28 replies to this topic

[Canookie]

it is a yahoo group - for san miguel allende - the civil group - mostly info about san miguel but also some general information such as the bus robbery from mexico city to queretero. there is also a yahoo group for lake chapala.

[manny]

i assume "premier plus" is the same kind of private bus as "etn". there have been several incidents w/that company a similar or same route. (its a coincidence the robbers were on that line rather than "etn"-they leave from the same stations). i never traveled @ night, i left @ 9am & arrived 2:30pm. the bus stopped in leon & the other city. im sure it went to mexico city or you got a connect. dont think it matters day or night, robbers will do what they do. what i meant by $/papers in underwear, i meant in small plastic bag, not much bulk, taped to the inside of the outer pair, @your hip. i know all about hiding things. actually inside the lining of a jacket is perfect, rip a hole on a pocket but of cause no coins. but i like the idea of the $$ bag under the loose top. any way, this is incident # 3 in about 1 1/2 yrs. that is not a lot, granted. but its a "same route", & a private bus line. i wonder if there are more of these robberies than reported (??) personally, i cant understand how you could ever ride a bus again after that. & these are the better busses. in the US, this would prompt searching passengers for weapons before boarding. hearing about this, i am ruling out ever taking the "etn" etc. & a public bus would never be acceptable. i do not take those kind of "vacations". people live this way during wartime, or in impovished areas in middle east/africa. its not normal (for me) to even think in these terms. sounds like my great grandparents escaping russia. no thanks. i was 100% confident when i did my 5 r/ts. i had less fear of luggage taken than air travel. (never thought of a hijack robbery@the time, but mexico has gotten worse). i did stand outside when ever the bus made a stop & people collected their bags. my stop was the end of the line & it was comforting to know my bag was still underneath way in back (not given to someone else). the station in tonala was very nice for departure, not too great when i arrived in s.m.a. (you never know what to expect). i always had a taxi driver go inside meet me @ the destination & take bag to taxi.

[HANSI]

Remember never to accept food or drinks from the passangers of the bus.The robbers do not have to have guns
to steal from you. They can dope you.

[manny]

ok thats it. why dont you fly? its nice to fly in mexico, & south america. this bus thing is a bit high maintance.

[bmh]

Price is one of the reasons why people take the bus . I also like the lack of hassle and the flexibility on bus traveliing.

[gingerrose]

Thanks for the info about yahoo groups!
Ginger

[elbelgicano]

I stick by my precautions (against robbery), I put on here earlier on.
But I really think that we are concentrating too much on that kind of a problem,.... the risk of an accident is MUCH higher. This morning, in nearby Nayarit,again 24 people died in a bus accident. Here is the story : http://www.informador.com.mx/primera/2012/391245/6/suman-24-muertos-por-accidente-de-autobus-en-nayarit.htm

Last year, in the same state of Nayarit (and that is only one of 31), more people died in a bus accident.

Very recently, I went to PV twice, and it made me nervous to see the driving styles and very bad accidents (every trip),...
Two years ago, I was on the bus to Guadalajara, sitting behind the driver (on top of the mountain, after leaving Chapala and heading to Ixtlahuacan), I saw a whole wheel (not just the tyre) passing by us (faster than the bus), and kind of funny, it was ours !! And until some stupid passenger started shouting out not to panick, we were calm.
A month later coming down that same mountain, going into Chapala, the bus got filled with smoke (brakes ??, don't care, it wasn't good ).
And remember the bus crash on the road to Guad, only a few months ago,....

And being a European, I have seen my share of bad drivers in my life (me being one of them).
No thank you, I am almost always sitting behind the driver, near the exit. And from having worked 15 years as a flight attendant, I am ready for the bracing position (another precaution you can take).
So, let us all together be more worried about that now (we need something to worry about) and try to stay alive as long as we possibly can (being death lasts so very long, better to postpone it).

God bless Mexican busses (and maybe also the Greyhound).

[bmh]

Rony
you are so right. There are lots of bad bus accidents . My house keeper´s son was badly hurt in an accident between Tuxtla Gutierrez and Mexico and the bus took very little responsability. Not only that but many of the suitcases where robbed and so where the passengers.
Another time I arrived in Oaxaca just i time for the funeral of the uncle of one of my friends´who was killed when the river went to sleep and the bus went tumbling down the mountain. I had to take that same route back and did not sleep well on that ride.
There are lots of nasty accidents especially on the cheaper lines that have their drivers drive way too long without a secod driver.
Both of these accidents were on the Cristobal Colon line.
The man who was hurt did not realize how badly hurt he was and it is now three years later cannot work because of his injuries and the insurrance of the bus line does not want to accept any responsabilitie because this was not reported the same day....

[manny]

yes accidents are higher risk than robberies. best to never take a cheap bus. stay home.