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.
Daily Content
January 15th, 2007
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.
January 15th, 2007
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.
January 15th, 2007
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.
January 15th, 2007
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 15th, 2007
Rudy: I will make it my next Blog entry.
January 15th, 2007
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 17th, 2007
Jerry: I agree with you, they can be frightening, but some people are looking for this sort of rush.
January 20th, 2007
[...] Public Transit In Antigua [...]
February 6th, 2007
[...] paint style of the handcart is so typical of Latin America and even more so in Guatemala that even public buses are painted using the same [...]
April 30th, 2007
[...] Chicken buses is the derogatory term used in many guides to refer to the rural public transportation buses in Guatemala and in many parts of Latin America. Chicken buses are the improved version and second wind for the retired school buses. [...]