The 2008 US presidential election was on, we hadn't heard the result, the park ranger in an unbelievably remote hut at uyuni informed us that "el Moreno" had won
- Most of the locals on the beach will start clapping when the sun begins to set. Ipanema is a beautiful beach/area.
- Brazilians are curious and happy to chat with foreigners. I particularly enjoyed how slowly everyone walked, not in a rush to get to anyplace.
- If you're staying in hostels, it's really easy to fall into the trap of hanging around other foreigners who pretty much all speak English fluently (which is fun, but isn't the main purpose of traveling IMO). I learned a little Portuguese before traveling which helped break out of that. I also couch surfed (stayed in strangers homes), which was fun.
- I found the cuisine to be light, though I was on a budget. Pretty sure I lost weight and had to eat more frequently. I miss Acia bowls.
- Dont drink unfiltered tap water, and make sure the bottled water seals aren't broken. I got sick a couple times regardless.
- Carnaval and soccer (football) matches are wild. Tons of energetic people.
- I was never mugged, but met a lot of people who were, or knew someone who was (locals and foreigners). Maybe things have changed. Traveling alone at night is not a good idea.
I pulled out my phone to check where we were on the map.
Each one of my friends immediately looked round urgently and when I put it away, one asked what I was doing. We could be mugged!
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For all the stories like that, Brazil is one of the most wonderful countries I've been to, with amazing people. I have great friends there still today. There does seem to be a major public danger element -- I was told far worse stories. But for all of that, and taking precautions, it was a wonderful place to visit. In one way I feel bad sharing my response to your story, because it perpetuates that, but also it is a true aspect of the country. But: it is an extraordinary place, and a country I deeply wish would be more successful because the people deserve it.
Somehow the cedilla was lost.
Back in 2012 after 8 months across Asia (through Turkey, Iran, India, Nepal, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Hong King) we took a flight to Buenos Aires (well, via SF for a weekend) then went entirely overland: - Buenos Aires - Puerto Madryn - Ushuaia - El Calafate - El Chalten - Bariloche - El Bolson - Mendoza - Salta - El Cafayate - Into Bolivia… - La Quiaca - Tupiza - Salar de Uniyi - Sucre - La Paz - Copabanca - Isla Del Sol - Into Peru! - Puno - Cusco - Aguas Calientes - Arequipa - Tacna - Into Chile! - San Pedro de Atacama - Into Argentina - Salta - Puerto Iguazú - Into Brazil - Foz do Iguaçu - Rio de Janeiro - Ihla Grande - Paraty - San Paulo - Home (via Amsterdam)!
I’m glad we did it when we were younger - golden years.
Cama is Spanish for bed. A cama bus has seats that fully recline to form a flat bed. They are awesome. Semi-cama is a reclining chair. Not flat, but comfortable and you can easily sleep. And then you get regular buses, which are no fun on the long journeys.
"Leito" sounds more premium than "cama", despite being both valid words for "bed"
OTOH I had pretty good experiences with some Indian sleeper buses, if new/good condition, you can even choose single berth with solid sliding aisle wall making it your own small private cabin [2], though it seems aisle curtains are more popular, bed is completely flat, you can even pull open pretty big side window to observe country, though of course it's not long enouigh berth for 2m European, for obvious reasons double berth shared with strangers is not very good experience but sometimes there is no other option
so I wonder how actually look these cama buses you specifically mentioned
[1] https://warmcheaptrips.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Sleepe...
[2] https://static.punemirror.com/full/276e634e-e89e-4231-b487-2...
Uyuni salt plain - magical experience, better than any photos. Climbing on old rusty train cut into chunks, jumping between wagons. Or sleeping in salt-cubes-built iglu. Or hiking to 5200m high volcano Tunupa just next to salt plains.
Sucre - nice colonial feel.
Potosi - evils of colonialism in plain sight. Hard place to swallow. Also possible to go to one of hundreds mines in the famous hill where all the silver mines are. There can be some nasty sillica in the air, beware. But mines look like you would expect in 3rd world - basic, dangerous, and a stick of dynamite is never too far. If you want to see effects of high altitude on fertility, local church is a (traumatic) place to visit.
La Paz - proper high altitude capital, don't be surprised to feel dizzy when stepping out of plane at 4100m altitude.
Copacabana - I presume the one on Titicaca - recommending visiting Isola del Sol, talking to locals. Never had a frozen beer in pre-frozen mug, when outside was -10C and even inside barely 0C, even the foam froze so had to be chewed.
One thing seemingly skipped since this was more just a regular travel path - you can ride down on a rented bike Camino de la Muerte near La Paz - or Yungas death road. In 1 day, you bike from 4700m high frozen planes down to tropical jungle, on shabby muddy roads cut to properly vertical slopes, with waterfall falling down your neck. Don't skip this, even if you are not a seasoned biker. One of those memories for rest of the days.
I assume the author just had nothing better to do which is fine, but great to have the other option.
I spent a huge part of my teens and early twenties dreaming of doing the same. These days the mere thought gives me a back ache.
I think a key tidbit not mentioned by the article, is to recommend for US and Europeans travelers the experience of ecosystem change by going from coastal (sea level), to paramo , to high Andes , and then back down to (dense) tropical jungle.
That ecosystem journey does not exist in North America, and its rare in the EU, except for maybe Switzerland (where you will not experience tropical jungle anyway).
Yet, the journey from coast to highland down to jungle, is available on all highways criscrossing the Andes!
We did a lot of bussing around there couple years ago - none of them or as nice as these motor coaches! (We were generally not taking the longer routes though.)
YouTuber Noel Philips also covered it, if you want to see it in that form.
It was semi cama and we were told there would be a meal served as part of the ticket, only to be told on board that the meal wasn't available for whatever reason. After much complaining (not just me but all of the passengers) we eventually got them to let us stop for half an hour at a service station in the middle of nowhere to get some food.
It was over 13 years ago now, but I still have so many great memories of that trip.
I do remember that date however, we arrived the morning of 9/11. Yes, that one. Checked into hostel bleary-eyed with neck-ache. “Norte Americano?” “Si,” clerk points to TV above, a building in NYC is on fire, looks like a plane crash. I think, that’s really weird but can’t understand the discussion of what happened. I go straight to bed for several hours.
Later get up in the late afternoon for a walk around the falls from a distance. It’s beautiful. Come back about 6pm to catch Dubya making his speech with the other hostel guests in the living room. They also replay the video of the day over and over. The dread of what’s to come lingers in the air.
Edit: but ultimately probably a very different experience because it's so much less mountainous!
Edit: Yes, it looks like you could totally do that (Buenos Aires to Uruguaiana, then Uruguaiana to Porto Alegre) and save many hours of travel, or even cut more directly through central Uruguay and save even more time. We took the longer option because we wanted to visit Iguaçu Falls and the Itaipu dam, which were both spectacular.
If you are a comfortable traveler and know a bit of spanish, find the combis/collectivos wherever you are, it is far and away the best way to do day trip travel from many cities
