In Paraguay Buses are called Micros and among cars and taxis buses are the main public transportation, there are no subways in Paraguay and just a few train routes left but they are not so popular anymore.

Micros for sure are the best option to get around, the fair is around 2100Gs that is about 50Cents, buses are very frequent and they cover pretty much any route, of course than sometimes people have to connect with other buses but mostly I think that one bus can make it to the final destination.

Buses are divided by “lineas” lines and they all have a number, sometimes the same number but different color, it is very important to know the number of the bus where you want to go or at least the route so you can ask for help.

People know buses by common knowledge or by asking but I don’t recall a tourist help information or even a local help information booth or so to get the exact information that you need, and there are not printed booklets with bus routes, it’s good to keep in mind that sometimes the best way to get around it by asking.

To get into a bus you should wait on a bus stop and then you pay the fair to the driver and he gives you the change, but it is nice to have the exact fair… then you enjoy the ride and to go off the bus you have to pull a string or press a bottom and be very very careful when you step out of the bus, sometimes that can be dangerous, since the drivers get paid for the completed round the will make or try to make it fast and sometimes unsafe.

Buses are loud, mostly dirty, sometimes unsafe, very fast and they cause a lot of pollution.

 But riding a bus could be very fun, first you don’t have to drive and you can see what is happening around you and everytime different things happen in a bus, there are a lot of kids selling stuff there (gums, candy bars, socks, fruits, you name it), then you will see deaf people selling saints for a donation, or people that enter the bus telling a story about a great item that they sell, with alof of “extra” gifts, etc like AS SEEN ON TV like speeches.

There are also great musicians that play songs with guitars or some kind of weird instrument in exchange for a donation or collaboration, that definitely can be very entertained, I personally love it.

It is usual in buses that travel out the city to the intern part of the country to carry chickens and other little animals in the bus.

To travel outside the city there are many options and many prices and usually you have to go to the Main Terminal in Asuncion to catch them. There is a very comfortable bus going from Asuncion to Ciudad del Este and Vice Versa, it leaves at midnight and they are very comfortable, the sit reclines all way down, and its like a bed…in those buses im always very cold they put airconditioning even in winter and I always catch a cold, so take a coat of so.

Sometimes you can get robbed on the bus, not very often but don’t use your cellular phone on the bus. I remembered that I was leaving the Mercado 4 ( amazing place that I will talk about in the next posts) and hopped on a bus towards down town and people were talking to each other more than usual, but I just did my thing and called a friend from my cellular phone and talked about 2 min or so, when I hung up a woman sitting infront of me told me to not use my cellular in the bus again because 1 min before I hopped on the bus a guy in the back sit was robbed and they took his wallet and of course his cellular phone.

Then I went back and he told me what happened, since that day I’m more careful using my cell in public places.

 Micros are definitely part of Paraguayan life’s and one just has to live with the downs and ups that, that means and just enjoy the ride…

This entry was posted on Monday, October 16th, 2006 at 7:11 pm and is filed under Paraguay. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.