The Ritz-Carlton on Wheels

For the opening leg of our journey to Patagonia, we decided to take the bus from Buenos Aires to San Carlos de Bariloche, a 23 hour journey halfway across the country. On Friday morning, we left most of our stuff with our doorman Guillermo, I gave the keys to our landlord at the apartment, and Holly went to UBA to find out if we had passed our Spanish classes. Holly and I met back up at the Retiro bus station about a half hour before our bus was scheduled to leave, and she gave me the good news. We had both passed our respective classes with 9/10. I was very proud of myself.

The Retiro omnibus terminal is the main bus station for long-distance buses out of Buenos Aires, has three levels, two-hundred ticket booths, and accomodates over 40,000 passengers a day. The company we booked out tickets with was El Rapido Argentino. The bus company ticket offices are all located next to one another in two long hallways in the terminal. Its very easy to go from ticket window to ticket window comparing prices and searching for the best deal. The buses also have four main classes: common, semi-cama, cama, and ejecutivo. Essentially, the difference between the classes is how far your seat can recline, and the size of the steak that they serve you for dinner. Depending on the company you go with, semi-cama reclines about 150 degrees, cama about 170 degrees, and ejecutivo the full 180 degrees.

We opted for semi-cama (and got a 10% discount for paying in cash). The seats were comfortable and plush, and there were dropdown plasma TV screens every three or four seats. As soon as the bus got rolling, the bus steward came around and gave everyone a snackpack with ham-flavored crackers, granola bars, and Smarties. The first movie, "The Dark Knight" (subtitled), was started after a half-hour or so and we settled down for the long, smooth ride west through the Pampas. At about 10PM, we made our first stop at a gas station. At first, I thought this was to get gas, but the bus crew started taking boxes out of a car and loading them onto the bus. After about ten minutes, everybody reboarded and we got back on the road.

Shortly after reboarding, the bus steward started coming around with trays and I knew it was time for dinner. He brought the first course of vegetable quiche, ham, cheese, olives and bread, and then took our drink orders. I had red wine, and Holly had a Coke. We both thought the first course was the whole meal, until the steward reappeared with more trays. We then realized that the boxes they had been loading onto the bus were our hot entrees: meatballs and gnocci served with tomato sauce and grated parmesan cheese. After another round of drinks, and brownies for dessert, they showed "The Lakehouse," starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. We both decided to take a nap.

In the morning, we had a nice breakfast, along with the screening of an obviously bootlegged copy of "Marley y Yo," starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. After a few more hours of winding through the desert, we arrived in Bariloche well-rested and ready to explore. We would wind up taking many more buses during our journey, and all our bus experiences were very pleasant, but El Rapido Argentino was definitely one of the best.