Bus Travels in South America

Our bus from El Calafate to Bariloche

We have logged over 90 hours on buses in the last 6 weeks here in South America. Before I left the US, you couldn't have paid me to be on a bus for that long but this is actually rather normal in many countries here due in part to airline costs, limited airline routes, weather and the terrain. Surprisingly, I have found the majority of the buses to be quite comfortable. On our two trips that lasted over 20 hours we were even served food and drinks and had large, comfy seats that reclined almost all the way back (known as camas). The buses were relatively inexpensive in most cases ranging from $40 - $170 depending on the route and whether or not we opted for camas or semi-camas (full recline vs. partial recline). We used these long rides to catch up on movies downloaded on iTunes, read books and sleep (sometimes with the aid of benedryl or wine). On most of the rides, there wasn't much to see outside and at times I would wake up after nodding off only to look out the window and see miles and miles of flat land with mountains in the horizon and your occasional wild horse or sheep. We often spent time on unpaved roads for several hours but most of us were able to sleep through that.

Below are some examples of our bus trips:
- Cartagena, Colombia to Medellin, Colombia -13 hours
- Santiago, Chile to Pucon, Chile - 20 hours roundtrip
- Santiago, Chile to Vina del Mar, Chile  - 6 hours roundtrip 

- Punta Arenas, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina - 12 hours
- El Calafate, Argentina to Bariloche, Argentina - 29 hours
- Bariloche, Argentina to Buenos Aires, Argentina - 21 hours

- Colonia, Uruguay to  Montevideo, Uruguay - 5 hours roundtrip