Buses are cheap and convenient, and can be hugely entertaining. There are two types of service. Second-class buses - known as camionetas to Guatemalans and "chicken buses" to foreigners - are by far the most numerous, and easily distinguished by their trademark clouds of thick black fumes. If they look familiar to North Americans that's because they're old school buses (mainly Bluebirds). Second-class buses will usually stop for every possible passenger, cramming their seats, aisles and occasionally roofs: journeys are certainly never dull. Chickens cluck, merengue assaults your eardrums, snack vendors tout for business and the locals gossip and laugh. Almost all second-class buses operate out of bus terminals , often adjacent to the local market. Tickets are bought on board and cost around US$0.75 per hour's travelling, though rip-offs do happen - check out what the locals are paying.

First-class or pullman buses, usually old Greyhounds, are faster and more expensive (around $1 an hour) than regular buses and make fewer stops. Each passenger will be sure of a seat to him or herself, and tickets can be bought in advance. They only serve the main routes such as the Carretera al Atlántico and Interamericana, but they will usually stop for you en route if they have space aboard. Pullmans usually leave from the bus company's office rather than the main bus terminal.