Thursday, March 13, 2014

Melaque to Puebla MX by bus

I decided to take a bus from Melaque to Mexico City to avoid all the problems south of Melaque that everybody has been warning me about. The bus was a red eye leaving at 8pm arriving at 8am in Mexico City. When the bus pulled into the station the driver looked at me with my bike and told me the bus was a first class bus and bikes are not first class but third class. That arrogant attitude so typical of people from Mexico City pegged him right away as to where he was from. The people that live outside of Mexico City do not like the arrogant way the people from Mexico City look down at them. I first just glared at the driver before I started my rant at him. The Mexicans standing around were all staring at me and laughing here and there either at my broken Spanish or at my fury and direct confrontational manner with the driver. The station agent that loads the bus and checks tickets came out and pulled me aside and started to side with the driver but then I talked to him in private for a few minutes explaining that I have ridden many first class bus lines with my first class bike and I was not going to let a Mexico City guy put me or my bike down. He laughed but tried to help me. First he read the back of the ticket to me that said only three bags of less than a total of 55 kilos could be taken on the bus without a surcharge for extra luggage. There was a woman with two giant suitcases and one big plastic garbage bag full of stuff standing there waiting for a bus. I pointed out that she had more stuff than I did but the driver just counted each of my saddlebags my food bag and my bike as six bags. I piled my bags in a stack next to her giant bag and all my stuff was clearly way less than hers. So I told the driver I would go buy a first class garbage bag which was accepted as first class garbage and put my bags in one bag and my bike in another so that I complied with the three bag limit. The driver immediately understood my double meanings of the first class garbage bag. The station agent then pulled out tape and taped my bags together so they only counted as one bag and my bike as a second bag and looked up at the driver. The driver just fumed but walked away in defeat. In the end, I was the only passenger on the entire bus until we got to Guadalajara which made the entire taping up pointless.

The bus ride was uneventful but I watched a few movies. Seven or eight more people got on the bus in Guadalajara. I got a little bit of sleep but not much and we were almost an hour late getting into Mexico City. I picked up my first class bike and went looking for a bus to Cuernevaca which is just south of Mexico City. I did not want to ride my bike in Mexico City. The bus was not leaving for a couple of hours but there was a bus leaving in seven minutes to Puebla another town I could go to to get out of Mexico City. I took the bus to Puebla. After going through a security checkpoint with xrays and luggage search plus a body pat down I boarded the bus. Machetes are allowed through the checkpoint because they are tools not weapons but pocket knives are not. Please explain that to me. The bus ride was quick and pleasant with no arguments required about whether my bike was first class or not.
I rode my bike around Puebla a while looking at the sights and the old city center. I got a hotel room for $14 US and after setting up in my room I went looking for some food. I had just stepped out of the hotel and walked about 15 feet when I had a seizure that made me yell out in pain and drop to the ground writhing in pain. People on the street were screaming and making a major commotion. I recovered control in only about a minute or so but could not get up off the ground right away. A young man helped me up and I told him I was in the hotel so he helped me to my room. I landed on my knee when I went down and that was what was making it hard to walk. I jumped in bed and for the next 12 hours or so I had excruciating pain and constant cramps that were very difficult to get under control. I was hurting. I considered a hospital but I hate them too much. About an hour after my seizure the same man brought me some bbq chicken he had bought for me for dinner. He was very sweet. I needed the food and so I paid him for it even though he told me I did not need to pay him. Then I took a hot shower and went back to bed.
In the morning my cramps had stopped but I am stiff and sore all over. My knee could give me trouble riding my bike but I don’t know yet because I am staying here another day to recover. Hopefully by tomorrow morning I will be ok to ride south from here. We shall see. Sorry no pics cause it was a night bus and I did not take any yet in Puebla, maybe later today if I feel better I can get a few shots of this quaint old city. I feel bad taking pics of all the colonial stuff because the Spanish were such assholes destroying all the original buildings by the indigenous people.