Public Transportation

Well it had to happen sooner or later; last night I took the wrong bus trying to get home. Correction: it was the right bus but the wrong route, more on that later. Just south of downtown Cochabamba is a huge open-air market called La Cancha where you can buy whatever your heart desires at pretty cheap prices, mostly because everything is fake or pirated. As an example of the array of items for sale, here is what I bought yesterday: slippers, a notepad, cookies, headphones, fruits and veggies, and a scarf. As an example of how cheap it is, I spent less than 100 Bs, or $12. Since La Cancha covers blocks and blocks of ground you are limited only by your patience in trying to find what you want/need. Public transportation runs through the middle of the market for those that don't have cars so that don't have to lug their bounty beyond the boundaries of the stands. It is convenient but creates quite a traffic jam. It was starting to get dark so Sarah and I decided to part ways and take our respective buses home. I knew that the 16 went to within a block of my house, perfect. Unfortunately, I didn't pay close enough attention and got on the 16 headed out of town as opposed to the one coming back in. Confused? Let me explain.

Each bus or trufi has a given route that it cycles the whole day. There are no assigned stops and so if you want to exit the bus you just tell the driver; "Corner, please" or "I'm leaving" or a simple "Stop, please" If you want to get on the bus you just flag one down like you would a taxi in NYC. There is a bus/trufi guide that lays out the routes on a map but most people don't have these guides. Key places or neighborhoods that the bus passes are written on the piece of cardboard that sits behind the windshield, and that is how the Bolivians know where the bus is going, or they just ask the driver if he is going to their destination. That was my first mistake. There are a lot of outlying neighborhoods that are up to 10 km outside the city and most buses go out to those barrios. Therefore, they are either on the way out of the city or on their way back in and I assumed that it was the latter.

I realized after only about 10 blocks that I was not on the correct route but it was already completely dark. I decided that I would just stay where I was because I knew that eventually the 16 would go to my house and I figured that it would be safer than standing on the highway. After about 10 more minutes of driving and the bus becoming increasingly empty, I remembered that the buses don't make an immediate turn around when they reach the end. Sometimes the drivers take a nap, eat something, or finish their shift. I didn't relish the idea of being stranded in one of the barrios in the south of the city. I still didn't know exactly where I was and though I saw buses going the opposite direction I didn't know exactly where they went. Finally, we were making our way through dirt roads of a little neighborhood and I went up and asked the driver if he would eventually be going to Circunvulacion (my street). He said "umm, you're confused" not exactly what I was hoping to hear. I had now been on the bus for about an hour, when it should have taken only 15 to 20 minutes to get home. I remained fairly calm and asked "okay, what can I do?" He explained that other 16's would be passing on their way back. The driver really was incredibly understanding and helpful. He flagged down the next passing 16 and told the driver my situation and even said that I shouldn't have to pay again.

I finally made it home after 2 hours and was in such a heightened state of anxiety that I couldn't eat supper or go to sleep. I ended up just staring for quite some time. I was lucky to have had such a nice guy to help me out and am very thankful for him. All things considered, it was extremely uneventful and I'll definitely be asking from now on. Yay for lessons learned in the most benign of circumstances.