Shuttle but still public

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So we had enough with the chicken buses. It was more that we couldn’t afford our travel time to double each time. So we took shuttles from Coban to Rio Dulce. It was going to be ~5-6hr trip, if all went well, of course.

We left Coban with 6:30am bus. Before 7:30am, the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere. Everybody got off the bus, including a toddler. The bus had engine problems and couldn’t go on anymore. This was new. We waited for ~30min until the next bus passed by. By the time 10 of us got on the bus, all seats were filled. 5 of us ended up standing in one of those coach buses. i.e. not much there to hold on to. In midst of this mess, a saving grace was that a lady offered me a seat. She had 2 small girls sit on her lap.

We had a planned bus transfer in El Rancho. Since the town was at an intersection of highways, I was expecting a bus stop or a garage. Not so fast - still no bus stop! I would have been completely lost if it wasn’t for my Spanish-speaking boyfriend.

We got on a filled bus and was back to standing on a coach bus. As usual, all kinds of vendors got on the bus. But this time, the bus was completely full including people standing (me!). They pushed and weaved through us. There were dring vendors with bucket full of bottles and ladies selling tacos. Taco lady was hard-core. She had tortilla, meat, sauce and wrapper all in one big basket which she carried on her head. Next thing I knew, I was directed to the very last seat in the back. I went passed the taco lady making tacos and somehow made my way to the seat. Nice. But peace didn’t last long. I was surrounded by a big family who was getting taco for lunch. Mom next to me gets an order of taco, then handed a piece to her kids via my lap. Everyone’s hand was smothered with sauce. A can of coke was passed around with saucy hands. Food was flying everywhere!

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