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[meercatvinny]

The overnight "sleeper" bus from Yangshou to Guanzhou in China. I don't know why they call it a "sleeper" because you will not sleep. The bus is deceptively welcoming at first, as it is looks very modern and comfy. But believe me its not too long before you come to realise that this is the most uncomfortable, squashed, noisy and downright infuriating overnight bus journey you will ever take. Period. You've gotta try it!!

[zzz_Nick]

Worst for me has to be that 100 baht bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap! There was such a lot of people on my bus that they breathed all the air and i nearly pased out!!!!!

[askthevagabond]

Pakisatan-Skardu to Pindi about two days to go the 470-km and counting the trucks and buses that went over the side.

Kashmir/Ladakh-Srinagar to Leh via Kargil....watching army mine sweeper get out of the way as the bus headed on, signs saying "you are now entering shelling range" or "the enemy is watching", oh yeah and shelled out houses in kargil. Two days 434-km Srinagar-Leh highway.

[katieontherun]

The overnight "sleeper" bus from Yangshou to Guanzhou in China. I don't know why they call it a "sleeper" because you will not sleep. The bus is deceptively welcoming at first, as it is looks very modern and comfy. But believe me its not too long before you come to realise that this is the most uncomfortable, squashed, noisy and downright infuriating overnight bus journey you will ever take. Period. You've gotta try it!!

That's interesting, I'd like to hear more about that one. I was in Yangshuo and took the bus to there from Shenzhen. It was OK one way, but on the way back, total agreement, what a horror trip. The 'bed' was used, the sheets were used. It felt like sleeping in someone else's bed. YUCK!

[technotrekker]

The overnight "sleeper" bus from Yangshou to Guanzhou in China. I don't know why they call it a "sleeper" because you will not sleep. The bus is deceptively welcoming at first, as it is looks very modern and comfy. But believe me its not too long before you come to realise that this is the most uncomfortable, squashed, noisy and downright infuriating overnight bus journey you will ever take. Period. You've gotta try it!!

That's interesting, I'd like to hear more about that one. I was in Yangshuo and took the bus to there from Shenzhen. It was OK one way, but on the way back, total agreement, what a horror trip. The 'bed' was used, the sheets were used. It felt like sleeping in someone else's bed. YUCK!

I did one from Nanning to Guangzhou overnight - it was the best bus ride I'd ever had as I slept like a baby the whole way through and woke up being ushered off in GZ. Sweet!

My worst ride was from the Lao border to Phnom Phen - meant to be around 10 hours, it ended up being 24 with a broken drive shaft (repaired on the roadside) and two flat tyres (the last only 10km ouside of PP but with no spare tyre left *sob*).

I'm sure there's worse but that was pretty bad...

TT

[hdh]

Puerto Jiminez to San Jose in Costa Rica. 9 hours, standing all the way, no aircon, 35C+, and they peaked out at 102 people in a 42-seater bus (we had plenty of time to count). Oh, and to add insult to injury we had to get up at 4:30am to be on it.

[Barrett]

Oh Good Lord, the worst bus trip, how to choose?
One that stands out in my mind for sheer length and suckiness is the 28 hour ride from Vientiane Laos to Hanoi Vietnam. Terrible bus, whining and barking puppies stuffed into plastic buckets, treacherous roads, itty-bitty seats, breakdowns, and rip-off restaurants along the way. Argh. So a bit of advice: FLY! Pay the extra 50 bucks, save time and your backside.

Of course, my partner Tina would vote for the buses in central India which are brutal in their own special sub-continental way.

[Jessica_CDN]

Well, it's not a bus, but the 24 hour train ride from Budapest to Greece, through Romania and Bulgaria. I got on the train not actually realizing it was a 24 hour ride (yes, my fault...). So I wasn't really prepared. I got to my seat...small little compartment with five other people, none of whom spoke English, and one who slept on me for the first part of the trip. The windows didn't open, so it just got hotter and hotter in our little compartment. The washroom was similar in standard to the one that Carmella described, and they didn't sell anything to eat or drink on the trip at all. By about hour 10, I was going a little stir crazy...then they kicked me out of first class. haha. Did not even occur to me that I was sitting in first class.

[Izzie]

For me it's gotta be the nightmare 26+ hour on a truck from Moyale (border town between Ethiopia and Kenya) to Nairobi. No tarmac until Isiolo and from there it ain't that great either. Through Northern Kenya the road is murram (rutted gravel with washboard bumps) and driving over these is so bad that your brain rattles and you have to yell to be heard over the noise, even when speaking in the ear of the person next to you. Bigger bumps mean you get thrown toward the ceiling with no warning.
This is shifta (bandit) territory and it's a flat, dry, hot nothingness. We broke down and when we got out we really appreciated how hard it is to eak a living there.
We drove through the night, and for one stretch we left the 'road' completely - our pathetic headlights illuminating bushes and rocks and big gullies as we drove between them all at speed. Very scary.

It just went on and on, our bones hurting and our hands aching from gripping the vibrating bar of the seat in front. Sleep was impossible and it got cold during the night. The window wouldn't completely shut so we were blasted by cold air laden with dust until we we coated. We were coughing up red dust for days after.

The worst thing was all the police/army roadblocks where men with AK-47s got on and demanded 'chai' or a bribe from every Ethiopian on board for having "out of date" yellow fever certificates. This was not the case - we looked at the certificates and they were fine - valid for 10 years. They left the Kenyan passengers and us two travellers alone. It was sickening.

We finally got to Nairobi to find that the guy sat on the roof had helped himself to some of our bag contents. Also, after that long hard trip, negotiating Nairobi was difficult, since you have to be alert the moment you get off.

All in all I think of it as an experience. But next time I'd fly!

Izzie

[Guest]

The journey from Kunming, China to Luang Nam Tha Laos stand out as the worst, and coincidentaly the most fun. Overnight bus from Kunming to Jinghong in a huge thunderstorm, smallest beds ever seen and loud war films at full volume. Got there at 6am before a 4 hour minibus to Mengla along unpaved roads with trees being felled in our path.

Another minibus for an hour from Mengla to Mohan on the Laos border. Choice between a 3km walk or Sangthaew in the pouring rain, chose the latter, from the China border to the Laos Immigration. Another Sangthaew from the border for about 2 hours before finally reaching the town of Luang Nam Tha 25 hours after setting off. There had also been a rockslide on the way to Nam Tha that we had to spend 20 minutes clearing before being able to carry on.

25 hours, 6 buses and 2 Beer Laos! What a journey.

Read the whole story here: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entri...34600/tpod.html

[rbisset]

whoops that was me

[Dane]

Can't even write it all again. Here's the link. Although, I think the Kenya/Ethiopia story trumps anything I've ever been through.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entri...80400/tpod.html

[kris]

i just read this a couple of mins ago and this has got to be the worst bus journey, hopefully i won't have the chance to blog about an experience like this. user = rickwastaken
hijacked in ecuador

asking for the memory card back seemed foolish but something i might of tried before reading this

[matto]

Y'all are missing a fantastic mode of transportation here, the shared taxi. It's not a bus ride, but I recommend the shared taxi ride between Laayoune and Dakhla in Morocco/Western Sahara. There wasn't a bus leaving for three days so I bought 1/2 of the front passenger seat on an ancient mercedes and had a GREAT 7 hour ride through the desert. Oh and it was during ramadan too. Truly horrible.

[claus-ragnarok]

You have all just experienced bussrides that people in these parts of the world have to use dayly, monthly, yearly, and you are probably already aware of that you are in a country less developed than your own. That this is part of your adventure. Think about what you learn from it, how lucky you are, instead of whining about everything that is not comfortable to YOU! Or...just choose not to go anywhere, because you are bound to meet different means of everything outside your fantastic country anyway, thats your gift, the gift of choice!

[matto]

I think your missing the point, of course it was a great experience and I'll bet everyone but Egypt toilet train at least got a kick out of it. But it wasn't like my experience was hard because I'm a stupid westerner who is used to better things, the people who shared that taxi (all locals) with me had a horrible time of it as well. It was a true testament to their faith (and my stubborness to not look like an ass) that none of us drank any water on that trip. This is not whining, I'm looking back and thinking damn, that was cool, but I wont repeat it, next time I will pay a few more bucks and upgrade.

To say that we are all just focusing on how much it bothered us is missing the point of sharing these experiences, it is just cool that all of us have had a nightmare traveling experience because traveling on the road in a lot of the world is REALLY DANGEROUS and it is something that all of us have had to endure through and laugh about later. Just my opinion.

[tramp]

When you speak of worst bus journeys you have not experienced India and at that Central India trips from Delhi to Agra or Delhi to Jammu will make you feel like you are a bouncy ball by the time you get down torn up twisted and feeling metallic all over. The dust the rust and the bumps will burn you up. Enjoy the ride as long as you can and after that post me.

[kacampau]

I've got one! In Moldova from Chisinau to Cainari, in a VW 11-seater with 34 locals, who do not use deo, wont open the window because of the draft, and are carrying fresh cheese and produce that they bought at the market. The trip should normally take 30 minutes but because of the sheer number of people it takes us an hour and a half. I was wet with other people's sweat!

[Izzie]

You have all just experienced bussrides that people in these parts of the world have to use dayly, monthly, yearly, and you are probably already aware of that you are in a country less developed than your own. That this is part of your adventure. Think about what you learn from it, how lucky you are, instead of whining about everything that is not comfortable to YOU! Or...just choose not to go anywhere, because you are bound to meet different means of everything outside your fantastic country anyway, thats your gift, the gift of choice!

Well, in my account I mentioned that it was an 'experience' so I'm certainly not whining that it was awful and that I wish I'd never done it. It was a great experience. And we are all aware that the bad things are something the locals have to endure on a daily/weekly basis. Telling others of my trip through Northern Kenya is letting them know about the corruption we witnessed there - I think it is important to tell of things like this so MORE people are aware of how the majority of the world live.

Besides, this thread is really just a lighthearted delve into those 'travellers tales' we all come home with - none of us are slagging the countries off or warning people not to go there.

Thanks for taking the time to chastise us....

[hamsterwheel]

Fellow travelers,

Been there, done that. It was in Bolivia and the bus company was called O'Globo. They sold the bus as Bus cama (sleeper) but in reality there was hardly any space for even to sit. So we suffered some 10+ hours there, while there was sand and dust raining on us form the cealing. It was double decker, but a special model made in Bolivia. And therefore there was no space for luggage (we had in on our laps) and in the last row (where we sat) there was practically no seat adjustment due to lack of space. They had added an extra row of seats to maximize profit.

We wrote the following flyer to promote donations for that bus company so that they can purchase a real bus cama and stop cheating customers:

http://www.esnips.com//r/td/doc/85fb0a87-4...cott-OGLOBO.pdf

Anyway, all other (we tried 6) bus companies in Bolivia were excellent, as well as customer service in the whole country. People were honest and modest and nobody else cheated us there.


Cheers,