A Typical Ride on a Camioneta (Chicken Bus)

As I enter the outdoor bus terminal, I am overwhelmed by many brightly-colored school buses moving toward my direction. The wonderful aroma of bus fumes greets me, as well as men screaming, “CHIMAL CHIMAL CHIMAL!” “SUMPANGO!” or “GUATE!” (the destination cities of the buses they work on).

I board the bus and am lucky to get a seat. Most seats have three people and the aisle is already full. The drivers try to cram as many people as possible into each bus and this is obviously a fire hazard, but why would anyone be concerned about that? Durangenze (a special Guatemalan music, probably misspelled) or Spanish pop music blares from the radio; I hope this doesn’t cause conductive hearing loss. Crosses and pictures of Jesus or Mary often adorn the inside of buses.

The bus usually begins to inch as slowly as possible while the driver’s assistant screams, “CHIMAL PARRAMOS CHIMAL PARRAMOS” out the door to urge even more people to board. (You don’t think it is physically possible to cram more people onto this thing, but you are oh so wrong.)

But the real ride begins when we finally leave the outskirts of Antigua, and you hold on for dear life. (If you’re lucky the driver will not drive as fast as he possibly can. And yes, the driver is always a he.) Standing in the aisle? Be prepared to swing rapidly from side to side. Sitting on the aisle seat? You’ll almost fall out of your seat – unless the bus is incredibly jam-packed and other bodies that are pressed against you hold you in. Your American concept of personal space becomes completely obsolete and you learn to just go with the flow. (And hopefully the bus won’t drive off the edge of a mountain, because it often appears as though it will.)

Motion sickness is another issue. One time, I thought I would have to throw up out of the bus window. (Luckily that didn’t happen.) I used to take Dramamine before getting on the bus. But now I don’t even bother because I realized it completely depends on the driver. I’ve gotten slower drivers several times, and often the ride isn’t actually so bad. (Although one time, my friends Katie and Megan were on a bus that broke down. From their description, it literally fell apart; maybe the weight of all those people was too much? Just a thought …)

All in all, bus rides can be super fun. Just wanted to give you a taste of what public transportation is like in Guatemala.