To get to Rancho Luna today, I finally had to figure out how to get on a Cuban local bus. I think I managed quite well, but I'm still not sure why some things work the way they do.
I went to check out the bus station yesterday, so I already knew that there was a bus scheduled at 10 am, which counter sells tickets, how much a ticket is, and which door to queue at.
Here's how it worked out in reality: When I arrived at 9:30, the counter was still closed. When it opened, it didn't sell any tickets, but instead gave out slips of paper with a number and "feliz viaje" (good trip) on it. It was too crowded and noisy for me to inquire any further, so I just took the paper and watched what everybody else was doing. Well, everybody else seemed to queue up at one of four doors. Each door had a sign listing the names and prices for a couple of destinations, so I chose the one that had Rancho Luna on it and took some cash from my wallet so I would be able to pay quickly. After a while, it occurred to me that maybe relying on written information wasn't so wise after all (a lesson from my trip to Tokyo...). So I asked a lady if this was the right door to queue at - and of course it wasn't! She pointed me to another door, and the people queuing there confirmed what she had said. At about quarter past 10 (remember the bus was supposed to leave at 10), someone opened the door. People went through, giving their slips of paper to the guy guarding the door, and then immediately darted to one of the platforms. I asked the guy if this was indeed for Rancho Luna, and then went after the others. The bus seemed to be already full, but somehow people were cramming in anyway. There were two employees on the bus: the driver up front, and a person operating the door somewhere in the middle of the bus. Everyone was giving some amount of money to the door operator who then stuffed it into a small metal box without bothering to give any change. He didn't complain about the amount I gave, so it was either too much our just right - either way, for me it was cheap enough. My backpack ended up at the door operator's feet to make more space for people, and at the end the bus was almost as full as a Japanese subway during rush hour. At the next stop, even more people came in... but somehow they all fit in. Some time later, I arrived safely in Rancho Luna.
I immediately made my way to the dive center, just in case they only had dives in the morning. It turned out that they do - and I arrived just in time for the second dive! Perfect timing :-)
The diving wasn't as nice as in Santa Lucía, but still definitely worth it. The site had many of the fish with a fake eye on their tail - some day I'm gonna find out what they're called ;-) - and a shipwreck. I really love shipwrecks. They appear so majestic as they slowly drift into visibility... once proud vessels sailing the seas, they somehow still retain their pride underwater.
I went to check out the bus station yesterday, so I already knew that there was a bus scheduled at 10 am, which counter sells tickets, how much a ticket is, and which door to queue at.
Here's how it worked out in reality: When I arrived at 9:30, the counter was still closed. When it opened, it didn't sell any tickets, but instead gave out slips of paper with a number and "feliz viaje" (good trip) on it. It was too crowded and noisy for me to inquire any further, so I just took the paper and watched what everybody else was doing. Well, everybody else seemed to queue up at one of four doors. Each door had a sign listing the names and prices for a couple of destinations, so I chose the one that had Rancho Luna on it and took some cash from my wallet so I would be able to pay quickly. After a while, it occurred to me that maybe relying on written information wasn't so wise after all (a lesson from my trip to Tokyo...). So I asked a lady if this was the right door to queue at - and of course it wasn't! She pointed me to another door, and the people queuing there confirmed what she had said. At about quarter past 10 (remember the bus was supposed to leave at 10), someone opened the door. People went through, giving their slips of paper to the guy guarding the door, and then immediately darted to one of the platforms. I asked the guy if this was indeed for Rancho Luna, and then went after the others. The bus seemed to be already full, but somehow people were cramming in anyway. There were two employees on the bus: the driver up front, and a person operating the door somewhere in the middle of the bus. Everyone was giving some amount of money to the door operator who then stuffed it into a small metal box without bothering to give any change. He didn't complain about the amount I gave, so it was either too much our just right - either way, for me it was cheap enough. My backpack ended up at the door operator's feet to make more space for people, and at the end the bus was almost as full as a Japanese subway during rush hour. At the next stop, even more people came in... but somehow they all fit in. Some time later, I arrived safely in Rancho Luna.
I immediately made my way to the dive center, just in case they only had dives in the morning. It turned out that they do - and I arrived just in time for the second dive! Perfect timing :-)
The diving wasn't as nice as in Santa Lucía, but still definitely worth it. The site had many of the fish with a fake eye on their tail - some day I'm gonna find out what they're called ;-) - and a shipwreck. I really love shipwrecks. They appear so majestic as they slowly drift into visibility... once proud vessels sailing the seas, they somehow still retain their pride underwater.
