Puerto Escondido by Camioneta: A Wild Ride

If you search for ways to get to Puerto Escondido, you’ll find plenty of posts and discussions. Most of them will tell you to fly or take an auto bus. They’ll mention taking a camioneta (it’s basically a large van), and they’ll warn you not to do it. You’ll see it called the death bus or the vomit bus. Well I’m here to be a voice of dissent. You should take a camioneta unless you suffer from motion sickness. If you suffer from motion sickness, you’re going to hate the camioneta and may want to act like you never saw this post. Now, if you’ve got a stomach of steel, a healthy sense of adventure, or if your budget is tight, the camioneta is for you.

Just the Facts

I decided to take the camioneta before I left home. An auto bus would have been the saner option, but only if I wanted to travel overnight. I didn’t want to travel overnight though, so camioneta it was. Based on a post on Nomadic Bones, I decided to go with Servicio Express for my journey. They were friendly and the camionetas were both clean and more comfortable than not. I paid a very reasonable 235 pesos each way. Auto bus tickets were around 400 pesos each way when I checked online. For reference, at the time that I wrote this, 235 pesos was equal to $12.47. We left for Puerto Escondido at 10 a.m., and that was the start of what I like to call the longest roller coaster ride I’ve ever been on.

Comfort

At first, I  selected a seat behind the driver as it appeared to have a good amount of legroom. I’m only 5’4.5 but an unfortunate amount of that is legs. This was a bad decision; the appearance of room is not the existence of room so I ended up moving. I took the seat next to the door and was happier for it. My happiness became questionable once we left the well cared for highway. As soon as we hit the mountain roads, I started flying about the vehicle. I was real grateful for that handle mounted next to my seat because my lap belt didn’t stop me from moving around. At one point I admit that I wove my purse strap through the handle and used it to help me hold on (I am not ashamed of this).

The Ride

I held on for dear life for the majority of the ride. This included flexing everything in my lower body hoping to remain in my seat. I prayed that we’d make it to Puerto Escondido. Given the condition of the roads, it seemed questionable at times. I was never sick to my stomach, but this is most likely due to the fact that I didn’t eat breakfast. I can’t say the same for one of the other passengers.

While dozing lightly, I noticed that a woman from the back of the camioneta was moving toward me. She then opened the window and hung herself outside the window. I don’t need to go into detail about what happened next. I’ll leave it at the ride lived up to one of its names. The driver noticed and stopped to get some bags for the woman before she got sick again.

I can’t say I blame her for being sick. The roads were downright treacherous at times. Giant potholes littered our path. Rocks had tumbled down the mountain blocking the already narrow lane so we had to swerve to the other side. In some places, the road was washed away, or in one case broken off and sliding down the side of the mountain. If anything about this trip could kill you, it’d be the stress of never knowing what’s around the next switchback curve.

Bathrooms:

When it comes to surprises on this little adventure, we have to start at the Servicio Express terminal.  My first strange moment in Oaxaca came when I asked for a bathroom there. Someone pointed across the lot to a free-standing building. I noticed immediately that the door was one of those barred turn-style situations. Not seeing the coin slot, I pushed, and nothing happened. Then I realized I had to pay to use the bathroom. As an American this confused the hell out of me.

Oh, well when in Mexico right. I dug out some Peso coins, paid, and walked in. There was a toilet paper dispenser on the wall; I figured this was a sign that there wasn’t tp in the stalls, and I was right (much to my chagrin). No big deal I had my mitt of tp, I could hang. What I was 110% unprepared for was the fact that there wasn’t a toilet seat. At the risk of TMI, I can’t squat to pee to save my life. It’s a guaranteed accident if I do. So I pulled out my anti-bacterial wipes, wiped down the rim, and went. Hey when you gotta go, you gotta go.

This was the first of several pay toilets, and it was by far the cleanest both coming and going. On the road to Puerto Escondido I encountered some very questionable bathroom stalls. By questionable I mean I was basically in an outhouse, and at one point there was corn growing next the stall. In every case, they didn’t keep tp in the stall, you had to grab it before you went in. Also there wasn’t soap and water, so thank god for hand sanitizer. I didn’t die, and I didn’t get sick so hey that’s a win in my book.

Servicio Not? Express

Okay first thing, this isn’t a dig at the company. I meant every word about the service I received. This is an observation of unexpected behavior. Got it? Good! This camioneta is not an express run, at least not on the 10 a.m. trip. The road from Oaxaca de Juárez to Puerto Escondido runs through several small towns.

Why does this matter? Well you may stop to pick up or drop of people as you go. This isn’t limited to people at set points in the towns either. We stopped several times, to pick up school children, families, and pretty much anyone who needed to go up to road a piece. I realized that these camionetas are part of the transit “system” in the area. People expect them to come along, and know that they can pay a few pesos and get to their destination without issue. I can’t lie, this annoyed me at first. I felt selfish later because as I said, people in those mountain towns depend on the camionetas. Their real importance hit me on the way back to Oaxaca.  I was all vacationed out and willing to go with the flow.

Arrival

We arrived in Puerto Escondido about 7 hours after we left Oaxaca. By the time we arrived at the terminal, there was only 1 other person in the van with me. Most of the people I’d ridden with weren’t headed to Puerto Escondido, and that was surprising to me. After a bit of confused conversation, I was able to hail a taxi, and head to my hotel. On that ride that I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time, and yelled out oooo el mar! My driver was very amused. Me, I was just glad that I made it without incident.

My ride out to Puerto Escondido was an experience to be sure. Would I do it again? Yes, if there wasn’t a time crunch I’d definitely do it again. I can admit that a 35-45 minute flight does sound a lot more appealing. Flight equals near instant gratification, but the camionetas provide an experience worth sharing. When it comes to travel, that’s what I’m after. So if you’re on a budget but you want to get out to Puerto Escondido take the camioneta, but maybe skip breakfast.

Have questions, or just want to say hi? Contact me.