From Quito to Rio….
…Using South American public transport. Organised tour so not so rock and roll.

Coaches, taxis, mopeds, mini vans, rickshaws, (as well as boats and planes, which I guess don’t count as non-road) in 70 days.

Brilliant trip! Although the three ten hour coach journeys in six days were knackering. Especially when there didn’t seem to be any scheduled toilet breaks. You just had to hope that the driver needed the toilet when you did… And limiting what you drank wasn’t really an option in the sweltering heat.

I have to say I didn’t feel amazingly safe with South American drivers holding the wheel.

We hired two old dodges from the Nazcar lines in Peru to a town a few hours away to get the overnight coach to Arequipa. Cruising down the Pan American highway through the Andes as the sun was setting was awesome. However, it would have been more enjoyable if we didn’t have to keep nudging the driver who kept falling asleep, which was ever so slightly nerve racking when driving along a road with a several hundred metre drop alongside it.

Another white knuckle journey was from Cuzco to Puno. We had been stranded in Cuzco for a few extra days due to farmer strikes, and when we finally set off, we were greeting with miles and miles of roads strewn with rocks and branches. Our driver just decided to swerve around the rocks, and plough over the branches. For about two hours.

On the road from Quito to Otavalo, there were rock falls which sporadically covered our side of the road. Nothing had been done about it to control the two way traffic, so our bus driver just drove on the opposite side of the road. I get nervous when drivers overtake and are on the other side for a few seconds, let alone a lot of seconds. And the fog really didn’t help.
( awayfromthenumbers, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 12:08, 2 replies)

Ah, Ecuadorian driving.
I might have to post something on that myself...
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 17:48, closed)

I think fog helps a lot when the driver is certifiably loony. Can't see, doesn't matter.

(boozehound is drinking your bar dry, Wed 20 Jul 2011, 10:24, closed)