Transportation fun in Guate

I forgot to recount the harrowing tale of the emergency taxi ride. No worries. The emergency was only that I had to get the 60 pounds of toothpaste and toothbrushes that I left for safe keeping in a bus terminal in Guatemala City during the two weeks we were traveling in Honduras and El Salvador. The issue was that I only had 25 minutes to get there and back before our bus left. The dumb part was that Karla, Elizabeth, and I had just putzed away the whole morning in the city and were just casually waiting for the bus to leave. It may not sound like a big deal but it was! We had already bought our tickets ($10 each!!) and nonrefundable and the next bus wasn´t leaving until the next day. without any idea as to how far away this bus terminal was I jumped in a cab and told karla to wait for me. I didnt even ask how much it would cost because really it was no time for price haggling. He told me it would be 70 Q which is $10 and I thanked him for not taking advantage of me in my time of emergency. I had a number of panic attacks on the ride. One I realized the bus terminal may not have even been open as it was Sunday and many places are closed but a search for the phone number and a call found it open thankfully. We made what normally would have been a 20 minute trip in 12 minutes. At this point the time was 12:17 with ETD 12:30

Nothing runs on time in Central America except buses!!

When we arrived for the bag I must have looked like a real nut! The cab screeched in (actually it really didnt, he could have driven faster to tell you the truth) and then a crazy white girl flies in and comes back out dragging a suitcase 2/3 my size. We crammed it in the back of the cab taking up pretty much the whole trunk and back seat.

The best part was the return trip. We were scheduled to get in at 12:29 so I frantically called a number of numbers to try to get the bus terminal and notify Karla that I would make it. At 12:27 I called the bus terminal and said I would be there in 2 minutes and to tell the white girl that I was coming. He said the bus was leaving in 3.

He wasnt kidding. As the cab rolled up to the terminal Karla says the bus left literally 30 seconds ago. There was another American standing there looking very confused. She had gone to the bathroom while everyone was boarding the bus and they (and her luggage) left without her! So after confirming the buses intended route, the three of us piled into the cab (along with 3 other huge hiking bags, which must have been a sight) and proceeded to chase the bus down. Yes thats right chase the bus. Luckily the route was a straight shot to Xela so we caught it. I had visions of us hanging out the door and jumping from taxi to bus. But after we flagged the bus down they pulled over and we had our luggage and ourselves loaded safely onto the bus one minute later.

It took me an hour to calm down. I was pretty sure I was going to give myself a heart attack. A good story though ;)