Travelling from Lethem to Georgetown by road is no walk in the park. This is another raw, no-bullshit trip report that you have come to expect from Nomadic Backpacker.
It’s 550 km from Lethem to Georgetown, the capital of Guyana with more than 400 of that on dirt roads. It’s an arduous journey for sure.
As per the previous part of the journey, Boa Vista to Lethem, intel for buses from Lethem to Georgetown, was once again a bit thin on the ground.
I did some digging.
In the absence of information online, Google Maps was my main resource.
Google Maps is the best ever. For me, it replaces the info that we used to find in the Lonely Planet. But sometimes there are inconsistencies and inaccuracies.
Maps.Me does a pretty good job too. Sometimes there are some extra nuggets of information that you don’t find on Google Maps.
Nomadic Backpacker continues to gain trust and traction, as the blog that can be relied upon.
I found two companies that ran minivans from Lethem to Georgetown:
Greaves Transportation and Tours
Cindy’s Bus Service
Greaves Transport had departures at 10 am, 11 am and 12 noon (which meant for a very inconvenient arrival time as the journey was said to take 12 hours), but after my initial enquiries, they didn’t answer my messages anymore.
Cindy’s Bus Service, who replied promptly to my never-ending questions about the options from Lethem to Georgetown got my business.
The moral of the story here is, if you run a business, answer your goddamn messages, asap, or the customer will go elsewhere.
The ticket price was the same: 14,000 G$ (70 USD) and I could pay in USD.
Cindy’s Bus Service has just one departure. Late afternoon.
I messaged Rima Guest House in Georgetown to confirm they had a single room available for four nights (they did) and then sent a message back to Cindy’s Bus Service to save me a seat, which they didn’t as I was communicating with the office in Georgetown and they didn’t pass on the info.
But I was early enough so it wasn’t a problem.
The shared taxi I had taken from Boa Vista, dropped me off at their depot:
The location on Google Maps is incorrect. I tried to edit it but they won’t accept it, even if I sent photos and the new gps location.
Not to worry, it seems everyone bar Google, knows where they are.
Then I went walk about:
The Cindy’s Bus Service minivan that will take us (me) to Georgetown:
Loading up:
We finally got going at 6.30 pm.
Read this first
It’s a long-ass trip. 550 km and only the last 140 km are paved.
The road is hard-graded piste. There are lots of potholes, bumps and corrugations, so progress can be slow.
We stopped for 30 minutes at around 9 pm and then at around 11 pm, the drivers will stop for a sleep break for up to three hours.
Sometime in the early morning there is the Kurupukari River Crossing, which was the highlight of the trip:
Shortly after is a breakfast stop.
They quoted me just 12 hours for the entire trip which is quite ludicrous because the drivers always stop for a sleep, there are always food stops, comfort breaks and police checks and the gnarly traffic in the last 30 km. I think the driving time is 12 hours, when it’s dry.
If it’s raining, you have to be prepared for the trip to take quite a bit longer.
Refueling en route:
We pulled into Georgetown at almost 3pm. 20 hours and 20 minutes.
I was physically and mentally exhausted.
I think that locals can handle tough journeys so much better than us, or me at least.
They can handle delays. It was the same in West Africa. They can sleep no matter what. The loud music, the heat, the air conditioner blowing directly on them, the bumps and cramped conditions.
Staff at the Rima Guest House in Georgetown said that the journey never takes just 12 hours.
As I backpacked Georgetown, I saw this:
A big bus that runs between Georgetown and Lethem operated by Greaves Transportation.
I snuck into the office.
Their prices for the big bus 18,000. A bit more expensive but one hour faster. And no doubt, a lot more comfortable.
They run it twice a week in each direction.
From the note the lady scribbled down:
Tuesday and Saturday from Georgetown
Monday and Friday from Lethem.
She asked me if I wanted to buy a ticket.
I was gonna be humorous but they wouldn’t understand my request for: Give me a season ticket!!
They were also incredulous that my journey had taken 20 hours.
Did you break down?
But as per their minivans running out of Lethem, they depart so that they arrive at some unknown hour in the middle of the night.
Not ideal.
It seems, and this is not being unkind, merely an observation, they don’t volunteer information here in Guyana.
If you ask about the minivan, they won’t offer the big bus option.
I was looking for information on some tours here:
Me: Do you have an office in Georgetown?
Them: Yes.
And that was it. Wouldn’t it have made sense to keep the convo going and maybe get a deal with me?
Conclusion:
The trip was hardcore for sure. I don’t know of any other travellers who have travelled from Lethem to Georgetown by road.
The young lady at Cindy’s Bus Service seemed offended that I hadn’t enjoyed the trip, based on a post I made on Facebook.
550 km in a minivan on dirt roads, over 20 hours, is not something to be enjoyed, more like endured.
On the positive side, the driver drove well on the bad sections. Hell, there was even Wi-Fi, which worked for the whole trip despite being in the middle of nowhere for the entire trip.
And isn’t it the way, even if at times you are hating every goddamn second of it, after a long cold shower and a good night’s sleep, you’ll look back on it as one of the memorable parts of the trip.
It took me a while to recover from the trip I can tell ya.
7 thoughts on “How to get from Lethem to Georgetown in Guyana”
LOL on the season ticket. Nice one.
Intense trip. Folks in these developing nations typically possess a high threshold for discomfort and inconvenience. Sleeping in any conditions, etc. I recall the guy who did the lawn for a place where we stayed in Fiji. He noted that the island did not have electricity in the 90’s when he was a little kid. I asked him what people did when the sun went down: “We went to sleep until sunrise.”
There are two traits that a traveller must hold. One is not to get homesick and the other to possess the ability to sleep anywhere. I only have one of the two. Friends in Kenya where I suffered on lockdown during the pandemic could sleep all night and come to work, i was the only guest for 2 months and they would sleep all day to. They had other worries but lack of sleep wasnt one of them
The one invaluable trait I developed with my first college job; feeling fresh and fully functional on almost no sleep. In the mid ’90’s, I roasted coffee beans from 11 PM to 5 AM, 2-3 nights weekly while taking 12 college credits, most classes beginning at 8 AM. I eventually spent years working odd hours as a security guard at a shipping terminal. 4 PM to 8 AM, 12 AM to 8 AM, 6 AM to midnight. At times, I slept 2-3 hours daily for many days in a row. All prepared me for the insane stuff we international travelers do. Like your epic bus trips, or waking at 1:45 AM for a flight across the world or even for a domestic flight in a place like Turkey or wherever.
As far as not getting homesick….I guess I’d need a home to feel that way LOL.
please , how was it with a border control?
how long they have stoped you?
does do bus driver controll the papars before you start that journey?
my girlfriend need to get throug border.
also how they check vaccination yellow fewer?
appriciate Pet
hola trevor warman, fantastico tu relato, no hablo ingles, poca cosa pero ire a guiania proximo año, ire ára conocer y mejorar mi ingles, tu experiencia esta presente en mi, estoy planeando ese viaje desde ahora, quiero hablar ingles en esos dos meses que caminare alli, ademas llevare mi bike que se dobla para conocer mas lugares en menos tiempo, puedes aclarar que meses son mas secos para estar alli de 2 a 3 meses? gracias y deseo que estes bien donde estes…
LOL on the season ticket. Nice one.
Intense trip. Folks in these developing nations typically possess a high threshold for discomfort and inconvenience. Sleeping in any conditions, etc. I recall the guy who did the lawn for a place where we stayed in Fiji. He noted that the island did not have electricity in the 90’s when he was a little kid. I asked him what people did when the sun went down: “We went to sleep until sunrise.”
Ha.
Awesome guide.
There are two traits that a traveller must hold. One is not to get homesick and the other to possess the ability to sleep anywhere. I only have one of the two. Friends in Kenya where I suffered on lockdown during the pandemic could sleep all night and come to work, i was the only guest for 2 months and they would sleep all day to. They had other worries but lack of sleep wasnt one of them
The one invaluable trait I developed with my first college job; feeling fresh and fully functional on almost no sleep. In the mid ’90’s, I roasted coffee beans from 11 PM to 5 AM, 2-3 nights weekly while taking 12 college credits, most classes beginning at 8 AM. I eventually spent years working odd hours as a security guard at a shipping terminal. 4 PM to 8 AM, 12 AM to 8 AM, 6 AM to midnight. At times, I slept 2-3 hours daily for many days in a row. All prepared me for the insane stuff we international travelers do. Like your epic bus trips, or waking at 1:45 AM for a flight across the world or even for a domestic flight in a place like Turkey or wherever.
As far as not getting homesick….I guess I’d need a home to feel that way LOL.
please , how was it with a border control?
how long they have stoped you?
does do bus driver controll the papars before you start that journey?
my girlfriend need to get throug border.
also how they check vaccination yellow fewer?
appriciate Pet
Thanks. The borders were easy. Just a stamp plus the online registration that you do at the border. Using the free WiFi. As detailed in the blog post.
Chexk with your own embassy to see if you need visa
In South America you should always carry your Yellow Fever Certificate.
hola trevor warman, fantastico tu relato, no hablo ingles, poca cosa pero ire a guiania proximo año, ire ára conocer y mejorar mi ingles, tu experiencia esta presente en mi, estoy planeando ese viaje desde ahora, quiero hablar ingles en esos dos meses que caminare alli, ademas llevare mi bike que se dobla para conocer mas lugares en menos tiempo, puedes aclarar que meses son mas secos para estar alli de 2 a 3 meses? gracias y deseo que estes bien donde estes…
Hola, amigo.Te respondí por Instagram..