Boats, Buses, and Cars
17 November 2011 | Barra/Colimilla
Gabriellas G-Pa
I left Barra on Monday morning for my long trip on the bus to Guaymas. There are two different types of long range buses. There is the chicken buses that stop anywhere and there are the first class buses that are suppose to be more direct and have nice accomodations like a banos aboard. The pricing is really not that much more for the first class buses.....anywhere between 5 percent to 10 percent more. I got on a first class bus for Puerto Vallarta and it was one of the worst I have been on. The windows were rattling and I thought they would fall out. And it stopped all the time to pick up anyone that flagged them down. At Puerto Vallarta, I got a bus to Tepic, Nayarit because the only through bus to Guaymas didn't leave until 7:30 that evening. In Tepic there are more choices of bus lines that run to Guaymas, therefore better timing to get there faster. I chose TNS (Norte Sonora), because supposedly they would get there the earliest. It was the slowest bus I have ever been on. He would drive 10 to 15 KMs UNDER the speed limit for buses. After 28 hours on three different buses, I arrived at 2pm in Guaymas. I called ahead to Horacio to make sure he had my car at work with him. I took a 40 peso cab ride to the marina and picked up my car. I used the marina bathrooms to freshen up and chatted for a few minutes with Horacio and went to the office to see Ariana and resupply her with the Jelly-Bellies she requested. I then left for my southbound trek in my car. I had to stop at the Aduana to get my car imported for six months. that cost $57 for the permit and a $200 deposit that will be refunded if I take my car out of the country on time. I was going to stop in Los Mochis or Navajoa for a nights sleep, but once on the road, I kept going all the way to Mazatlan. I got to Mazatlan at 1am and drove into the Singlar marina parking lot to sleep in my car for a few hours. I freshened up in their bathrooms and hit the road again at 5:30am for Tepic. The first toll road on the Tepic highway was 178 pesos and I quickly got off to the Libre highway. I paid a total of 655 pesos for toll roads.....disgusting. Gasoline was a total of 2,000 pesos and all this is for one way south....I have to repeat it going north. For a retired person on a limited income, this is a big hit. More peanut butter/jelly sandwiches and less Mahi-Mahi dinners for awhile. Anyway, made it safely to Colimilla and Yoana was thrilled with her gifts from her sisters in the states and from Gabriella. Now the real work begins on Enriques' house and the school in a few weeks. I'm still the only boat in the lagoon. Karen, they even named a boat after you.....it's for giving birth to my Princess who everybody here knows about. (can you say Mother Mary)