On my most recent ride,, I rode 10 hours from Arequipa, Peru to Cuzco with a company called Cruz Del Sur. I paid about $60 for the nicest seat available since I wanted to be able to get some sleep. I had a seat that reclined almost fully on a row to myself. An hour into our ride, the bus attendent served us dinner and afterwards entertained us with a game of bingo. In Argentina, I rode a bus that even served red wine with dinner. . .on a bus!
Although the longer bus rides going between major cities have all gone smoothly, I've had plenty of bad and strange experiences such as:
- I rode on Dorado from Sucre to La Paz in Bolivia. My seat fully reclined and the bus and I only paid $22 for it. The only thing strange was that when the lights came on, I noticed two people sleeping on the floor beside me that didn't have seats. Apparently that's allowed on the buses in Bolivia.
- My bus from Uyuni, Bolivia to Tupiza left at 6 am. It was freezing and the bus didn't have heat. I can't remember ever being so miserably cold. I thought my toes were going to fall off.
- Later on during this same ride, our bus nearly plunged off a cliff while negotiating a turn. You know you're in danger when the locals get out of their seats and start demanding to be let off the bus!
- In Tupiza, I nearly missed the bus when they changed companies but didn't tell me. Luckily, the lady at the other company which I bought the ticket from found me and pointed me to the bus I needed to take.
