Our first major "Vocho" adventure was the day after we got married. We decided to take our then "new-to-us" car to Chichen Itza so I could see the pyramid, we took Maru, Sebastian's sister, with us. It takes about two hours to get to Chichen Itza on the "good road" (which is the new one where you have to pay tolls.) We got there without any trouble and had a very nice day enjoying what the Maya had built.

However when it was time to go we discovered a flat tire. As newlyweds we were not easily upset and Sebastian changed the tire quickly and efficiently, even using a jack that looked older than the pyramid. We all then got into the car, which started right up. But, Sebastian couldn't get the car to go into reverse, no problem we thought, we'll just push the car out of the parking space and then drive away. This accomplished, we realized the car wouldn't go into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th either. In fact the car wouldn't really do anything but sit there. We tried pushing it, Sebastian messed around under the hood, yet nothing could convince the Vocho to take us home.

When we went inside to find out about taking a bus back to Cancun we realized that none of us had brought much money with us, certainly not enough to get a car fixed, or for that matter to buy 3 bus tickets. Pitza, the little town closest to Chichen Itza has one mechanic, no bus stop, no hotel, and no ATM machine. We did however locate the mechanic you got a few friends with a truck to chain the car to the back and drag it to his workshop. He told us where to catch the collective to Vallodid where we could find an ATM and spend the night. We promised to return in a few days when he would have the car fixed.

Now, a "Collective", is a VW van that is somewhere between a taxi and a bus. Basically as many people as possible squeeze in, pay 15 to 30 pesos each and can get off anywhere they want between 2 points, in this case, Pitza and Chichen Itza. (At the time I was new to Mexico and had no idea what I was getting into, however now, it seems normal and often is the best way to get somewhere.) Collective don't use the afore mentioned "good road" because of the tolls and the fact that most of the people need to get off in their towns which the new road completely bypasses. So we were off, 16 Mexicans and myself, after dark, along a winding and bumpy road, through countryside I had never seen. I knew no Spanish yet and hadn't really come to grips with the minority yet, I felt very much like Kathleen Turner on the bus in "Romancing the Stone."

But our story has a happy ending. After about an hour of driving we reached Vallodid, a beautiful colonial town. When we got out of the van we were in the city's square, where the town band was having a performance and the Christmas decorations were all up. The third ATM machine we found worked fine, we found a clean hotel room for $10 US a night and got Maru on a bus bound for Cancun so that she could make it to work the next day. We had a very pleasant mini-honeymoon and the mechanic got the car repaired, well, almost, first gear has never been quite the same. And now, when we leave the city limits of Cancun we go by bus or collective.

Next Vocho Story . . . . . . .... Back to Main Page