Skip to main content

28/12/2017 bus from Puerto Iguazu to Buenos Aires

We took the bus 27/12/2017 at 19:15 from Puerto Iguazu. The bus company is Via Bariloche and we bought the tickets online in November. Type of the service we chose was Cama and we booked seats 1 and 2 (first row, top floor). The bus tickets we printed out from the email we received from Busplus. 

Before we boarded, our rucksacks got labels with numbers and we got the same number stickers to keep. Also they checked our tickets and passports. The passport number on the ticket should match with your passport. Mine didn’t (as I got a new passport since I bought the tickets), but I just said I have a new passport. 

The seats were big and comfortable and you could make almost a flat bed from them (160 degrees). There is also a USB charging port for each seat and headphones jack to listen what is on the TV screen and also a speaker which some people leave on quite loud. Also a pillow and a blanket were provided. The toilet was on the lower deck and whenever the toilet was occupied, it was displayed in the bus on a small display, which some people don’t respect and still come to the closed toilet and keep knocking (bastards). The bus boarded maybe only 10 people in Puerto Iguazú. 

Our dinner arrived around 22:30 and we had some small salad, chicken schnitzel with mashed potato and desert. They also served drinks including wine. Like on the plane. Plus I forgot to mention, when the bus started it’s way, the bus attendant offered caramelos. 

Throughout the journey, tv displays various movies, majority of them in Spanish without subtitles. The front seats are quite close to the tv and can be annoying at night because of the high brightness. Although the views are great and I think you get more space in front of you. The tv was switched of around 1am. That time bus was fully full, as we boarded more people on the way. 

Also the bus often stops and get searched by various types of police and national guard. Sometimes they ask for passport and check your small bag, sometimes they check only someone on the bus, sometimes they have a sniffing dog and check the hold luggage compartment. 

The breakfast arrived at 9am and consisted of a lemon biscuit (tasty), some another biscuit and coffee or tea. It was enough for breakfast. 

Most of the people left the bus in stops further away from Retiro station, in outskirts of Buenos Aires. And when we got to Retiro, we had to show our stickers with numbers and they compared with the luggage. 

At Retiro, we wanted to take a taxi, but I couldn’t get my phone working with internet and BA taxi app. So we tried to catch a taxi at the taxi stand right next to Retiro and the driver quoted us 400 pesos! We said no, the BA taxi app shows us 120 pesos and he said that is for 1 person! Unbelievable! So we left and tried another driver and showing the quote from BA taxi. He said that is about right and we accepted. He was really nice old guy, taxímetro switched on using tarif 1 as it should be and we paid maybe 130 pesos at the end. 

In hotel Alpino, they didn’t have wall sockets to use with our EU plugs. So we had to charge from tv usb connector. 

And dinner in Club de la Milanesa (the same as twice before). 2 beers, 1 salad, 1 papás criminales, 1 water. 550 pesos. 

Summary:
- bus Via Bariloche
- Cama, upper deck, usb charger, first row quite nice view and enough space
- Departure 19:15 from Puerto Iguazu
- Served dinner at 22:30
- Served breakfast at 9am
- Many stops on the way - police controls
- Total journey 19 hours


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

24/1/2018 Chiloe Castro, car hire, Teneun, Dalhacue, Cucao

We woke up around 10am, Denisa went to buy something for breakfast and we ate in the hostel. Then we packed all things and left to the tourist information centre, where young English speaking girl gave us a business card of local car hire place we headed to straight after.   The car hire place we used in Castro Chiloe is called Hostal Cordillera. They asked us what type of car we want (no English speaking) and what the prices are. We chose the smallest car Kia Morning (3 cylinders) and the lady told us we need to wait until 12 as someone will return the car to use for us. So we walked to see the main church (UNESCO) on the main square and we bought some really tasty potato bread, or something, filled with minced meat. And also kuchen with special local berries called makui (they grow only on Chiloe). Each was only 1000 pesos and it was amazingly good (we ate the kuchen later on the road).  At 12, we were back in the car hire place. Jorge spoke very clearly Spanish and slowly

3/1/2018 bus from Ushuaia to Punta Arenas (Chile)

As I wrote before, be got our tickets from Marga Taqsa office in Ushuaia (Juana Genoveva Fadul 126) on the day we arrived (Friday 29/12/2017). The bus company is Barria Ghisoni. It is standard long distance bus with tiny toilet and one deck. The ticket costs 1000 pesos (only cash payment) and the bus is leaving at 8am.   We got up at 6:20am, had quick breakfast and packed our rucksacks. At 7:30am we reached the omnibus terminal and handed our rucksacks to a guy from the bus. They didn’t want to see the tickets, neither passport. And they didn’t put any label on our rucksacks either.  Shortly after we departed on time, they gave us a Chile customs declaration form (I’ll upload later) to fill in. I was looking forward to have some amazing views from the bus, all the windows inside were steamed and wet, and it was raining outside anyway. So no views. There is no USB, neither good air con on the bus. The bus was packed.  The first stop is Argentinian border at San S

27/1/2017 Puerto Varas and Chester Beer brewery

We had our yoghurts for breakfast in our room and the walked to the town centre. Did few photos around the lake and the went up the hill to park and viewpoint. Not many people up there, it’s sunny and feels nice. The park works as a mountain bike park too.   Once we reached the top, I checked maps.me where else we can go, as it was still early. I found that about 3km away is a Chester Brewery. That could be a good walk with beer at the end, no? We both agreed and wanted to descend the hill to a footpath near the railway. Unfortunately we took a wrong misleading paths down the hill and reached just bush and very steep downhill we couldn’t pass. Took us a while to get to the park entrance and we needed some water (forgot in the hostel). The nearest shop/coffee is on the same street and water costed 1500 pesos. Then seemed shorter to walk on the road then get back to the footpath. The only issue is that we are not sure if we can get there using the road I can see on the map. The ro