Buses Redeemed
Thanks to fellow Calgarians we had met in Vietnam, we had been looking forward to the bus to Mendoza for several months and the recent days of plane travel had made the idea even more appealing. The long, straight and flat roads of Argentina and their low gasoline costs make long-distance bus travel ideal. Most buses here are double-deckers with most of the seating on the upper deck and a toilet on the lower deck. Semi-sleeper seats recline 140 degrees and sleeper seats recline 160 degrees. For our 12 hour journey from Buenos Aires, we opted for the Executive Class with large leather seats that recline a full 180 degrees to create a small bed. These are only remotely reminiscent of the sleeper buses of India with their make-shift beds, insect infestations and rattling roads.
Upon departure, the first order of business was to play bingo for a bottle of wine. Our fabulously friendly bus attendant read numbers while I tried to translate the numbers as quickly as possible. Unfortunately we lost and a pregnant woman sheepishly claimed her prize. Later we were fed a sleep-inducing three course dinner with beef and a couple of glasses of free wine. We could hardly stay awake through the first movie and slept soundly through the second.
We’re now actually looking forward to our 24 hour Executive-seat bus ride in Chile from Valparaiso to San Pedro de Atacama, especially since we booked the front row of the top deck for ideal views of the passing Andean landscape.