Bus travel from Los Angeles to Vallarta

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For, perhaps, the second time I took a 'road trip' to Mexico -- on the bus. 
Travelling from downtown Los Angeles on the Hispanic branch of Greyhound, Crucero, we went through San Diego and onward to Tijuana. I thought about paying six dollars less and just taking the train to San Ysidro from San Diego but, then, worried that might complicate passage so I went ahead and paid $26 to ride the bus across the border and straight to the Tijuana bus terminal. (In hindsight this was the better plan because it saved me from the hassle and additional cost of hiring a taxi to drive me to the bus terminal.)

I remembered to pack a blanket, ear plugs, water and snacks, and an inflatable pillow

From there it was a matter of buying a ticket to my destination: Vallarta.
I almost settled with Elite but the guy tried to cheat me on the price. Clearly posted on the wall was the day's USD exchange rate: $12.50 pesos; but this cabron attempted to charge me a rate of $11.50, thereby earning more than a hundred extra pesos on the ticket -- for his pocket. There was no way he could explain away the fuzzy math so I got my money back and went to another counter. TAP bus travels direct from Tijuana to Vallarta but wasn't departing for another two hours after midnight. But their math added up with mine so I paid the $106 usd ($1,350mxp) and waited. At half pass midnight we took off.

The entire trip consumed thirty-five hours. It was only unpleasant in that some jerk played his cell phone's radio, another loudly chewed his gum, and the driver(s) wouldn't shut off the goddamn DVDs but found it impossible to switch on the overhead reading lights. I guess no body in Mexico reads. Other than that the long journey was not so bad. Thankfully the bus was never crowded so I merely changed to another seat whenever I found a fellow passenger inconsiderate.

TAP bus travels direct from Tijuana to Vallarta. The entire trip consumed thirty-five hours

Since I did this years before I remembered to pack a blanket, ear plugs, water and snacks, and an inflatable pillow. Didn't bring quite enough to drink and, at some point, broke down and paid the extortionist rates of vendors. Twenty pesos for a bottle of mineral water that typically goes for 8 pesos? Greedy bastards! 

We finally arrived at half pass noon. It would be more fun to travel such a trek with a buddy but it still beats the cattle call of modern air travel. No undressing, no X-ray tube to step through, no frisking; in short, nothing intrusive and borderline demeaning.