The Purple Gate

‘Every person I meet today will be new to me.’ This was the thought I had while sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to board. This would turn out to be the beginning of a long trip. A two plane, 3 bus, and a train trip. All to arrive at a place that I didn’t even know existed until a few days before. I decided, solely due to the location, a little fishing village would be the next place I would go. All I have to do is get there.
As I began to research how I would get to the village, I started to have second, third, fourth, and fifth thoughts. Due to the location, I knew it was going to be an adventure and I didn’t know if I was up for the challenge. After many conversations with myself, I decided that not only was I up for it, I was open to travel to a place not on the ’Top 10 Places to Visit’ list. I will admit that it isn’t far from places on that list, but I believe where there are big gems, little gems aren’t too far away. So, with that in mind, I booked tickets for travel and made lodging accommodations. Fast forward to me sitting in the airport.
The flight portion of my journey, easy breezy. No problems with my connections, nothing. Smooth sailing. Now getting to the train station proved to be a tad difficult. Did I mention that I don’t speak the language? Yes, English and charades, that’s about it! Well, I thought the street signs would point me in the right direction and that was my first misjudgment. After boarding a shuttle bus from the airport, I missed my stop and the bus driver seemed a little annoyed, but not overly. We managed to agree where I was going, him speaking very little English and me nodding or shaking my head. After a brief ride, he stopped, pointed in the direction of the train station and I hesitantly got off the bus. I walked straight, left, right, then proceeded to ask many people to point me in the direction of the train station. A few points later, the train station was in sight. I bought my ticket at a kiosk and waited for the train.
After getting off the train, I then had to find the bus stop. It didn’t help that the train station had some construction so it took some time. With a quick Google search (yes I have an international data plan) it told me where to buy my bus ticket. I bought my ticket and asked the lady where to catch the bus. She simply said, “To the left.” I thought in my head, “Well ma’am, there are a lot of things to the left.” I said nothing. I kindly thanked her and made a left out of the shop. I was searching for something that looked like a bus stop. Anything. After I turned up empty, I returned and asked the lady again. This time there were some important details. Why she didn’t mention them the first time was beyond me. I followed the directions and made it to the bus stop. I get on the bus. The very crowded bus.
While sitting in the back, I realized that this was their city bus. It didn’t matter how crowded it got, the driver stopped at every stop and more and more people got on. As I’m riding along in awe of the absolutely stunning views, I’m wondering about when and how to get off the bus. Before I proceed, I must inform you that the bus stops aren’t clearly marked. You have to know the stop. The bus driver doesn’t announce anything. So what do I do you ask? I whip out my phone and turn on my maps app. I get reception and it states that my town was 26 minutes in the opposite direction. Not 30 seconds later, my host sends me a message stating that I missed the stop. I get off at the next town. Now I’m cooking with grease! I know exactly where I’m going. I buy another bus ticket and wait. I enjoyed watching people as they watched me pass the time.

When I boarded the bus for the second time, I told the driver where I was going in my best accent and he said he knew and would stop the bus for me. As he proceeded to talk through my stop, I looked back and saw the village. I walked up to the driver and told him I needed to get off because I missed my stop. The driver pulled over at the stop in the next village. He looked confused and asked me where I was going. I said the name of the village a second and third time, second misjudgment. Tip: if you don’t speak the language, don’t try to say the name of the village. Maybe that is why my host told me to show him the name. Accepting that my accent and pronunciation of the village was jacked up, I followed directions and showed the next driver the name of the village. I stood right by him, never sitting down.

He stopped the bus in front of the purple gate, I got off and grabbed my luggage. My host was walking toward me. I had never been so happy to see someone I had never laid eyes on. She gave me the best ‘welcome, I’m so sorry you can’t follow directions but you made it’ hug. We laughed and shared a little about ourselves as we walked to my place. I had finally made it. I just hope it was all worth it.