Gina posted about bus travel in Zambia some time ago. Bus travel in Ethiopia was marginally
better. Now, contrast that to bus
travel in Thailand. The first
thing one notices is that the bus stations are real-deal bus hubs, with bus
platforms and food courts, clean bathrooms (but you still have to pay for their
use), TV’s with news and music
videos and commercials featuring bright red shiny tractors, and ticket booths
with computers and price lists.
The bus stations in Zambia were little more than dirt patches surrounded
by tin sheet and concrete shacks.
Now get on the bus.
In our case that was about 8:45 pm for a 9 pm start time. Instead of 5 seats across (3 seats and
2 seats with an aisle in the middle) there are 3 seats (2 seats and 1 seat
separated by an aisle) in about the same width of bus that boasts clearly that
it is 15 meters long. These are
similar to first class airplane seats.
There is a bathroom on the bus (which turned out not to be a great thing
by the end of the trip after it got used), personal TVs installed in the seat
in front of you complete with movies, videos, tourist attractions, games (yay
Sudoku!), fully reclining seats, pillows, blankets, and headphones in the seat
pocket.
The bus starts off on time. The bus doesn’t swerve every few minutes to avoid potholes,
goats, or children in the road.
You get a little box of convenience foods and bottled water delivered to
your seat shortly after starting off.
There is a 36-inch TV in front of the bus with announcements about what
to expect on your bus ride, followed by Thai music videos, and then turns off
around midnight to let those who want to sleep to do so while others continue to
be entertained by their personal TV.
Half-way through the trip there is a half-hour stop where you actually
have time to go the bathroom AND get something to eat, which can be paid for
with your bus ticket meal voucher, no extra charge! When you get off the bus to stretch you don’t get hassled by
three guys trying to sell you a taxi ride, sunglasses, or some disgusting meat
product in an open plastic bag.
You DO have many different food options in a clean food court and no one
hardly takes notice of you unless you ask them a question, at which time they
become very serious in their effort to try to help you using hand gestures and
pointing since no one knows English.
After you get back on the bus which you are actually looking forward to
doing because it’s so comfortable and there is on-bus entertainment and have
finished your snack that the bus service has already paid for, the bus
attendant gives you ANOTHER drink, this time hot sweet tea. After getting tired of your on-bus
entertainment you can recline your chair into almost horizontal and actually
sleep a bit after you cozy up with your flannel blanket and satin neck pillow.
At sun up, about 9 hours after the bus started, the TV comes
back on with a quiet pop-thai-music video and then a friendly announcement
about how you are about to arrive at your destination and to be sure to collect
all your belongings and get your luggage ticket out to collect your checked
baggage. This all comes to you for
about the same price as a similar length trip in Zambia, about $30 US
dollars. By comparison the Zambia
bus is about 10% of the comfort of the Thai bus and 200% the hassle. Gina told me afterward that she was
reading how the bus service in Thailand is subsidized by the government. That explained the comfort and service
to a point, but for a traveler from Africa I had to wonder why Zambia couldn’t
organize a bus service at least 50% of the value of the Thailand bus, even
without subsidization. Gasoline is
more expensive in Zambia, close to $2 US dollars per liter versus a little over
$1 / liter in Thailand. Oh well,
now I have to start getting comfortable with the fact that I probably will
never get as nice a bus in America as I experienced in Thailand. Oh America! I’m coming home.
No comments:
Post a Comment