The most welcoming people? (page 8 of 8)

I’m not going to reply to everything and spend the whole day answering on the bus since that wasn’t the original topic.

Just to clarify, in Central America there aren’t any tourists on chicken buses because they have a reputation for being dangerous (accidents and armed robberies). I was the only tourist, and people kept asking if I was going to work or visit family—they didn’t think I was a tourist!

As for excursions, if I do any, it’s really occasional. In my last three big trips, I didn’t do any at all. And if I do, I negotiate the price, especially if I speak the language (in Costa Rica, I paid much less than a French tourist couple, and the manager asked me not to tell them what I’d paid).

Of course, everyone travels in their own way. The quote you mentioned in the first post wasn’t mine—it was from Alexandra David-Néel—and I completely agree with what she said.

A while ago, on a forum, I read about someone’s itinerary for a one- or two-week road trip in Greece with their family. They wanted to meet Greeks, but their trip was by car, staying one night here, two nights there, rushing from one tourist site to another. I couldn’t help but wonder *where* and *when* they’d actually meet any Greeks...

Ground transportation is total immersion in the daily lives of locals. Whether you take a bus—from the most luxurious to chicken buses—a shared taxi, or even a regular taxi, it’s a golden opportunity to admire the scenery and chat with people, often during the inevitable 30-minute meal breaks for trips longer than 4 hours.

I’ve taken school buses in Latin America. There were tourists on them (Guatemala). One time it was even...

I’ve also been the only tourist in other countries (Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia). It’s, as mentioned before, often pretty tedious (the curious creature thing).

he wanted to meet Greeks, his road trip was by car, spending one night here, two nights there, rushing from one tourist site to another, and I wondered where and when he’d actually meet any Greeks...

Staying with locals, eating every meal at restaurants, on the sites...

Any place can be an opportunity to meet people.

You just have to be good at it. Meet-ups happen when you make them happen. You leave some people somewhere for 5 minutes (anywhere, really) and they end up striking up a conversation with one or more strangers.

If the person who asked the question is like that, they’ll meet Greeks no matter what.

it’s a golden opportunity to admire the scenery

Hmm... You can’t be picky.

It has nothing to do with cars, bikes, motorcycles, or hiking.

Especially now.

Plus, you can’t just stop anywhere to admire the scenery or take a break.

Generally, public transport is either a last resort when you lack the means (especially at night), an eco-friendly challenge, or a way to travel in itself (to be among people).

to chat with people,

That’s only possible if you share a common language...

I picked up some Bolivians while hitchhiking. Well, zero conversation—they didn’t speak English, French, or even Spanish. Same in Armenia.

On a bus, you’re unlikely to run into an English-speaking Indian or Indonesian, etc. It’s easier at hotels, where more guests have some education.

Maybe in Southern Africa it was easiest to connect, since English is widely spoken there. In Morocco too, even if not everyone speaks French by a long shot.

I took some school buses in Latin America. There were tourists inside (Guatemala). One time it was even like that...

I’d be really curious to know where you saw a chicken bus full of tourists in Guatemala? And how did the tourists manage to fill it up all by themselves?? When you know how chicken buses work, it seems really surprising.

To get to Joyabaj, Nebaj, Acul, Chajul, or Todos Santos Cuchumatan, did you see chicken buses full of tourists?

I once saw two tourists between the very touristy Panajachel and Sololá (the town next door), but otherwise, I didn’t see any—even though I spent two months in Guatemala and took *plenty* of chicken buses!

Anyway, I can just picture you on a chicken bus... you must’ve suffered terribly. I always say this mode of transport isn’t for everyone...

Ground transportation is total immersion in the daily life of the locals. Whether you take a bus—from the most luxurious to chicken buses—a shared taxi, or even a regular taxi, it’s a golden opportunity to admire the scenery and chat with people.

I totally agree with you, but to make the most of it, you’ve gotta speak Spanish, be open-minded, and not be afraid of people.

On chicken buses (which they call "camionetas" in some countries), the "show" also includes all the vendors who board and give long speeches trying to sell stuff—it’s often hilarious. Some even get on to preach religious sermons to the passengers, etc.… Chicken buses are a trip within a trip—I’ve seen and heard it all on them.

Otherwise, in some countries, there are no luxury buses—just chicken buses, especially if you venture off the usual tourist routes.

The school bus was heading to Monterrico.

For the rest, tourists were getting on and off school buses bound for towns and villages that were both touristy and still inhabited, like Panajachel and Chichicastenango, or heading to less frequented spots like the Belize border crossing.

I’m talking about a time that people under 25 can’t even imagine... Back then, there were pretty much only school buses, except on major routes where the Guate-Antigua shuttles ran.

Otherwise, I picture you on a chicken bus... you must’ve suffered like crazy

Why on earth???

The distances were short. Honestly, it wasn’t the worst mode of transport I’ve taken in the world.

For Guatemala, the overnight bus ride from Guate to Flores was a far less comfortable experience...

For India, I remember a trip where the bus (a real antique) was shaking its passengers like in that Orangina ad... I had terrible back pain by the time we arrived... But what choice did we have?

When it comes to public transport, the Colombo-Galle train was the most grueling. It was basically like riding the RER on a strike day...

As for the most terrifying public transport experience I’ve had, it wasn’t on land—it was in the air, in Myanmar. When the pilot announced that one engine had failed and we needed to reach Rangoon Airport because the nearest one wasn’t equipped for emergency landings, no one said a word—not even those looking to make friends.

Just because a traveler prefers transportation that suits their style doesn’t mean they can’t handle a ride on public transport. It’s a prejudice.

That's true. I'd forgotten about the street vendors on buses. It's unavoidable in Peru. There are also guitarists in Mexico. The last one I saw was at the entrance to Bogota (the driver let him in at a red light), selling pens. I’ll take this chance to answer the forum title—I found Colombians particularly welcoming.

Street vendors’ pitches are often hilarious, especially those selling medicines and miracle creams—like a cream made from snake venom that solves all your problems (foot odor, skin blemishes, etc.).

I’ve seen it all on chicken buses: religious sermons about sin while the bus TV blasts a reggaeton music video—it’s pretty funny too. Another time, a passenger boarded with a massive portable speaker blasting upbeat religious songs at full volume, and everyone else just sat there, completely unfazed...

In Guatemala, I also saw someone get on to ask for money because they’d tried to cross the U.S. border, got turned away, and needed cash to get home. They told the whole story in detail.

Another day, a man on crutches recounted his accident in *great* detail and even took off his shirt so we could see the scars on his shoulders.

I could write pages and pages about chicken buses...

To me, chicken buses are a microcosm of Latin America—you find everything: machismo, religion (windshields often have Bible verses next to a sticker of a naked woman *and* maybe a sexist phrase), reggaeton with *very* explicit lyrics blasting; among the passengers, you see all layers of society: schoolkids in uniforms, soldiers, nuns, farmers with their typical "sombrero" and a machete at their belt, etc...

Riding a chicken bus is a whole experience! It’s nothing like the sterile buses in Western countries.

My funniest bus experience was the La Paz–Arica trip.

Here we go, the bus sets off for a long journey with its cargo of Bolivian and Chilean passengers, plus a few tourists.

After two hours, a German guy asks about the toilets.

Well, there aren’t any.

The German goes back to his seat, looking pretty disappointed, beads of sweat forming on his forehead—you could tell he wasn’t feeling great.

Ten minutes later, he asks the driver when the next stop is.

At the border! In a good hour!

The German sits back down, then stands up again and begs the driver to stop.

Being a good sport, the driver pulls over. The German rushes outside and disappears out of sight.

Passengers take advantage of this unexpected stop to get some air and have a smoke.

Three minutes later, the driver signals it’s time to go and starts the engine again.

Without the German...

Luckily, the whole bus remembers him and shouts in unison, laughing: "We forgot the gringo, stop!"

And there he is, the poor guy running after the bus while pulling up his pants...

He got back on to cheers from the crowd—I think he never took a bus without toilets again after that...

Not great, especially with traveler’s diarrhea...

He would’ve had a nightmare on that bus in Indonesia that didn’t stop for 10 hours except to pick up passengers on the fly. When it finally deigned to turn off the engine, all the passengers scattered to relieve themselves...

Anyway, the bus between Bolivia and Chile went through stunning landscapes—landscapes I couldn’t fully appreciate, especially since the most interesting part happened after dark... I would’ve gladly done the same trip by car, which would’ve been much better for me if I’d had traveler’s diarrhea...

Everyone could write a book of road anecdotes, not just about Latin America.

We’re a long way from the sanitized buses of Western countries

You only have a few years left to take this kind of trip you love.

I’ve really noticed the difference over the years, and buses will soon be the same everywhere.

Street vendors are already persona non grata on some companies.

Which is a good thing for countries because modern bus services mean the country is getting richer.

A people that won’t let you use the bathroom isn’t welcoming. Back in the day, I wrote about a not-so-pleasant experience like this in my travel journal about Vietnam.

It’s like eating and sleeping—you should be able to hit pause on everything for a day or two. Unfortunately, in its amazing evolution and adaptation, nature never imagined we’d be taking rickety buses on bumpy roads for way too long...

Thank goodness, in the chicken buses I took in Guatemala, El Salvador, or Nicaragua, there were no toilets or foreign tourists! 😀

Otherwise, I’ve heard similar stories (passengers forgotten at a rest stop) in Europe—some even forget a kid at a rest stop. It’s not specific to Latin America.

But it’s true that to fully enjoy these trips, you need to master the language to understand the story told by the Honduran migrant living in Guatemala who gets on the bus to ask for money, to understand the reggaeton blasting (in a bus full of high schoolers I was offered a ride in El Salvador, the principal even asked the driver to change the song because the lyrics were so explicit), to read the macho or Bible quotes on the bus’s windshield, to understand the song of the young guy who just got on and improvises lyrics based on the passengers with a special shout-out in English to the only "gringa" passenger (me, in this case), etc... And of course, you need to speak Spanish to chat with the other passengers.

If you don’t speak Spanish and you travel like in Europe—headphones on, nose glued to your phone—then yeah, it’s better to get around on your own in a rental car.

Latin America isn’t just full of Spanish speakers. The first inhabitants, for example, often don’t speak it at all—at least, the ones I’ve met...

And what do you do if you find yourself in Zambia, the USA, Serbia, Russia, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Japan, Norway, India, etc.?

Should travelers be multilingual, or just stick to the small circle of countries where they understand the language?

It’s pretty limiting. Just like only traveling by public transport.

But we’re getting way off topic—the original question was: which people are the most welcoming?

As usual, it’s a question that’s impossible to answer. After all, just as there’s more than one way to travel, there’s more than one way to experience the people of a country.

Some will love Moroccans, others Americans. The Japanese will be either vilified or adored—same with Indians. Some travelers love Hispanic vibes, others prefer Eastern European atmospheres. It’s all very personal, and the answers in this thread reflect that.

Like in Jacques Martin’s show, everyone deserves a 10—everyone’s a winner (though I’ve lost the under-35 crowd again... )

There are two remedies for the lack of toilets on buses:

Travel on foot, by bike, ski, private jet, car, or mule-back...

Or buy adult diapers...

For Indonesia, the timing was a bit special. The whole country was on the move, and Bison Futé was seeing things in dark shades.

(Still, getting traveler’s diarrhea on a bus is just plain horrific!)

In India, alternative transport solutions don’t always work. It’s hard to find a deserted spot, and just when you think you’re finally alone, an Indian guy pops out of the bush you’d scoped out...

Yes, we're getting off-topic (this thread is 10 years old!), but not that much. I forgot to mention that in Colombia, Brazil, and Cuba, lots of bus or minibus passengers I chatted with gave me their phone numbers in case I had any problems—so that’s definitely hospitality!

And when passengers talk to you and show interest instead of being indifferent, I think that’s also a form of welcome.

Even if you don’t speak the language, it’s always fascinating to observe life on these buses: people boarding with baskets full of chicks or ducks, those who aren’t afraid of anything and get on with dozens of eggs and end up making an omelet before they even get home, etc...

In Guatemala, after two months, for my last trip to the capital, I didn’t have the energy to make several changes on chicken buses, so I took a tourist shuttle where conversations always revolve around the same topics: the regions visited in Guatemala, the countries explored in Latin America, etc... And when I saw a chicken bus go by, I’d think, "I’d so much rather be in there than in this shuttle!"

But I’ll say it again—this mode of transport (very different from the modern buses you find in Chile, Mexico, Argentina, or Brazil) isn’t for everyone.

Anyway, back to the original topic: often, it only takes a traveler meeting one really nice person to generalize and say all the locals are like that—or, on the flip side, if they’re the victim of a scam or some misadventure, to generalize from that too.

But Middle Eastern people have a reputation for being very welcoming and hospitable, which comes up in this discussion a lot.

Often, it only takes a tourist meeting someone really nice to generalize and say all the locals are the same—or, on the contrary, it only takes being scammed or having a bad experience to make the same generalization.

I agree with this point.