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Buses and related are great in SA. I'm frankly surprised that it took 11 separate buses to this If you are a comfortable traveler and know a bit of spanish, find the combis/collectivos wherever you are, it is far and away the best way to do day trip travel from many cities
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Thanks for explaining that. Had never encountered this concept before.
I believe (s)he is responding to this comment of yours: > Really drives home the blessing of air travel It might lead one to surmise that you may have never encountered this before. Just sayin
I'm certainly glad that went I decide to go from California to Hawaii it takes 5 hours and not 5 days like it did 100 years ago. Or Japan, 14-15 days and now 10-11 hours. Sure, it might be interesting to do it once the long way, but having someone show me the long way makes me appreciate that I don't have to do that.
I remember Buenos Aires to Porto Alegre (via Foz do Iguaçu) by bus. I guess that's about 1/4 or 1/3 as far, with somewhat less dramatic landscapes. Extremely comfortable except for the violent action movies shown on an overhead TV with sound, even for part of the night. Edit: but ultimately probably a very different experience because it's so much less mountainous!
That’s basically just a bus up the coast of Uruguay and a bit of Rio Grande do Sul? I did the same route in the opposite direction, via Tacuarembo, mostly on horseback. Extremely uncomfortable, but an interesting week nonetheless.
Edit: Yes, it looks like you could totally do that (Buenos Aires to Uruguaiana, then Uruguaiana to Porto Alegre) and save many hours of travel, or even cut more directly through central Uruguay and save even more time. We took the longer option because we wanted to visit Iguaçu Falls and the Itaipu dam, which were both spectacular.
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You can also have nothing better to do in rio for 5 days
You're making the mistake of thinking that the place you're headed is your destination. When you look back (I hope) you recall fondly your younger days adventures where you had 2 bucks and an open road. The best adventures happen when we don't expect them because we're on the way to the 'important' thing. We very rarely correctly identify in advance what the important thing is.
Really drives home the blessing of air travel. LATAM offers the same route for about the same price, 5 hours instead of 118. I assume the author just had nothing better to do which is fine, but great to have the other option.
The longest single bus ride I did was about 24 hours from Iguazu (Argentine side) up to Rio. It was at the end of a 2 month trip through Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil. I had intended to break it up with a couple of days in Sao Paulo, but I ended up spending way longer than expected in Buenos Aires because I loved it so much. It was semi cama and we were told there would be a meal served as part of the ticket, o…
I do remember that date however, we arrived the morning of 9/11. Yes, that one. Checked into hostel bleary-eyed with neck-ache. “Norte Americano?” “Si,” clerk points to TV above, a building in NYC is on fire, looks like a plane crash. I think, that’s really weird but can’t understand the discussion of what happened. I go straight to bed for several hours.
Later get up in the late afternoon for a walk around the falls from a distance. It’s beautiful. Come back about 6pm to catch Dubya making his speech with the other hostel guests in the living room. They also replay the video of the day over and over. The dread of what’s to come lingers in the air.
Thanks for reminding me how beautiful Rio ("Hio") is! I went to Brazil twice in the late 2000s. Brings back some fun memories: - Most of the locals on the beach will start clapping when the sun begins to set. Ipanema is a beautiful beach/area. - Brazilians are curious and happy to chat with foreigners. I particularly enjoyed how slowly everyone walked, not in a rush to get to anyplace. - If you're staying in hostels,…
Reminds me of "The Wrong Way Home" about a guy who did a similar land-only trip, except from London to Sydney. I spent a huge part of my teens and early twenties dreaming of doing the same. These days the mere thought gives me a back ache.
Thanks for reminding me how beautiful Rio ("Hio") is! I went to Brazil twice in the late 2000s. Brings back some fun memories: - Most of the locals on the beach will start clapping when the sun begins to set. Ipanema is a beautiful beach/area. - Brazilians are curious and happy to chat with foreigners. I particularly enjoyed how slowly everyone walked, not in a rush to get to anyplace. - If you're staying in hostels,…
^ Acaí, pronounced assa-EE for those not familiar.
The article omits the most important detail in the bus summary. Is it cama? Cama is Spanish for bed. A cama bus has seats that fully recline to form a flat bed. They are awesome. Semi-cama is a reclining chair. Not flat, but comfortable and you can easily sleep. And then you get regular buses, which are no fun on the long journeys.
"Leito" sounds more premium than "cama", despite being both valid words for "bed"