Leave the driving to them

Well, it`s 10:30 at night as I write this and the 10:30 "bed-bus" to Cordoba has pulled out absolutely exactly on time. What a trip! (as it were). The Buenos Aires bus station is HUGE. It`s one big gigantic long building with room for 75 buses. One absolute must when traveling, and it`s difficult for me as an American male, is to CONSTANTLY ask people for directions and information. I should qualify this by saying that this is only relevant if you are sufficiently hide bound to the idea that you need to arrive at the place you actually want to go to. By doing this, you eliminate a certain sense of adventure. Suffice it to say, I am hide bound.

The bus ticket indicated that the bus would leave from any one of the stalls numbered 37 through 42. The information desk people told me I shouldn`t pay any attention to that but should listen to the loudspeaker. 15 minutes before departure, the loudspeaker would announce the name of the bus line, its destination, and the platform number. The blurred over modulated voice in the loudspeaker was definitely a challenge. Occasionally I was able to pick out numbers in the announcements that came about 10 seconds apart. The terminal was packed with people, even at 10 o`clock at night. There were streams of passengers arriving and departing. There was a helpful electronic sign that announced the bus and the platform only AFTER the bus departed (!!).

So at 10:15, I stareted walking up and down the platform and asking everyone that looked marginally official, and sure enough, at gate 48, there it was! The buses are all double decker wonders, absolutely state of the art. This one was clean, with first class seats that fold down ALMOST flat. There´s a clean toilet in the back, about twice the size of the ones on airplanes. If you have to do a 10 hour bus ride for 500 miles, THIS is the way to do it! I`m certainly much better off than Elsbeth, who´s doing her 10 hours in an airplane coach seat.

The steward, or ride attendant, or whatever he`s called, came by with a midnight snack, sandwiches, fruit, and dessert . Buen provecho! There´s a tv monitor which started off showing music videos. Most of my fellow passengers are students. Cordoba is supposed to be quite a university town. So a number of them are singing along with the better known songs. After the videos, came the movie, Babel, which I`d already seen. Thank goodness, I brought along my ear plugs. I should have also brought a sweater or jacket since they keep the air conditioning going pretty strong through the night. Fortunately, it wasn`t cold enough to be uncomfortable. The bed-chair is surprisingly comfortable. Needless to say, I didn`t sleep real well, but I woke up in the morning a whole lot more comfortable and refreshed than if I had been in a regular bus seat. 3 cheers for Argentine bed-buses, the only way to ride! So at 8 a.m. welcome Cordoba!