My bus was scheduled to leave at 11:40 pm from the bus station in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Anna and Sian, two Welsh girls that I had met at my hostel, walked me to the station. We chatted and laughed. Though my bus would be overnight and my journey would take several hours, I was in good spirits as I bade farewell to my friends and got on the bus. I settled in my seat and set my iPod to my Spanish playlist. I thought to myself, “This is comfortable! I am just fine. This is going to be fun.” Soon, l feel asleep to the lull of the bus.
About an hour later, I slowly awakened to the realization that I was extremely cold and shivering. Once fully awake, I noted that the AC had been turned on full blast. All the other passengers were bundled up in jackets, hats, and blankets. Boy, did I miss the memo! I was wearing yoga pants, sneakers, and a long sleeve shirt, but nothing substantial. I dug my scarf out of my bag, wrapped it around my body, and pined for my fleece jacket securely tucked away in my backpack in the under carriage of the bus. For the next two hours, I went through a mind-numbing cycle of nodding off for 20 minutes, waking up due to the cold and my uncomfortable positioning, shifting into yet another awkward position, nodding off again only to reawaken 20 minutes later.
By 3:30 am, we had reached the border of Mexico and Belize. All passengers left the bus to go through immigration and customs. Excited to stretch my legs and leave the freezing bus, I stepped outside and was shocked. Not only was it cold, but it was colder than the bus! Where did the warm Playa temperatures go? So half asleep and fully cold, I spent the next 15 minutes standing outside to wait my turn to go through customs. Then, sadly, got back on to the bus to continue the cycle of falling asleep and waking up all the way to Belize City.
Around 7 in the morning, we arrived in Belize City. Prior to our arrival, I was expecting lush nature and sparkling water and a pang of jealousy that I would not be stopping over in this paradise. What I got was dull colored buildings, very few people (and no tourists) around, bars on the windows and barbed wire atop fences. Obviously I did not do proper (or any) research on Belize because I was in disbelief. (Please note: there are amazing places to visit in Belize, but I was not in one of those places. Again, this was due to my lack of research.) As a traveler, you are supposed to trust your gut instinct. Mine was telling me that Belize City was not a place I wanted to hang around. Nervously, I exited the bus, asked around to where I could get my next bus, and found a taxi. Thankfully, my taxi driver was a kind man who took me to the terminal and even walked me to the store from which I was to buy my next bus ticket to Flores, Guatemala. By 7:30, I had purchased my ticket and was sitting in the front of the store to wait for my 10 am bus to arrive; weary but content.
My bus did not arrive until 10:45, but it arrived nonetheless. It was comfortable and did not blast the AC. I was so happy that I opened the widow curtain to feel the sun on me as I settled in for a solid nap. Two and a half hours later, we were crossing the border from Belize to Guatemala, and I instantly felt better. Since I felt really connected to Guatemala during my planning, it was a relief to finally arrive in the country that I will be calling “home” for the next few weeks. The border crossing occurred without incident (thanks to the bus owner who gave very specific instructions for the fees and process of crossing this border – it is not a straight forward process). Two hours later, we had arrived at Santa Elena. We switched to a smaller shuttle to get to the island of Flores. When the passengers and I saw the van, we all thought it was a joke. It ended up being fine, but for a moment, we were not sure whether we should get into the van or not. From there, I took a water taxi for the five-minute ride from Flores to San Miguel. Then took a tuk tuk up the hill to my hostel. I arrived in time to watch the sunset while enjoying a bowl of spaghetti carbonara made by the cook.
And that was my first major experience traveling through Central America. It was not a complete disaster and I know I will probably have much worse experiences during my travels. Yesterday, Anna and Sian arrived in Flores and I found out that they had to pay fake fees at both border crossings. A woman at my hostel came from a different area of Mexico. Due to a landslide that caused the road to be blocked, she had to exit the bus and walk her two heavy suitcases a mile and a half in the midday sun to the next town. So it seems that I lucked out in my first bus experience, but, still, here’s to good travel vibes for the next year! Cheers, friends!
