Part deux - TBC Bus to Guaymas

There is absolutely no doubt that the people we have met in San Carlos prefer to take the Tufesa bus line when not using their own car from Tucson. When Gary took a poll at Saturdays baseball game no one had even heard of the TBC line. Tufesa, on the other hand, has a gleaming termnal right on the main street of Serdan in Guaymas, clean restrooms (by local standards) and a neat littel food kiosk and everybody knows where it is, everybody. They also have a web site that lets you select your seat assingment.

Gary and Char took TBC, and since they do not have a web site at all, nada, we drove into Guaymas today, dictionary in hand, to make sure that they could get a seat assignment for the return voyage Norte. I took this as an opportunity to take a few photographs for future travelers wanting to do a little comparison shopping.

You should be able to click on any of these photos to see it enlarged, providing good detail.

Nearing sucess on the seat assignment.

A quiet place to talk to your dead relatives before boarding, just in case you think that you may be seeing them sooner rather than later.

The street scene. Notice a lack of directional signage and tourists. This is a one way street several blocks south of the main street of Serdan, on Calle 14. Also take note that there is not a street light anywhere, so locating The TBC terminal at night is more than a little difficult - some would call it impossible.


A fine new plastic sign with concrete nails. There is a cut out in the center for the future installation of a light.

A wonderful eating establishment. Notice the rusty rebar protruding above the happy couple and the close proximity to a handy shrine in case the gastronomical delights prove to be too much for the unsuspecting tourista.

This is a recommended conversation for the corner shrine:

Comi aigo en su pais. (I ate something in your country)

Por favor llame a un cura (Please call a priest)

Me gustaria hacer un recibir extremauncion. (I would like to receive last rights)

Por favor, manden mi cadaver a casa en el proximo vuelo. (Please send my body home on the next flight)

TBC Bus to Guaymas

This is a photograph of something not even close to the TBC Bus terminal in Guaymas.

When Gary & Char booked their bus trip from Tucson to Guaymas we just assumed that they were taking the Tufesa bus line and it did not occur to them to verify with us which bus line they would be on, just the arrival time. So while Julie and I sat at the Tufesa station patiently watching buses come and go, and the sun set, and dark thirty come and go, Gary & Char had long been in Guaymas on a little side street trying to get the cell phone to work, and trying very hard to reach us. Some time during the evening it occurred to me that they may not have taken Tufesa. There are at least five bus lines passing through Guaymas.

Shortly after that thought passed through the cranium my cell phone rang, and sure enough they were on TBC Bus Lines and somewhere near downtown on Calle 14 and an unmarked cross street. As Julie and I spent the next 30 or 40 minutes driving around Guaymas in the dark, stopping periodically to ask non-bilingual citizens for help, and occasionally talking to Gary about any visible landmarks, it simultaneously occurred to us that they could take a cab to the Ley market where we would be certain to find them, which we promptly did.

Fortunately, Julie had earlier in the day decided that all visitors to San Carlos deserve to be greeted with a shot,or two, of tequila so that is exactly what she did in the Ley parking lot much to the relief of Gary & Char. Of course this was later followed by more tequila and dinner at the marina in S.C.

We have since returned to Guaymas to get the appropriate Visas and of course we took a side trip to locate the TBC bus terminal. We would have eventually found it in the dark that other night, I think, only because our friends would have been standing outside looking desperate, but it is no architectural focal point or point of pride for the citizenry. In fact I can say with certainty that it does not in the slightest resemble anything that I would call a "terminal" for any mode of transportation. I believe that any self respecting donkey cart driver would not park within several blocks of that building lest they become associated with structural decay and cheap, peeling paint.

Good design and aesthetics are not everything, although pleasant when encountered, and the bus system is extensive, timely and functional in Mexico, even if not easily locatable for Norte Americanos. So we now know where to find yet another terminal in Guaymas and I will take a photograph of it later when we drop Gary & Char off for the trip north.

Tricked Out in Guaymas

This young man was pedaling past us in downtown Guaymas a couple of weeks ago and I asked him to stop for a photo of his bike, which he did with pride. Look at the detail when you enlarge it. Unbelievable.

Un poquito mas San Carlos y Florence gringos

Tequila y orange juice for breakfast, again?


....resulting morning dance.

The Plaza of the Three Presidents, Guaymas.
Municipal building in the background with decorations.

•