i rode the bus to mulege...

i found myself in san diego friday
without a car to get home to mulege

so...i deceided to ride the bus...first time

i had someone drive me to the border and
exchanged money at the last exit
$12.5 pesos to one dollar

the border gate is a 200 yards walk

walked directly to the taxis
told the taxi driver i wanted to get to
the BIG bus station
no problem...
price was $150 pesos

there are ALOT of bus companies in mexico
around 10...i was surprized
the buses go EVERYWHERE
the bus station is a BIG place
lots of people and ACTION
i was the ONLY "gringo" there

walked to the ABC bus counter
bought a ticket to mulege
price was $1317 pesos

i had a 2 hour wait so i bought lunch
at a little restruant in the station
$75 pesos...pretty good

used their internet...
$10 pesos for a half hour

bathrooms are clean but cost 4 pesos
(bring 1 pesos with you)

bus left at 4pm
we arrived in mulege 17 hours later
we drove ALL night

the bus was not cold but cooler
it was a BUMPY ride
the bus was very clean
i watched 4 movies ALL in english
(spanish sub-titles)

ALOT of stops
lots of bathrooms and food
at the stops

i slept alot
i was tired

my cocinera was at the
mulege bus station to pick me up
and drive me home

it was so easy...
but...
i woulld WAY rather drive

Buses are always an adventure! I've had a couple 'eventful' trips in Baja and mainland Mexico.

I'd like to share one with you..I wrote the following about a bus ride I took from Mulege to the border. October 2008. It was quite the ride.



The Bus



Back in September I took the ABC bus from Mulege to Tijuana.

It was scheduled to leave at 6:30 and I only had to wait until 7:30 for it to show up. (I figured I saved lots of dinero by missing an hour at Jungle Jims cantina.)

I was assigned a seat next to a window, which I liked. There are 2 seats side by side.. Cushy seats much like an airliner...reclining with armrests too. Per advice from those had gone before me, I had brought my own down pillow and fleece blanket. (The AC works very well...brrrr)

I took my seat with the seat next to me stayed empty for some time.

The bus began it's journey north...and the 2 nice Mexican ladies directly behind me talked of things of the day. Nice idle chatter of nothing and everything.

The coach was about half full to start, but quickly filled as we drove north. Remember, this was September in Baja and it was hotter than the Gates of Hell...yet the AC was so cold I was elated I had my warm fleece blanket and pillow with me.

We made the regular stops at Sta. Rosalia..dropping off a few, picking up more...and roared off up the Baja Road. The driver was very skillful and there was no quick braking or swaying in the turns.

We rolled on..the senoras behind me talking about one of the son's and his new wife...at least from what I overheard...but then it MAY have been a daughter and the lazy hombre who talked her into marriage.

The whole trip from Mulege to Tijuana was going to take 16 hours and it cost me $1100 pesos. I was traveling fairly light and only had my laptop w/case and one small bag...plus my pillow and bedroll.

I am tall..about 6'2" ...and sport a 'couple' extra pounds... and had stretched out onto the adjoining empty seat a bit to accommodate my frame. It was quite comfy. Until the next stop when a youngish senorita came aboard, walked down the aisle looking at her stub and the numbers above the seat pairs. She had the aisle seat next to me. I hastily moved my laptop elsewhere and motioned her to sit, which she did.

The bus rumbled on into the night...it was now about 11 pm. One of the movies we had already watched was Daffy Duck destroys Godzilla and The Giant Moth..I think. A classic for sure. The senorita next to me had now pulled most of my warm fleece blanket over her...leaving me shivering into my pillow. The ladies behind were now discussing something about relatives in Guaymas.

I somehow managed to ram some metal seat lever into my rectum as I was squirming to ease my old back injury. That made me jolt back against the young lady next to me, who awoke thinking most likely that the Old Gringo was groping her. This got everyone's attention on the bus away from the Dracula movie and onto me...sigh. I managed to allay the senorita's fears and offered her my soft down pillow to go with the warm fleece blanket.

The ladies behind were now talking about me.

The bus stops at the El Rosario bus stop and cafe in the middle of the night...quite a few people get off to have a snack or coffee. Looks very dark out there. Might even be some night fog. Not hungry or thirsty, I stayed put..as did the bundled-up sleeping senorita and the 2 ladies behind me. At least the talk had moved from me back to thier family issues.

We get underway after the 20 minute stop and then I realize I should have taken the bus stop's restroom opportunity. Ah, but this bus has a bathroom! But..shoot.. I had to wake the young lady to get past her. The blanket was firmly wrapped around her and she had a little problem getting free to let me by. The bus was now rocketing along at a pretty good clip, now taking some sharp turns, and I had to grab the overhead lockers to make my way aft...that's the rear, you know.

I knew I was getting closer to the bathroom because of the increasing smells wafting out of the blackness..whew. There were some green looking people sitting back there, and I thought.."These poor people are being punished for some reason. Why else would they be assigned seats next to this stinkpot?"

I open the door and squeeze inside..holding my breath...and somehow manage to shut the door behind me...had to slam it shut to make it latch. I had turned on the light, but quickly turned it off again...not a pretty sight, I can assure you. Luckily my business was to be done standing.

The bus was now really taking some sharp turns and the motion made me brace myself with both arms and hands outstretched to the narrow walls of the black dungeon..bathroom. Even braced as I was, I still got jostled a bit from side to side and then flung forward when the bus braked. I am fairly sure I had been making contact into the toilet and not the sink. I tried to listen to water sounds, but the ladies talking back in the coach interferred with my hearing ability, which is not good to start with in these noisy quarters.

I finished my business, zipping up, and turned to grasp the door latch...which was stuck.... and refused to open. Carumba! Now what the hell? I pushed and pulled and pounded, but nada..stuck..stuck in a stinking toilet and we're going to crash and I will be dead and covered with
..and then the door opens, thanks to a kind senor who I must have woke up with the pounding.

I weave my way back to the warmly-covered sleeping senorita who looks to be drooling into my pillow. The ladies are now talking about me again.Some other passengers are glaring at the ladies in a not-so-friendly way.


The night drags on as we slowly come off the mountains and race towards San Quentin, then make more fast miles towards Ensenada...almost dawn now. A brief stop, then on the tollroad towards Tijuana. Ladies go back to talking family..I feel like I know them all by now. Other busfolks nearby are not too happy with the gossipers.

We pull into the Tijuana bus terminal...about 16 hours after leaving Mulege..and me without a minute of sleep. Nor did the 2 ladies behind sleep. They were still talking. As the bus stopped and everything shut down, it got a little more quiet inside the bus..the lull just before everyone stands up and starts collecting baggage from the overheads and below the seats.

I stood up..turned around and faced the 2 ladies who were still chattering away. (I had learned a bit of slang some years back from my housekeeper, Carmen, who has a terrific sense of humor.) So standing facing the senoras, I made yapping motions with both hands..forefinger tapping thumb..and said with a grin, "Weedy, weedy, weedy." That brought laughs and clapping from the other passengers. The ladies were laughing a bit, too.

Carmen had told me that it meant ...'what people do when they gossip a lot.'



Ah..buses. Did I ever tell you about the time when my bus rolled and I was taken off the relief bus at gunpoint ...oh, I did?

the bus driver will "drop" you anywhere on the highway...
lots of people got off here and there
you just walk to the front, ask, and he pulls over

i woke up once in the night when the driver called "BATHROOMS"!!!
and the bus was parked on a concrete slab in a
walled compound somewhere near san quintin
fueling from a BIG 2000 gallon tank
another bathroom break
coffee available (none for me at 1am)

the opening to get in and out of
the "compound" was really tight
it looked like we would NEVER fit thru to get out
we squeezed thru

lots of snoring on the bus
the "girls" were the higher picthed noise and
the "boys" were the baratones

everyone snored...

Ahh the bus

1994 - Anchorage - Seattle - San Diego - bus from airport to San Ysidro trolley - stop at Barnes and Noble for a guide to Baja (hmmm, Mulege sounds nice) - step off the trolley - walk across border to bus station in plaza - ticket to Ensenada - pleasant surprise no chickens on bus - Ensenada debauchery- night bus to Mulege with movies, cards, and a ballena or two - wake up in Mulege.

Fast forward 16 years..............Fly to LTO and zip back to my home at el Faro.

Thank you Aguilar, ABC, or whichever bus company brought me to Mulege.

Haven't done the bus thing...

I took the bus myself 3 weeks ago...... I walked across the border into TJ, beared right after the turnstile, walked 5 min. to the bus stop where you can catch ABC or Aguila - the ticket counter is right there. Pay in dollars or pesos. There are separate services to Ensenada and then another bus onwards, but they sell you to full ticket right there - and one bus waits for the other. They certainly have cut back on their schedule however, there were half the number of options as a year ago. Sign of the times, I suppose.

I also rode at night and Les picked me up in Vizcaino. I slept most of the night (I can sleep through noise, bumps, ANYTHING, if I am tired enough :lol but I did meet a couple in the morning, in Guerreo Negro (good coffee joint there) who had gone to States for an emergency and they were returning to their boat - they were very nice, now I can't remember names or details, I must've been groggy still from the dream sleeping on the omnibus

Now, I once took a bus from Rio de Janiero all the way to Belem (city at the moputh of the Amazon) - 3 days of trees trees and more trees. At one point, we had to take a boat across a river along the way due to a fallen bridge. The other people took the same boat in the opposite direction when we got to the north shore. I remember being upset that there was a COCA COLA sign in the middle of the jungle.

I have lots of bus stories - but that is enough for today

I really enjoyed my bus ride from El Rosario to the border. We had to wait probably 4-5 hours though for a bus to come through. The first one passed us by. Finally got one right before dark. Had movies the whole way in English, nice cool AC and was pleasant.

We got dropped off in TJ at about 2 am. I wasn't too stoked on that only cause I just don't trust the night in general. The guy at the counter said we could walk to the border in 5 minutes. We did, which wasn't probably the best idea at the time but made it safely.

BUS