To Valladolid

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Segundo clase? other counter´ he grunted.. I wasn´t sure what he said. So I repeated.. I need a first class ticket to Valladolid at 2 PM. He finally understood, I am clueless. In broken english... he repeated that there are no more tickets but he can give me second class. That´s what want senor. He decided to give me the second class ticket instead of asking me to go to the other counter. 70 pesos... not bad.
It was only about 1:15 PM and I have about an hour or more kill. So I walk around watching people. May be there are some people who are going to Valladolid. There was a big sign at one end of the terminal that said ¨DEPARTURES´ There is a huge crowd waiting in front of it. But the man was not letting anyone in. Every now and then he starts yelling something and everybody starts pushing forward. He will let only some folks in. It appeared as if, they let folks only for the bus that is currently at the departure area. This is going to be tricky for me. How do I know, when he is going to yell for the bus that goes to Valladolid. For all I know, it may be enroute to some other place like Merida. I started to get worried. I need to find someone else who goes to Valladolid. I was beginning to get paranoid. What if I get there late and there are no hotels. Tomorrow is Christmas night, Valladolid is small. May be I should have bought a ticket to Playa Del Carmen. Go the other way. There are buses to Playa (that is what they call it) every 15 minutes. So I walk around contemplating what to do. I can throw away the 70 peso ticket to Valladolid and get a ticket to Playa if they don´t refund the tickets. But asking for refund in Spanish is going to be something. I looked in the Spanish phrase book.. there is nothing remote to it in the book.
Then I saw this bunch of American people... four of them.. So I ask one of them to take a picture of me in the bus station. So he takes my picture and I use the chance to break the ice and start a coversation. Well, so much for Americans.. what a bunch of unfriendly people. He was not interested in having a conversation... so he turns around after tersely answering my question on Playa and Valladolid - which is better, to his friends and started talking to them. My right sideburn started itching. So I stretched my middle finger and scratched my sideburn.
The bus terminal was decorated for Christmas. There were Christmas pinatos hanging from the celing. And there people everywhere.. on the floor.. standing sitting.. just like a bus stand in India. People kinda live here.
As I was standing, there were some folks selling tickets in the middle of the crowd. I show them my ticket and asked how long (cuanto hora to Valladolid) he talked back in sign language and said three hours.. not bad... I will get there at 5:30. There will be still sunlight and I can look around for a hotel. I have a list of places from the guidebook. But I still need to figure out when the man behind the gates starts yelling out my bus´s arrival.
Then I saw this man buying a ticket to Vallodlid from the walking ticket sellers.

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