Travel on a Sleeper Bus

A sleeper bus is a bus that has been modified to give extra comfort for passengers on long overnight journeys. Instead of normal seats, they have berths, like the ones on a train, so you can stretch out and sleep more comfortably. Different countries may have different styles of sleeper buses.

2015: The first time I traveled on one was with my friend in Vietnam, going from Ho Chi Minh to Mui Ne. The journey only took about 5 hours and it was during the day, but for some reason we got a sleeper bus. Totally didn't expect that when we booked the tickets. I suppose all 'tourist buses' in HCMC are sleeper buses.

We both had top bunks. The seat was more like a sun lounger than a bed, and it was not adjustable. You won't be lying down flat. Your feet will go under the seat of the person in front of you. It fit me just nice (I'm 165cm), but for anyone taller it might be a little cramped. Otherwise, the overall condition of the bus was excellent. We even got free mineral water.

2018: The second time I took a sleeper bus was in India. My partner and I were traveling from Kashmir to Delhi. Our initial plan was to take a direct bus from Kashmir (which would have taken us 24 hours), but due to some riots, the Kashmir state government cancelled all inbound and outbound bus services. Instead, we had to take a shared taxi from Kashmir to Jammu, followed by the sleeper bus from Jammu to Delhi.

Since Indian trains are usually booked well in advance and are always overcrowded, the sleeper bus is a popular option. The berths are available in single and double, and are actually pretty secure. You can only open and close the sliding door from the inside, as there's no handle on the outside. Opening and closing the door required some strength, but I think that was a good thing, because it made it hard for people to open the door while you were sleeping. We put all our belongings at our feet.

Again, we had the top bunk. It was a bit tough to climb up and down from the top bunk, especially when the bus was moving. If you've seen how people drive in India, you'd know what I mean.

The bus was equipped with separate toilets for males and females. Each berth came with a reading light and power points, but the ones in our compartment were not functioning. Just our luck. The best thing about the sleeper bus was that we had a full view of the road outside. The not-so-good thing was that there were no curtains. That means people outside had a full view of us sleeping too. This would be quite embarrassing if you sleep with your mouth open or if you sleep in weird positions or if your clothes tend to ride up during your sleep, accidentally exposing certain body parts that you'd rather not flash to strangers.

But even with the lack of privacy, I managed to get changed in the morning. I had to wait till we were on a highway where there was no one else around. I hope there were no speed cameras.

Of course, if you want a more authentic Indian experience, you should go for the local buses, the ones with normal bus seats. If your karma is good, you might actually get to sit. But the sleeper buses are not exclusively for tourists either. Most of the passengers on our bus were locals. It was still a great new experience for us.