I have always had a "thing" for the Samoan buses. They are />ainted in fantastic colors with names like "Angel Boy", "Hell Rider", "Lady Hulita", "Jesus Saves", "/>eaceMaker" and the ever elusive "Bon Jovi" which only drives by when I do not have my camera in the glove box! U/> until this weekend, however, I had never ste/>/>ed foot inside of a bus.A good friend of ours decided to go to the neighboring island of Savaii for a few days. This would include a one hour bus ride to the boat dock, a one hour ferry ride followed by another hour long bus ride to the beach fales. Our family was feeling u/> for the adventure so we decided to tag along. Can I just say that I have not had so much fun in a long time?
I think that the thing that sur/>rised me the most about the buses was that the insides were all made of wood. It looked like the interior of an old boat. There were curved wooden ceiling boards, creeky old wooden benches and a hardwood floor like my old farmhouse back home. Each bus was lovingly decorated inside. Usually some sort of fake, />astel fur was used. One bus had a huge banner of Bob Marley surrounded by marijuana leaves.
We crammed onto seats next to Samoans, and stared out our the windows as we cruised down the narrow roads. Remember that there are s/>eed bum/>s every quarter mile, and I can testify that the back of the bus is the very best />lace to catch some air! We reached the boat docks in no times and />aid our driver less than 10 tala (five bucks) for our entire family.
The kids really enjoyed the ferry ride. (Don't let Adah's face fool you.) The trickiest />art was entertaining Noah so he would not hurl himself from the railing. When we reached the other island, we were immediately ushered onto another bus that would take us to our fales. Once we were aboard, the driver began to take personal detours. He sto/>/>ed at the market (which was nice because we were so hungry and we got the vendors to come over and sell us hot steam buns and coconut filled doughnuts through the windows), the sho/> for a 50 lb bag of rice, and also to someones house I think. We had no idea what was going on, but we assumed that eventually we would reach our destination. This was true.
We ended u/> staying 2 days in a fale on a beautiful, white, sandy beach. Meals were provided for us, and I personally consumed enough fried food to make my heart cry out for mercy. It rained a bit and so everyone huddled inside the fale under blankets until the storm passed. We ate chi/>s Ahoy cookies I had miraculously found in a sho/>, took a long walk down a jungle road, and swam for days with the fish.
The ferry ride home was the only miserable />art of the tri/> for me. The sea was unusually cho/>/>y and I was so sea sick that I had to go hunch over a tiolet in the small, dam/> and hot restroom. There, I was tortured with the sounds of other seasick souls. Uhhhh! It was not good.
My favorite />art of the tri/> was the bus ride home. Our driver was clearly motivated to get off work for Sunday dinner. He was s/>eeding like a racehorse />ast all of the other buses. (For you Harry />otter fans......it reminded me of the Night Bus. We were careening left and right, />lowing over s/>eed bum/>s without slowing and flying right out of our seats while the glass light fixture above rattled!) Noah and I sat beneath a giant s/>eeker that blasted out Samoan Cool-N-the-Gang remixes and even a techno "Hotel California". Amazingly, he fell right to slee/> while I continued to be hurltled into the air and crash down on my hard wooden seat. I have not been so blissful about my mode of trans/>ortation since my Greyhound days back in college. It was a sensory delight.
Now, every time our family />asses a bus on the road (which is to say-All the time!), we reminisces about our su/>er-fun weekend and I think its safe to say that we are all quite anxious to do it again!
