Riding the famous Guatemalan Chicken Buses
I could have taken the tourist shuttle direct from my hostel door in Antigua to the hostel in San Pedro. It would have cost me $6.25. Instead, I went for the Chicken Bus. There's something magical about those blinged-out old school buses...the flashy painting, the names (Esmeralda, Esperanza, Carmelita), the stickers of naked women surrounding the crucifix/rosary shrine... There's just nothing like being the only white person on the bus, sitting 5 to a seat squished between a Guatemalan guy, a Maya woman, and her 2 kids, and squishing even more when someone tries to pass in the aisle. One eye on your backpack, ready to take down whoever stands in your way if someone even thinks about taking it, white-knuckling the seatback in front of you as the bus careens around mountainous turns at somewhere between 2x and 3x what most would consider a "safe speed". The exhilaration of flying past a cop in a no-passing zone around a blind corner... The grating of gears, Guatemalan pop music on full blast, incessant honking of the air horn at apparently nothing, and the bus attendant yelling "CHICHI CHICHI CHICHI!!!" at every passerby, it is all music to my ears. It only took 3.5 hours and 4 chicken buses to make it to Panajachel. No, Panajachel was not my original destination. Close enough, it will do. So yes, I could have taken the tourist shuttle. But where's the fun in that?
Originally published on "La Gringa y Su Mochila" blog https://7insouthamerica.blogspot.com/
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