View from the bus
I envy those folks who can sleep anywhere and can just pass a night on a bus as if they were in the most comfy of hotel beds. They casually drop into their conversation “and then we took a night bus there and next morning we went to visit the royal palace/go on a hike/do a bungy-jump”.
I’m fairly sure that after a journey on any night bus I would be in no state to any of the above, and my only viable option would be several hours in a bed catching up on my lost sleep. I know this based on the experience of many overnight flights and the odd train journey where I haven’t managed to secure a sleeper bed. It’s a rule that is set in stone for me: I only sleep when lying down. Reclining is not lying down.
Sometimes the options are relatively straightforward. While in Laos last year we travelled with a German couple on a twisty windy 10 hour journey through the day to reach Phonsavan. We were then due to head for the capital Vientiane and had two options: another 10 hour bus trip, this time through the night, or a 30 minute flight. We chose the $70 quick option, while the other couple opted to save $100 between them. When we bumped into them the next day and saw their dazed and weary looks we knew we had made the right choice.
Other times you can just plan around this. Our journey through the Balkans this summer involved several night bus options, but thankfully the bus network in this part of the world is very comprehensive and usually offers plenty of day and night options. We made a couple of long bus trips but were always in a bed for the night.
And that’s my other reason for preferring daytime travel: I never get bored of observing the passing scenery and the sight of people going about their everyday lives. While others sleep soundly I will sit happily gazing out of the window, admiring the landscapes, the strange buildings and the people we pass along the way. I would find a night bus intensely boring, not being able to enjoy any of these sights. The backdrop to my memories of a country is often formed in by what I see out of a bus or train window.
So the night bus isn’t for me. As soon as one is suggested on a journey I will seek out alternatives, even arranging an overnight stop in an intermediate place if needs be, just to be able to see what the secrets the road from A to B hides from sleeping eyes. My upcoming trip through central America holds the prospect of a night bus or two, especially on a couple of long slogs through southern Mexico. More likely than not, we will find ourselves spending a night in a small nondescript town that has nothing to offer beyond a well placed bus station.
I’m pretty much the same – I hate that disorientated zombie-like feeling that comes from travelling overnight (be it bus, train or plane). As a general rule, if it’s going to be more than five hours on a bus, I’ll take a train or fly. At least you can move around on a train and if it’s going to take that long, it’s rarely about the scenery – it’s about getting from A to B.
I can’t sleep sat down either, but I’ve done so many overnight flights now that I have learned the art of just shutting down the mind and entering a doze-like state for a few hours. It’s not proper sleep, but it’s usually enough to get me through the next day as a vaguely functioning adult on pure adrenalin. It’s much the same thing as dealing with a day’s work after a bad night’s sleep.
You’ve struck another chord here. My experience of the overnight buses to Chamonix were similar. I did find that if the journey was overnight and into the next day that I arrived at my destination with enough rest to get up and go. As you don’t get a good night’s sleep between 11 pm and 8 am, I found that the 9 pm to 12 noon trip worked best. It allowed me to carry on in a world half way between sleep and wakefulness for another 4 hours.
I documented one of the trips here: http://www.travelcrunch.co.uk/2009/12/02/brussels-to-chamonix-via-eurolines/
I’m right there with you.
I think it might be an age thing, sadly. When I was in my 20s, I could sleep on a flight, a bus, the car, whatever. Now I just can’t and it pains me, physically and mentally, because I WANT to be that person who blissfully sacks out as dusk falls and sleeps through the miles.
But no. And I am miserable, really miserable, after a long haul flight with no sleep. I’m taking one in February and I’m going to get drugs. Prescription drugs. The kind that make you disappear for 8 hours and then wake up on another continent.
You know what’s great? Night TRAINS. That’s what’s great. You get a bunk and sleep away the distance, and then wake up to see the landscape rolling past your window. Man, I love that.
Although I can fall asleep most of the time on night buses (Dan a little less so) to grab a few hours of sleep, I still prefer day buses so much more. Land travel for me is about being able to see the subtle differences in landscape, houses, farms, shapes of people’s hats, etc. If you travel through the night and arrive in a different region the next day, you miss all that’s happened in between. And, I usually feel like crap even if I have been able to sleep a bit.
When we got to Central America last year, we were warned against night buses, especially in Guatemala, by locals and expats alike for safety/bandits reasons. Think you have the right plan to travel by day and stay in small towns along the way. You’ll enjoy wherever your final destination is that much more.
Agree with Pam that night trains are a different matter. I love an overnight rail journey, and the gentle rattling of the train usually sends me into a deep sleep. It’s a shame that so much of the world is as yet untouched by a rail network.
John, in many European trains you have that 10 hour journey on the night train where you get to your destination too early to allow a good sleep – like you I prefer the mid-morning arrivals where you can have a lie in and watch the world go by from the comfort of a blanket.
And as you say David, the next day after a long flight usually ends up like the day after a rough (sleepless) night – you get through it in a zombie like state. The joys of travel…
Audrey, I heard the same advice on Guatemalan buses, and for the safety reason if no other I will insist on daytime travel only.
Thanks to all for the insightful comments.
Although I can’t sleep on night buses either I prefer them to long travel legs during the day. We’ve found that a 10 hour bus journey at night goes a lot quicker than one during the day so whilst in Vietnam we tried to take as many as possible
Most of the trains I have taken have delivered us to our destination before 7 in the morning so have the same effect so we just write off the following morning as lazy catch up on sleep day
Hi Andy: I guess I’m one of those people who is blessed to be able to sleep anywhere, anytime, in any position! However, I also usually like to take the day transport to see the landscape. The only time I’d wished I’d done the night thing was in Thailand, taking the day train from Bangkok to Surat Thani. Absolutely nothing to see and the night train would have been a much better option. As always, an interesting article that made me laugh.
One thing that I like about night travel is the excitement that instantly builds up when I wake up the next morning, almost arrived at destination. All of a sudden, even though I just slept an uncomfortable 4 or 5 hours in a smelly bus, my mind is completely ecstatic. My legs do however abandon in mid-afternoon but at least I was able to enjoy a long part of the day.
I do agree on the joys of travelling by daytime, for the simple privilege of having the time to observe every little thing. Getting there is half the trip, right?