Crazy bus problems

23.03.2016

I was lucky enough to catch the 6:30 bus to Curitiba after work. I went down to the highway right after my last class and figured that if no bus came, I'd just walk to the rodoviaria, where I know there was a bus leaving at 6:30 for sure.

Anyway, a ton of people had the same idea, so I just waited with them and followed them to Ponta Grossa. I had about 30 seconds to buy my ticket and a big white sign said CURITIBA 6:30, so I asked for that one and ran to the bus. As the driver was leaving the station, he said "something something Paranagua", so I ran to try and tell him I bought the wrong ticket.

A random guy who spoke English told me that I just had to stay on the bus and I could pay later. OK, cool. I wrote to Francine in Curitiba to cancel, and then to Ingrid in Paranagua to let her know my arrival time. Ingrid said she'd pick me up and everything was fine for an hour.

When we got to Curitiba though, a huge line was waiting to get on our bus, and they kicked me off, telling me to buy a ticket on the next bus, leaving at 11:15. Oh good god. I'd arrive in Paranagua at 1:15 a.m. Ingrid said that would be fine, but I still felt guilty, and also wanted to get a little extra sleep tonight, so I took an earlier bus to Pontal do Sul, which was actually closer to Ilha do Mel and had more frequent ferries to take in the morning.

It was pouring when we arrived, and I was the last one on the bus. The bus station manager wouldn't even tell me which direction to walk in to get a hotel, so I just took off on my own toward some lights. I found a bar/convenience store where the owner drew me a terrible map and I didn't get anywhere near any hotel.

Undeterred, I kept walking toward the ferry, pretty sure I would find something. All i Found was an angry dog and gave up looking. I saw a man and woman in their yard and asked them where I could stay. After a few minutes of not understanding each other, they offered me their couch, but I felt bad again, so I went back to searching on my own. Finally, I saw a taxi and flagged it down. The driver took me to a hotel, almost exactly where I had gotten off the bus! I was so angry at that bus station man. I paid the driver and took a room. It was clean and sparkling white. Good enough.

Pousada Caminho das Ilhas