Thursday, March 17, 2011
Ticket to ride (a Kuwaiti bus)
I think I'm gonna be sad...I think it's today...so I took a ticket to ride the bus. I enjoyed it.
It was raining hard the day I bravely ventured the city in a KPTC bus, from Kuwait center to Fahaheel (where I live). 'Venture' because I've been hearing a lot about riding a bus in Kuwait -- that it's 'dangerous' because Kuwaiti youths throw stones at buses, or Kuwaiti youths sometimes make fun of other passengers, or they are rowdy for the whole bus ride.
Nothing of that. Oh yes, I was seated with a Kuwaiti passenger, and he was very silent all throughout the trip. Perhaps because he's a quinquagenarian. I'm actually just guessing, but he's definitely not what I'll consider as young.
So yes, the bus ride was a lull, peaceful. The trip was one full hour from the bus station in Kuwait City to our place (give and take a three minute walk to my flat). In a private car or taxi, the trip would have been less than half an hour.
Kuwaiti buses are numbered, i.e. 102, 999, 105, etc. The numbers refer to routes. Bus 102 took me to Fahaheel via Highway 30. Bus 999 also would have taken me to Fahaheel but via every nooks and crannies of cities between Kuwait City and Fahaheel. Had I taken Bus 999, I would have reached home thirty to forty-five minutes later than my one hour trip. A friend said the trip via Bus 999 is more enjoyable if all you wanted is to pass the time away observing the streets of Kuwait. (Maybe next time).
The buses are all air-conditioned and the seats are comfortably-spaced. Seats in front are exclusive for female passengers.
Fares are 250 fils for the whole route (equivalent to around PHP40). Taxi fare for the same route is KD2.5 (around PHP400). Hence the popularity of bus to riding public.
Here are some of the photos I took during the bus trip.
KPTC stands for Kuwait Public Transport Company.
Bus 102 that took me home to Fahaheel.
The sides of buses usually carry advertisements for mobile companies...
...or announcements about sale schedules in popular malls.
Kuwaiti passengers. Silent all throughout the ride, so the rumours are not true!
Spacious and clean.
If I say 'comfortable', will this photo be an understatement? ☺
bigla kong namiss ung mga malalakas ang a/c na bussesesssss sa dubey..
ung walang unahan sa pagsakay, ung mga nakapila ng maayos habang naghihintay sa pagdating ng buselya
Looks like a comfortable ride =)
Buses here in Cambodia are for long travel. But they are comfortable with toilet inside the bus.
Thanks for dropping by.
Inside the bus is pretty much the same as the buses we have in the US ;-) naks naman photoblog na rin siya hehehe. I remember taking the bus going to work in Hawaii. it takes an hour to get to my work so I have an hour to sleep ;-) and I remember my bus #, it was 98 it's a bus express just like the love bus in Manila ;-) with few stops