I have been asked on various occasions what transportation is like here - specifically, what is a chicken bus, and what is a Tuk Tuk. So, I took a few pictures to help explain.
Chicken busses are the tune pumping, tooth rattling, God praising public transport of Guatemala. Sure, you can get second and first class busses, but they're not nearly as fun. The drivers and ticket takers of the chicken busses are characters of their own breed - kind of like the Guatemalan equivalent to Newfoundland or West Coast fishermen, only crazier. The drivers navigate steep roads at top speeds, passing everything in sight at any time. Literally. One bus I was on, the driver passed about five different vehicles, on a narrow mountain road - no guardrails - while going up-hill towards a blind curve as fast as he could go. Not that the curve matters to them, they will pass in the middle of one if they feel like it. They do all of this while their counterpart hangs out of the open door yelling destinations to anyone who is on the side of the road. Sometimes, when they pick someone up on the fly, the bus will head off with the back door hanging open and the door guy up on the roof securing the new passengers load, he then climbs back down from the roof and back into the bus through the rear. I have to admit - it looks like it would be a lot of fun, and you can probably cross the whole country for just over the equivalent of ten American dollars, so the price really can't be beat.
You can also get things while you're riding the bus - need some fruit? Chicken? A new car battery? How about a change of religion, or maybe a permanent marker from a one legged man? Makes our own public transit look about as exciting as watching paint dry. I think the sermon was my favorite, but every bus is a different trip - so who knows what I'll see next.
Tuk Tuks, are these cute little three wheeled things that are the main mode of Taxi in smaller towns - Mr. Bean would have a field day knocking them all over if he ever visited.
They look like fun, and are cheap, but Guatemala's roads in the towns are all cobblestone - not even ones - and Tuk Tuks don't have any suspension, so while they seem like a good idea, you're more likely to keep your teeth if you hoof it.
So there it is, that's how you get around.
This is hilarious!! I have to say, it does sound like fun, and they seem to throw in a lot of free entertainment. The buses look great and well maintained, not like the old rattletraps I saw all over Ecuador. Glad you survived all the crazy driving! :)
ReplyDeleteOur mother is being disturbingly calm about all of this, while I have visions of buses hurtling off cliff faces.
ReplyDeleteIf this should happen - duck and roll!
Tuk Tuk's are almost the same in Bangalore - funny little world, isn't it?
Actually, everyone is very calm about it on the busses themselves.
ReplyDeleteSimon, the guy who also did Santa Maria, said that when he first came into Guatemala from Mexico in the North East about 5 busses were racing down the roads at top speeds, passing and yelling at each other. Accoding to Simon, nobody on the bus even blinked.