Monday, January 05, 2009

Where To Start?

I'm so behind in sending out my journal and posting to my blog, I can hardly think straight. Do I go in chronological order or skip to my Baja trip and catch up later? I have pictures from my birthday, the lot for my new house, and the Honolulu marathon that need to go up.

I'll start with Baja and play it by ear.

In case you didn't know, I was on a Green Tortoise trip to Baja Mexico from Dec 19th through Jan 3rd. That's a long time to be on a bus, especially with 34 new friends, not counting the 2 drivers.

This pack was my life for 15 days

I flew into San Francisco and took the BART to the hostel. The tour begins and ends in S.F. Life on the Green Tortoise revolves around the bus. It's how we get around, often where we sleep, and next to where we prepare our meals.

During the day, time is spent talking, playing games, reading, napping, watching the world go by, drinking, and sometimes playing D.J. with your iPod.

The front of the bus has bench seats along the side with a walkway down the middle

The middle has 2 tables with bench seats on either side, plus the walkway down the middle. I spent a good deal of time in this area playing cards.

The back is one large cushion covered area, with cushions along the side to lean against. There is no walkway.

Above are luggage racks which convert into 6 bunks at night. I slept here most of the time. There's also an extra elevated bunk in the back for the driver's to use. The bathroom in the back left is off limits. We stopped often for toilet breaks, which usually meant the side of the road. Guys had it much easier than the ladies.

At night, it's sleeping bags galore down below. I snapped this photo with my Blackberry from the safety of my top bunk. This is a good example of the 'zipper' method used to pack more bodies into a tight space.

7 comments:

ashleyboice said...

to be honest that looks like my worst nightmare. There are soooo many people on that bus. Are you kidding me?? The second to last picture where you can see a million sets of little toes...that freaks me out. I can't imagine how it made you feel.

Captain Emus said...

The photos of the bus make it look pretty nice. Like, a million times nicer than I was picturing. From your description on the way home from the airport, I was picturing a rickety old bus from the 70's will bald tires, chipped paint, and 30 years of human essence lending its scent to the aura.

Jake and Jenny said...

That is way to adventurous for me! I have a thing with comfort space and that would be considered out of my league. Glad you had a fun time and were safe.

cort said...

so the fifth picture down and the girl on the left is the one you say you hooked up with? She doesn't meet the description???

Supercords said...

Very funny Cort.

I think you're overlooking her sweet spirit.

Derek said...

The zipper method is just another version of the time-tested "no aligned genitals" communal sleeping policy.

Your accounts of the trip are fantastic. Keep them coming.

Cali said...

Yikes...no thanks. Even if this were family, it's a little too close for comfort.