When I went to Costa Rica I traveled by bus and taxi. The taxis and buses were great to take because they were available at anytime and I did not have to follow a strict schedule. I took a taxi to some places because it was a faster way of getting around and it did not cost a lot of money to go places. I also took the city buses, which was the cheapest was to travel. The only difference was that it would take a little bit longer because they had to make a lot of stops on the way. I felt that when I took the bus and taxi it made me feel like I was one of the locals because those are two of the most common ways they get around the city and country. The things I noticed about getting around by taxi was that you have them drop off close to where you want to be. When you are done with your activities you can quickly jump into another cab because they are everywhere. On the buses you would have to walk a little bit closer to where you want to be. The buses take longer because they have routes and only pass by at certain times. I feel like by taking a bus that you get to see more of the country because there is a lot of scenery along the way to your destination. With the buses they become so packed that people have to stand in the middle of the aisle at certain times during the day.
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yeah man, public transportation is the way to go. Usually cheap for a local who uses it often. Buses are a cool experience because of the people watching aspect. Buses in America have a bunch of crazies on them, and I am sure Costa Rica is not much different. All the people in the buses too, it is nuts when you are sharing a hand hold with like 3 other people. But in reality it is economical, user friendly like you said, and usually cheaper then a personal automobile.
Haha, I used the Treasure Valley bus system last summer to get to and from work, and I know exactly what Marc means. It can get a little creepy, and I know it’s also a little intimidating on metros that are overcrowded. It’s also difficult to cover your wallet from people trying to snag it out of your pocket. Public transit is a great way to get around, and usually saves some big bucks if you’re willing to walk a distance from where you’re dropped off, at least for bus systems. When I went to Spain with my senior French class, the last day we were there, after no trouble at all an elderly couple traveling with us had a wallet stolen, and a purse ransacked. It can sure be scary sometimes, when there’s no room to move around like in metros.
I got on the wrong bus in Mexico one time and ended up 10 miles out of town in a very poor but peaceful neighborhood. We kept thinking the bus was going back towards town, but then it would turn the opposite direction we thought it would go. The driver stopped at a little store and got out, not saying anything about why he was stopping. My roommate and I, the only two people on the bus, looked at each other wondering what the heck was happening.
Then, a police truck pulled up with about 6 heavily armed guys. Big semi-automatics. At that point, we started to sweat a bit because we'd heard about the corruption of the police in Mexico. Nothing happened.
Turns out it was the end of the route, and the driver had to take a leak. He got back on the bus, smiled at us, and asked, "Perdidos?" Of course, that means "Are you lost?" We said yeah, and he proceeded to charge us a new bus fare for the return trip! But, we made it back home only 3 hours later than normal, and Lupita, our house mom had not quite gotten super worried yet.
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