4 Days, 4 Buses, Not Quite 4 Meals.....One Hot Shower in Buenos Aires = Priceless

So we made it to Buenos Aires.... It wasnt an easy task...but definitely a noteworthy adventure. To understand the craziness of this journey, let us start back in Cochabamba Bolivia.  It was a hot friday afternoon when we walked into the Cochabamba bus station, we arrived with a twinkle in our eye and hope in our hearts that we would be able to find bus tickets to Buenos Aires. As we walked into the bus station, we realized that there was only one company selling tickets all the way to BA. The lady behind the counter was super friendly, she too had a twinkle in her eye.... to us, she looked like a saint. We talked with her for awhile, she told us at first that the ride was 50 hours long, but not to worry because there would be food, tv (Aly loves the movies here!), and bus camas....(these magical seats that turn into beds). Pretty much, this was the bus of our dreams. Only once in a lifetime do you come across a bus that is made of unicorn dust and leprechan gold. We were pretty sure it was parked at the end of a rainbow!!! On a scale of killer whale to fat baby skunks (shout out to all people who love these animals) it was off the charts as a multi-colored vicuna that gives free rides to people who cannot breathe at high altitudes (we love this animal).

We promised our new friend that we would be back the next day to purchase the tickets.....we didnt want to buy them until Jo had her passport in her hand!! We left the bus station with a skip in our step! Later, the next day when we showed up at the bus station, our friend was gone, replaced by a new guy with greasy hair and a shady look in his eyes! he made the same promises to us however, but charged us more than our twinkly eyed friend had promised us the day before. Nevertheless, with this being the only company, we bought the tickets and left the station.

We spent our last few days with our new friends in Cochabamba:Gama, Vinnie, Fish, and Ale. We spent most of our time playing card games, but also eating delicious Picante Pollo... (thanks Mama Sierraalta!! It was the best food we have had so far!!). It was sad to say goodbye, but luckily we will see them again!

We left our hostel the next morning at 4:45am to arrive at the bus station on time. When we arrived, the bus company that we had bought tickets with was closed. We thought: No big deal, well just ask around. After asking people for 30 minutes we figure out that the magical bus does not exist in Cochabamba, we would have to take another bus (9 extra hours) to Santa Cruz then load the magical bus. So, even though we were frustrated about being told a yarn about the bus being in Cochabamba we were still hopeful and boarded our first bus.

We arrived in Santa Cruz after a really hot and bumpy ride through the jungle. We were hopeful that we would find the Flecha Bus company...owner of magical buses...and finally load our bus! After waiting for hours, we begin to load our bus, but quickly realize that we do not have the seats that they promised us, and since they wouldnt refund us the difference we decided to wait for another bus. Little did we know, the Flecha bus company sold us to another bus company, which was less than ideal...since instead of going all the way to BA, it dropped us off at the border and PEACED! We did meet a nice friend on the bus who helped us at the border, he was born in Bolivia, but lives in New Jersey....he was coming to bring his wife back to the states! 

When we got to the border we were met with a three hour line to get out of Bolivia. Not only was this line long, it was also scattered with hustlers.... one even had a harmonica as a disquise...! But, we were not fooled, and proceeded to wait. Jo was met with a little bit of trouble in the office as her passport was new and they thought it seemed shady. After waiting an extra couple of minutes Jo was sent to the either the office of doom or redemption as we like to call it! After a half an hour of negotiations and persuasions Jo was free and we headed for Argentina! There we crossed with ease, only having to wait like an hour!

We walked to the bus station, with sweat rolling down our back, once again in search of our Flecha bus! We really thought we were at the end of the yellow brick road at this point! We even clicked our heels three times and said Buenos Aires! Once we made it to the station they informed us that we had to wait a good 10 hours for our next bus. Luckily, there was good food in the town and our next bus was baller status. However, we did have to go through 3 checkpoints of passports and bags that night, there was also no food, or tv.... At about 9 in the morning the bus stops and the driver tells everyone to get off. We were a bit confused since we were pretty sure that we were not in BA.

We got off and went to the ticket counter and asked them when the next bus would be. They said in a few hours, so we waited and might have fed some stray dogs to pass the time. As the Flecha Bus pulls up, we were just happy to finally be leaving for BA. After we give them our tickets, we find that other people have been assigned our seats. Strange....so we go downstairs to ask....they tell us that they are going to move us to another bus (the worst one yet). Thanks FLecha for being our bus pimps!! they def. sold the tickets twice! 

Nevertheless, the adventure must go on, so we got on the bus. It was uneventful except for our one stop where we got pizza and stashed away some oreos for breakfast the next morning! At about 9am or so we made it to BA! YEAH! We were so happy!! And we might have started a campaign to take down Flecha....fight the man!! And the shady dude who sold us tickets! ... ok, jk but really that was a huge lie he told!!

We have checked in to a super cute hostel already had steak and watched a tango show. It was def. worth the trip! And now we have an awesome story to tell. We are looking forward to beds tonight, and the showers are hot here (we havent had these in awhile!!). 

Until next time, Adventure in DEFINITELY out there!