Note: Most of this story was written after 2 weeks in Brazil, but some updates were done later, mostly to add the comparison to other South American countries.
Now that the first part of our stay in Brazil, codenamed Cities and buses, lasting 2 weeks is finished let us briefly describe one of its main ingredients — the buses.
Every city bus in Brazil has a turnstile, usually found in the front of the bus but sometimes also in the back (in Salvador), or in the middle (Santarém). The turnstile is one-way, i.e. it can be passed through in one direction only which in turn means that entering the bus and exiting it necessarily happens through different doors.
The turnstile is operated by a human conductor/ticket seller. Together they take a space that could be used for at least 4–6 seats. The ticket seller is a nice and helpful person, e.g. tells tourists where they need to get off. This is remarkable because his/her job is rivaled in mindnumbingness only by the job of the human lift-button-presser that every Brazilian lift comes with.
Everybody must go through the turnstile, and pay for the ride or prove that he/she has already paid (e.g. has a yearly pass). Passing though the turnstile is physically demanding if you are bigger than a child and/or carry bags (e.g. two backpacks). For some reason the Brazilian people tolerate it quietly and haven't revolted.
In short, this turnstile-based design is stupid as it breaks already in cases that deviate only a little bit from the ideal (where the bus is almost empty). But imagine a person with a backpack who wants to take a crowded bus just for one stop — the person has to enter the bus, squeeze through the turnstile, pay in cash, squeeze through the crowd to the door at the other end to exit at the next stop.
There is a huge number of buses.
There are no real bus stops. People just stop the bus wherever they want. Because there are no bus stops, there is also no way to study beforehand the bus lines with their numbers and itineraries. There is no obvious place to buy the tickets from beforehand. Some people however seem to have long term tickets that they register with the ticket seller. This is not that frequent though, many people still pay cash when entering the bus.
The destination of a bus is marked on the bus, although not always. Sometimes intermediate stops are shown. Sometimes there is just a line number, e.g. in São Paulo the buses seemed to have 6-digit line numbers.
The cost of a bus ride is reasonably small, 1–2 BRL, although executivo buses can cost 4–5 BRL.
Some cities have larger bus stops, called Terminal Integrado where many buses meet. Entry for pedestrians is forbidden i.e. one can only enter by bus. Switching to any other bus is possible without charge i.e. no need to go through the turnstile in this case. So, if one wants to tour the whole city on bus all day long then he/she need pay only some 1.20 BRL for this. (Don't remember if they sell food at these integrating stations so that one could have lunch.)
There is usually one big central bus station in a city. But there are many bus companies, in general with non-overlapping destinations.
There is no central info service or ticket sale service, which is strange because the companies are not really in competition with each other. Instead, each company has its own ticket counter. One has to walk through several counters and repeatedly ask the same question, e.g. "Do you operate a bus to Ouro Preto?". (It is worse in Peru, where each company has their own bus station.)
Bus stations are decent and provide what a traveler needs, i.e. food (there are many lunchonettes), luggage storage (14 BRL for 3 bags), and the Teresina bus station had even free wireless.
The buses are very comfortable (otherwise one wouldn't survive these necessarily long Brazilian bus rides) — wide reclinable seats (leito vs semi-leito), air-conditioning, TV, sometimes free snacks. Every seat comes with a seat belt which is maybe obligatory (like in Peru) but which no passenger fastens.
Upon entering the bus one's ID is checked and recorded. Luggage is tagged before being placed into the luggage compartment, it is returned only against the receipt.
The bus is usually over-air-conditioned. It would be impossible to sleep without wearing long trousers, thick socks and a fleece. Sometimes a wool hat is required. One sometimes forgets to take these clothes to the bus because the outside weather requires shorts and flip-flops.
No food is served on the bus during the trip (unlike in Peru and Argentina) nor are street vendors allowed on the bus to sell empanadas etc. (unlike in Ecuador). Instead, the bus stops occasionally for approx. 30 minutes at large highway restaurants (sometimes called RodoServ) where the passengers can have a meal.
The price of a long-distance bus ride is reasonably cheap, e.g. a 24h ride from Recife to São Luis costs about 200 BRL. Some travelers have found that flying is cheaper, but in this case one needs to buy the tickets several weeks in advance.
There is always at least one fellow passenger in your bus who plays music out loud on his cell phone, and sings along, out of tune. The songs usually feature a girl named Vitória and his coração.