April 20, 2010
Buenos Aires – Jujuy
Flecha Bus Suite Premium
800p – 245p

For most people, the prospect of an 18 hour bus journey would not be greeted with enthusiasm. From a North American and perhaps European perspective, busses are fine for city transit and airport shuttles but to consider one for a long distance journey might suggest a measure of desperation on behalf of the traveler. A last resort. Indeed, many of us would gladly pay two or three times more money than the bus fare for an airplane ticket just to avoid the particular tribulations associated with long distance bus travel.

Any of you that share the above sentiments clearly have yet to ride aboard any of Argentina’s finest busses. We’re talking modern double decker machines built in Brazil and powered by efficient and reliable Mercedes or Volvo engines. Measuring over 45’ long and rising over 14’ high, these busses represent the pinnacle of comfort and technology available to over the road travelers.

In Argentina, three different levels of service are commonly available on most major inter-city markets. All long distance busses offer air-conditioning, water and toilet facilities.

Semi-Cama: Four across, 2-2 seating but very nice seats with deep padding, leg rests and much greater recline that you’d experience on a typical Greyhound type service. Seat pitch is about 42”. Movies and music channels are standard, and some companies provide headphones.



Semi-Cama Seating. Note the recline and legrests


Coche Cama: Three across, 1-2 seating. The seats are wide, deep and plushly upholstered, about the same as a 767 First Class domestic seat but with more padding. Seat pitch is about 50”. The recline is about the same as the original First Class sleeper seats of the 1970s and 80s, or about 150°. Blankets and good quality pillows are provided. Movies and music channels are standard, as are headphones. Hot or cold meals and snack services are always offered on longer trips, along with wines and cocktails. A bus Attendant is on board for all services.



Coche Cama on Cruz Del Sur


Cama Suite: Three across, 1-2 seating, but these seats recline to 180° or very close to it. Food and beverage service is at least as good as that offered in Coche Cama, but often better. Curtains divide each seat at night. Also, some companies offer airline style VIP lounge access at large terminals like Retiro in Buenos Aires.



Cama Suite seat fully reclined. A leg rest comes up parallel to the seat bottom


Without a doubt, bus travel has been elevated to an art form down here in southern South America. Even though I could very easily afford plane travel given the current exchange rate, there’s just something about relaxing in a big comfortable seat while watching beautiful countryside pass by just outside my window. If busses like these operated in the United States, I’d be riding them a lot – especially if they had a Frequent Rider Program.

From Ezeiza International Airport I caught a bus into the city, alighting at the massive Retiro Bus Terminal. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Retiro Terminal is the world’s largest. Housed in a gigantic building that is over a quarter mile long, the station has slots or “platformas” for seventy-five busses. On average, about 40000 travelers per day depart Retiro on 1400 to 2000 busses per day.

There are three floors – the top one is for ticket sales only, the middle one for shops, restaurants and departures and the lower floor for freight and baggage storage. The entire top floor is dedicated to ticket sales only. Think about that for a moment. Tickets are sold on both sides of the building so that’s almost a half-mile of ticket offices. I would guess there are close to one hundred long distance bus companies operating out of Retiro.

My principal destination in Argentina is the city of Salta, located way up in the northwest corner of the country. Remember, the impetus of this trip is to ride a train on each continent and the train I want to ride in South America departs from Salta. That train would be the “Tren a las Nubes” or “Train to the clouds”. More on that in a bit though. Tonight I am taking a bus to Jujuy (Pronounced Who-Who-ee), a city of about 300,000 located about 75 miles north of Salta. I’ve never been to Jujuy before and since my train doesn’t depart from Salta until the 24th, I’ll have a free day to check out Jujuy before heading down to Salta to catch the train.

There is an excellent website called omnilineas that provides information on bus departures from Retiro and can also assist you with reservations. They even have a toll free number from the US. They also have links to the bus company web sites. I gave them a call to inquire about a Cama Suite aboard the 8:00pm departure to Jujuy with Flecha Bus. Unfortunately omnilineas does not have an agreement with Flecha Bus that allows them to reserve seats and collect payment, they were able to tell me that there was plenty of space and that a reservation would likely not be necessary.

Sure enough, when I presented myself at the Flecha Bus ticket counter, I was informed that there were plenty of suites available and that I could pretty much pick whichever one I’d like. 3A please. That’s the window seat upstairs in the very first row of the bus on the two seat side, directly above the driver. This seat is literally surrounded by windows – two big forward facing windows four feet in front of me with a large side window to my left. I was informed that my bus would be departing from somewhere between platforms 61 and 70. The exact platform would be announced about 30 minutes before departure.

One new addition to Retiro is a VIP Lounge for those passengers travelling in First or Suite Class. It offers comfortable seating, a couple of televisions and free wi-fi. Four computer terminals are also available along the back wall. A waiter will take and deliver drink orders from a bar out in the terminal. Though not quite as nice as a typical airline lounge, the Sala VIP sure beats sitting on the hard plastic chairs out in the crowded terminal.

Once the television monitor indicated that my bus to Jujuy would be departing from platform 62, I gathered my gear and headed right out there. Although my bus had not yet pulled in to take on passengers, I found it interesting to check out all the different busses and color schemes. Even someone who didn’t like bus travel couldn’t help but be amazed by all the brightly colored busses and their amazingly plush interiors. There are so many busses departing from Retiro each day that the amount of time they can spend in the platform slot is very limited – perhaps only 15-20 minutes. As soon as one leaves, another arrives to fill the slot within about five minutes. The entire operation looks very efficient with baggage loaders and ticket collectors swinging into action as soon as each bus pulls up.

When the bus to Jujuy pulled up at 7:50pm, I hauled my backpack to the rear of the bus, checked it through to Jujuy, received a claim check, tipped the baggage handler a couple of pesos and then proceeded to the doorway where tickets were being collected. My name was crossed off a list and I was directed upstairs to my seat.

Entering one of these big two-story busses is much more impressive than climbing aboard your average Greyhound or airporter motor coach. Stepping aboard the bus into a small foyer, you have a stairway to your immediate right, a small galley and large lavatory directly in front of you and to your left the lower passenger compartment which seats six in two rows of 1-2 seating. Just left of the stairway is a passageway to the driver’s compartment. The upper level seats 24 passengers in six rows of 1-2 seating. Anyone who’s ever ridden a large motor coach will know that only six rows means a lot of room between seats – enough room for each seat to recline 180° into a 6’2” bed. Television screens placed throughout the cabin ensure that no one is more than two rows from a screen.



The upstairs cabin of Flecha Bus’ Suite Premium bus


Climbing the stairway to the upper level, I turned right and located my seat at the very front of the bus. A blanket and pillow had already been placed at each seat and there was ample storage on a shelf above my seat. With the load so light this evening, I just placed my daypack on the seat beside me. Then I sat down and reveled in the foam rubber ecstasy of my lounge chair…



The most comfortable seat on the road


Ahh… These large, well padded seats are much more comfortable to sit in than the Business Class seats on LAN’s 767s. Though LAN’s seats have a lot of electronic whistles and bells that will allow them to be adjusted in any number of ways, they are not particularly well padded. By comparison, these bus seats are downright plush, like sitting in a Lazy Boy chair. The seatback reclines 180° and a full length bed is created by raising a wide leg rest which can be adjusted to extend straight out from the seat itself. The leg rest can also be angled for daytime use. Bus travel simply doesn’t get any better than this. But wait ~ There’s more!

Soon after departing Retiro, a bus attendant arrived at my seat to enquire as to my drink preference. Water, sodas or red or white wine were available. I requested a glass of vino tinto (red wine) and was informed that dinner would be served shortly.

Dinner on a bus? No way!

Way, dudes ~ and not just a simple tray meal like you’d get on an airline either. Service began with the presentation of an appetizer plate containing slices of ham and cheese, a serving of potato and corn salad, some coleslaw and a slice of pastry bread. Next came a smaller plate bearing bread sticks, three small muffins and a flan dessert. Finally, the main course was presented: Turkey and stuffing with mashed potatoes and gravy. All of it was delicious, including the wine which was surprisingly full bodied, like a good Cab/Merlot. After dinner, we were offered coffee, Champagne or whisky. I requested a glass of whisky. Although it tasted more like Scotch, it was served at my request with a nice glassful of ice.



The appetizer plate



The entire meal


So here I am, relaxing after an agreeable meal in a big plush easy chair while sipping Argentinean whisky. You’d hardly believe I was in a bus, much less an airplane sitting in anything less than premium class on an international flight. The engine is so far back in the rear of the bus that all I hear up here is a quiet hum. First Class bus travel as experienced in Argentina is a wonderful mode of transport!

Like most busses regardless of manufacture, the overhead personal reading lights were very dim. Experience has taught me to travel with a Mini-mag light equipped with a headband mount. Although a movie was offered, I preferred my book and, after an hour or so of reading, I reclined my seat fully and slept comfortably for the next seven hours.

Breakfast was served at 8:30am. For a country whose restaurants serve some of the best food I’ve ever eaten on the planet, breakfast continues to be a notable disappointment. In all but the finest hotels and residencias, breakfast is often little more than juice, coffee and a plate of small sweet glazed croissants known as medialunas. If you’re really lucky, occasionally cold cereal and/or yogurt might make an appearance. On the bus, juice and pre-sweetened coffee were served first followed by a tray bearing a collection of sugary breads and snacks. While I enjoy a breakfast pastry as much or more than the next guy, I generally like something a little more substantial to start the day.



Breakfast on the bus


Comfortable seat, decent meals and whisky notwithstanding, the fact remains that busses are a lot slower than airplanes and for many people who have the means to fly, the idea of spending eighteen hours sitting in a bus is simply unacceptable. So what’s my excuse? Man, I’m just into the travel experience. Be it First Class on Cathay Pacific or Suite Premium on an Argentinean bus, I love sitting in a comfortable seat and watching the world go by while enjoying the occasional complimentary meal or cocktail. It’s that simple.

Whereas many travelers can’t wait to get to their destination because they want to see or experience some human related thing like an old building or a restaurant or some cultural event, I love just looking at this planet and checking out its physical features more so than its human ones. A lot of my best backpacking trips were spurred by having walked past some trail and wondering where it went because it sure looked pretty up there. And so I returned to check it out. As for the bus, I’m just not in that much of a hurry and I really do like watching the scenery roll by along the way. The comfy seat is a big part of it though because I would have no interest in riding around for nineteen hours aboard a Greyhound style bus, even if they plied me with good whisky along the way.

Upon arrival in Jujuy, I headed over to the taxi stand where I caught a ride over to the Hotel Fenicia, my home for the next two nights.


JUJUY

Unfortunately, Mother Nature decreed that my time in Jujuy should be spent in a torrential downpour. It was raining lightly when I arrived, harder throughout the night and into the next day, then lightly again the day I departed for Salta.

Although I’d brought a light jacket, it was not a rain jacket. Even so, I decided to venture into Belgrano Square, the city plaza, if only to enjoy a well prepared Argentinean steak dinner. I took a taxi into town, got pretty wet finding an appealing restaurant, enjoyed an excellent steak and potatoes dinner, then taxied back to the hotel. Sadly, that was the extent of my wanderings away from the hotel during my stay in Jujuy. It was raining that hard and steadily.



The view from my room in Jujuy


Most tourist guidebooks give Salta much better reviews than Jujuy, and indeed Salta is very deserving. Still, I liked what I saw of Jujuy, even if viewed though a lot of rain and mist. This is a place for travelers more so than tourists and so I look forward to my return at the earliest possibility.

On the 23rd, I caught the semi-cama service down to Salta. Because I was required to purchase my tickets on the Tren a las Nubes at least one day in advance of my travel date, I immediately caught a taxi from the bus terminal across town to the train station where my VISA card was quickly accepted for the $120.00 USD cost of the train journey. Then it was back to the bus terminal where I purchased all of the tickets necessary to get me back to Buenos Aires via Tucuman and Mendoza. More on that a bit later in the report though.

I’d booked a poolside room at the Petit Hotel, my favorite little hotel in Salta. Although room rates have doubled since I first stayed here in 2005, they are still quite reasonable at only $38.00 USD per night. The hotel is only a short walk from downtown with many excellent restaurants along the way. Because I had a 5:30am wakeup call the next morning, I had an early dinner. In Argentina, that means 8:00pm. Tonight I switched from steak to chicken and was not disappointed. A liter bottle of Salta Beer made an excellent accompaniment and by 11:00pm I was in bed and asleep an hour earlier than usual.



Looking out my door at the courtyard and pool at the Hotel Petit