Traveling again
I promised you a discussion about buses in Brazil and traveling. I wish I had written at the time as my belief and positive thoughts about bus travel in Brazil has changed since then.
There really isn't a railway to speak of in Brazil so 80% of travel is done by road and some by air. Air travel still isn't common except for the pretty wealthy although a new cheap airline has just started running here and may help to bring down the cost.
So for anybody who doesn't have a car Bus is the way to travel. Sao Paulo hosts the largest bus station in Latin America, it has 100 bus bays and sends buses all throughout Brazil and South America. It's in a suburb called Tiete (also a very polluted river) and is somewhere I have already visited several times. It reminds be a lot like an international airport because of the size and constant activity. The bus transport industry is roaring here and there are hundreds of bus companys to take you places. Usually your decision about which bus company to go with depends on where you are going to, there doesn't seem to be one dominating bus company.
Bus style also varys. It's common to see ultra modern airconditioned buses with snack bars to be parked right next to a bus out of the 1950s with no airconditioning.
On my recent trip to Curitiba my ride there from 00:00 (midnight) to 6:00am was a very restful one and enjoyable. I had a full seat to myself and the rain outside kept everything cosy inside.
Brazil, a land of contrasts.
L
On the way back though, the bus was over crowded and full, left late, we had terrible traffic and road conditions all the way back to SP and arrived over an hour later so my positive perception of bus travel in Brazil has definitely decreased largely.
There really isn't a railway to speak of in Brazil so 80% of travel is done by road and some by air. Air travel still isn't common except for the pretty wealthy although a new cheap airline has just started running here and may help to bring down the cost.
So for anybody who doesn't have a car Bus is the way to travel. Sao Paulo hosts the largest bus station in Latin America, it has 100 bus bays and sends buses all throughout Brazil and South America. It's in a suburb called Tiete (also a very polluted river) and is somewhere I have already visited several times. It reminds be a lot like an international airport because of the size and constant activity. The bus transport industry is roaring here and there are hundreds of bus companys to take you places. Usually your decision about which bus company to go with depends on where you are going to, there doesn't seem to be one dominating bus company.
Bus style also varys. It's common to see ultra modern airconditioned buses with snack bars to be parked right next to a bus out of the 1950s with no airconditioning.
On my recent trip to Curitiba my ride there from 00:00 (midnight) to 6:00am was a very restful one and enjoyable. I had a full seat to myself and the rain outside kept everything cosy inside.
Brazil, a land of contrasts.
L
On the way back though, the bus was over crowded and full, left late, we had terrible traffic and road conditions all the way back to SP and arrived over an hour later so my positive perception of bus travel in Brazil has definitely decreased largely.
1 Comments:
At 12:35 PM, Joe said…
The bus system there seems very similar to the Turkish intercity bus system, although virtually all buses here are modern, particularly in Turkey's west.
Ankara's bus station has 3 different levels - arrivals, departures and parking - very airport like.
Keep up the stories Luce and have a great trip!
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