vaga #3/11 on wheels "b"

part XI

The whole story started when I went to a good hotel in Inle Lake. Occasionally, I book into a nice hotel when I am tired. I asked the receptionist at the hotel to buy a night bus ticket to Bago for me. (it faces south), and I know it is a tourist destination, not a remote town, but it was going to be a change of buses to continue to the monastery. It was about 9 hours, to the south on the only road to Ragun, …… Bago is on that road.

I bought VIP tickets for a VIP bus, good as we know, and the steering wheel was on the wrong side !! A RELIEF! No complaints, it even had blankets, just a detail I want to include: the young driver, no more than 23 years old was wearing a skirt (Lengthy as is the custom) and barefoot !!! LOL !!! In Chile, there are strict dress codes. Even the city's bus drivers wear them. Happily installed, and I was happy to enjoy the luxury,  at dusk I looked out the window and NO ..... NO, I am brave when it comes to mountain roads. Still, what I saw, paralysed me, with fear, it was a single track, and it was dark, there were many trucks and buses in the middle of the steep road, the bus passed other vehicles when the driver wanted to, blind curves and a downward slope of 400 m’s......  I was looking at the window and while I usually love the view, but this was life-threateningly dangerous. 

I closed the curtain because I did not want to see that terrifying road, I started to watch a film on my phone and took a sleeping pill to sleep, and I surrendered myself to the gods of fate…. I remember another time that I had been in a similar panic, it was in Japan, going down from the monastery, a mountain with very tight curves, it was a steep slope like Farallones, a ski resort in the Andes, there was ice on the pavement, it had snowed all night and the bus had no chains or proper tyres for the icy roads ... ... I'm from the mountains, and I know how dangerous it can be. I filmed it because I couldn't believe it and I wanted to show what my last minutes would look like …, but over time I deleted the video, when I didn't see the sense of keeping it, I hadn’t had the GROUP to share it with yet….

In all the bus terminals they sell jasmine for buses, cars and everything that moves, it is for luck, I do not know about those things, but I appreciate it very much because it provides the aroma that is very welcome in those closed environments and enables one to breathe with some relief, although the pleasure lasts no more than an hour, in that heat. The last photo of that seller with that smile is irresistible, and I had to portray it

 Getting back to the story, it was at 3:29 am and that time is exact because it was on a clock with a light on the dashboard, 3:29. They woke me up and told me ..... I have to get off, he used sign language... ... .. WHAT? I looked out the window, nothing, black, nothing, black. I froze, the bus attendant did not speak English to give me an explanation. I did not move from the seat. Bago, Bago I am going to Bago ....... and I gesticulated wildly with my hands Bago here, ...... it was pitch black with nothing else  It was a difficult situation ... ... I got off, no one else did. Outside 3:29 in the morning. When I got off I saw that there were about 8 motorcycles, about 12 local men, 2 little fires and a couple of parked cars and NOTHING ELSE, not a gas station, or a street crossing, ...... something ...? NOTHING, only those men who looked at me intensely and commented …………. The truth was that they did not give me the feeling that they were dangerous, maybe they'll steal everything from me, but they wouldn’t hurt me... I clarify that it is not so terrible, because of my creativity to travel I had designed a sports bra with a pocket in the back where the debit card, (my backup to the credit card) my identity card and some dollars were stashed. It should get me out of some trouble…. No one would ever know about that hiding place…. I should patent it hahaha… in the worst case, cash, debit card and ID. That saved me. Back to the story; more large buses stopped, I figured out that it was a bus stop next to the road to pick up or drop passengers off. They would stop for a few minutes and continue. When I took out my suitcase, I looked completely gobsmacked. Someone explained to me in English that another bus passes through to Bago and that one was the one I needed to get on ... the character disappeared off on another bus, ... my saviour, I lost him ... ... SORRY, I bought a ticket to Bago in VIP, and the first news of the bus change was at 3:29 am, the hotel should have told me ... and they knew what would happen because it is the most popular route. I would not have travelled at night ... I’d have done the day trip ... Bago is on the road to Ragun, on the map anyway... I accepted everything, I had no choice, how could I complain, in what language, and to whom ...? ........ I said to myself, just accept it and try to solve the problem ... OK ... ... I have to change buses ... I pulled myself together and took control of myself. What bus did I have to take now? All the buses that stopped had numbers and signs in Burmese ... ... that is, circles after circles and half-circles ... ... no number is recognisable ........ NOTHING to help me with intuiting anything as a possibility of getting out. I concentrated on solving the problem, with all my muscles clenched, without moving much, taking control and thinking about possible exits and cigarette after cigarette .... 20 minutes later one of those men who were looking at me approached me and made all kinds of signs that this was my bus and that I should get on ...... I DID IT ... ... with my eyes closed, I thought that the guy who spoke to me in English had told those men to let me know when my bus was stopping, and I think that happened and believe me, it was a relief mixed with doubts ......... I got on board the bus, without knowing where I was going. ... It was full, I had to sit between the driver and the co-driver, that is, on the gearbox, what happened to my VIP ticket to Bago? I calculated that it was 4 am. What I did not do was take photos, as you can understand my only concern was to get out of the dark and to get to Bago. 

I didn’t think to pick up the phone to figure out where I was, using Google Maps. Either I was paralysed, or I didn’t want to show how lost I was in front of those men. At that stage, I was still very slow with using the phone  It would not only be a quick look, but I would also have to put the town names and the names are very complicated, I would’ve had to open the LP, to find the name of the towns, and write it into the phone, I didn’t want to give the image that I did not know where I was or where I was going, or how miserable I was.  I think that was why they were looking at everything I did, ... oh the cigs that accompanied me and distracted me. I clarify that Bago is a famous tourist spot and everything I planned was correct, it had nothing to do with spontaneity, I was not out of my mind or irresponsibility,  I only blame those at the hotel who sold me the ticket without telling me about the bus change ... at midnight ... ... I have not lost my sanity ……. They told me after 30 minutes of travel to get off, which was only 10 kilometres at Myanmar speed, it is Bago. It's still dark, and they make me go down a street, the street was all dirty. Again alone on a disgusting street and the same thing was happening again. Because my final destination was Mawlamyine and I knew I had to change buses in Bago, but logic told me that they left me at the terminal .. NOPE there is no logic here. But at 4:15 in a dirty, dark street with several men now with bicycles adjusted like mini trucks, and I saw that they were picking up parcels and delivering them. Because they also stopped buses and continued onwards.

So many other men, all looking at me and gossiping about me behind their hands. I then realised they were impressed and much by me than I was by my situation. They saw an old woman (I am not, but by their standards yes), grey-haired, with a huge suitcase and alone, got off the bus in the dark and the bus packed with people and totally defenceless. Yes, they were the impressed ones.

I calmed down and decided to stay seated until dawn when I could see what I was doing ……. But a young man approached me and I, now with my feet back on the ground, showed him where I needed to go using my book, that I needed to get to the bus terminal. When I showed him the book with the name of the town of my destiny, all 6 men approached me, they talked to each other, over and over again, what were they discussing? Finally, they agreed amongst themselves and I got on a motorcycle with the suitcase already over my head and the boy dropped me at the bus terminal at 4:30 am. !!! BUS STATION ? It's a prank …!!! . The young man knocked on a door, which was one of many. He woke up a fat man who was sleeping right there on the floor, who had a bad attitude and expression. When he opened the door, the boy explained where I was going, I understood that there was a bus at 7. The motorcyclist left after charging me triple the price or more, which I paid, it was useless arguing about it, It got me out of trouble, did I have a choice? The fat man left a small light on, and he sat outside in a chair, taking care of me in the dark....... but with an angry face....

At 6 am the sun came up, LIGHT finally !!!!, in the last photo it was where I spent 3 hours sitting in the most typical chair here and the most uncomfortable in the world with my suitcase on my legs.

As soon as a store opened I went for a coffee without any certainty of getting it. When the storekeeper opened the place she turned on the radio with Buddhist prayers, then she prayed in front of her altar ... ... she had already passed me a coffee in a Nescafé sachet ... ... it was safe ... anyway, and they always give you a thermos with tea and some dirty, disgusting tiny glass teacups…. These are always where one goes to any local store, and it is the same in a better class of store, the only difference is the cleanliness of the glasses. .. I always skip it…. I was looking at her and took photos like a paparazzo. After so much stress and insecurities I felt more protected, so to speak when listening to Buddhist prayers and her praying ……. I put the video in because it is the first thing they do, when they wake up, they listen to Buddhist meditation.

Finally, I caught the bus to my town, the one that took me near the monastery, but it there was not there at 7 I had to continue drinking coffee and smoking until 8. A local bus and with the steering wheel on the wrong side, BAD VERY BAD on an even narrower road .......... I gave myself up to my book for 5 hours ....... and listened to the words of Buddha for the whole trip.

I arrived at the hotel and did not leave for two days ……….