[Paisleychick-lj] Missing our bus from Buenos Aires to Montevideo

[Beatrice M's blog]

Writing up an older experience, sorry this is out of order.  
  


[![][1]][2]   
[Changing the bus ticket][3]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

On Sunday January 28, I called the number for the bus company and bought tickets for our trip to Montevideo on the following Monday night. Neither Kragen nor I like making phone calls as it scares us both. It is hard when you can't see the facial expressions, hand gestures and other body language which aid in communication. We always play chicken to see who will cave and make the call. I lost this time, but I was so proud of myself for completing the transaction *all by myself*. I understood that the bus left at 23:30. Our trusty guide book gave us times that the various buses left and we didn't check the time on the ticket, nor read the helpful signs posted and just assumed that what I had in my head was correct. As we had arrived around 21:30, we were un-rushed and went downstairs to have some dinner and wait for our bus. We got ready at 22:45 to go see if the bus was boarding yet, but it had already left at 22:30. Ooooops. Um, crap. We had already checked out of our hostel, [Hostel Tanguera][5] (really good & highly recommended) and they didn't have any space left. Um, more crap.  
  


[![][6]][7]   
[Bottles as windows in the direct sun][8]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

A little stressed out, we went to the bus company's ticket seller window and explained that we were noobs and missed the bus. The very sympathetic and helpful lady changed our tickets for 10:00 the next morning without charge. She also made arrangements for us to keep our big backpacks with the _"guarda bulsas"_ downstairs, again free of charge! I called around to various hostels & hotels in our trusty guide book asking for a room for *that* night at 23:00. I didn't have much luck with the first 1/2 dozen or so. But, I did call a highly recommended [Hostel Sandanzas][9] in San Telmo that we hadn't checked out yet. Unfortunately for them and their guests, a week prior they had a computer meltdown and lost all their reservations. Other people's misfortune was our luck. They had a room available. We arrived around 23:30 and we were led to our room. Finally, we could share a bed after more than a week of sleeping in bunk beds in hostel dorms. Even though it was two twins pushed together, it meant we could sleep in the same bed. Bliss!  
  
We woke up around 8:00 the next morning, had breakfast in the cute dining room with bottles for windows and then took a packed morning bus to the Retiro bus station. It was an excruciatingly slow bus ride through the morning rush hour, but despite my worries, we made it in time and boarded the bus without much griping. FYI - traveling is stressful and grumpiness can occur, proceed with caution.  
  


[![][10]][11]   
[Dog sniffing on the bus][12]   
Originally uploaded by [blmurch][4]. 

The border crossing was happily uneventful. We all had to gather our luggage and have it inspected to make sure we weren't bringing in any contraband fruits or veggies. A woman with a sniffer dog (a lab!) came on board to check us out. Kragen's boots were *very* interesting, but she knew that it was just the yummy smell of old leather boots. I helped one older man fill out his immigration card. I don't know if he had trouble seeing, or if he couldn't read, but either way, he needed help and I was able to provide.  
  
We left Buenos Aires a little after 10:00 and arrived at our hotel in Montevideo a little after 22:00. It was a long travel day, even including the 1 hour time change, but the ride was interesting. We passed through some incredible rain storms, saw beautiful countryside, rainbows and I made friends with the family sitting in front of us by showing the boys computer games. Children are hard to understand, they speak really fast and their accents aren't always clear, but I muddled through. It was cute, I enjoyed their company and the parents were glad to have their boys distracted from fighting with each other so they could make out. Like I said, it was cute.  


   [1]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/174/384763138_8453261538_m.jpg
   [2]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/384763138/ (Changing the bus ticket)
   [3]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/384763138/
   [4]: http://www.flickr.com/people/blmurch/
   [5]: http://www.tanguerahostel.com.ar
   [6]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/138/375751967_0bbc5e9dda_m.jpg
   [7]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/375751967/ (Bottles as windows in the direct sun)
   [8]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/375751967/
   [9]: http://www.sandanzas.com.ar
   [10]: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/375762841_e5b0e20b87_m.jpg
   [11]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/375762841/ (Dog sniffing on the bus)
   [12]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/375762841/

URL: http://paisleychick.livejournal.com/296952.html