Manaus to Cuidad Bolivar - the road less travelled
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2011
1
13
53
Trip End
Dec 17, 2011
Boa Vista, State of Roraima, Brazil
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
In reality, Boa Vista was just a stopping off point on our journey to Venezuela to see Angel Falls. But the journey overland between Brazil and Venezuela seems to have a certain mystique to it. We were warned by a few people that the journey could be dangerous, with masked banditos or angry indigenous Indians, but we didn't encounter any of these.
Our plan was to travel by bus from Manaus to Cuidad Bolivar, where we would try and get a trip to see Angel Falls. We bought our tickets at Manaus bus station from the bus company called Eucatur, with our ticket taking us from Manaus to C.Bolivar, with a change of bus at Boa Vista. Our bus set off at 10am with the trip due to take 10 hours. But don't believe it, because those buses are never on time. We were due to arrive at 20.00 but actually arrived at 01.00. This was actually quite good fortune for us as it meant we got to sit an extra 5 hours in a comfy bus and not on the cold floor of Boa Vista bus station, waiting for our 07.30 departure to C.Bolivar. As a matter of interest, Boa Vista bus station is quite a modern setup compared to some bus stations, all tiles and glass, and a 24 hour security guard who we had to ask nicely for the key whenever we wanted to use the toilet. Now there's real power for you!
The main reason for the lateness of the bus is down to the road, which is awful. Ok for 1 hour out of Manaus it's still tarmac, but then you get onto the brown dirt track with potholes. We're talking 'farm track' rough here! I'd be surprised if the bus suspensions last very long.... And it's surprising because these buses are half decent too, sort of like National Express.
The trip from Boa Vista to Cuidad Bolivar was a whole different story. The bus was small, single decker only, but still of a good standard and the road was tarmac! We set off only 30 minutes late (which isn't bad for S.America) towards Santa Elena. Our fellow passengers numbered around 8 and were all Brazilian, heading for the Venezuelan coast. The journey to Santa Elena took the scheduled 4 hours, which was slightly surprising, and the bus stopped at the border to allow the formalities to be carried out. First job for us was to get our exit stamps from Brazil. This was straightforward enough as we still had our entry cards. Next the bus drove the few 100m to the Venezuelan border. We all queued, smiled at the border lady and got stamps in our passports. Then it was back on the bus and off we went, no bag checks required. Or so we thought... 30 minutes down the road we hit our first checkpoint. The general procedure is for everyone to get off the bus and queue (ladies separate to gentlemen) for passports, visas and bags to be thoroughly checked by several military types carrying rifles. When everyone gets the ok, it back on the bus and away. That is, until the next checkpoint. All in all, we went through 5 checkpoints over the first 4 hours. After that, only the driver seemed to be asked questions at the checkpoints. We finally arrived in Cuidad Bolivar at 1am, our bus originally being due in at 19.00 of course. What did I tell you about bus arrival times...... Luckily we found a local hotel that would accept us at that hour (and that's another story) and we went to bed to rest from our 39 hour journey.
Comments
Love the post. Very informative as I'm looking at taking the same bus trip.
What you didn't mention was how much the bus rides were in any currency..
How much? (USD for me)
David
Unfortunately we can't remember exactly what we paid. A figure a US$100 from Manaus to Cuidad Bolivar is what we can dredge from our combined memories. Hope this helps.
Really? Wow. Seems high, but you've been there, not me.
I took an overland travel from Peru to Bolivia on bus and it was a lot less, but ya never know. Suppose it depends on currency exchange and the black market conditions too. Thanks for the info, I've read a few of your S. America posts.