Tag Archives: Bus

Bus Madness

This is what I call Bus Madness. This is the Puduraya Bus Terminal in Kuala Lumpur. There are slots downstairs for 50-60 buses to load/unload passengers. Upstairs, where this picture is shot , there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-80 bus companies. Each one has a ticket window with one or more people to sell tickets. The larger companies have ticket touts outside to steer the masses to the windows with ridiculously pretentious sales claims. The place is a seething sea of raw humanity. This picture is only one of the halls in the building. There must be thousands of people in the station during the day. I’m not claustrophobic, but when I find myself in a place where one cry of "fire" or a single gunshot can produce a stampede that could trample dozens of people, some never surviving, I get a little antsy…

Monkey Business

I’m not sure why these monkeys were sitting in the road. I just thought it was cute. I guess their job is to let the tourists know that they are around and watching the tourists to make sure they don’t litter or drive too fast or not pay attention to them. After all, monkeys need attention just like the rest of us. Maybe that’s the business they’re in – getting attention.

Bus to Phnom Penh

This is the bus I road to Phnom Penh. It’s also very similar to the bus I rode from Saigon to Siem Reap. The bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh cost me $$7 and took 6 hours. It was an early bus and we got in around 1:30 in the afternoon. The guest house where I had booked a room sent someone to pick me up.

Skinny Butt Mini-Bus

This is the Skinny Butt Mini-Bus that I rode from Can Tho to Hoc Chi Minh City. This mini-bus was designed for someone other than fat white boys. Or fat anybody for that matter. At this stop I told one of the guides that he was changing places with me. He had a really nice seat and OI was scrunched in the middle of the back row with a bunch of other Americans. He was a lot thinner than I was.

Junks on Ha Long Bay

This is a picutre from out junk of the other junks that are in Ha LOng Bay at sunset. Busy place. Yet, there was plenty of space for all of us. It was just hard figuring out which junk was ours…

Loretta Lynn Bus

Sooner or later, if you visit truck stops as often as I do, you’ll get to see some celebrities touring bus, if they are a celebrity that tours. Here, I took a picture of Loretta Lynn’s touring bus. Did I see Loretta? No, but then again I wasn’t doing a whole lot of gawkin’, either. Was she in the bus? Who knows? maybe it wasn’t really even her bus. Maybe it was just someone who really likes to listen to her music. Anyway, I took a picture.

No Trucks or Buses

I see it all the time – No Trucks. It’s probably a good idea in most cases, but in some, it’s simply political. I don’t like it when a legal entity bans trucks for no other reason than they don’t feel that trucks are pleasant. 10/2007

MegaBus

megabus has cheap rides on the east coast. Park your Big Truck at a truckstop and catch a megabus to some big city for a day or two.

Inside Chicken Bus – Antigua, Guatemala

This is the inside of a chicken bus. The trick is to try and cram as many people in the bus as is humanly possible. The bus drives down the road and a guy leans out the door shouting and trying to get riders as they drive through the countryside. The riders get on and have to find a place to light. Chicken buses are not known for their reserved demeanor. The faster they get from point A to point B, the faster they can make the return trip. More trips = more money. So, the object is to see how fast you can make a loop. This doesn’t make for passenger comfort. The passengers are being tossed around as the bus driver drives like a maniac to get to potential passengers before another chicken bus. All-in-all it’s an interesting system, these chicken buses.

Chicken Bus – Antigua, Guatemala

Checken buses are bightly decorated school buses which function as public transportation in sections of Central America. I got to ride a few during my sojourn to the area. I always felt good about riding them. It was like I was supporting some sort of weird cultural institution. It was also akin to going to the state fair and getting on one of the thrill rides.

Rolling Okie

Travel, Adventure, and more…