Bus Safety Discussion

I really wouldn't recommend taking a long distance trip by bus in Peru. I ride busses all over Costa Rica without worry but I checked into it in Peru and I found that they have a startling number of horrific bus crashes. Do a google search for bus crash Peru and you will see what I mean. LAN is pretty cheap when flying inside Peru and while it's more expensive than a bus it's a whole lot faster and safer.

Please let us know how your trip goes as I'm interested in hearing about other areas of Peru.

 

Main problem with bus travel, in Peru, is that there are a lot of small not-quite-legal bus companies which do not comply with legal and safety regulations; but they are cheap and I mean Cheap.

An example: I use to travel a lot to Trujillo. If by bus, the best service would be the VIP service of Linea, the VIP service of Oltursa, the Cruzero service of Cruz del Sur or the Royal Class Service of Ormeno. Any of them will cost around US$ 30.00 for the 8 Hour non-stop trip and they will offer you a fully reclinable, very wide (3 across), VIP coach, where you can really sleep; plus dinner (or breakfast), bar, etc. And their buses have safety cameras w/recorder, speed recorder, speed limiter and proximity radar, so they are very VERY safe.

Or you can go to the "Terminal Terrestre" and pick a bus that will take you to Trujillo in about 10 hours, stopping to let passengers climb or leave the bus at a zillion places on the way, and will offer you a narrow (4 across) seat, barely reclinable, where you cannot sleep (which is good for you could be robbed), but will charge you just about US$ 5.00. And I am not kidding, I've taken such a bus once because I got too late to Linea and I HAD to travel that night. Now, I was shit-scared all night and arrived to Trujillo exhausted.

Of course, you can always buy the US$ 100.00 airplane ticket (LAN, AeroCondor or Wayraperu) and pay the US$ 15.00 taxi to the airport in Lima and the US$ 5.00 taxi from the airport in Trujillo plust the two Airport Taxes (I'm not sure, since there is a different tax for foreigners, but let's say some aditional US$ 40.00 in all), but, believe me, the first option (the expensive bus) is just as safe.

 

Homo lo Gato, Thanks for the great information on traveling about Peru. Trujillo is a place I definely want to check out. The overnight Linea bus sound like a great way to go and Iquitos is anouther place I want to explore.rbc100

 

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I'd say that Línea might be a good choice to travel to Trujillo. And you can buy your ticket on-line.

I've posted the links to the sites of the companies I've mentioned in a new thread Here in This Link

I hope it is of some help