Thursday, February 17, 2011

Seven hours on a bus, with new video

Early Saturday morning we left MBH in a hired taptap. Taptaps are usually packed with people, as a fare is very cheap. I couldn't get past Martin's story of being squished inside a taptap with his face in the unshaved, smelly armpit of the woman next to him. So I didn't feel a bit guilty as people saw the deliciously empty taptap and tried to flag down the driver. Well, maybe a bit. The whole rich arrogant American thing, don't you know?

The bus trip was fairly uneventful. We were given breakfast about an hour into the ride. Pasta. With little shriveled bits of chicken (I think) and a good-sized dollop of ketchup on top.
Yum.
I ate about half of it, all the while ignoring the little voice in my head that was telling me to leave it alone.
I regretted it later, if you know what I mean!

Crossing the border was a hoot. The Dominicans are terrified of a cholera outbreak, so they make sure that precautions are taken at the cholera prevention station. We were all told to get off the bus and were directed to some outdoor sinks. We washed our hands, using communal bars of soap, and then we got back on the bus.
What?
That was wrong in so many ways!
Then we drove to the customs shed. Bags were duly inspected, interrupted for a few minutes while the customs official checked and answered some phone texts.
Ho hum.

And I will say nothing about trying to go to the toilet in the back of a speeding bus on rocky, winding roads. Or about the lack of tp provided in said facility. Lucky I had Kleenex, that's all I will say about that!

I made a little slideshow for you. I have so many photos, taken through the window of the moving bus, that I couldn't put them all into a post.
Here's the deal. The first video has my preferred music, the second has better picture quality. YouTube has copyright issues with my music.
So, first, mute the sound on the YouTube video. Unless you really like Mozart, in which case ignore the following.
2. Press play and then pause on the first video and let it fully load. This might take a few minutes, so go check your facebook page or something.
3. Then, press play on the first video and click the YouTube icon on the second one. Make sure the sound is still muted.
Take that, YouTube and Sony music!

Then, come take a little trip with me.
Hope you enjoy it.



6 comments:

  1. Sounds like this ride capped off the trip!
    For some reason I'm having trouble getting your slide show to load, so I'll have to come back and try later.

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  2. Ahhhhhhh Mozart! Lovely. Thanks for that.

    I will say again ... I don't know how you do these things. I wouldn't get past the planning stage. I take that back ... I wouldn't get TO the planning stage. I'm a wimp. Your adventures are amazing to me.

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  3. yes thanks for the Mozart, that was quite a trip, and interesting to see the "curse of idleness" we have heard about(last Sunday's priesthood lesson), so very lucky to live in America.

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  4. I love the music you used. It works well with the pictures. I was amazed to see such a difference between the two places. Wonderful pictures, Sue. Thanks again for sharing your trip with us. You are amazing!

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  5. Nicole. I love you. What more can I say?

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