Clark55

I decided to post a new topic on this as the flights from Iguazu to Salta are still very high and Andes Air are not showing any flights for any of my dates I'm now thinking I don't have a choice but to go by bus. I'm dreading the 27 hours journey and am thinking will only tell my husband how long it takes when we're actually on the bus as the last time we flew to Australia he said if he ever goes back he'll stay a year .-))) anyway I know Crellston did this journey and am looking for some advice as to where to book and how you pass the time on the bus. Do we need to take food and drink or can you buy it on the bus?
Thanks

avrooster

Crellston is the right person to answer this question.

If he does not see it, I'll e-mail it to him.

Have a great time in our country with your DH, Clark55!

MarnieWDC

Have you considered asking a Travel Agent, in BsAs, to check on the Andes Airline schedule for you ? It might cost a bit more - but less than the larger airlines and less than Marriage Counseling

~MarnieWDC

Clark55

Thanks avrooster and Marnie, I haven't completely given up on a flight if I put in dates for September I see prices of
218$ so if I wait a couple of weeks I might get something cheaper than the 475$ at the moment. I'm pretty sure Andes don't fly this route anymore because whatever dates I put in it says there are no flights, anyway I'm going to take your advice Marnie and e-mail a travel agent in BA.

crellston

Hi clark55 - Sorry but I cannot recall which bus company we used but www.andesmar.com and www.omlineas.com may be orth a look. We booked our tickets in Salta bus station a few days before we travelled which was really easy to do.

You really do need to go "full cama" or Ejectivo to get the big, lie flat beds. They really are comfortable. Semi cama is ok for non overnight journeys but Full is definitely worth the extra. Most Full cama seats are on the bottom deck so make sure you get these. We did try once on the upper deck and didn't get a wink of sleep as the upper deck was swaying too much on the rough roads.



I am not going to pretend that the journey is a joy, no journey of 27 hours is, but it was not not as bad as I had feared.
We Salta left in the early morning (approx. 7.00am) and 4 hours later we arrived in Tucuman where we changed buses. Be aware that there is a time change en route - we were not aware and nearly missed our connection! I think we stayed there about an hour. keep a close eye on you bags when changing buses if only to make sure they end up on the right bus.

After continuing our journey for around and hour lunch was served and, like all the food was better than expected (a similar standard to airline food on a good airline). You cannot buy food on the bus but if you feel you would like some snacks, empanadas etc can be purchased at the bus stations in Salta and Tucamen. A good idea to take some bottled water or drinks with you although these are generally available to purchase on board.

Take some earphones as the buses have movies running for at least some of the time and some are even in English (although we felt that the Spanish dubbing with English sub titles helped with our learning Spanish.
I took an iPod and listened to music and my Spanish lessons along the way to pass the time. A decent dinner (with wine) was served in the evening and was followed by a game of bingo! Take a good long book to read on the way (we also took a travel Scrabble game which was worth its weight in gold on our travels.

Breakfast was served before arrival in Iguazu at around 8 or 9.

I do not sleep on aeroplanes but managed quite well on the bus so all things considered, the journey was not as bad as i had feared and certainly a lot better than flying from the Uk to Australia (also 27 hours).

i hope this helps a little. if you have any other questions please do ask.

crellston

PS I managed to locate my diary and found we booked travelled with Andesmar. From their website you can book tickets online up to a month in advance although it seems as though this has to be done as separate tickets Salta - Tucuman and Tucuman - Puerto - Iguazu. I do recall that other Fodorites have had problems booking on-line from outside Argentina with non Argentine credit cards - I guess you just need to try it.

Clark55

Thank you so much crellston, you've given me all the info I'll need and now I know exactly what to expect. As I said I'm going to give it another couple of weeks then if flight prices don't come down I'll have a shot booking it online.

MarnieWDC

Crellston, that was an amazing description - like one of your great Trip Reports.
~Marnie

Clark55

I've just tried to do a dummy run to check out the times, as you said if I put in Iguazu to Salta, it says there's no schedule so I have to put in Iguazu to Tucuman, then Tucuman to Salta, the bus arrives in Tucuman at 18.30 and there's a bus that leaves for Salta at 18.40 this is with Andesmar, then there's a later bus at 19.30 with Tramat, now I know you said there was a time change on route which nearly made you miss your connection, we're going in the opposite way so I'm assuming we gain an hour and we'll be able to catch the 18.40 Is this correct?

crellston

You are too kind Marnie!

Clark - This sort of thing always confuses me. When we arrived in Tucuman we thought we had a wait of an hour and a half but a chance look at the station clock and we realised that the the clocks had moved forward. This was in November. Having google Argentina Time zones it seems that the country only has one zone so the change must have been down to Daylight savings time . Apparently there is no consistency of approach from year to year(maybe avrooster can help on this point?):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_in_Argentina

Whichever is the case, I assume that the times referred to on the website are local times at the destination and IMHO getting the early bus would be too much of a risk and I would go for the 19.30. Having said this, if both the earlier legs are with Andesmar then they may well hold the Tucuman bus until the Iguazu bus arrives - this is something you perhaps need to check direct with Andesmar. This was certainly the case when we travelled from Pensinsula Valdes to Mendoza when our bus was held for an hour awaiting an incoming bus.

Avrooster - isn't it about time you set up a bus booking agency???

reddoor

Hi
I don't know if anyone will be reading this thread as it is out of date but here goes. I'm planning to go by bus Salta-Iguazu in May, travelling alone. The description of the Andesmar trip sounds excellent. So I checked out their website and although they have an English section where you can pay etc, according to the route map provided they do not go Salta-Iguazu. when I typed my route and dates in I was told they do not know that route but that might be because I'm looking over 30 days ahead.

Before reading about Andesmar I was considering Green Toad buses which seem to go everywhere but I don't know how the service would compare with Andesmar. I was also considering going to the Pantanal with Green Toad which does a 7 day jaunt Iguasu-Campo Grande-Pantanal and back to Campo Grande.

Has anyone had experience of Green Toad , in particular these 2 routes?
Any replies would be much appreciated.
Reddoor.