This article is from the June 2004 The Mexico File newsletter.
Back to Articles List

BOOK REVIEWS 

Bus Across Mexico
by Robert Berryhill. Bengi Publishing, 2001, 230 pages, $19.95. ISBN: 0970097956.  

Reviwed by Gordon Jett  

Bus Me, Baby! 

In 2001 Mike and Terry Church published a  book that would revolutionize RV camping in Mexico. It was accurate, thorough, and made you want to grab a toothbrush and hit the road.  

Now a guy named Robert Berryhill has done the same thing for bus travelers! Who knew that Mexico has the largest and most efficient bus system in the world? I�ve lived in Mexico for ten years and didn�t know that. 

It seems that there are over 800 bus lines in Mexico and that their schedules are controlled by a single master computer. I would have guessed that they could change schedules on a whim, but that isn�t so. Berryhill does a masterful job in collating tons of information that makes it easy to pick your destination anywhere in Mexico. And the key is that you can count on the schedules he prints. Pick your destination and Berryhill tells you the location of the bus terminal, the times of departure, the travel time, the cost, and the amenities at the terminal and on the bus. He even tells you how to pronounce your destination and provides a bus traveler�s Spanish vocabulary. 

When you think of a Mexican bus you probably envision a recycled school bus, belching smoke and filled with screaming kids, goats and chickens. They do exist, but only way, way into the country. Inter-city �Executive Class� busses these days are built by Mercedes-Benz. They often have just three rows of seats across. The seats recline almost to horizontal, and they have hostesses and provide snacks and clean restrooms! Air-conditioned, of course, and many provide �in flight� movies. All for a fraction of the cost of flying! 

Bus Across Mexico by Robert Berryhill is available from Amazon.com, and if you�re a Mexicophile like me, it could be the best twenty bucks you�ve ever spent. I�m thinking of trading in my old motor home for a bus ticket to Cancun!