March 5, 2005
Buenos Aires to Tucuman to Salta
Flecha Bus Premier Suite
Marcopolo Series 2000 Bus Seat 3
800p-440p Travel Time: 17:50

My bus for tonight’s journey was a Marcopolo Paradiso GV-1800 DD motor coach. Built in Brazil and powered by a Mercedes engine, the 1800 DD is one of the most popular inter-city motor coaches in all of South America. If it were an airplane, it would be the equivalent of a 747-400.

Measuring over 45’ long and rising over 14’ high, this bus featured premium class seating on two separate levels. Downstairs were four rows of wide plush seats arranged in a 2-1 configuration. These were Coche Cama seats for those traveling in Clase Ejecutivo. At the front of this cabin was a large lavatory and a stairway leading to the upper level of the bus where the Premium Suites were located. Next to the stairway was a doorway leading to the driver’s compartment. I took a quick look around and then headed upstairs.

The entire upper level was dedicated seating for Premium Suite passengers. The seats themselves were no wider than the Coche Cama seats downstairs but each row of seats was separated by a small privacy divider, much like some airlines have to separate their non-suite First Class sleeper seats from the row behind them. On each divider was a leg rest that could either fold back towards the seat to become a leg rest or be extended straight out towards the seat to become part of the flat sleeping surface. It was a simple, but very impressive design. At the rear of the upper level was the galley.

My seat was right at the very front of the cabin, over the top of the driver’s compartment. As such, my seat was not only next to a large side window but also had a huge forward facing windshield right in front of it. Talk about a 180-degree view! It was the best seat in the house!

A pillow and blanket had been placed at each seat and I was pleased to see that the pillow was of decent size and density, not like those cheap tiny fluffy things that most airlines pass out. As I took my seat and started to settle in for the long trip ahead, I reveled in the cool breeze emanating from the air-conditioning vent. It had been a muggy night in Buenos Aires and right now that air-conditioning felt downright heavenly.

As for seating comfort, this was one of the more ergonomically comfortable seats I’ve ever sat in. It was comparable in size to what you’d find in domestic First Class or International Business Class. Although there was nothing electronic about this seat, the recline button was easy to use and the total recline was as advertised. This was going to be a very comfortable ride indeed. Now if only there were had laptop hookups…

Just as we were backing out, the Bus Attendant stopped by, welcomed me aboard and asked if there was anything I needed. I assured him that I was more than comfortable and looking forward to enjoying the view from such an excellent vantage point. He returned shortly thereafter with a set of headphones and then collected the blanket and pillow from the empty seat beside me. As we pulled out of the Terminal and headed out into the Buenos Aires traffic, I reclined my seat, put up my feet and began to truly relax. We were finally underway.

As we accelerated smoothly along the highway out of Buenos Aires, it occurred to me that from the time I’d arrived in Buenos Aires, things had fallen into place as easily as if their places had been prearranged. This despite the fact that I’d arrived without reservations of any type, be it getting from Ezeiza into town to getting up to Salta, eight hundred miles distant. Looking back on it, my timing was impeccable. I cleared customs at 6:00pm, was on a bus into the city at 6:30pm, arrived at the Retiro Bus Terminal at about 7:15pm, had a ticket purchased by 7:45pm and was now sitting in a plush easy chair while speeding out of Buenos Aires aboard one of the world’s finest busses. Such a life!

Dinner started with hors d’oeuvres. Each of us were presented with a wrapped cardboard box that contained some tiny cheese crackers, a tiny bread roll and two shish kebobs of cubed cheese, ham and an olive skewered with those little plastic swords. Any further comparisons with BA’s First Class ended here, I reckon. Still, how many of us have ever been served a hot meal on a bus, with hors d’oeuvres no less?

My reverie was interrupted by the return of the Bus Attendant. Would Senor care for some wine with his meal? Por su puesto! Tinto o Blanco? Tinto, por favor.

Dinner was presented in a prefabricated plastic serving tray, about 9” x 12”. The tray included a cold rice and peas salad with a piece of deli sliced ham, a dinner roll, a packet of bread sticks and a slice of sweet cake. The main course was brought out hot from the kitchen and was presented in a rectangular tinfoil serving dish. I peeled off the cover to reveal a somewhat dried out looking slice of roast beef with a good-sized portion of mashed potatoes and gravy. This meal was on par with an Economy Class airline meal and while it wouldn’t score many points on presentation, it was otherwise filling and reasonably tasty.

After the meal, it was time for the movie. Tonight’s selection was Master And Commander, an interesting selection given Argentina’s defeat at the hands of the English just twenty-three years ago. I’d only seen this movie once when it was in the theaters and I remembered really liking the soundtrack. It was good to see it again, albeit on a 13” TV screen. Afterwards, I checked out the audio options but found only a lot of Madonna sounding stuff, lots of squeaky voiced divas backed up by drum machines and synthesizers. No thanks.

I spent the next couple of hours reading one of the five books I’d brought along for this trip. Finally, about 11:30 I shut off my light, reclined my seat, adjusted my pillow, threw on my blanket and lapsed into a most comfortable sleep. Rarely have I slept so well in a seat, either earthbound or airborne. That includes my nights spent in BA Suites.

I awoke in the morning to coffee and a small tray of sweets – cookies and Melba toast with a sweet caramel vanilla spread. Certainly not the most nutritional breakfast but a tasty early morning snack nonetheless. Actually, it wasn’t all that early. I’d slept until a little after 8:00am – on a bus no ness! Soon, we arrived at a large white arch over the highway that signified our entrance into the Tucuman province. A sign indicated that all vehicles must stop for an agricultural inspection. The guys manning the post had guns, too. Evidently, the Tucuman province is dead serious about its agricultural inspections.

We’d departed Buenos Aires in darkness so it was quite nice to awaken to a bright sunny day. The surrounding countryside was quite verdant, a nice mix of farmland dotted by small patches of trees. Unfortunately, the big windshield in front of me had been splattered with thousands of large and small insects during the night. It was a real mess and evidently would not get cleaned until trip’s end.

We arrived in Tucuman, a large city of over 300,000 people, at a little past 10:00am. Judging by the size of its bus terminal, Tucuman is at the very least a transportation hub for the northern provinces. There were 30 slots for busses and the terminal doubled as a small indoor shopping mall. Unfortunately, it was Sunday and most everything was closed. With almost three hours until my connecting bus to Salta was to depart, I checked my big backpack into a baggage storage place (Only about $1.50USD for the day as opposed to $10.00 for the day in Melbourne’s airport back in January) and set out in search of non-sugary sustenance. The terminal sported a good-sized restaurant on the premises, so I headed right in and soon was dining on a big plate of broiled chicken, salad and French fries. Since I’d sat next to a wall outlet, I was also able to plug in and recharge my laptop.

My connecting bus up to Salta offered Semi-Cama service that, while nowhere near as nice as the Suite Premium service, still offered a much nicer seat than anything I’d find back home. It was only a four hour trip to Salta, during which I read a bit and enjoyed the views as the land went from rolling green farmland to large green mountains.

Salta sits in a basin surrounded by those large green mountains. The bus descended down into the city and pulled into a rather nondescript and dirty little bus terminal. I had not made any reservations for a place to stay but was confident that I could find something both adequate and affordable in Salta, a city of over 400,000 inhabitants.

Given the devaluation of Argentina’s currency, it is possible to find excellent accommodations at a fraction of what one would pay in America or Europe. Of course, your fancy hotels such as a Sheraton will always be very expensive compared to everything else, but all I required was a comfortable, air-conditioned room in the $20.00-30.00 per night range. Salta has a number of hotels that would fit this description and I decided to try the Petit Hotel, located just a few blocks from the city center. It was listed as a Mid-Range hotel in price and came highly recommended in the Lonely Planet guidebook. It was described as follows:

The Spanish villa style rooms at the foot of Cerro San Bernardo are excellent and well worth the tariff with great mountain views.

This sounded just fine to me and so I headed for the nearest locutorio. Locutorios are basically small telephone offices where one can call either locally or long distance from private booths and then pay for the call afterwards. They are much less expensive than using pay phones on the street. In most cities, they can be found just about every other block and of course a bus station is also a good place to find one.

Ten minutes later, I was being shown to my room at the Petit Hotel. The hotel has about twenty rooms, most of them situated around a large courtyard that has a small swimming pool in the middle. My room had air-conditioning and cable TV with a gazillion channels. It didn’t have a table though, so the friendly gal working the front desk located one along with a chair for me and I was set. The price: $57.00 Pesos or just under $20.00 USD per night.

Dinner in Argentina is generally not eaten until late, so many restaurants don’t even open for dinner until 8:00pm. As such, I had plenty of time to shower and relax before heading into town. Although the Lonely Planet offered a number of suggestions for eating out, I decided to go with the recommendation of the front desk clerk. She recommended three different places that specialized in regional fare and so I headed in towards the city center in search of one or all.

The place I ended up at (For the life of me, I cannot remember its name) was simply superb! As soon as I was sat, I was brought a basket of sliced French rolls along with a complimentary plate of marinated onions, carrots and eggplant. This tasted surprisingly good as a spread on the bread. For dinner I ordered what turned out to be a pair of small steaks topped with eggplant and cheese, surrounded by a delicious sauce. The presentation was very artistic and the taste was fantastic. Total cost: $5.00 including tip.

I spent three days in Salta and found the city a very laid back and enjoyable place. I could easily spend a month here. Salta is known for it’s well preserved Spanish Colonial architecture and I quite enjoyed just walking into and around town, amongst the many colorful buildings and the green shady parks. Unfortunately the streets around the central plaza were under construction so what would have been an otherwise very nice place to spend some time was instead noisy and dusty. Regardless, there were plenty of other interesting little nooks and crannies to explore and enjoy.

A number of excursions into the surrounding mountains were available, but with only three days in the region, I decided to just hang loose in Salta. Personally, with only a three-day stay I think running all over town trying to see all of its cultural sights, etc. is overrated. I like to just hang out and enjoy the local scene, sit in the plaza and languish over coffee and medialunas with the morning paper. Go walk around town in the afternoon, stop into a museum or bookstore, eat some nice meals at local restaurants… etc., all truly boring stuff that I really enjoy. Mind you, I enjoy the occasional excursion too but without a doubt what everyone else would rush off and try to do in their first two days it would take me a week or more to get around to. I make a lousy travel companion for people who just have to see and do everything.

I really liked Salta a lot and am quite certain that this is a place I could easily come back to for a two or three week visit. Without a doubt, I know that I will do just that someday soon. In the meantime, my ultimate destination remains Ushuaia, two thousand miles south of Salta at the opposite end of the country. I had a lot of ground to cover and very little of it would be by air so I bid farewell to the friendly staff of the Petit Hotel and hiked back over to the bus station where a sleeper seat awaited me on the 12:45pm departure down to Buenos Aires.

Interestingly, dinner on this bus was not served onboard but rather at a restaurant. The movie had just ended when we pulled into a truck/bus stop at a little past midnight. I don’t know about the other passengers, but I sure was surprised when it was announced that a complimentary dinner would be served inside while the bus was serviced and fueled. And what a dinner! It started with a cold plate of ham and cheese, followed by a small salad, then a big quarter roasted chicken served with vegies and roasted potatoes. Greyhound, are you listening?! Arrival in Buenos Aires Retiro Terminal was at 9:30am the following morning and I quickly headed over to the Via Bariloche Bus counter to purchase my suite seat ticket down to Bariloche.