can find at the local farmacia. 

xx SLW