Bus + trains in central + south america..easy + safe??

Question

im planning to go to mexico, central/south america and was wondering as a (possibly lone) female is this safe and fairly easy? does a transport system exist?? i guess it depends where i wanna go bt just want an idea of what its like.. thanks!

Answer 1

same as anywhere, you need to be careful - even more so in the big citys.

Answer 2

No there is no trasport system. We travel by foot in South America.

Answer 3

I can't speak for south america (although its probably similar)...but in central america the bus system is fairly extensive.  You can get almost anywhere cheaply and easily, although comfort is not up to US standards. First class buses are similar to US Greyhound buses, second-class are like US school buses, make lots of stops, and if you get on late you may have to stand.  I'm pretty sure the accident record is worse than US or European buses although not so bad I wouldn't ride on one. Some remote routes do have bandit problems, but a second-class bus full of peasants is probably much safer from that than a tour bus or private car.  In general the worst that can happen is pickpocketing as there are usually too many people on board for anything to else to happen and most passengers are honest hardworking types.

Answer 4

Buses are the main way people travel in Mexico and Central America.

There are competing bus lines and there are different classes of service.   Each bus line has it's own terminal.

It is pretty much like air travel in the USA.

You go to the terminal, buy your ticket (I would recommend doing this in advance, just like you would with air travel) they

even have reserved seating. I prefer to sit as far forward as

possible. When you arrive, you check your baggage and pick it up, bus side, when you reach your destination. Usually taxi drivers will be there trying to solicit your business to take you

to your hotel.

Recently, I took a bus from El Salvador to Panama.  I could afford air travel, but I wanted to see the country and be closer to the people.

I used the TicoBus company. The buses were almost luxurious. They all had rest rooms. Some had video screens and showed movies. They reclined and had curtains so you could block out the sun and were air conditioned. Sometimes a vendor would get on and sell sandwiches and drinks to those who wanted them.  The food was fresh and good.

So it was a pretty inexpensive, convenient way to see the country and get to know the middle class people as you travel.

There are what is known as 'chicken buses'. These are lower class open air buses, usually old American school buses that are much cheaper. But in them you might be traveling with chickens, goats or pigs.

Travel at night was supposed to be risky as bandits have blocked roads, forced the bus to stop and robbed passengers of valuables, but this never happened to me.

All in all, I think you will find it is a safe and affordable way to travel in Latin America.