As a broke backpacker, one of the cheapest and most efficient ways of getting around is to take the local buses. During my travels around South America, I took countless bus journeys from place to place, country to country, some during the day, some during the night and experienced some of the best and the worst journeys of my life.

Buses in South America are very affordable, extremely easy to take (even if you don’t speak the language), frequent and you can pretty much catch a bus to almost anywhere you want to go.

If you have plenty of time, travelling South America by bus will save you a lot of money!

I was pondering whether to write a post about this experience, however it was quite eventful and I felt it was worth sharing with you guys to give you an insight into my experience, what it is like to take the local buses in South America and to prepare you for taking the buses.

As I mentioned earlier, the bus companies vary significantly. Some of them are extremely good and pretty luxurious and others, are truly awful.

My experience from Copacabana, Bolvia to Cusco, Peru was one of the truly awful ones!

After spending the night on the Isla del sol on Lake Titicaca (Bolivia side), I returned to Copacabana to book a bus to Cusco where I was supposed to meet my friend. Being a last-minute person, I hadn’t organised a bus yet so went to several venders to check the prices and the types of buses. One lady approached me and encouraged me to book with her company. With my broken Spanish, I questioned whether the bus had a functioning bathroom to which she said ‘claro, claro’- meaning of course. I also needed to have WIFI due to the fact I had been on a remote island for the last day and had not been able to get in touch with my friend and organise a hostel in Cusco. My plan was to sort these arrangements out on the bus. The lady nodded and assured me the bus also had WIFI.

I was slightly hesitant, but agreed and bought a ticket anyway. I cannot remember how much it was specifically but it was very cheap, the cheapest company I could find. This was a bad choice and one which looking back, I regretted.

The bus was due to leave around 2pm and take 8 hours, arriving to Cusco at 10pm.

I boarded the bus and was seated one row from the back next to the window. After a short period, we crossed the border, it was a relatively quick process- around 30/40minutes. We climbed off the bus, went into the office, got our passport stamped to leave Bolivia and then walked two minutes into the Peru office to gain our entry stamp. After we had gained the stamp, we got back onto the bus and the journey continued.

After around 1 hour, the bus started to fill up with people and after a couple of stops, every seat was full. There were a couple of travellers on the bus, but 95% of the passengers were local people. I kept my smaller bag on my lap and my larger backpack was stored underneath the bus. I say my smaller backpack… it still weighed 10kg was so was pretty heavy to have on my lap for 8 hours. The space between the seats were very limited and as the person in front was fully reclined, I could hardly move.

I considered putting the bag in the overhead locker, but was conscious of my valuables and felt it was safer to be uncomfortable than risk having my belongings stolen.

The journey continued and we picked some more people up- women carrying babies on their backs, locals with animals in cardboard boxes, venders with bags full of products. By this point, I was questioning how all of these people and their belongings were going to fit onto this bus. No chance I thought, they will have to take the next bus!

No, they climbed onboard and made themselves ‘comfortable’ in the aisle.

Despite the bus being cramped and full, it was still fairly cold on the bus. After a couple of hours, the air conditioning was turned on. Unfortunate for me, I was sat directly underneath the air con unit which was clearly broken and leaking all over. The water dripped and dripped for the rest of the journey, soaking the chair, me and my belongings. I tried to move as far over onto the seat next to me to avoid getting wet, however it was occupied by a local lady who was sleeping at the time.

The journey seemed to take forever. I had hoped we would make a toilet stop but it didn’t seem to be happening. Carrying by backpack and climbing over the many locals in the aisle, I made my way to the on-board toilet which was located on the stairs. I am a bit of a hyenine freak anyway so was reluctant to use this bathroom but figured it was my only option for a while. The toilet was of course broken, the door didn’t shut and the bowl was practically overflowing. Eugh it was disgusting and the smell was horrific! I instantly regretted drinking two bottles of pop!

After this awful encounter with the bathroom, I returned to my seat, hoping there was only a few hours left of this journey. How wrong was I?

Around 9.00pm, the bus came to a complete stop. There was no explanation to what had happened or why we had stopped but I think we had broken down. We were literally in the middle of no where and it was pitch black. Several people began getting off the bus with their belongings. I was concerned that if I got off, the driver might think I had left and drive off without me leaving me stranded on the side of a random road so I just sat tight.

3 hours later, we started moving again. I still to this day have no idea what had happened!

During the long wait, a few people had left and therefore there were some spare seats. At the next stop, several venders got on selling empanadas and other local foods. This mixed with the smell coming from the toilet and the fact I was wet and cold from the air conditioning unit, made me gag. I couldn’t wait to get off this bus.

The journey continued and we finally arrived at Cusco at around 5pm. I have no idea why the journey took so long or what on earth went wrong with the bus but it was a horrific journey and I couldn’t wait to get into bed.

When arriving at the bus terminal, I quickly turned on my mobile data and found the hostel my friend was at. It was raining torrentially and I had no idea how to get there so decided to take a taxi.

Of course, I was unprepared and had no Peruvian soles to pay for the taxi fare so had to pay with US dollars. The taxi man stated that he had no change and therefore I would need to pay him the full $20. It was a 5minute journey which should have cost less than $5 so I knew he was scamming me, however at this point, I didn’t even care. I just wanted to get to the hostel.

Upon arriving at the hostel, the front door was locked. I knocked several times and there was no answer. After banging and banging, a guy finally came to the door. He had clearly been asleep and was not very happy that I had woken him up. He let me inside and told me that I should arrive before midnight for check in. I explained that my bus was scheduled to arrive before midnight however it had just arrived now. He said that if I wanted a room, I would have to pay double due to the time that I had arrived. I thought this was slightly unfair but agreed. He then left me on the couch whilst he went back to ‘check the room’ he said. An hour later, I was questioning where he was. I heard snoring coming from the other room and went into the lounge area to find him asleep on the couch. He was going to hate me, but I had to wake him up. I was so ready for a bed!

Finally, around 6.00am I climbed into bed. I had arrived in Peru and what a journey it had been!

Now to find my friend… good job she was very independent! :L

So… reflecting on this, it was an experience, however I wish I hadn’t been so tight and had just paid a little more and went with a reputable company. In the end, it probably worked out that I spent more (taking into account the taxi scam and having to pay for two nights) than I would have on a good bus company.

Who are the best bus companies to go with?

Some of the best companies to go with are Cruz del Sur (Peru), Pullman (Chile), Tur-bus (Chile) Andesmar and Flechabus (Argentina) and Trans Copacabana (Bolivia). With these companies, you can expect a comfortable seat/reclining bed, a functioning toilet and a pretty pleasant on-time journey. The best companies offer different types of seats- semi-camas and full camas, blankets, televisions, food and drinks so if you are going on a long journey you may want to splash out a little bit more to enjoy these luxuries.

Despite the horror stories that you may here, travelling on the South American buses are a great adventure and an experience in themselves. Here are some tips and important points to know when travelling on the buses.

Tips when travelling on South American buses

• Keep your personal/valuable items on your lap or by your feet. Avoid putting them in the overhead compartment or under the seat as these are easy to target. I heard a lot of stories about people slashing bags or stealing your things whilst you sleep so keep an eye on your belongings at all times. Thankfully I never experienced this and if you are travelling with a good company, this is less likely to happen, however it is important to be aware and protect yourself.

• Don’t leave valuables in your luggage which goes underneath the bus. Putting a padlock on your bag is a good idea as an extra deterrent.

• When boarding the bus, you will hand your luggage to the handler who will put it underneath the bus for you and give you a tag to claim it back. Make sure you keep this claim tag safe and don’t loose it.

• Bring snacks and plenty of water.

• Do you research and book with a reputable established company.

• Have some warm clothes with you, especially for journeys where you will pass through high altitude. Most buses do not have heating and it can get very cold during the night. On the contrary, some also have air conditioning which is set to freezing temperatures.

• Choose a seat away from the toilet if possible.

• Don’t rely on the buses being on time. There seemed to be little urgency and regard for keeping to time scales with some of the companies.

• Don’t feel rude about reclining your seat. Put it back as much as you can as everyone else will do the same without a second thought!

Buses are an awesome way of travelling through South America. If you have no strict time scale to follow, you can easily travel through the whole continent using buses if you wish. If you haven’t yet, you should totally experience the South American buses. This way, you can admire the beautiful landscapes out of the window, meet local people, gain an insight into their lives and save money on air fare! Win win!

Have you travelled on the South American buses? If so, I would love to hear about your experiences 😊Please comment below.