The Rules of the Bus in Santorini - Sept. 13, 2010

Monday September 13, 2010

Senne's Summary: Went to Oia on the bus. Didn’t get fleeced.

This morning we decided to take the bus to Oia. We had all kinds of annoying transportation issues, which I will cover in more detail below. We wanted to go to Oia to see what all the hype was about. Everywhere, you read that Oia is spectacular, and Gary’s guidebook said that they fleece the tourists in Oia. This piqued Mom’s interest. She really wanted to go and get fleeced!

When we finally got to Oia (pronounced EE-AH), we walked around the town, took some photos, had some lunch, looked at the souvenirs and tried to find a place to fleece mom (no such luck). Oia was beautiful, but I’m not sure if it lives up to the hype. Some of the accommodations are charging people in the neighbourhood of 700 Euros per night (that’s where you get fleeced). It’s beautiful… but not THAT beautiful!

Nevertheless we had a good time and then headed back home on the bus. We witnessed a screaming match between a large man and small woman at the bus station that I thought might turn into a fist fight, but luckily it didn’t. (He wanted to get on the bus before she got off the bus…)

All right. So you aren’t surprised if you ever come to Santorini these are the rules of the bus!

1. The main bus station (that’s what they call it, but it’s a parking lot) is in Fira. This is where you catch the buses to go to the other towns (Oia, Kamari, Perissa, etc.). When you arrive you will see hundreds of confused people milling about (the amount of confused people will be even larger on big cruise ship days!). You will also be lost and confused… it can’t be helped… there is no sense of organization that I can figure out.
2. This brings me to the first tip about the bus station. Buses drive in this parking lot. Buses are big and you are small. It is YOUR job to stay out of the way of the buses. It is not their job to drive around you. GET OUT OF THE WAY!
3. Make sure you know where you want to go. About 2 minutes before your bus is supposed to leave a driver will come over to the bus and turn on a sign in the front window that says where your bus is going. Go QUICKLY and get on that bus!
4. Do NOT attempt to get a bus driver or the nice person in the" information" booth to tell you which bus is which. They won’t tell you until it’s time to turn on the sign… I don’t know why… there must be a reason (maybe they like to see anxious confused people wander dazedly through a small parking lot while giant buses back into their stalls)
5.  Wear your running shoes 😉 There is no line up for your bus. Whoever gets there first and pushes their way on will get on, the other people will not. Granted… they can squeeze a lot of people on those buses, but some people will be left behind.
6.  If you get left behind, don’t think that means you are first in line to get on the next bus. There is NO line. If you don’t get on the first bus, you will have to go through the same thing to get on the second bus. Odds are your bus will park in a different spot, don’t think you have an edge by standing where the other bus parked!
7. You will pay for your bus ride when you are on the bus. You don’t buy a ticket beforehand, and you don’t pay the driver when you get on. When you get on, go get in your seat (if you are lucky) or walk to the spot you will be standing. There is a person who will come around to collect your money. How does he do that while the aisle is jammed with people, you wonder? Well he just does.
8. Be Patient! Now this is my favourite part. Just because you got on a jam-packed bus, doesn’t mean it will go where you want it to go. Our first bus took a 25 minute tour around the block (and no... the block was not THAT big!)  and then came back to the bus station. Apparently the bus had a "malfunction". I did see it going about half an hour later though so I’m not sure what the malfunction was. This involved everyone on our bus getting off the bus and trying to squeeze into a bus with the next load of people. We did not make it on to that bus and went for a drink to see if the bus station would empty out later.
9. You will not really know where to get off your bus. There is no way to know which stop is yours unless you’ve been there before. Luckily we just managed to get off at the right place both times we’ve stopped. Oia is a bit easier because everyone gets off at the end. If you are going to one of the stops along the way make sure you know where it is.

Finally, be nice. Even though it is frustrating, there's no need to take it as far as the man in Oia who acted like a real jerk. You're on vacation! Relax!

Don't be sad...

Try to be like this handsome guy... relax and enjoy your vacation!