Bus Trippin’

A seller of grilled "bush rat" with all the fixin's - you can see
the huge tale hanging off the side of his platter/cutting board

I can imagine the magi got pretty tired of traveling on camels in their search for a king, and I got the same feeling for desert buses over the Christmas holidays. I got to experience six 10-12 hour bus rides to the capital to pick-up/drop-off parents and connect with church leaders there. At first I picked bus companies on how near their bus depot was to our house, but gradually I found the real choice was between a bus company with the biggest seats and horrible toilet stops, or companies with smaller seats and poor toilet stops. The ride isn’t too too bad, certainly much better than riding a camel when you’re on these large tour-style buses. But the time of the ride can vary a lot depending on how many and how long the stops are (every 1-3 hours). Buses are usually used instead of the post office to send documents or packages, so there can be lots of little stops in various small towns to deliver things.

Another interesting aspect is how food (peanuts, bread loaves, meat jerky, eggs), drink (water or milk pouches, pop, juice), and phone cards are sold through the side windows at short stops by very persistent children or young adults. Even at the longer stops where passengers have had 20 mins to stock up on things, there are always a few trying to make last minute deals for something through the window as the bus pulls away. I was a little surprised to notice only a few special stops at prayer times, which appears to depend on the seriousness of the bus driver. I also decided that it’s a sign I spent too much time on the bus when for days following my trips I would spontaneously start singing the cell phone ringtones of my fellow passengers…