Last week I took a night bus from Santiago, Chile to Puerto Montt where I caught the Navimag ferry to ride along the southern Chilean coast. I love South American buses. Chile, Argentina, Brazil especially have great buses (I’ve heard the buses in Colombia are good too, but I have no personal experience of this). My favorite features are the seats. For the long haul trips you have two options: the semi-cama (semi-bed) and cama (full bed). Yes, your seat reclines back and you can actually sleep on board and arrive to take on a full day at your destination.
As we left the Santiago bus station, the Turbus train attendant came by and not only gave me my pillow for the evening’s ride, but he actually tucked in under my head. I was super surprised. When was the last time anyone, even in first class, on an airplane did that for you? Let’s forget about the fact that maybe I shouldn’t want to have a pillow since it was cleaned last who knows when. For me, it was just that little extra touch of service that made me feel really good about the trip. One-way ticket cost? About $45 USD. Now compare that to your airline fare between any two cities and the level of service you’re likely to get from the onboard crew. Not a bad way to travel, I say.
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Tags: Chile travel
