Guadalajara to Cabo San Lucas

Drove to Tepic for the night...short drive but we got away late. Got an oil change and paid big time because I am using synthetic oil. Next day on to Mazatlan, got a room in an older hotel on the ocean, parked on the street in the front. Seems we can´t get a ferry reservation, just show up at 9 AM the next day.

Next morning Ardell went to the car and noticed the wiper blades were up and there was water all around rthe car. Some bum was washing it, I guess we left it too dirty for his sensibilities. He wanted a tip for his efforts and suggested 50 cents. Ardell gave him a dollar, being a generous soul, and gave him one of my worn out t-shirts, with a Matco logo I received as a gift a decade ago on a trip to Puerto Vallarta. I hope I´m not sounding like J.R. Peterman, Elaine´s boss from Seinfeld.

Ferry reservation was easy, they weighed the van, we paid the fare, and were told to return at 2 PM. No cabins available. At 2 we drove the van into the ferry, along with a few other travellers and a whole lot of trucks and trailers. Looked around the boat and there were rooms with airplane-type seats 3 across with lots of legroom. Truckers had pillows and sleeping bags, so I went down to the van and picked up a couple of pillows. Meals were included, so we had some hearty beef soup, met some people, watched a movie. I offerred Sonia (a mexican divorcee) a ride to Los Cabos. She showed us her cabin and said we could sleep in one of the skinny beds, just knock on the door. Around 8 everyone fell asleep, including Ardell, all over the floors and benches. Ardell, fit nicely into the airline seats. I couldn´t fit into one, so found a plywood bench to sleep on. Sleep is not the correct term. I woke Ardell and asked to go with me to Sonias cabin, but she was comfortable and didn´t want to. I thought about knocking on Sonia´s door, but maybe that would be a bad idea, my spanish is weak, and she had no english, so I went back to my plywood bench.

I thought if I could return to the van and get a sleeping bag, I would be more comfortable, so down I went. It was poorly lit, trucks really crammed in, some places I couldn´t squeeze between them, floors covered in chains and puddles of water, noisy because of the ferry´s engines, and refrigerator units running on some trucks. I thought about the dangers of carbon monoxide as I stumbled through the semi darkness. Should I hold my breath? What are the warning signs? I couldn´t find the dang van. I had taken a picture of it after it was parked and I looked at that on my camera. Still couldn´t find it. Was it stolen? Was I hallucinating? Returned topside dejected with hands covered with dirt and grease, clothes dirty.

Around 2AM Ardell woke up and we watched the stars, so bright, with the big dipper way lower than we usually see it. Next day we saw whales, a turtle, sea lions, dolphins, seals, a real nature expedition. They served breakfast, scrambled potatoes and eggs, beans, tortillas, lots of coffee. The world is well again. But how could my van get stolen from a ferry? Around 2PM we docked at La Paz. We got off and Ardell, Sonia, and our new friends all waited for the trucks to unload. It took ages for them to unload, and as they emptied I went inside and looked again for my van. Still missing. Around 4 PM the trucks were mostly out and they lowered a huge ramp inside the ferry and a second level appeared holding the smaller trucks and MY VAN. Joy.

Took Sopia to her daughters place in Cabo San Lucas and found a hotel a few blocks from the beach. We went downtown and realized we had left Mexico. Everything was priced in US$. Everyone spoke english. The stores were all familiar. If you like Senior Frog´s, Hard Rock Cafe, you will really love this place. It was spring break. It was jam packed. The marina was full of yachts, some larger than our hotel. If you come here, bring a full wallet, everything is priced triple what we saw in Mexico. But also very nice malls, very clean, and great service everywhere.

Next day we drove around and checked out the beaches. Went to the best snorkling beach, a harbor 13 KM outside of town. It was a small harbor. The 5 snorkling boats almost filled it up. Reef was mostly dead, and the fish lived on the food the boats brought to the harbor. Water was cooler than we were used to, and could only stay in it for about 15 minutes. Water was clear with good visibility. Went to a public beach and swam there too. Helped push a guy who got stuck in the sand. Memories of Saskatchewan! A Ford Escape AWD got stuck real good too. He just stood on the gas till he was axle deep. It took a Nissan 4X4 with 18 inch wheels to pull him out.

Thats all for now,

peter and ardell

Acapulco to Guadelahara

Sitting on the beach in Mazatlan waiting for the ferry to take us to La Paz, on the Baja, composing these thoughts. To take you back to the trip from Acapulco...

Miles of mango trees. Who eats all these mangos, anyways? Drove to Colima, a climb, to a cooler place. Nice city, wide streets. Should have spent the day there, but just crashed.

Saturday, drove to Guadalahara to spend a few days there. Ended up in a suburb, Tonala, because Alexander Florez has a studio there. It is really a buyers paradise because so much is manufactured here. Ceramics, jeans, pottery, paintings, everything mexican. Lots of junk. Want 1000 ceramic frogs? No problemo. Stayed in a hotel that caters to buyers... there is a huge parking lot and it had lots of small trucks from Texas, Arizona, California, Ontario, Mexico, some in the process of loading boxes. There is a huge market of maybe 10 acres that at night is an empty field, then, starting around 7 AM they set up their stalls and then by 8 PM they tear down everything and truck whats left away.

Saturday night, we wandered Tonala, and later went to a couple of discos but they were too loud. Funny, things are the same around the world. The discos had police at the door carrying machine guns. Then drifted into a bar full of middle aged Mexicans. People friendly, several introduced themselves to us. I understood very little, Ardell, nothing at all. But we shared laughs, anyways. We wished the juke box would stop, the music was so bad, but when the band started, we wished the juke box would return. 3 man band, with their backs to the audience, so they seemed to play to the bar. Accordian, Bass fiddle, and Drum. But after we had a few beers, they improved considerably. The drummer found the beat of the accordian player, and once actually turned a 360 and kept the beat. Later the bass player vigorously spun his fiddle on its leg so that it crawled across the room. Much applause. We danced. A mexican guy showed me the proper way to dance in Mexico, apparently my footwork was all wrong. Some people bought us beers. We bought some beers for them. Guy walked in wearing a parka. I asked him if it was snowing. It was too cold for him he said, maybe 22 degrees (70 F).

Sunday we took a bus into Guadalahara, a city of 4 million. Downtown is a beautiful place, they block off 20 blocks of a main street Sunday and people bicycle and inline skate down the sreet. Lots of parks. People playing chess, games and sports. The weather in this area is perfect year round. They say every season is like spring. Many trees were in flower, and just getting their new leaves. We visited some galleries, then returned home via a subway and then bus. Got on the wrong bus and spent over an hour driving through some really ugly neighborhoods. It made me think, this place should be a Garden of Eden, but it has been ruined by so many people trying to survive. If we could go back in time and do something about their birthrate...

Monday, went to Tlaquepaque, another suburb, and this place was an upscale Tonala. Great galleries owned by artists. Lots of limited edition 3-D art. Have you seen those statues of fat mexicans on bicycles? That guy has a studio and gallery here. And lots of others. Really a place to come and see the best art of Mexico in one place.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Peter and Ardell

Huatulco to Acapulco

We were sorry to leave Huatulco. But we have miles to go, and beaches to swim in.

Stopped on the highway and saw a tourist booth. He pointed the way we were going and said Acapulco. Pointed the way back and said Huatulco. That was it. It was so good he repeated it. He really knew that highway.

Drove to Puerto Escondido to spend the night and see the place. Ardell took an exit and magically found the center of town. Hotels were plentiful so we looked around a bit. Found one we liked that had only a few rooms with a balcony over the bay. It was also a hostel with dorms, a community kitchen, a rooftop party place, and a bunch of very friendly 20-somethings from all over the world. We didn´t know it but this place is "The Mexican Pipeline". The rooftop had a nice recognizable smell, where the kids were smoking and drinking those liter bottles of beer to get a buzz on before going to the night clubs at 11 pm. What a great way for young people to make new friends. A tip for young boys, no matter where I go in Mexico, I always find Swedish girls travelling in pairs. Maybe not tire models, but blonde and tanned and wearing bikinis. Not that I noticed. This place is also a great surfing destination. Ardell went to a coffee shop and the manager asked, are you from western Canada? It was the accent and the smile. People from Ontario sound the same, but don´t smile. People from Quebec have a funny french spanish, and maritimers sound Irish. Says another girl on staff can pick out the accents from 35 states.

Next day we went to Acapulco. Everyone said, avoid the place, it has high crime, poluted water and is overpriced. We stayed there anyways and really enjoyed it. I has magnificent scenery, rugged rocks, and numerous bays. The next morning, we went across the street from our hotel to the beach for a swim. While we were in the water, we noticed a rope in the water, almost over our heads, being pulled by about 8 guys.on the beach. There were another 8 guys pulling another rope about 200 yards down the beach. There was a guy organizing the rope because this turned out to be part of a huge net that they dropped out earlier. after about 30 minutes, as the 2 teams of fishermen got closer together, they pulled the net ashore. It was chaos for a few minutes as some fish escaped from the nets into the beaks of pelicans and into the plastic bags of some guys, all looking for a free meal. In the net was a jumble of fish, a few jellyfish, rays, puffer fish, and porcupine fish were thrown back into the sea. They kept about 8 tuna, and lots of other fish I didn´t recognise. I asked a fisherman what kind of fish one was and he told me the price. Wasn´t interested in illuminating some touristo, he just wanted to sell them. And sell them they did. People arrived with plastic pails and bought them on the spot.

We stayed downtown, but if I was to go there again, I would stay at Pie de la questa, a beautiful beach away from the hubub of downtown Acapulco.

Still enjoying the trip. Still in love.

peter and ardell

Tuxtla to Huatulco

To catch you up with our travels...

Left Tuxtla and couldn`t find a place for breakfast so just kept going. No problem, because the Big Mac from the previous night was still digesting. Stopped by the side of the highway for brunch at a place by the side of the road called Economical Kitchen in spanish. Wood fired stove, hand made corn tortillas (yum) and we had large pieces of chicken in broth with some large vegetable. There were 3 types of peppers for a garnish ranging from fiery to killer. Open air place, all the plastic tub chairs were full with families because this was Saturday and a great place. Delicious. This is the way to eat in Mexico.

Tip about gasoline. There is only one supplier here, Pemex, the government oil company. The bronze gas makes my engine ping, so I have to use the high grade. Even that pings under stress. So don`t bring a car requiring premium here.

I mentioned the twisty roads before, but they were nothing like the road down from Tuxtla to the coast. The pavement is brand new, beatifully smooth. But it dropped about 1000 meters in 10 kilometers. Thats 10 to 1 slope. And twisting all the way. Our butts got blistered from sliding side to side. Some hairpin turns were like right hand turns in the city. Going to get the brake pads checked to see if there is any lining left. The mexicans do this road without braking to save their brakes, but I can`t understand how they stay on the road. Of course there are lots of those little dog houses on the side of the road, memorials to people who died there. The temperature went from a cool 68 degrees to an uncomfortable 82 at the bottom. It was just like a midway ride, a real hoot all the way.

Along the west coast we were watching miles and miles of orchards, trying to figure out that purplish green fruit hanging from these trees. Very large farms, big trucks packing them to ship to the world. Stopped in a town when we saw that they were mangos, available at fruitstands. Talked with a local who was carrying his 18 mo daughter, and he went to the stand and asked the operator to get some green ones from inside which she washed for us. So we took a bag of yellow ones and the green ones. Yahoo, mangos for a week for a couple of bucks! We gave that guy a lift to his town and he told us he worked in Cancun, and was going to return there. Cancun treats him well, they pay him well and provide him a room for him and his family. In this town he works for Pepsi where he earns $60 Pesos for 8 hours work. Thats $6.60 Canadian.

Went though a medium sized town and came to an unmarked intersection with a red light. There was a 1-legged man there and I gave him a couple of pesos. He pointed to turn left and said Mexico. I thought we were in Mexico, so I drove straight. Later the road declined to dirt, so I circled back to that intersection. Again at the red light the 1-legged man was there with a huge smug grin on his face, pointing vigorously to the left hand turn. I thanked him sheepishly and he blessed me again. When you make a mistake, don`t lose the lesson. Now I know Mexico means the Mexico state highway.

Got to Huatulco around 6. The Bays of Huatulco is the next great resort area for Mexico. It is absolutely the best Mexico has to offer. The government took the whole area over, and built great connector roads between the beaches, built a village for the workers and tourists, complete with a town square, but thankfully with wide streets. There are lots of very large luxurious hotels here. Water is drinkable, sewage is all treated so nothing gets into the ocean. The water is clear with gorgeous life reefs for snorkelling. Water temp was slightly cooler than Playa, maybe a degree, but still you can still swim and snorkel forever without getting cold. We stayed in a large 4 story beachfront hotel with subservient staff. 3 pools, ocean view, with a balcony overlooking the middle of the hotel. Could get a great breeze through the room, so didn´t need air conditioning, thank goodness. There were only 5 rooms used out of 80. We payed Cdn $70 a night, the most since we left the USA, but it was great value. It even included breakfast, but waiters brought what you wanted, so I couldn`t make waffles.

On the beach where snorkelling is great I met a Mexican retired man, chemical engineer he said, who was vacationing up the coast like us, and told us where to stay in Acapulco. He noticed I was having a beer and asked if I liked Mescal. Don`t know. Do I like Tequilla. Yes, the good stuff. He explained Mescal and said it is the real drink of Mexico, and the clear stuff is the kind to buy. He waited till noon, and went to his car and brought back a 600 ml coke bottle full of mescal, and poured me a shot. I thought it tasted like moonshine, maybe 100 proof, but pretended to like it. Ardell didn`t pretend to like it, and he said it is only for men. The amber Mezcal is for women. He said he goes to the factories and buys it in bulk. I can understand that because he proceeded to drink the whole bottle.

For lunch Ardell ordered the seafood soup. Huge shrimp complete with eyes and feelers, octopus, fish fillet, and the highlight, a large fish head. I thought it was going to sing to me like that mechanical fish trophy that was all the rage a few years back.

Well thats enough for now. Heading west next.

peter and ardell

what is this fruit? Chiapas, Mexico

Crossing the state of Chiapas

Hola friends and family,

Left Ocosingo, couldn`t convince Ardell to stay another day. The mountains here are spectacular. There is no flat land whatsoever. Corn grows on very steep hils. To Maya don`t use animals, they carry everything themselves. Stalky and sturdy, they must have great cardio systems.

Picked up a maya woman who needed a ride. I coudn`t understand where she wanted to go, the names she gave weren`t on the map. All I could understand was Guadelehara. Was she running away from home? Gave her a couple of bananas to eat, then she fell asleep. We were worried we would drive by her destination. Eventually, we slowed down to buy some stuff, she woke up, and asked to get out. That was her stop. Ardell has her picture.

There are lots of army checkpoints on the highway. Sometimes they pull you over for a search, sometimes wave you through. They are looking for guns and drugs. Why can`t they buy them like everyone else?

We drove through to San Christobal, a very old town with those streets 2 cars wide, yet they park on both sides. Have to watch your mirrors don`t collide. Toured the downtown on foot, but it wasn`t to our liking. Heard later that it is a great place to live. So we drove through to Tuxtla to spend the night.

Found a motot hotel which is nice because you can park your car in your own garage (with a beautiful tiled floor). Very large and nice. They refer to these as sex hotels because people can have their adulterous flings and no one knows you are there. They have a room service where they deliver the food in a large thingy like a milk shute. Condoms in a basket. Porn on the TV.

Because we were in an industrial area we couldn`t find a restaraunt so we headed for a mall to see what the food court was like. Parked at the Sears enterance. Ardell asked some clerks where the rest of the mall was and the clerks started to phone for an english-speaking clerk. We left and found the rest of the mall. It was just like being in any mall in Canada or the USA. Same stores. The food court was just like home, and the prices were too. I am ambarassed to say we bought Big Macs. And also embarassed to say they tasted great. Maybe have been eating too many tortillas. Browsed in a bookstore for 30 min or so. Returned to Sears and the english speaking clerk was waiting for Ardell. He didn`t understand her either, but it didn`t matter, just great service from Sears. I finally found a $5 orange juicer and the clerk was right there to help me. Actually 4 clerks were there, all dressed in black and white uniforms. I couldn`t remember the name for cashier, and couldn`t get across that I wanted to pay. Finally I held the juicer up and shouted "La quenta por favor" They all had a laugh and all 4 took me to the cachier (caja). It was a great experience, finding lots of staff to help you in a store. Unheard of in these times of labor shortages.. And we finally got the juicer!

Thats all for now. Will follow up with another installment later.

Ocosingo, Chiapas

This was typed in Ocosingo 3 days ago, but the computer failed before I could hit the send button. Was able to print it out and retype. . Will send an update in a day or so.

Hello everyone

We left Playa del Carmen Feb 27 and left behind a bunch of old friends and new ones. It was time to move on and continue our adventure. Ardell would have been happy to stay there forever because she is such a beach lizard and the beaches there are so very nice.

Went to a movie when the weather was poor. Went to see Will Smith in "In Pursuit of Happiness" because it was nominated for an academy award. If you get a chance to see it, don`t bother. It should be called "In Pursuit of Money" because that was it was really about. Ardell shed a tear, I went out to get more popcorn.

We wanted to see the southermost part of the Mexican east coast and drove south to almost the end of Mexico and stayed in a town called Malahuala. On the way we bought a 50 pound bag of oranges on the highway for $3. He didn`t have any smaller bags. We didn`t have a great time in Malahuala. The beaches are backed by mangrove swamps . As we left the shabby town southward we looked for a place on or near the beach and had trouble finding a place. Crummy road with lots of rope across the road to slow people down, like homemade topes, as if you could drive fast with all the potholes. Lots of property for sale there, and you can buy property right on the beach, something I haven`t seen before in Mexico. The for sale signs reminded me of Manitou Beach. While we wandered around I got bitten on the ankles repeatedly by some bug. Chatted with a California guy and his kids had lots of red sores from bites. The beaches are very narrow, full of seaweed. The sand in the water was slimey, again because of the mangroves and because the beaches are protected by large reefs and atolls. Cruise ships come to this town and we saw a convoy of golf cart cruisers and there are lots of street vendors selling junk crafts. The town shut down around 8 and the only things open was a bakery/restaurant and some mini supers (small grocery stores). We finally found a place and it had limited electricity and cold shower, and a palapa-style roof.. Time to rough it. Maybe in the near future they will drain the swamps and spend money on the beaches. They do things very fast in Mexico.

Next day we headed west and passed through Bacala, a really nice town, full of history, and swam in Mexico´s largest cenote. 250 feet across and as deep. Crystal clear water. They built restaurants right to the water and you could just jump in and cool off, or swing in on a tire on a rope. Didn`t experience their beaches but we both would love to return to this place and spend more time. Very friendly people here. Then we headed west through the jungle, an uneventful drive with nothing much to see. Stopped at Francisco Escarcega, and bought a nice hand wash for the van. It deserved it, and it was nice to watch 4 mexican guys wash and towel dry it. Stayed the night and looked high and low for a hand orange juicer.

The next day we headed west then south through Mex-199. Now we are in Mexico. Temp maxxed at 34C, 93F. This is the state of Chiapas, the home of Mayan revolutionaries who only recently made peace with the government. Remember the Sandanistas, and sub-commander Marcos? There is still a lot of resentment that we could sense. Mayan women are all dressed in black wool skirts, white embroidered tops, and red shawls. They seem friendly as they stand beside topes and sell us those sweet mini bananas. We bought a fruit from a kid who assured us it was edible and sweet. Spanish is their second language, and my spanish is crappy, so we have no idea what it was or how it was. It was larger then a large grapefruit, a leathery skin, squishy soft, and it hung from a 4" stem. Fruit was red, with watermelon type seeds. I offered Ardell the first taste and she wouldn`t until I ate some and didn`t die. As promised, it was sweet, and not bad tasting, but way too large for us. Along Mex 199 there are 2 spectacular waterfalls, and we swam in both of them. Skipped the ruins although they are supposed to be nice.

The mountain highways are in great shape, although the curves and topes slow you down. A car with a standard tranny would be better than my van, and a fast motorcycle would be perfect.

This March 1 journal comes from the town of Ocosingo where everyone has a smile on their faces, and they stare at us because we are so different. Well, maybe just me. Ardell fits in because she is their height and dark because of the beaches. We stayed in the best hotel in town, a 3-story old colonial with a courtyard in the middle. We got the best room, with a balcony overlooking the town square. The hotel was spotless and in perfect shape. For dinner, had taco pastor, a really tasty meat stacked on a vertical spit with a fire on one side like the greeks do, but spiced differetly. Delicious. They held a parade in our honor tonight, with fireworks and a marching band, and 2 people dressed up like mascots, except the costumes were western, the male had blonde hair, a black beard, the woman had huge boobs, so I guess this is what westerners look like to them. I couldnt read the poster exactly but I think they were commemorating the death of some really bad foreigners.

We are really happy with this part of Mexico. Playa del Carmen is wonderful, but a completely different world from this one.

Thats all for now. I know I forgot to mention lots of things that happened.

Peter and Ardell