| Feb 17, 2006 - 38 hours to Rio
| I must say I was a bit nervous when I heard this ride to Rio to make it in time for the Rolling Stones show was going to take 40+ hours. Firstly, it didn`t, it only took 38, even though we did not take the most direct route through Uruguay but instead went up through Argentina to the Iguazu falls and passed directly into Brazil without having to cross any other borders. Secondly, it was the best bus ride so far of my trip.
We were on a double-decker sleeping bus which means the seat reclines almost all the way to make it very comfortable to sleep, and they provide you with pillows and blankets. Also, this bus had 2 seats next to each other on one side, like usual, but the other side had seats by themselves, which I had. Next, Matt got a ticket for the same bus as me, and although he was downstairs,we would see each other at the stops and breaks or whatever. And finally, sitting in the two seats across from me were two very cool girls from the US and Israel, Missy & Meital, also in the midst of a big trip, who helped make passing the time much easier, funnier, and more enjoyable.
Now about the bus service. We boarded the bus at night, and immediately the bus worker (like a flight attendant on a plane) came around with a glass of champagne for all the passengers. Just a bit later and we were served a hot meal for dinner, again airplane style, but it was the first (and only) time I`ve ever gotten hot food on a bus, and it was served with wine. During dinner they started the first movie of the night, some strange Asian flic, followed by "Be Cool" in English, which was actually pretty good. About midway through this movie the guy came around again with Jameson whiskey on the rocks for anyone who wanted it. Finally it was time to go to sleep, and unlike most buses which have two rows of two seats each, my row was all single seats, so I had nobody bumping me and snoring in my ear while I slept in a nearly fully-reclining seat with footrest and the provided blankets and pillow.
Ok, this may be boring for you, but I need to go on, thats how amazing this ride was for me. In the morning we stopped at some large dining hall type place for breakfast, which is not uncommon for long trips. What was uncommon was that we were seated at tables with tablecloth, served warm croissants and bread with butter and jam, and had waiters coming around with tea and coffee, all included in the price of our bus ticket. Simply incredible. By about mid-day we reached the Argentina-Brazil border at the Iguaza Falls, and once in Brazil the free food services stopped, since it was an Argentine bus company that did not have places to restock in Brazil. But still, movies were shown all day long, almost all in English, which made the time fly by. Good movies too, such as Mona Lisa Smile, The Village, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and then some strange Argentine comedy called "Dad Went Crazy". We were given cold sandwiches for lunch, but for dinner stopped at a Brazilian pay-by-weight buffet, a common tpye of restaurant there which would become a staple of my Brazilian eating. At night they came around once again with the Jameson during the final movie, and again I slept soundly, amazed that I had already spent almost 30 hours on the bus.
The third and final day, Saturday February 18th, went rather quickly as well, enjoying the scenery while pulling into Rio, around mid-day. All in all, the longest bus ride of my entire trip somehow was also the easiest and most enjoyable, and if anyone ever needs to travel Buenos Aires - Iguazau - Rio, Crucero del Norte is the company to take. |
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