Look right!

Nearby the Central Bus Station in Cardiff.

Getting off at the right bus stop requires some advanced skills acquired through thorough study of science and a lot of training in arts as well as some instinct and plenty of luck. In most of the buses they do not announce the names of bus stops. You cannot find it anywhere inside the bus, too. And in common timetables with routes, you cannot find all the stops that bus is going through. Say, out of forty of bus stops, you can find there only ten most important of them. All in all, if you are traveler just visiting Cardiff, you might find it extremely difficult to get to the exact place you want to. If you want to go to the place you have never been before, you have to ask the driver, where to get off or your local friends have to describe the place for you. The common instructions then look like this:

“After the roundabout, the bus will go around the big blue building on your right and when you can see the small park on the left side, it is time to get off the bus.”

And if you are misanthrope and you do not want to speak to people, you have to spend hours with Google Street View.

Further, the bus stops seem to me to be the other way round. As if the bus should go through the pavement or something like that. I added some pictures, so that you can see it as well.

I do not know where should I wait for the bus. Does the driver even see me behind the glass?

And THE left side! I suppose it was created a long time ago (in a galaxy not so far away) to put off the immigrants from the life in Great Britain. If you do not get run over by any vehicle (here you cannot find any street sign saying Look right! like in London), there is at least a big chance you end up at the completely different part of the city than was your original intention, because of getting on the bus on the wrong side of the road.

But I must admit, that although the system may seem pretty user-unfriendly, the people around are always helpful. The bus drivers are very patient when confronted with never ending inquiries from foreigners about where to get off. When travelling here, do not forget to be polite and thank them. People don’t say goodbye, when they get off the bus, they usually thank the driver. I enjoy this local expression in particular:

“Cheers, drive!”

I always feel too jovial when I say it, as if I was drinking with driver, but I like it anyway.