Emily, as you said,
The Green Tortice was a BLAST!!
I remember that trip with very fond memories. I always wanted to repete it or at least replicate it. However, life has unexpected twists and turns. I regret not Googling The Green Tortice earlier. I do have many relatives that need seeing, on the Washington, Oregon, and California coasts. I see a west coast road trip in the near future for my wife and I. This summer perhaps.
I took a Greyhound alone from Memphis to Reno, I think it was maybe two and a half days. Maybe a little less. I took the trip back via train and that was much more fun until the train caught fire outside Denver. Then I took the rest of the trip back by bus.
I was very young, only eighteen, and had never been further than a few miles from home. It was an amazing experience.
My longest bus trip was three days, from San Diego (I think) to Omaha, NE.
I was nine years old; my brother was four. I can only imagine how stressful it was for my mom, who was fleeing an abusive situation.
My clearest memory of it is arriving in Omaha and it being freezing cold! We weren’t exactly dressed for it, either.
Would not want to take a bus trip again, particularly not alone.
Has to be the bus ride I would take from Atyrau ( Kazakhstan ) to the Tengiz Rotational Village. It is only 300km but because of poor roads it could take 8 hours. In the winter months the ride could take up to 11 hours.
Good times…
About 5 hours which isn’t all that long except the AC wasn’t working; windows couldn’t be opened; and it was over 90 degrees F and sunny outside. The driver had a small window and there were two pop-up vents/emergency exits on the roof for a little airflow. Miserable.
About 12 hours, from Toronto to New York City. And back again, three days later.
18 hours. Yangon to Mandalay. Lonely Planet suggested getting there early so that you can catch a seat near the front of the bus where the ride as much more stable. So I got there an hour early and got a window seat two rows back of the driver. The only other westerners were a mom and daughter who unfortunately got seats behind the rear wheels. Once the bus was full, they filled up the center aisle with plastic stools and stuffed a bunch more people in.
Shortly after we departed, I pulled out an apple and cut into in with my brand new Swiss army knife. My hand got in the way and I started bleeding like a stuck pig. Interestingly enough, before I left, there was a tetanus vaccine shortage in the US so I did not have an up to date tetanus booster.
Now in 2001, the major north south highway in Myanmar was a dirt road. At one point in time it narrowed to one lane and we had to wait an hour until traffic cleared so we could proceed. About 1 in the morning we pull into the major stop on the way. It was a village with a sort of a restaurant.
The mom and daughter westerners were completely dying from motion sickness, and could not go on. So they bailed in this village that had enough electricity to power a string of low wattage Christmas tree lights. There was no hotel or anything. I hope they survived their ordeal.
9 hours later we arrive in Mandalay where upon I showed my gaping wound to the hostel owner and he promptly popped me onto the back of a scooter and sent me to the medical clinic. They walked me up to the front of the line and gave me a tetanus shot from what looked like a fresh hermetically sealed hypodermic needle. So, I was able to get the tetanus shot that was unavailable in the USA.