Theses are the words from my journal... I may change the way it is written on paper slightly, but I can assure you that the stories are exactly as they happened.
I learned at a young age to keep a journal when traveling, and this one is all about my very first backpacking adventure, on my own without adult supervision!
Unfortunately, there are almost no photos from this trip.. but hey we'll get creative, use midjourney and read it like a book!
I've wanted to tell my story forever, and the time has finally come to transfer these experiences onto the internet. And who knows, maybe you'll let me know whether these stories are worth making a book one day too.
I couldn't tell you what it's like today for 20 somethings to travel the way I did, if it's safer or more dangerous, but I can tell you that it shaped the rest of my life and traveling the world became a winter ritual for me and eventually for my family too!
These are the stories of my youth, stories I never want to forget. I hope you enjoy them, but most of all, I hope they inspire you.
And we're off to the bus station.... In the last episode you read about our friend being in bed sick to her stomach and unable to explore Mexico City until this very morning before heading out.
Well, Veronique was feeling tons better so we made our way to the bus station to go to Vera Cruz which is on the coast pretty much directly east of the capital. We looked for the cheapest bus available because we had 6 months ahead of us, and all of Latin America to see!!! The bus wasn't leaving until 10 at night, so we had several hours to kill. We sat down at a table in the food court, made a big all mess with news papers and magazines to read and of course some food.
A Canadian couple sat at a table next to ours, we met and they told us they were on their way back home. They had gotten pregnant, plus money and time was running out and that was becoming an issue. They had just come back from somewhere north of Acapulco but soon after getting into Mexico City they found out their plane was actually leaving rom Acapulco! So they were at this bus station, to redo the trip back to the right city...
Before leaving the hotel, I searched for a couple hours all the pharmacies in the area for malaria pills, the same ones I was supposed to have bought in New York. No bueno, I couldn't find them anywhere. Lucky enough though, the Canadian couple we had just met hadn't taken their malaria pills ('cause they were the kind that fuck with your head!). So it happened that they needed some cash an I needed some pills. We did a little exchange and for 100 pesos I got myself a month worth of pills, everyone was happy!
9:30pm time to go check our bags into the bus. We got on and the bus left right on time. I remember thinking how safe this station and bus felt because of the couple metal detectors we had to go through before getting on.
We were finally on our way to la playa (Vera Cruz) and get the hell out of this dirty city... although it was very pretty actually, but we were happy to go! We had made ourselves cozy for a long trip, Sandrine had her sleeping bag for the night, Vero had her news papers, and I was thinking to take photos along the way when the daylight came up again.
About half an hour into the trip, the guys in front of me opened up a window to grabbed a bag from a truck next to us as we were driving. Even though it was pretty much bumper to bumper traffic we were still moving slowly, and I thought nothing of this, people seem to be selling all sorts of things to passer buys at any time of the day and night.
Little did I know we were in the middle of a hold up... our bus was getting high jacked! One of the two guys in front of me went up to the bus driver, put a gun to his stomach and asked him to come to a full stop. A third person was running towards us as the door of the bus opened. He got on, cocked his 9mm gun and yelled "This is a hold up, give me all your MONEY" and the bus continued on driving.
The trip was over, she was pissed and annoyed. This trip of a lifetime together had only just started and it was already over.
While this was happening the younger one in the lot got up and walked to the back of the bus closing all the curtains. It was such a quick job and well done too. The one guy stayed with the driver while the other two robbed everyone. It didn't last more than 5 minutes, they new they had to be fast.
A group of ladies in the back were fighting the robbery and the yelling made me think gun shots were about to go off, but in the end they gave up their cash. The motherfuckers got my camera and about 200 pesos off me. I remember the young kid was pissed all I had were these big coins on me, he obviously preferred paper money!
That same kid saw Sandrine stuff her fanny pack inside the sleeping bag which she pushed under her seat. He was fuming trying to pull the sleeping bag that was snagged on something under the seats. The leader started yelling, it was time to go. The bus stopped again, the kid pulled really hard and finally got the sleeping bag from under the seat. They ran out of the bus with their loot and we moved on.
They really scared the shit out of me! I thought for sure someone was going to get killed.
Everyone on the bus was scrounging around on the floor looking or any money that had dropped, most shared what they found, but Sandrine was very sad. Hey fanny pack had everything in it, passport, travelers checks, cash and just everything. The trip was over, she was pissed and annoyed. This trip of a lifetime together had only just started and it was already over. There was nothing to do, but go back into Mexico City to start the difficult bureaucratic process of getting her paperwork reprinted by the French Embassy.
Our trip was finished...
The people sitting in front of Vero and Sandrine were looking around for change like the rest of us and there was Sandrine's fanny pack!!! It must have stayed in place when the robber pulled on the sleeping bag, like a when you pull hard a table cloth off a table and the plates stay on.
The joy in all of us was overwhelming. One minute we thought we were going to die, one minute we thought our dreams of traveling the world had been crushed, and then it was all good!! We were going to continue, and we hardly couldn't believe the luck.
We went back to the station where they payed back the bus faire to everyone, 160 pesos and had the police come to report what happened. I gave them some bullshit about my "permission of stay" getting stolen (the one I never got or paid for when coming into Mexico) and that without it, I don't know if I'll have to pay the $20 again or of fine, they gave m 360 pesos!
I guess this sort of thing must happen pretty often. It was Friday night, the bus was full of people who work hard, all week in the city and were going home with their pay. It's safer to rob the poor working class because they will not have the money to pay the police for an investigation.
After everything was settle, we started the trip again and got into Vera Cruz at 8 in the morning.
Lesson learned... do not take the cheapest bus on pay-day, bad things can happen!
In the next episode we get to relax after this traumatic experience!
My First Backpacking Trip:
Chapter 01: NYC to Mexico - Y2K
Chapter 02: NYC to Mexico - Cajun Wedding
Chapter 03: Everything is Lost
Chapter 04: Mexico City Finally!
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