Braulio
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Registered: 11-7-2002
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Taking the Bus in Baja.
This past week I was working in Los Mochis (mainland Mexico). I decided to take the bus back to the border - it was a 19 hour ride but wasn't too bad
- I rode a TAP bus and it was pretty comfortable.
When I got to the terminal in TJ I had a few minutes so I copied down some bus fares if anyone's interested:
Tijuana to:
Ensenada - 98
Mexicali - 187
SLRC - 249
PTO Pe?asco - 457
San Felipe - 334
San Quint?n - 237
San Vicente - 159
Camal? - 218
GRO Negro - 611
STA Rosalia - 793
Muleg? - 805
Loreto - 982
La Paz - 1264
Prices are in mexican pesos - you're better off buying the tickets in dollars - they were giving a 11.40 exchange rate at the ticket counters (about
10.50 at the banks). As far as the time the bus takes I think if you calculate the miles and figure about 50 mph average you'll be pretty close.
I don't know the frequency of departures but there were a lot of ABC buses there so I imagine buses leave at least every hour or so. As far as I'm
aware ABC or it's parent is the only line that serves Baja.
I'd recommend it if you've got the time.
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3687
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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I ride those buses often out of Mexico City to Puebla. Just a two hour ride, but extremely comfortable.
Not sure that 19 hours would be tolerable, but they are a far cry from the old days of bus riding.
(ask me about the buses that I have ridden in The Philippines, and Guatemala....)
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
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Mood: wait and see
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You mean like deuce & a half flatbeds with boards for seats? Been there, done that.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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Cool
On the last bus trip I took, which was only from Puerto San Carlos to La Paz, the lady sitting next to me had a live chicken in a box(that was no
problem) and her kid put chewing gum in my hair(that was a problem).
I had just gotten a Walkman and thought that listening to it would be a great idea. Wrong. No one had ever seen one(this was in 1985) and everyone
just stared and pointed and talked about it. I knew no Spanish and felt like the town clown so I took it off and put it in my bag and became part of
the gang.
The lady with the chicken gave me a tamal that was, and still is, one of the best I have ever eaten. No meat. Just corn kernels and jalapenas in
sweet masa.
Ah good memories.
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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Runner,
Talking about Jeepneys in the Phillipines?
Scary
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comitan
Ultra Nomad
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Location: La Paz
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Mood: mellow
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When you ride the bus from La Paz to Tijuana and visa versa it takes 22-23 hrs, and if you have long legs and no where to put them its miserable, and
trying to sleep!!!! If you should want to question this I have done this trip 7-8 times, oh the bano, we won't discuss that.
Strive For The Ideal, But Deal With What\'s Real.
Every day is a new day, better than the day before.(from some song)
Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth.
“The sincere pursuit of truth requires you to entertain the possibility that everything you believe to be true may in fact be false”
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Braulio
Nomad
Posts: 321
Registered: 11-7-2002
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bajarunner - I take the bus from Mexico City to Puebla pretty frequently - I was on it about a week ago - it's a little different because it's an
express - no stops. The TAP bus I took had a little more leg room.
I know nothing about the ABC buses - they mostly look kind of old.
I'm not sure I'll be doing it again soon - but it's a good alternative to driving - and a cheap alternative to flying. It costs me about $400 one way
to fly from Sacramento to Los Mochis - vs about $60 to get back to the border from Mochis.
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Braulio
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Posts: 321
Registered: 11-7-2002
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yeah - the ba?o - you don't want to be loading up on chicken tamales before you get on the bus. The bus stations all charged 3 pesos to use the
facilities - I didn't see a toilet seat on any of the toilets between Mochis and TJ - I've a few stories to tell along that line but I don't want to
slop up Doug's board (again).
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lizard lips
Super Nomad
Posts: 1468
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: EARTH
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Bajarunner, The Jeepney's in the Philippines are a real ride in themselves! It's a little hard to get in and out and to even sit bouncing up and down
takes a little getting use to! The bus service in all of Mexico has changed alot in the last 10 years. I ride the bus often all over the mainland and
they are really comfortable and the movies are good. I took a bus once from Mexico City to Oaxaca during a storm and we went off the road. Several
people were injured and the bus driver took off. I guess he did'nt want to be prosecuted for driving but that happen's all the time.The owners of the
bus companies tell their drivers to take off if an accident occurs, at least that is what Im told.
[Edited on 8-10-2005 by lizard lips]
[Edited on 8-10-2005 by lizard lips]
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bajalera
Super Nomad
Posts: 1875
Registered: 10-15-2003
Location: Santa Maria CA
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But the people who ride jeepneys are good about passing your fare hand-to-hand to the driver, and returning it to you.
Mexican buses can be very accommodating, as I discovered on a trip from TJ to Mazatlan. We stopped for a food break at San Luis Rio Colorado, and I
emerged from the banos just in time to see my bus pulling out. When I told the guys behind the ticket counter, they put me on another bus that caught
up with mine at another stop along the way. When I walked up to my bus the driver said "Tu!," gave me a big abrazo, and said he was glad nothing bad
had happened to me.
Greyhound has never been all that friendly.
Lera
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 2-2-2003
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Jeepneys
between Cagayan de Oro and Hasaan in Mindanao is how we met some of the nicest people, and critters, and found out about the places that the tours
don't go. 
When we took the bus from La Paz to Rosarito a few months ago, it was a brand new Volvo. Plenty leg room but the seats didn't fold down enough for
comfortable sleeping. Good movies, they stop at the best food stops, and not a bad trip at all.
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