Copacabana was our last stop in Bolivia, next destination: Cusco in Peru. We booked a nice "cama"-bus for the nine hour busride but when we showed up at bus agency half an hour before departure, things got a little shady. We should mention that there are not just one or two companies that offer transportation but numerous bus companies and travel agencies going with different buses and at different times. So it is really just a matter of choosing wisely. We were told that we would first take a normal travel coach to Puno in Peru and there we would change into the nicer nightbus to Cusco. The ticket we got did not have any seat number or any other information on it which puzzled us a little because we never had that before. When we ... read more

This entry will start with yet another bus-story, we picked the blog-name wisely. After the terrible trip to Potosí, we were warned and picked a first class bus for our nighttrip from Sucre to La Paz. A so-called "cama suit" which promised to be a more modern and safer bus with big, comfortable seats and legspace. We got to the bus-station early and were waiting patiently, noticing that some luggage was lowered down from a second story on a hook, it was very adventurous. We thought that if we had to check our backpacks before the departure (which we never needed to do before), someone would have told us... Wrong! After we did finally ask if we had to check our bags, the trouble began. We rushed upstairs, gave the lady that was working in the ... read more

This blog is called "Bus Diaries" for a reason. We got really spoiled in Argentina, riding first and second class buses and we knew that in a country like Bolivia which is a lot poorer, the general standard would be lower. So we braced ourselves for our nine hour night-busride to Potosí but we could not imagine what we were in for. The bus was quite run down, the seats were worn out and the covers were broken so that the filling was hanging out. The slideable windows were provisionally held together by strings and would actually slide open during the busride. We could have managed all of this but the horror started on the road. We drove almost the entire way on a super bad gravel-/dirtroad and our driver was speeding like an insane person. ... read more

As I already mentioned, the bus-trip to Cafayate was the most impressive so far. We crossed the Calchaquí mountains that ranged from a jungle to a desert and Cafayate is beautifully set within the Calchaquí Valley and surrounded by vineyards. From our hostel rooftop terrace we had a nice view of all the mountains around us. The city itself is quite small and touristy but very cute and intriguing. There were lots of arts and craft stores and we strolled through the stands and checked out the variety of things they offered: jewelery, ceramics, clothes, maté tea cups, pastries, goat cheese, all kinds of stuff. Cafayate is famous for two things: nature and wine. On our first day, we booked a guided tour through the Quebrada, which is the very colorful valley around Cafayate. The stones ... read more

Our trip to Córdoba began with a bang. We got cheap tickets for an overnight bus and went to the bus-station way before it was time. We waited for our bus to be called but it never happened, so when it was time for the departure we searched the 70(!) bus platforms for our bus and couldn't find it. We eventually got onto a bus to Córdoba and we were really excited about the comfort. We didn't expect big fluffy seats, a lot of legspace and a blanket and a pillow in a third class bus. After the bus left, the conducter came up to us and wanted to see our tickets again and he realized what we up until that point missed: we booked a bus for the day before. We were lucky enough to ... read more