Ransuzharriman
Nov 30, 2003, 1:44 PM
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Avila bus from Austin, Tx, to San Miguel
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A while ago I queried this forum about bus travel from Austin to San Miguel and got some useful input. I promised to post a narrative of our bus ride when we got back, and here it is: The bus line we rode is called "Avila Tours." The "terminal" (an old gas station) is located at 7th & Chicon (1901 E. 7th), and the phone number is (512)391-9100. The bus leaves here at around 9:30 in the evening and arrives in San Miguel (at Gigante) around 2:30 the next afternoon. Coming back, the bus leaves San Miguel around 7:30 in the evening and gets here around 12:30 the next afternoon. Perhaps the best way to describe the trip is to say, first off, we probably will do it again. Another way is to say that as soon as you get on the bus, you're on Mexican time and living under Mexican conditions. There were only 6 - 10 people on the bus, coming and going, so we all had at least two seats to ourselves. We two were the only non-Mexicans on board, but that was not any kind of problem. Having some Spanish is useful, but not absolutely necessary. The bus has a bathroom which is serviceable, but a little aromatic, and as is the custom in Mexico, toilet paper was nowhere to be seen. The seats on the first and third bus we rode were reasonably comfortable and reclined nicely. Legroom was a bit short for me (6'5"), but the absence of passengers alleviated that problem. The ride on the first bus was relatively rough; I think there was a problem with the bus's suspension, because the driver would pull over frequently, get out, walk outside toward the rear of the bus, then get back on board and drive on. On the way back, the bus that left SMA looked beautiful, but the seats didn't recline much, they were harder, and the ride was rougher. The bus we changed to somewhere south of Nuevo Laredo at 5:30AM (!) was very nice, comfortable, smooth riding, etc. Incidentally, that change was the only occasion on which my rudimentary Spanish failed me. I couldn't understand the driver's mush-mouth Spanish, and it took me a while (and the help of some clearer-speaking Mexicans on board) to figure out we were supposed to switch buses! We had been told that the "Monday night" bus down was only going to stop at the border and in Matehuala (a town about halfway between the border and SMA). As it turns out, we stopped in San Antonio, the border, Matehuala, San Luis Potosí, and San Luis de la Paz before reaching our destination. No big deal, since we arrived "on schedule," but a little disconcerting. On the way back, we skipped San Luis Potosí. The border crossing in both directions was not a big problem. On the way down, we tried to expedite the process (at the suggestion of one of the Mexican passengers) by taking up a "collection," if you catch my drift. Turns out it was not necessary, and the money was returned by the guy who collected it. On the way back, the only hassle is that you have to unload all your bags from the bus (we had 10!!), cart them to a US customs inspector (who appeared to be interested only in plants), then reload them. In summary, as I said, we'll probably "bus it" again. It's cheap ($150 per person round trip); less of a hassle in many ways than flying (and apparently you can carry back as much as you're willing to deal with); pretty efficient timewise, since most of the traveling is done overnight (sleeping pills are recommended!); and not that uncomfortable. Also, we had the feeling, once we got on the bus, that this was "the real deal," i.e., a very un-touristy thing to do. However, we are considering looking at other, larger, bus lines. Avila was okay, but it seems to be a small company, and I think a couple of the buses we were on had suspension problems. I'm inclined to check out Transportes San Miguel, which I believe is a larger company and thus perhaps better able to swap out mechanically-troubled equipment. We are also told there is a company called "Pegaso" or "Pegasus" that runs from Austin, however, I've not been able to find either Transportes or Pegaso in the local phone book. Hope this information will be useful (or at least informative) to some of you. If anyone knows how to contact the other two bus companies I'd appreciate receiving the info.
Randy & Suzie Harriman
Austin, Texas
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