What´s your Cama? (by Joe)

Travelling, we´ve found ourselves taking some mighty bus journeys all over the place.

We took some crazy trips in India, South East Asia and Australia, but in South America we´ve found things taken to new levels, with overnight journeys of 18 hours(+) not uncommon due to the massive distances to be covered.

But here, long-distance doesn´t necessarily mean long-suffering due to the quality of services, which, especially in Argentina, resemble more British Airways first class than National Express intercity.

There´s a huge choice of bus companies from which to choose your ´cama´ (bed). You can have standard reclining, executive semi-cama (effectively a bed at 60 degrees), coche-cama or suite premium (the full monty) which gives you wide, heavily-padded seats that recline the full 180 degrees.

And intense competiton has led to all sorts of frills: DVD movies, high quality dinners, unlimited wine, and on some services, champagne, all included in the price. We´ve almost come to look forward to our long-distance trips as providing a night of luxury on our otherwise budget tour (see Laura settling in for a comfy night - right).

Still, whatever the comfort of the cama or quality of service, when you board the bus and look around your fellow passengers, there remains one uncontrollable dark shadow at the back of your mind: that bloke in the cama behind ... is he a sweet sleeper or a filthy snorer?

Joe