NOV 17, 19 .. THE PERFECT STORM? .. THE WORST BUS RIDE EVER?

What to call this post?

Well, one bus ride, one day will have to be the worst one, so why not this one today?

I went downtown this afternoon to buy more stamps at the post office and to meet one of my closest associates here in Ulaanbaatar for lunch and a visit. All went well. I got more of the special stamps that I have been sending YOU and met my friend on time at 2pm and we went to enjoy a very casual light lunch at a local Japanese restaurant.

Soup.

And Salad.

After lunch and an hour and a half visit, he accompanied me to the bus stop as I headed home.

THE PERFECT STORM (My Name For The Bus Ride From Hell)

What would we do without Wikipedia? I happily donate money to Wikipedia each year during their annual fund raiser.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_storm

Here were the primary factors.

1. It was cold (minus 10F) and getting colder. It is predicted to be minus 24F tonight. This simple fact means that people were getting cold and were not willing to stand-and-stand and then to stand-some-more waiting for ‘their’ next particular bus to arrive. Everyone wanted on-the-bus NOW.

2. It was a Sunday afternoon (but at 4pm not all that late) with a lot of people out. Pre-holiday shoppers? There is NO Thanksgiving holiday in Mongolia.

3. There hadn’t been a bus in some time. I myself had waited 15 minutes. So there was a crowd at the bus stop.

“Wow! I’m in luck. Here comes one of the route number 1 long blue buses.”

These ‘fair weather’ photos of the route number 1 bus were NOT taken today. I just wanted you to see what the long buses look like.

4. The traffic was dense. At best we were only able to creep along.

Just to get aboard was a hand-to-hand combat tussle. I ran to the back of the bus and was lucky to be able to force my way onto the rearmost entrance.

Then (and this was repeated at each and every one of the six stops I had to endure) the doors (notice there are five entrance doors) would not close. Time after time they would close and would snap back open. Finally one or two people would get off and we would begin to move forward. When we’d get to the next stop the same situation. People were desperate to get aboard the bus and out of the cold. I felt as if I was being crushed (because I WAS being crushed).

When I finally got to my stop it was hand-to-hand combat to exit.

I texted Patti when I got home.

“There has to be a bus ride that was the worst ever. I just experienced it. Beyond description. The crowding was awful. On a #1 long blue bus and I was near the back. My body is aching and my legs feel weak. To make matters worse, the traffic was bad and each stop was long because the doors couldn’t close. LvU Cap.”

I felt like I’d been in a rugby scrum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_(rugby)

I was also cold. So after a nice visit with Patti I soaked and washed my feet in warm water, put on clean dry socks, and slept for well over an hour.

Just a day in the life huh?

Well as I said above, there has to have been a worst ever bus ride and, at least to this point in time, this was it for yours truly.

I Lived To Tell The Tale .. Cap

LESSONS LEARNED : None really. I had run out of stamps so I needed to go to the main post office. Sunday is usually a low traffic day. I was not out late into the evening so the crowding shouldn’t have been so dense. I know .. couldda / shouldda / wouldda ..

Next time I may hail a taxi / or a local car-for-hire, but even they were scarce. I did not see either one as I waited for the bus.

• ← NOV 16, 19 .. DOES THE SHADOW KNOW? .. I SURE DON’T ..
• NOV 18, 19 .. DECISION DAY .. HONG KONG? .. SEOUL? →