hollisandbeyond2015: Night Bus to Mendoza

We had heard about the luxury overnight buses in Argentina and were curious to see what they were all about, hence our journey to Mendoza on Hallowe'en. After walking to the Gallerías Pacificos and back to Recoleta for a light meal, we picked up our bags and hailed a taxi for the Retiro Bus Terminal. At 7:30 pm on October 31 our Andesmar bus pulled in and we left Buenos Aires on our 13 hour trip precisely at 7:45 pm. The bus was luxurious with large comfortable leather seats, pillows and blankets, headphones, wifi, and individual TV screens. I had reserved the front two seats on the upper level of the bus and we had unobstructed views of the city as we left on our westward adventure. The bus had an attendant who served us candy, convened a game of Bingo which was good for our recall of Spanish numbers, and served us a huge 3 course dinner around 10 pm complete with a generous pouring of Malbec. Our chairs reclined into beds, the lights were dimmed and we continued through the dark countryside of central Argentina, stopping occasionally at toll booths. As dawn broke, we began to see the sunlit Andes in the distance. We were served breakfast and coffee and watched the mountains grow larger as we approached the Mendoza area and its plentiful bodegas (wineries). We survived the bus trip well, but it was still a long bus trip, fun to try at least once, but whether we will do this again, well, it's too soon to telll.

Waiting for the bus at the Retiro station