Public Transit In Antigua

LD talks about the differences in public transit between Toronto and Guatemala on her entry about Problem solved?. It is a bit unfair to compare the rural bus system in Guatemala, the country, with the modern transit system of Toronto, the city, but she manages to do a very interesting comparison of not only the vehicles, but the bus rides and the people who use them. LD’s entry is a very good read and since she writes so fluently, colorfully and intelligently; it is so difficult not to come back to her blog in a regular basis.

I talked about the public transportation system in Guatemala myself, back in August 1st, 2006 and then I said that the chicken buses make for great post cards and travel chronicles, but they do not make for a safe or good transportation system. Follow this link to see an interesting shot of the a chicken bus or here to see other photos of chicken buses I taken so far. LD, shame on you, how come you did “lift off” my photos, which have a Creative Commons license for you to use as a Share Alike site.

sompopo says:

January 15, 2007 at 7:24 am

Here in Atlanta Georgia we have Marta (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. Alot of the bus’s are very colorful because they are covered with one huge advertisement. I like the ones shown in your picture because they somewhat remind me of the Hippie bus’s from the sixtys. We had alot of good times on those. 🙂

Lessie says:

January 15, 2007 at 9:55 am

I love the meeting of the red and yellow — with the background of Guatemala’s incredible mountains. Your commentary reminds me to think of Guatemala as both urban and rural. What a wonderful view of the rural transportation.

Pamela says:

January 15, 2007 at 10:14 am

Safe or not, they are pretty busses, far more intersting than the rather plain green busses we have here in Tenerife. Every time I see one of these chicken buses, I’m reminded of the bus Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) get on in Columbia, in Romancing the Stone. 🙂

Rudy Girón says:

January 15, 2007 at 1:32 pm

Sompopo: I like the name of Marta… in Las Vegas is called CAT. Would you mind doing a little oversharing here about your experiences in the sixties?

Lessie: the mountain you have referred to in several of the pictures it is actually a volcano by the name Water Volcano (Volcán de Agua). You can see it better and read a little about it in these previous photos: Antigua’s Backstreets and School Beauty Contest Parade. Oh yes, Guatemala has cities too. Guatemala City is populated with about four million capitalinos and that makes Guatemala City the largest city between Mexico City and Colombia.

Pamela: They are so colorful, I give you that. ;-(

January 15, 2007 at 3:27 pm

Rudy: I will make it my next Blog entry.

Jerry says:

January 15, 2007 at 5:34 pm

On my first trip to Guatemala, I was awed by the chicken buses… All of the noise, fumes, crowds of people, and the items on the top of the buses were so very colorful and interesting. The drivers and time schedule they maintain is frightening! I went from Antigua to Chichicastengo on my last visit and these buses scared me very badly traveling in the mountains. Riding a chicken bus is one experience I was happy to miss.

January 17, 2007 at 11:20 pm

Jerry: I agree with you, they can be frightening, but some people are looking for this sort of rush.

Public Transit In Antigua

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