Chicken bus journey - poptun to coban
Trip Start
Jul 04, 2008
1
24
31
Trip End
Oct 22, 2008
Fray Bartolome de las Casas,
Western Highlands,
Guatemala
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The driver of the tuk tuk upon dropping us off warned us that the ride to the midway point - a town called Fray Bartolome de las Casas - is rough. then we stepped from the tuk tuk into the twilight zone..
The bus we were told leaves at 9am, but in reality the bus was scheduled to leave at 10.30am.. So we waited...
Kirstin stayed with the bags while I walked around a bit. I'm not used to fitting in most places I go, but my walk through the streets and crowded markets brought the sensation to a new level
tuk tuk
. when I would pass through the market people would turn quiet in their manner, stop talking and look at me until I passed... bizarre.. I walked down the street and children went running inside to retrieve their parents so they could see the oddity walking down the street. It was as though I was wearing a pair of fighting squirrels on my head.. Truly a unique experience...
my arrival back at the bus with Kirstin raised some questions for me. Is that bucket of tools next to the driver's seat there because they expect to break down? Are those brake shoes lying there next to the bucket new or used? Is that the ground I see through the hole in the floor? And what for gods sake is that smell?
This particular bus was one of unknown vintage and presumably questionable maintenance history. After a brief inspection of the tires and a precursory look at the many points of body damage I boarded the square beast to Kirstin asking me if we wanted to sit in the back, to which I responded no. There's more leg room up front and riding in the rear would be akin to riding a 7 ton pogo stick.
We rode up front, in separate seats with ample room for us and all our belongings. We stretched out, in the lap of mechanical debauchery for the grueling 5 hour (50 kilometer) bus ride through the sun and dust over perfectly good gravel roads, over which was laid a mix of large fist sized rocks, random pieces of wood and lethargic canines
mini bus
. We stopped from time to time to acquire new passengers, food from roadside vendors, and bags of corn for delivery elsewhere upon our route. I believe that we attained a top speed of 25 mph (45 kilometers) on our trip through the mountains taking us to some of the most remote and beautiful "towns" Ive ever been to. We arrived in Fray in time to board a Toyota Hi-ace minivan with seating for 19 people. the similarities with the two buses starts and ends with the fact that both had wheels, tires, and a diesel motor... oh yes and the obligatory over-sized roof rack and accompanying ladder.
So, after a quick stop in a truly 3rd world bathroom, we and 15 other people crowded into the late model Toyota Hi-ace minivan and proceeded to ride around Fray and pick up more unsuspecting souls for our journey onto Coban.
I feel it now, immeasurably important to mention and introduce you to the guy I call the "bus boy", who collects the moneys while underway, moves luggage to and from the previously mentioned roof rack, announces our destination to potential passengers along the road with an uncommon zeal and volume while hanging from the open slider door. This guy is a nut. so we leave the little ville of Fray (pronounced Fry) with a minivan that was full of people and belongings, at least I thought it was full - but Noooo, apparently we were not yet at capacity as was proven time and again by our repeated stops to nab people from the roadside that were going our way - more people, more $$
bus from poptun to fray
. Woman with child, girl with sister, man with machete, kid with box, boy with bicycle.. The list goes on...so we are a group of 24 people and associated belongings ripping up and down the highway to Coban, stopping, intermittently to drop off or, heaven forbid, pick up some random traveler. We were at the top of some kind of steep climb (I could no longer see the road, being blocked by a straw cowboy hat) and there was a family of five awaiting transport. We stopped, yet again to me though, slide the door open and show the unfortunate family we were maxxed out and already overfilled. But noooo they climbed in with all passengers now having to assume previously unthought-of yoga pose. I mean this situation went from crazy/nuts to truly ridicules. Somehow we squeezed the folks into the van without use of a giant shoe horn and without the benefit that a giant tub of Vaseline would have provided.
twenty-nine people (not including the driver) in a Toyota Hi-ace minivan requires children to be folded into small cubby holes, previously reserved for oversized drink cups and incidentally that the "bus boy" ride on the roof. We achieved better than 120 kph during some of our straightest descents and just a little bit slower if there were curves. There was no posted speed limit and the radio was turned up repeatedly to drown out the squealing of the tires. The suspension was collapsed to the point that the running gear was effectively one with the frame of this deathtrap waiting to happen, which , came with the added advantage of next to no body roll - yeah we could now corner even faster.
The trip lasted like that for about an hour. My legs fell asleep first, then an arm, oh, and then my butt, all of that bringing with it the pain that could only be compared to rolling around in a bathtub of broken glass then dousing oneself with rubbing alcohol. Then just as I was going to request a seat on the roof rack, we rolled into Coban and after, what seemed like, forever we stopped, unfolded ourselves and came to stand upon solid ground. We slept well that night, sprawled out on our separate beds...
