Bus travel in South America

A Cruz Del Sur bus (from their site)

We felt we should add a post purely about bus travel in South America and share some of our experiences. Generally it is very safe and the companies are great. This goes for all countries except Bolivia, where many companies are dodgy (generally) and the buses are not of a very good standard. We had a theory that Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile sell their old buses to Bolivia when they are run down and looking pretty tired.

In Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile the buses are like being in business class on a flight. They have Semi-Cama (almost flat seats, with a leg-rest) and Cama (fully –reclining beds, totally horizontal – amazing).

We had great buses in Brazil, we also used a couple of private transfer companies (listed in the links on the left), but also used Catarinense & 1001. Both fine.

In Argentina we used a small company (sorry can't remember their name) where our bus was severely delayed but the company bought a ticket with an affiliated company for us and we were fine. It was lucky we spoke some Spanish as all announcements of the cancellation (a bloke walking along the platform, shouting) were in Spanish.

Peru was probably the best for buses in the countries we went to. We mostly used Cruz del Sur. They are more expensive but very good, efficient and great staff (apart from the surly woman we came across in Paracus). There is a watch out in Puno; we did some research and found the best company to book from Puno to Lima was a company called TourPeru, so we went to their ticket office at the bus terminal in Puno and booked 2 tickets for the next day, they told us their system was down and issued us a receipt for the tickets and asked us to come back the next morning an hour before our bus and collect the tickets – basically the bloke who sold us the tickets was moonlighting for another company and gave us tickets for this other, cheaper bus company (to be fair it was to the correct destination). It was all very dodgy and we were not impressed with the company he put us on. So always check this.

Bolivia was by far the worst country for buses. As a rule they do not have functioning toilets and even on 10-12 hour journeys they do not stop for the toilet. We saw men peeing in plastic bottles and dirty nappies being thrown out the window. Pretty much the only thing missing from Bolivian buses was livestock. We learnt to dehydrate ourselves for several hours (longer on longer journeys) so we did not need the toilet.  

In Bolivia you can only purchase bus tickets on the day of travel, not in advance like you can in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. None of the buses we travelled on in Bolivia were clean or comfortable, but if you are prepared for this you will be fine.

Chile is like Peru with regards to it’s buses. They are very efficient and clean and comfortable. We used  Tur-Bus and Pullman, both were great.

Full Cama

Semi Cama

  

Ah, Mendoza. Wine, beef, wine, beef...oh and some pasta.

Wine tasting

We had planned on popping back into Argentina to come to Mendoza all along, initially it was for 2 days but we stayed another we loved it so much.

With its wide avenues and boulevards, pretty parks and many restaurants, it is hard not to love Mendoza. Our B&B is near the centre, it's run by an older couple who treat you like one of theirs, they organise breakfast around you, give you a key if you will be out late (1am, latest of put whole trip! rock on!) and want to make sure you have a great time.

More Wine Tasting

We booked a full day wine tour for our first day with Kahuak, pricey but it took us on a private (no one else booked so it was just us) tour of 3 wineries; Navarro Correas, Trapiche and Familia Zuccardi. All big wineries but the latter is a bit more touristy with 2 restaurants. The best tour by far was the Navarro Correas, our guide was great - the tour we booked was a driver to take us to the wineries where we would have tours with the winery staff - it was just us and her and she showed us around the place and then sat with us and poured 3 large glasses of wine. 2 red and 1 white; Chardonnay, reserve Cab Sav and a Gran Reserve Cab Sav which was awesome, definitely our favourite, and hers too. The next 2 wineries were not as intimate, big flashy entrances and impersonal tour (felt a bit like going through the motions, but the wine was good).

We finished the day with a lunch at the pasta restaurant at Familia Zuccardi. It was good but not as good as we had hoped, the wine was great, the starters great but the pasta was a little tasteless. But after all we were there for the wine!

Abi & Kayleigh with bife de chorizo

The following day we decided to stay another day and just walked around the town, went to the markets and visited each of the 5 plazas in the city, interestingly built as evacuation points for earthquakes. (Plazas Chile, Italia, Espana, San Martin and the big one in the middle of town, independecia).

Bife de Chorizo

A couple of months ago back in in Brazil we had met Abi and Kayleigh who we noticed on Facebook were also going to be in town for a couple of days so we met up with them for dinners 2 of the 3 nights we spent here, it was great catching up on what each of us had done, we had similar routes and travel dates and had missed them a couple of places by a day or so. One of the places we ate was La Lucia (pic right and above) AMAZING. I dreamt about this steak for days afterwards and expect to for a very long time.

We really enjoyed Mendoza. The wide boulevards and beautiful buildings - the reason the streets are so wide is due to Earthquakes - back in 1861 they had a massive one which killed thousands and most  were killed by the falling rubble, so when they re-built they did so with wider streets for the people to escape into during earthquakes.

The squares are a beautiful place to sit and people watch while eating some snacks or your lunch.

The people were lovely, the wine was great and the steak was out of this world, cutting it was like cutting through butter, perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked. 

36 hairpin turns!

The border crossing back to Chile was a little crap though, and all Chile's fault. 

When your bus arrives at the border, you get off the bus and queue at an Argentinian desk and get your exit stamp, then queue up at a desk beside this to get your Chilean entry stamp, then back on the bus and wait for the bus to move into the border building where your bags are removed from the bus to go through an x-ray. We had arrived at the border at lunchtime, rather than having shifts, the Chilean border staff stop for lunch. The minibus in front of us still had 5 bags on the belt to be checked, the border staff stopped, had lunch while the mini bus people had to wait. About 45 minutes later they continued checking the bags, then everyone from the minibus had to queue up to put their hand luggage through the X-ray machine. Then it was our turn. It has to be the most disorganised border entry we have been at, all in, including the bus queuing it took us about an hour and a half to get across the border. Chile is as strict as Australia in what it lets you bring into the country food wise. The main things are no fresh produce and no honey.

In San Pedro de Atacama we had the same process (though remember there was a strike of these border staff) but there was a French lady who's boyfriend had his bag searched for a garlic which he had forgot in his bag and they saw it on the scanner, but during the search, while she stood beside him during the search she had an apple in her hand and the border staff did not notice. 

What's New Buenos Aires? - Part 2

Buenos dias indeed. On Fridays the hostel runs a free historical tour of the city which left at 10.30, it was given by a very informative guide who started the tour by showing us a short film of the major historical incidents in the past 70 years in Argentina. The dictatorships, military uprisings, bombing of the city by the navy, the disappearance of thousands of people and of course, the Perons.

The walk was great, they took us by places we had been to the days before, but we did not really know the real historical significance - there is only so much a guide book will tell you, and only so much Spanish we can translate so far  (but we are getting better). We learned that Casa Rosada was originally 2 buildings, including a fortress, and it was on the banks of the river. We learned about the rise of Juan Peron and Evita, and had a very interesting chat from a man who had moved to Buenos Aires when he was 20 because he was so inspired by Evita he moved from the countryside and ended up with a very large collection of memorabilia which is now on exhibit in the room where Evita's body was kept (and later stolen from to be returned some 16 years later, damaged) and he tells tourists the stories of how he, and others were inspired by her. A thing to note here about this collection of his is that it was illegal in the time after Juan Peron was exiled to Spain to keep photos, books or memorabilia of the Perons - and he had two rooms full. He really loved Evita, you could hear it in his voice and in his eyes when he spoke about her, though he never met her in person.

Evita fan (right)

That was the second most memorable thing of the tour, the most learning that there are still 30,000 people missing, they disappeared during the Dirty War (1976-1983) - and the plight of the Madres (mothers) who are still to this day marching on the Plaza de Mayo every Thursday seeking answers, they want the bodies of their children and the names of the babies who were stolen from the pregnant women who 'disappeared' when they gave birth, after killing the mothers. They began marching in 1977, some of them 'disappeared' too.

Symbol of the Madres

After taking us to see an old house which shows the style of house the rich lived in until the 1870's and then how it became where the immigrants (about 10 per room) lived - and the Tango was born, the tour finished up with a beer in a bar which had a couple doing a few tango dances.

In the evening the hostel had a BBQ - which it does every Friday night - which is all you can eat for A$90 (about £10) pretty much everyone staying at the hostel came, it was great fun. Being in a country of salad dodgers, it was a time to fill up on salad!

The next day (Saturday) we had a cycling tour of the north of the city booked but unfortunately it was raining and we had to postpone to Monday. So we had a wonder around town, went to the Galleria Pacifico which is a pretty shopping centre in the centre of town, we saw the Oblisco, and a lot of black market 'cambio' dealers, Angel got pretty good at mimicking them 'cambio, cambio, cambio'....

Tango, old folk style

Sunday, after being woken by the sounds of a street fight at 8.30 in the morning, we looked out the window to see a bunch of men throwing punches and then rocks at each other (BA footpaths are in dire need of repair, but handily for streetfighters there is plenty of ammunition with the broken pavements) we decided we needed to do some walking. so we did. 8 hours of it! We walked from San Telmo to Palmero Hollywood - and back. Starting just down the road from the hostel at the San Telmo markets, which are on every Sunday starting on Plaza Dorrego then running all the way to Casa Rosada along Calle Defensa, there was an old couple doing a tango for the people.

San Telmo Markets

The markets are great as they are not just touristy but also loads of locals there as the market is mostly an antique market - filled with pocket watches, signs, cutlery, maps amongst many other things.

We wandered down Roque Saenza Pena (which was designed to look like it was in Paris) and along Avenue 9 de Julio past the magnificent Teatro Colon After this initial 5 hours of walking we were starving so we looked for a place in Palermo Soho which we had marked on our map- a burger place called Burger Joint, Angel's friend Fleur had recommended a food blog called pick up the fork which reviews Buenos Aires eateries and this place had a great write-up, to be brutally honest we were so hungry we would have thought anything tasted good, but this was genuinely delicious, freshly made to order juicy burgers, chips and a drink - and all for cheaper than McDonalds is over here!

Burger Joint

After we had re-charged we walked to the Botanical Gardens, which had loads of feral cats roaming about and then on to the Evita Museum which was great, and had a lot of the stuff translated into english which was great for our tired heads, it was in a stunning old building which had originally been one of the offices of the Evita foundation.
It was then a long slog back to the hostel. phew.

For our last day in Buenos Aires we had our postponed bike tour from Saturday, luckily the sun had come out for us though it was chilly.

Ellen ready for some cycling

Starting just 5 blocks from our hostel we rode along the Avenue 9 de Julio to Recoleta and stopped at Plaza St Martin to learn about St Martin and then on to the big flower near the University of Buenos Aires.

Palmero Flower

Then on to beautiful Chico Palermo where all the rich people lived, now it is just embassies and tourists walking around. We then cycled on to Palermo where we stopped at the Rose Garden, but unfortunately on Mondays it is closed, and then our final stop before the long straight cycle back was the Cementerio de la Recoleta where many of the famous (and infamous) of Argentina are entombed - Roca, Sarmiento. and Evita, who is in the family Duante crypt.

Evita's Tomb

The ride back was interesting - there were 2 separate police road blocks, which amusingly our guide rode us straight through.
Now, quite knackered from 2 full on days we are going to blow our budget and have another steak dinner as tomorrow we are up very early (5am) for our flight to Bogota in Columbia.

What's new Buenos Aires? (day 1)

Yes Alex, Angel jumped off the bus in Buenos Aires singing the song from Evita.
After a 5 hour bus journey yesterday from Rosario to Buenos Aires, we arrived in the late afternoon and promptly jumped into a taxi to the airport. Now, that was an experience - the driver made his own lanes (just short of driving on the pavement), after about 20 mins and less than £5 later we were at our hostel. We had read brilliant reviews on Trip Advisor about this place and it is all true, America del Sur is a brilliant hostel, all the good bits of a hostel (kitchen, socialbility, cheap) with the good bits of a hotel (clean, own room, efficient staff). Perfect. We have our own room which really is the best we have stayed in so far.
We had a stroll last night around the area we are staying (San Telmo) and bought some stuff to cook in the hostel to save some money - another expensive travel day, but we are managing to stay on budget.

San Telmo

After a brilliant night sleep we headed off to explore the city. We walked down through San Telmo to the old docklands which has been converted into expensive hotels and apartments (think London's Southbank) and walked over the Puente de la Mujer and had a play with the outdoor exercise equipment they have all over the towns in South America, just a play mind.

Plaza Mayor

We also walked towards Centro and past the Rose Palace (where Evita gave her famous speech), and walked across the the Plaza Mayor and had a general wander around in the glorious sunshine.
We then walked to the Plaza Dorrego and sat in a cafe and had coffee (still not found a great coffee) and a tostada to share.

La Boca

Then back to the hostel as there was a FREE walking tour of San Telmo and La Boca which the hostel runs, we walked past places we had been in the morning but this was great as we found out what the places were, and La Boca was somewhere quite a walk from town and the whole group got onto a local bus (all 30 odd of us!) and went to La Boca, which is a very poor area of Buenos Aires, and is an old port, the buildings are very colourful and it is now a but of a tourist trap - just souvenirs and 'tango' dancers trying to get you to have a photo taken with them (which you naturally pay for), but there was a Maradonna look alike - which we were told was quite a good likeness.

Our tour on a local bus

Now we are back at the hostel and ready to go out for a steak dinner.
Also we have fresh laundry!!! (dropped it of this morning and it was done for us, for just £5.64)

Looking forward to possibly a cycle tour of Palmero tomorrow.

Welcome to Argentina (Iguassu & Rosario)

If you thought the pictures from the Brazillian side of the falls looked great - the Argentinian side was just breathtaking. You could actually walk on top of the falls (ok,on a platform built over the falls, not actually walking ON the falls). Ellen asked how they maintained the pathway, Angel really didn't want to know.

We spent a day doing an organised tour taking us from our hostel over the border to Argentina and then a guide of the falls, it was hot but the spray from the falls soon cooled us down. We saw loads of turtles, catfish, guinea pigs and even a caiman.

Just amazing:

Iguassu Falls - Argentinian side

Our next stop was Rosario.

The bus journey was meant to be 16 hours, but here in South America things take longer than expected, or quoted. Angel is learning to deal with this, ever the project manager and time-stickler.
So this bus journey from Port Iguassu in Argentina to Rosario took 21 hours. (Mental note: add at least an hour for every 5 you are quoted). The journey itself was great, the buses are fantastic - think business class space on a flight. Reclining seats, foot rests and even food.
We arrived in Rosario, Argentina after 2 weeks in Brazil. First observation; it's a hell of a lot cheaper here, second observation; there is less money here.
We caught a 20 min cab from the bus station to our hostel (£5) which is right downtown, not too far from anything - river, shopping, bars, bakery. It's called Che Pampas. Very basic but cheap and cheerful (awful breakfast though, tomorrow we'll be going to the bakery!)

Che Guevara monument, Rosario

There is not a lot to do here in Rosario, the most famous person to ever come from here is Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and we were very disappointed to learn there is no museum to him here, just a sign outside the apartment block he was born in, a very basic mural in a city park and a statue in another park.
We did loads of walking - well after 21 hours of sitting it is all you want to do - and over our 2 days here practically covered the majority of the city by foot.
We did go to the post office and sent some postcards, probably the last time we will as it cost £10 to send 5 -  so if you are able to read this blog, you will not get a postcard from Argentina!
Today we found a cafe after 7 hours of walking we sat, for 4 hours, drank 2 lattes. 2 carafe's of wine (red, of course) a massive plate of toastadas (toasted sandwiches) and a large bowl of chips - all for £15!
Welcome to Argentina!