Life on the Road - Getting Around
After the last few posts about bus drama, I thought I would write a bit about crossing between destinations on this enormous continent.
In pretty much every country, buses are how you get around. They're no stinky Greyhounds either - the inter city buses here are on another level compared to pretty much anywhere else. Double decks, fully reclining seats, easy online booking, bathrooms, movies of varying quality and occasionally even food service. There are several reasons for this: in most countries, the local airlines are a shambles and not very cost-effective, trains are freight-only with few exceptions, and buses provide locals with a cheap way to transport heavy goods. In most places there would be a few locals packing large sacks and boxes of who knows what in the luggage bay next to my backpack for no extra charge on most bus lines.
Argentina definitely led the way in quality, where I sometimes got hot meals on long hauls, but they were also insanely expensive. Chile was much cheaper and dominated by one company, Turbus, for better or worse. Bolivia was ridiculously cheap, most buses were less than $10 between cities, but were also mostly a struggle to sleep on. Peru varied wildly from luxury to smelly at the same price, and Ecuador has been pretty good so far.
Buses can have their dangers: it is common for people to swipe bags from the overhead storage, so you have to keep your stuff on your knees or strapped to your legs. The luggage bay is pretty safe and they normally give you a tag, but I always like to get out there first in case a careless worker hands my worldly possessions to a thief. While it used to be more common, bus holdups are now almost unheard of, as the tourism boom has led to a crackdown on such crimes which deter foreign dollars. Overall buses a very safe place to be, though some drivers might make you think otherwise...
A way to save is by booking buses at the terminal instead of using an agency. Travel agencies usually set themselves up close to or even as a part of the local backpacker hostels and offer a breezy way to book transport. However, they jack up their prices way above the actual value, sometimes more than doubling the cost. In Bolivia, I booked with an agency because I was hungover for $32, but later found that I could have taken a much better bus with a friend for $15 at the terminal. In some places you can even haggle down the price, especially if you are booking multiple tickets with friends. Most of the time you can rock up and get the next bus out, but it is always worth asking locals how busy the route is to see if you should book a bit in advance.
However, if you're trying to squeeze your pennies for all they're worth, there are alternatives to buses. In Bolivia and Peru, you could often get between towns via a labyrinthine series of collectivos, local vans that run when they're full. For example, I went between Copacabana, Bolivia and Cusco, Peru for less than $10 via 3 collectivos and 2 tuktuks, while the cushy tourist buses would have cost over $40. Obviously you save time and hassle with the cushy bus, but I really enjoy the challenge of the local routes, trying to cobble your journey together and asking the locals what the deal is.
In Argentina and Chile, hitchhiking is a popular and safe alternative among locals and tourists. Unfortunately I didn't take advantage of this very often, and only on short trips, but I met many people who hitchhiked across both countries, particularly in Patagonia. For both these alternatives you need at least basic Spanish, mostly because a car ride with strangers is awkward if you can't chat!
Getting around is one of those things that starts off as a dizzying world of confusion, but if you use your noggin you can learn to negotiate it with ease and lighten the load on your wallet.
In pretty much every country, buses are how you get around. They're no stinky Greyhounds either - the inter city buses here are on another level compared to pretty much anywhere else. Double decks, fully reclining seats, easy online booking, bathrooms, movies of varying quality and occasionally even food service. There are several reasons for this: in most countries, the local airlines are a shambles and not very cost-effective, trains are freight-only with few exceptions, and buses provide locals with a cheap way to transport heavy goods. In most places there would be a few locals packing large sacks and boxes of who knows what in the luggage bay next to my backpack for no extra charge on most bus lines.
Argentina definitely led the way in quality, where I sometimes got hot meals on long hauls, but they were also insanely expensive. Chile was much cheaper and dominated by one company, Turbus, for better or worse. Bolivia was ridiculously cheap, most buses were less than $10 between cities, but were also mostly a struggle to sleep on. Peru varied wildly from luxury to smelly at the same price, and Ecuador has been pretty good so far.
Buses can have their dangers: it is common for people to swipe bags from the overhead storage, so you have to keep your stuff on your knees or strapped to your legs. The luggage bay is pretty safe and they normally give you a tag, but I always like to get out there first in case a careless worker hands my worldly possessions to a thief. While it used to be more common, bus holdups are now almost unheard of, as the tourism boom has led to a crackdown on such crimes which deter foreign dollars. Overall buses a very safe place to be, though some drivers might make you think otherwise...
A way to save is by booking buses at the terminal instead of using an agency. Travel agencies usually set themselves up close to or even as a part of the local backpacker hostels and offer a breezy way to book transport. However, they jack up their prices way above the actual value, sometimes more than doubling the cost. In Bolivia, I booked with an agency because I was hungover for $32, but later found that I could have taken a much better bus with a friend for $15 at the terminal. In some places you can even haggle down the price, especially if you are booking multiple tickets with friends. Most of the time you can rock up and get the next bus out, but it is always worth asking locals how busy the route is to see if you should book a bit in advance.
However, if you're trying to squeeze your pennies for all they're worth, there are alternatives to buses. In Bolivia and Peru, you could often get between towns via a labyrinthine series of collectivos, local vans that run when they're full. For example, I went between Copacabana, Bolivia and Cusco, Peru for less than $10 via 3 collectivos and 2 tuktuks, while the cushy tourist buses would have cost over $40. Obviously you save time and hassle with the cushy bus, but I really enjoy the challenge of the local routes, trying to cobble your journey together and asking the locals what the deal is.
In Argentina and Chile, hitchhiking is a popular and safe alternative among locals and tourists. Unfortunately I didn't take advantage of this very often, and only on short trips, but I met many people who hitchhiked across both countries, particularly in Patagonia. For both these alternatives you need at least basic Spanish, mostly because a car ride with strangers is awkward if you can't chat!
Getting around is one of those things that starts off as a dizzying world of confusion, but if you use your noggin you can learn to negotiate it with ease and lighten the load on your wallet.
Comments
Post a Comment