Before Bolivia, our experiences with buses in South America has been pretty good. Sure, spending 15-20 hours on a bus isn’t ideal, but the buses in Brazil and Argentina are really something else. Take a look. It’s a luxury liner. You get meals, drinks, movies, a bathroom and a steward on board. Compared to the Chinatown bus to New York, these buses are like riding on the space shuttle. Check out this animation below, demonstrating all of the seat choices. Premium class turns into a bed. Pretty sweet.
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Now this is a bus in Bolivia. Study the photo intently and you may notice a few differences. There’s no need for an animation depicting the various seat choices because there are no choices. In fact, you don’t even need a seat. They will sell you standing room…on a 10 hour overnight trip! Our ride from Uyuni to Sucre had 40 seats, and 55 passengers. People standing and sleeping in the aisles, sitting on each other’s laps…the only thing missing was livestock. Somehow we managed to get a few hours of sleep despite the bumpy ride. (only 5% of roads in Bolivia are paved)