BIG BUSES, LITTLE BUSES, HUGE BUSES AND OTHER TRANSPORTATION

I have never ridden a bus in my home town. One of my job skills when I worked at the Work Release facility was teaching our “residents” how to travel the county by bus within very exact time constraints, but i never rode the bus. A couple of years ago my friend Babe and I rode the Greyhound bus from Montana to Tacoma Wa after delivering my granddaughter’s truck to her at Yellowstone. And it was not a comfortable trip, one I would not want to do again. But here in Mexico I am a bus rider. Here in Zihuatanejo they range from super luxurious to how the hell do they keep it on the road.

There is a huge fleet of little combi buses, they are vans out fitted with benches all the way around and standing room in the center, I have been on one with 19 other folks, very crowded, very mexican.They are very inexpensive, 7 pesos around town. You never have to wait more than a few minutes and they go everywhere. Unfortunately there is no printed schedule or bus route map so I don’t know where half of them go. Or which ones will take you to some of the places I might want to go, so I walk one way and it’s easy once you are there to take any bus that says El Centro and you’ll get back to our part of town. So 7 pesos vs 25 pesos for a cab in town,and 10 pesos vs 65 pesos to go to Ixtapa, I’m learning the bus system.  A few more years and I’ll be expert, able to teach everyone how to use it

The other day  I went to the bus station and bought tickets for a first class bus trip to Patzcuaro for our 2-3 day mid February side trip.. This should be real luxury as our tickets are for the second floor with the vista dome windows, these buses usually come complete with a stewardess and are far more luxurious than 1st class airplane travel. Out of necessity I did the entire transaction with my fractured spanish, I had a little trouble with the word “piso” which is within my learned vocabulary, but momentarily forgotten.  But we soon got it straightened out that I did want the 2nd “floor” on the bus, and the 2 very front seats.
The waiters in town speak very good english, but the personal at the bus station  nada, nunca, none.

The Senor teases me about my Spanish, but I know he appreciates what I have learned as he stays at the apartment and sends me out to buy tickets, or hands me money and asks me to order meals, or other purchases. We will see how well I do on our adventure to Lake Patzcuaro tomorrow. It will be just a 3 day outing with my goal being the trip around the lake to visit the villages where each one specializes in a certain craft. I have no idea as to Internet availability or if I will be able to post, but I’m really looking forward to this side trip. 2 10 15 Signing off KO

Author: zihuathyme

I'm a traveler, not as frequently as I would like , but I plan on doing more. After working full time at Mount Rainier National Park during the summer of 22 I have decided to retire completely and forever. Prior to that I was semi retired as a Wedding Officiant I officiated at about 20 weddings a season, and with my small delivery service I handled the distribution of a local high-quality Home and Garden magazine . Prior to my "semi retirement" I was in corrections and before that I owned and operated a bail bond agency. I now plan to travel to new places and exciting places, getting ready to do that as a solo as the Senior is no longer with me, his choice, and I am OK with that. For hobbies I'm a reader and love my kindle. And I enjoy writing. View all posts by zihuathyme