Texas to Zipolite
Hi Tom! Zipolite was awesome! Lots of tourists during the holidays. I had many great adventures and the weather was absolutely fabulous! The beach was alive with celebrations everywhere...bonfires, fireworks, singing, dancing...and the dolphins swam freely at dawn of the New Millennium!!
Particulars on travel: Matamoros to Puebla - ADO (Not GL) - $422 pesos Departed 7:45 PM on 12/25, Arrived 1:00 PM on 12/26 No tickets were available to Pochutla on any bus lines due to heavy holiday traffic. Had to take my chances. Puebla to Oaxaca - ADO-GL - $185 pesos Departed 8:00 AM on 12/27, Arrived 1:00 PM on 12/27 Again, there were no tickets available to Pochutla. Had to change bus stations, took a taxi to Central Bus Station across from the Mercado de Abastos. $60 pesos. At central station, I purchased a ticket to Pochutla on Oaxaca Pacifica, direct, 2nd or 3rd class, $69 pesos. Departed 2:15 PM on 12/27, Arrived 10:00 PM on 12/27. The bus had mechanical problems and probably delayed our trip by a couple of hours but the bus driver/mechanic finally got us to our destination. I was picked up by family and drove to Zipolite by car. We drove by car back to Puebla. I took the same bus back to Matamoros ADO, $422 pesos, departed at 10:55 AM on 1/07, arrived at 6:00 AM on 1/08. The trip took longer than normal due to Federales stopping all traffic from Tampico to the border.
ADO is a good bus line, inexpensive and comfortable although a little crowded. The drivers are very experienced and give passengers plenty of time for the restroom and eating stops. I found them friendly and helpful. The ADO GL is top of the line and I will probably take this one the next time I travel to Mexico. There is twice as much room with only 20-25 seats and a nice coffee bar and clean restroom. Prices are higher for the GL and only selected routes available. The roads were all in great shape, only a few bad spots on the way to Pochutla due to the earthquake. We had heard though that the road to Puerto Escondido was badly damaged.
Deborah Hinojosa
Houston, TX
monjusi@att.net
January 2000
Bussing from Acapulco to Pochutla/Puerto Escondido
There are two bus terminals in Acapulco, one just north of Parque Papagayo and one north of the Zócalo on Avenida Ejido (Estrella Blanca). The Ejido station has the ONLY buses heading to Escondido or Pochutla. They leave at 3:30 AM! Buy your tickets in advance for $189 Pesos ($21). This is for an 8-9 hour 1st class "semi-directo" bus. It is an older bus with no toilet and stops at a few towns to pick up passengers but there will be no food break or bathroom break unless you ask, and then be quick. Going back west from Pochutla there are five of the same buses going to Acapulco daily and for the same price (there are other "ordinario" second class busses also; not recommended unless you are broke).
Contrary to what the map says this is not a scenic trip, a night journey is best and seemed to be safe and secure. The 1st class semi-directo leaves daily at 6AM, 10AM, 3PM, 7PM, and 10PM. The road west of Escondido is rough for about 100 km. You can go to Oaxaca and other points from Pochutla and Escondido.
There is a daily bus from Oaxaca to Puerto Angel that arrives and leaves at around 9-10 PM. This rough, winding but scenic route is still quite popular and I heard no bad comments about it.
C-dog
dontfallonme@hotmail.com
January 2000
Mexico City to Puerto Escondido
I got to Escondido by way of bus from Mexico City. This is an excellent way to see the wonderful state of Oaxaca, but I must warn you that it is a 12 to 14 hour ride, sometimes non-stop. The bus ticket usually costs less than $40 one way. This fare is for the highline busses that feature films and travel in groups of three for safety. Also there have been reports of bandidos in this region, and it is advised that Americans not travel alone on the busses, or at night.
I broke away from tradition and took a bus alone from Escondido to Mexico City at night and encountered no problems. At one point the bus driver hit a cow, but he just backed up, went around the carcass, and kept on going. I went back to sleep and woke up at our destination.
Jeremy Jones
jeremy@ants.net
September 1999
Bus Holdups
The Sistema Estrella Blanca first-class motorcoach (Marketed as "Turistar con servicio Viaggio") that provides one daily service on the Huatulco-Acapulco route along Highway 200 was held up by bandidos a couple of times late last spring.
Jonathan Rapoport
rapoport@together.net
September 1998
Puerto Angel and Puerto Escondido by Bus
Hi Tom, Just got back from an extended trip to Oaxaca including some time on the Pacific Coast, July 13-23.
Heading from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido we took La Estrella Roja del Sureste from the second class bus terminal, hoping to duplicate the "trip" in the Oaxacan Bus adventure. Twenty years have changed things - it was a brand spanking new red Mercedes bus with padded reclining seats. Seven hours and 70 pesos and we were in Puerto Escondido.
Gene Paull
Brownsville, Texas
paullgj@UTB1.UTB.EDU
August 1999
I just returned from Oaxaca via D.F. Travel by bus is a great way to
go. You can leave from the TAPO bus terminal (closest to the airport).
I used ADO on the way down and Cristoal Colon line back. Prices range
from 155.00 to 255.00 pesos. Our return on Cristobal Colon was 173.00
which was very comfortable (TV if you want it). The trip was six ours
via the toll road. We traveled after 11:00 p.m. and slept on the bus.
We probably missed some scenery but had more time in Oaxaca state.
Enjoy the Mole and the gracious people...
Jim Perry
The following appeared in the newsgroup, rec.travel.latin-america, on 10/2/96:
> Michael Dodge Thomas wrote:
There seems to be a variety of answers on this one. I would like to
reiterate what was said about the TAPO station (metro San Lazaro) being
the correct station for Oaxaca. The southern station (metro Tasquena)
is for buses to the southwest (Acapulco, etc).
As was said, ADO (Autobuses del Oriente) is a major line going to
Oaxaca. Though it might be preferable to have reservations in advance,
you could show up at the station most any time other than the start of a
holiday and be on a bus in an hour or 2. Unless this has changed
recently, ADO has it's own station in Oaxaca which is 10-12 blocks from
the plaza area.
John Fisher's Rough Guide has info on Mexico City bus stations. I would
think Lonely Planet and others do as well. For a good review of life in
Mexico as a tourist with helpful travel hints, I encourage you to see
Carl Franz's People's Guide to Mexico. It's a sometimes hilarious
synthesis of knowledge gained over many Mexico trips and includes a section
on bus travel.
Bob Entwistle
The bus from DF to Oaxaca leaves from TAPO, the Terminal del Autobuses
Pacífico Oriente, a beautiful new bus station nicer than most
airports. They have cash machines and clean restrooms and everything.
There are about four 1st class buses to Oaxaca every day on ADO, tickets
are around $15, and the trip is about 6 hours through some stunning
scenery. I've seen everything from Jurassic Park to Chinese karate
flicks dubbed in English on Mexican buses, so you never know about
the movie. 1st class buses are lovely: clean, cushy, comfy, ac and
a restroom - what more do you want?
It's like 12-15 hours from DF to Puerto Escondido, very twisty roads.
It's about $100 to fly. Or you can go to Oaxaca and then fly from
there for a mere $40 for the half-hour flight. From Oaxaca to San Cristobal is
another 12 hour trip, or you can stop in Juchitán (5 hours) overnight
and then go the rest of the way the next day.
Heidi Johnson
The Bus from Mexico City to Oaxaca
The following appeared in the newsgroup, rec.travel.latin-america, on 7/13/97:
jthaut@pacifier.com
July 1997Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido in 1977
I first visited Puerto Escondido in 1977 when I was an exchange student studying at UNAM in Mexico City. My friends and I boarded a rickety bus in Oaxaca for the overnight trip to Puerto Escondido. At four in the morning, we rolled out of the bus squeezing between ladies holding chickens who stood in the aisle all night and bundles of fragrant vegetables and flowers crowding the rest of the aisle way. The bus stopped next to a place where some people were cutting up a recently slaughtered goat. It was quite a surreal experience!
N. Garcia
PazNG@aol.com
San Francisco, California
June 8, 1999
> >
> > A little research has convinced us that we can save enough to pay for a
> > say at out favorite hotel in Oaxaca by flying into Mexico City and then
> > taking a bus to Oaxaca instead of flying struight through, but we are
> > having problems finding getting specific informaiton about lines and
> > schedules for this service.
rentwis@inxpress.netThe Bus from Mexico City to Puerto Escondido
The following appeared in the newsgroup, rec.travel.latin-america, on 6/14/97:
hjohnson@mail.utexas.edu
June 1997
www.tomzap.com
Tom Penick:
tom@tomzap.com