Saturday was a big day for us - it was our first opportunity to use the local bus “system”. Having seen and heard the bus crawl by our home stay every hour or so (once with a loud bleating goat on board), the anticipation was killing us. Watch the video below with the volume up and you’ll understand!
We were so excited that we even had a pool going to predict how late the bus would be! A round of ice cream was on the line. The bus usually goes at 5 past the hour, however, we’ve seen times at late as 35 past, so it was anyone’s guess.
At 10:10, the slow moving bus (seriously, it’s going at the speed of a fast walk), stopped and we boarded. It’s amazing the driver could see out the front window at all.
It was nearly empty as the route starts just a few hundred meters before. We continued to crawl along for about 3 km as the bus was slowly filling with people of all ages. We picked up a few who boarded with large bags full and left them at the front. The bench seat at the front nearest the driver seemed to be the “priority” seating area that was filled first. The loading door never closed during our journey.
As we snailed our way, the bus made a noticeable turn from the fresh pavement onto a rough road heading towards a school. This was odd and even at the slow speed, the uneven surface had us bouncing in our seats. About 2 minutes down the dirt road we made a hard right and descended into the river bed! That’s correct- the bus full of people forded the river at a shallow crossing!
We know that this river grows significantly during monsoon season, so the cross-river residents must be required to use the nearby foot bridge.
Once back on the road on the other side, more passengers continued to load the bus. As we had anticipated, the closer we got to our destination, the faster we were going. The new pavement ended abruptly and the bus jolted us side to side.
The number of passengers kept increasing, so I gave up my seat to mother who boarded with an infant (and 3 other children) and stood for at least two kilometres as more people joined the ride. At one stop, several people got off, so I reached down to grab my bag off the floor and find a seat behind me. With the swiftness of a ninja a tiny elderly women, all 65 pounds of her, deftly slid behind me and landed in the middle of the double seat that I had targeted. It was clear from her lack of eye-contact (or any acknowledgment of my existence at all) that I would not be joining her. At the next stop, I found a seat at the back as the bus continued to increase pace. The next passenger to board ended up on my lap when the bus lurched forward as he was trying to sit beside me!
A group of tourists joined the bus and it was standing room only again as we got to town. The driver’s speed increased proportionately with the increased number of vehicles on the road - it was like he was suddenly late for dinner and had to get home. The seven obvious “out of towners” all had expressions of awe on their faces.
After nearly an hour, we’d reached our destination. The final stop requires the bus the make a 3-point-turn - in a narrow street (it would be a 9 point turn for me!). The usher got off to help the driver back up - the signally system is simple - no annoying hand signals or yelling, just bang hard on the side of the bus to tell the driver to keep going. I am sure there is more complexity in the “banging” but I wasn’t able to figure it out.
Once off the bus, we looked at each other and said - “Well that’s a good one for the blog” and we headed to get ice cream - Nic was paying!
Stay tuned for the story of the return trip…