Here are some tips for safer bus travel in mountainous countries:
Avoid low-cost bus carriers, which often add rows of seats to poorly maintained vehicles to pack in more passengers to maximize profits.
Avoid operators of bus-trucks, the prohibited passenger-haulers built on used truck chassis. A telltale sign of the banned vehicles is the driver's seat wedged beside a front motor housing. Regular buses have rear motors. Bus-truck wheel axles are also higher off the ground than those of regular buses. Bus-trucks hold up to 75 seats crammed in narrowly spaced rows, compared to normal buses, which usually accommodate a maximum of 57-60 passengers.
Lino de la Barrera, vice president of Peru's Center for Investigation of Overland Transport, suggests planning bus travel well in advance, booking reserve tickets either through a travel agency or directly with one of Peru's established bus companies, like Ormeno, Cruz del Sur, Tepsa or Civa.
The South American Explorers foundation, a nonprofit travel organization based in Ithaca, N.Y., recommends traveling by bus in Peru during the day when possible, instead of at night.