I recently had an opportunity to visit a small farming-beach town (more like a modern village, actually) called San Juan Urabá, located about an hour by busy east of a small city called Monteria.

There are at least two reasonable/logical ways to make the major part of the trip: Either:

• Take a 50-minute uncomfortable-but-quick domestic flight ✈ from BAQ to MTR for $65-$75 per person, or…
• Take a 6-hour very comfortable-but-long bus ride 🚌 for $17-$20 per person.

Not only were we on a tight budget, but I personally wanted to get the authentic experience of a long-distance bus trip in Colombia. So, we opted for the bus.

Buying Tickets

There are several bus lines in Colombia that offer long-distance rides, connecting the major cities and a plethora of smaller towns all over the country. We got on the computer and navigated to RedBus.com and PinBus.com, two popular websites from which one can select a bus route AND buy tickets. Since both websites had basically the same information, we stuck with PinBus.com.

We bought two tickets for Expreso Brasilia line, 6:00AM bus to Monteria, picked our seats via the visual seat-picker, upgraded our tickets to Premium Plus (“preferencial de lujo”), and also bought the Trip Insurance, for a grand total of just under 140,000 COP ($35 as of that day’s exchange rates).

Moments later, we got the payment confirmations and e-tickets via email 🎫✔👍🏾

It’s worth noting that – if you prefer – you can buy tickets directly from your preferred bus line’s website, such as Expreso Brasilia or CopeTran.

Getting to the Bus Terminal

On the day of our trip, we got up early and we took InDriver (taxi, basically) to the bus terminal, which is located in Soledad. The InDriver fare was under 20,000 COP… about 6,000 COP less than Uber at that time of day.

Although we left the house late, and the driver’s driving was a bit scary, we made good time and arrived 15 minutes before our bus was scheduled to leave. I have to admit, my anxiety was a bit high 😅

Fortunately, there weren’t too many people in line. Therefore, we were able to “check in”, wait in line for a few minutes, and board our assigned bus without any trouble.

The Good

I had been told that these buses are quite nice, but of course I was skeptical, because my only experiences with buses in Colombia so far were the rickety and noisy local in-city buses, as well as the better (but cramped) short-distance buses. So, I was quite impressed with the interior and amenities in this Brasilia bus. Check it out, yo! 😀👇🏾

“I think this is the closest I’ll ever get to First Class seating on any form of public transportation…”

The bus has:

• Air-conditioning
• Free WiFi
• Overhead baggage racks
• A toilet
• Mood lighting

Each seat has:

• Blackout curtains (window seats only, obviously)
• Trash bags hanging off the side (aisle seats only, obviously)
• Power outlets for device charging (1 shared between each pair of seats) 🔌
• Overhead adjustable lights and fans (just like on planes) 💡
• A TV screen behind every headrest 📺
• A cup holder 🥤
• Plenty of leg room 🦵
• Adjustable arm rests
• Cushioned seats that recline almost all the way! (wait, WHAAAAA…?!??) 😲

Not gonna lie… As a frequent flyer who’s accustomed to being packed like sardines into tiny, super-uncomfortable, non-reclining modern airplane “seats”… I was not at all prepared for this level of comfort 🙈 It’s definitely far superior to Greyhound buses, and probably better than Amtrak trains! I think this is the closest I’ll ever get to “First Class seating” on a public form of transportation, cuz I definitely don’t have thousands of dollars to fly First Class on a plane! 🤑

I’m not sure what features the non-premium bus ticket offers, but I’m sure I will find out in a few months when I take another long-distance bus ride.

Other things I liked were… the fact that the driver wasn’t playing loud music. There was one inconsiderate elderly lady across the aisle who played her YouTube videos at full volume without headphones, but thankfully she didn’t do it forever, and she got off much earlier than we did. Everyone else was respectful, using their headphones to listen to their media.

Also, there were no funky odors within the enclosed space 😁

The Bad

I’ve talked a lot about the pros, but how about the cons? Well, I can only remember a few. I observed that our bus didn’t have any toilet paper in the toilet. The bus obviously swerves and shakes a lot while in motion. When I went for a “Number One”, my aim was already quite sketchy, so I can’t imagine anyone going in there for a full “Number Two” while the bus is in motion. I mean… can you imagine??? 💩💥 😂

The WiFi was spotty or non-existent when we drove through rural areas, but that should not come as a surprise to anyone… I already talked about this in an older article.

This next one is not really a con, more like a “personal compatibility issue”. The air-conditioning was on full-blast, and I hate being cold 🥶 🚫 Fortunately, I know my own body and I had planned ahead – I brought a light hoodie to wear while inside the bus.

The last “con” has nothing to do with the bus or trip itself, but the “Systemic Weaknesses” (AKA “opportunities for Human Error”). In this case, it was about my partner’s luggage, and it deserves its own little section in this article.

The Missing Luggage

When we got to Monteria, we discovered that someone had accidentally taken my travel partner’s huge backpack. I suppose because it looked just like theirs? I don’t know how BOTH the driver/staff AND the passenger didn’t freakin’ re-check the bag tags 😒 but I won’t rant about the pervasive carelessness… that’s for a separate article 🙂

We had bought the insurance, which entitled each passenger a token sum of 100,000 COP for baggage loss. Fortunately, we didn’t have to file a claim, because for about 30 minutes the driver and Brasilia staff diligently “hunted” for the other passenger via telephone and social media, and eventually found success! Luckily, the man hadn’t yet left the area, so he brought back the backpack for the luggage exchange! 😌👍🏿

This is a good time for a reminder: It’s advisable to make such trips with someone who is fluent in the local Spanish dialect, and thus will know how to file complaints or make requests of the local workers in their “culturally appropriate” way. Cuz lord knows if it had been me alone, with my grammatically-correct-yet-limited “Duolingo Spanish” trying to solve this problem while the staff yapped at me in fast and choppy Costeñol, I highly doubt I’d have gotten my luggage back! 😆

Last Word

The luggage scare notwithstanding, the experience was worth the experiment (to me)! Now that I’ve seen first-hand that it’s not too bad, I might consider taking more of these rides in the future… especially if they are LESS than 6 hours long 😅

So, my fellow foreigners, expats, and tourists, if you don’t want – or if it’s simply not possible – to travel by plane within Colombia, you can take an inexpensive yet semi-luxurious long-distance bus. Just make sure you:

• Spring for the Premium Plus upgrade (for comfort)
• Pack a warm shirt (to avoid freezing)
• Get to your bus terminal at least 30 minutes ahead (to allow for unforeseen delays or long lines)
• Tag and track your baggage diligently (to avoid losing it)
• Bring plenty of entertainment (to avoid boredom).

I think the authentic experience of long-distance bus trips is worth it, as you explore and acclimatize yourself to the lovely, vast, and geographically diverse country of Colombia.

¡Que tengas viajes seguros!! 🙋🏾‍♂️