In Mexico, they take the bus like Americans take the plane. It’s the defacto intercity mode of transportation. But these aren’t like greyhounds or Muni. In Mexico they have three strata of bus travel.
- Ejectivo. Super special. You’ve got the whole flight attendant type helper going up and down the isles, super deluxe chairs, bathroom on board, movies etc. This is a plane on wheels. Minimal stops.
- Premerio Clase. This is your standard long-distance fare. They’ve got a bathroom on board, (bad) movies playing, will take the toll roads, stop in most towns along the route. Any place over say 5k people will be served by a first class bus.
- Segundo Clase. This is the bus that avoids the toll roads, has no bathroom, and will stop wherever people want to get on or off. Well, ’stop’ is relative. The driver will slow down, appraise your physical ability, open the door, then either let you jump on the moving bus or if you look like you’re already starting to decompose, actually stop for you.
If the Primero Clase is 5 bucks an hour, the Ejectivo will be 8 and the Segundo Clase will be 4. Primero Clase is your sweet spot.
I took ABC (Autotrasportes de Baja California) from the central station in TJ to the central station in La Paz. 24 hour ride, but sooooo much more comfortable than the 10 hours from SF to SD. Two drivers, they’d switch back and forth so we could keep going 24/7. I actually got to La Paz rested and ready to go.
Baja’s for the most part what you’d expect: desert. The most treasured resource is shade. Catus everywhere. There are some dusty pines up at the higher elevations along the ridge, and it does get quite cold, but for the most part it’s hot hot hot (it’s hitting 90F and this is november).
One bad characteristic photo of what baja looks like out a bus window:
I didn’t have more than 15 min to get out of the bus along route. If there was anywhere I’d have liked to have more time in it’d be Mulegé.