9 South American Bus Rides

In a row, and today was the last long one. We went from Salta, to Tilcara, to Uyuni, to Calama, ( a hire car to San Pedro de Atacama and back), then Bus again to Arica, another onwards to Tacna, before the missing bus to Titicaca and all that entailed, then further to Moqoque, not forgetting the ride to Arequipa before the final stretch to Cusco. In total we spent somewhere between 50 and 60 hours in those buses, and travelled more than 3,700km.

This last leg was overnight . There is no day bus. I hear it's for security reasons, but not which security reasons. Is it risk of political blockades? Robberies? Road Safety ( you see oncoming traffic lights at night, in the day you don't know what's round the 1000s of corners). Could it be all three?

For me and Flo, the overnight haa been tough as we barely slept. There were too many bumps, too many turns, and I made the mistake of wearing shorts and it was freezing. I collected headcovers off seats as an improvised bedcover. The kids, however, with minor exceptions, slept through it all..As much as 9 or 10 hours!

Flo asked me at one point why don't we fly from Calama to La Paz at least?, correctly I might add, to which I answered, that stretch is $120 for us by bus or $3000 by plane. Ah, OK. That's not always the case, but the bus is often the only economic option.

Where we have been lucky, especially travelling with 4 kids, is that the standard of buses has skyrocketed in the last 20 years. Most seats are comfortable and spacious, the seats often recline to 140 degrees, and last night, we even had semi flat beds. That's the new normal. It's not driven by tourism.

God forbid the thought of taking those 9 long journeys in the rickety buses of old. We wouldn't have survived it. As it is, it's been tiring, but mostly enjoyable. The huge variety of desert and mountain landscapes will stick in the memory.

Why the hell did we do all this to ourselves? Well alongside the must see sights, we've seen lots of villages, towns and cities, where real people live real lives, and I just can't get over how many of them were helpful and nice to us. To take just one example, which European hotel manager opens breakfast an hour early for guests leaving early? In the last two weeks, that happened twice, and we did not ask. These were ordinary people who could have saved some money, but instead, they were extremely generous.

I have added some pictures of Moqoque, Tarca, and Arequipa. Especially Arequipa is very interesting with its well-preserved colonial buildings and still active monastery. Maybe the key, though, is that these are off the tourist trail, and you see daily life as it is. In South America, with no social security and little public health care, life is tough, but the people here are tough, and they manage to be cheerful, friendly, and party. Czytaj więcej