Today I headed out to the church I have been attending in Chichicastenango. I don’t really like traveling on Sundays as it is market day in Chichi and there are many people going in and out of the city but the church has been such a blessing in my life I suck it up and travel.
If you decide to partake in the public transportation system of Guatemala it should also be made known to you that you are also signing up for a few random "adventures." One of mine came today on the ride home. While in Chichi, I had the option to take a microbus to another destination where I could then catch another microbus to my town, but this time I opted to catch a bus which makes it a direct trip for me. The bus I got on was pretty full and there was standing room only, so I was all the way to the back standing in the only open space left. This is a normal occurrence on the buses especially one that passes through Chichi on a Sunday.
A little while into the trip, other passengers started talking amongst themselves about an accident that had taken place ahead on the road we were traveling and the talk soon proved to be true as the bus driver stopped the bus, heard wind of the blockage, and decided that it would be better to backtrack to an alternative road that would take us around the accident. The bus I was on did a turn around on the curvy mountain road (surprisingly only a 4 point turn!) and we headed back towards where we had just come from. We took a turn off just at the entrance of Chichi and began our trek on this back mountain road. We were driving on a one lane dirt road with small stretches of concrete or block. It was a very dusty trip as we were in a line of four buses taking this alternate route. There were many surprise locals that stood by the road watching these uncommon large beasts plow through their town. At some points in the trip we were traveling too close for comfort to the embankment but the view was amazing! I tried my best to focus on the view and not the fact that we were so close to the edge. As we drove along, I kept looking for a sign of the highway we were making our way back to but nothing was there until we went up a small hill and made it to the highway. After taking a hour to travel the distance, on a trip that normally takes around half an hour on the normal route, we made it back to the main highway.
You’d think the adventure would have ended there but then you must have forgotten that we are talking about Guatemala here and things sometimes go wrong more than they go right. Now back on the main road, I think the drive got a little too excited about the fact that we had returned and maybe forgot how to properly drive over a speed bump (or he could have very well intentionally done it). We did not slow down enough going over one and the bus may have possibly bottomed out (not sure if that is even possible but it sure felt like it!) because my feet completely left the ground for about 1.5 seconds (remember I was standing up!). Crazy!! The bus starts pouring out a cloud of thick white smoke that very quickly enters the back windows and fills the back of the bus. As soon as the smoke enters, people begin to panic (always a great thing) and decide we need to get off the bus. I am not as well versed in what to do in situations involving Guatemalan buses so I tend to follow suit of what others decide to do. It was every man for himself and I made it out quickly and unscathed. After a small crowd of people piled out, I soon realized that all the panic wasn’t necessary and the bus was not about to blow up (a thought that crossed my mind). I heard from other passengers that the bus wasn’t going to be moving again anytime soon so we should start pursuing other options. I waited for the return of my bus fare and caught the next micro that passed.
The whole time this was happening, I was thinking about my blog post. My posts don’t happen often enough so I thought I would take advantage of the experience and write one. So the end of the story is, I made it safely home, just took a little longer. No injuries, just a crazy story to tell my kids someday!
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