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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Dec 03, 2009 07:00 PM Zhy - hua - ta - nekho!
Very difficult name for the foreigners... And here am I...
Can you imagine little pictureque bay surrounded by hills and filled by the white beaches, palms and blue water?
I woke up 10 meters from the beach, listening to the sound of the waves... Tropical paradise...
I stay in little run-down Hospedaje La Playa paying 250 pesos per room with the bath and fan. There are cheaper places in the town but they are not on the beach - here at sunrise time I can jump directly to the warm water and swim...
After breakfast (Panificadora=bakery is round the corner) I took a long walk to the next beaches in the bay Madera, Ropa and Las Gatas enjoying the views and taking pictures. It is very hot during the day - more then 30 deg. Celsius I believe, and very humid. Fruits are cheap. Bananas at the market cost just 3 pesos per kilo, oranges and mandarinas 4 pesos. But you have to go to the market - shops are more expensive...
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Dec 02, 2009 07:00 PM Road no 200. South along the Mexican coast...
Very tiring day... I took three segunda buses one by one to get from Melaque to Zihuatanejo (no direct connection). It took me full day. Fortunately I did not wait more then half an hour in Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas for the connection.
The road 200 is very picturesque: it is climbing the caastal cliffs, going down in zig-zags but... In the developed country such a roads are marked by green colors on the maps -as a scenic road- There are scenic points, little parkings etc. Sorry not in Mexico... I saw this great views of the rocky islands, cliffs and little sandy bays only in seconds through the 4-5 m high tropical bush. We have a rest stop for the driver somwhere inon the way so I climbed the ridge for the view and it was really great sample of wonderful coastal landscape - you will see the picture later...
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Dec 01, 2009 07:00 PM Segunda to San Patricio
No, do not write about the time unit. Segunda is here the second class on intercity buses. It is slightly cheaper (like 25%) then primera (1st class) but the segunda buses are slower, non a/c and the buses stop anywhere for everybody. Well, sometimes in the Mexican outback you have no choice because primera buses go only at night and you want to enjoy daylight scenery.
I took segunda bus from Puerto Vallarta along the coast to San Patricio Melaque. It cost me 150 pesos. Calculating your trip across Mexico at the moment you can approximate travel cost using the rate: 1 km= 1 peso...
It took me 5 hours to reach San Patricio... Locals do not care about [San Patricio[ they use now only the name Melaque now.
Melaque and the sister town of Barra de Navidad are both located on the wonderful bay.
I took me an hour to walk along the wide sandy beach to get to Barra. There is the monument of Miguel Legazpi - famous sailor who sailed from here in 1564 across the Pacific to colonize the Philippines... Lovely, peaceful place...
Coming back to Melaque I enjoyed another wonderful sunset.
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Nov 30, 2009 07:00 PM Mexican Riviera !
There are already direct buses from San Blas to Puerto Vallarta. They charge 118 pesos for the 3-hours trip through the narrow road.
It was rainy evening when I reached Vallarta. Camionera is located far north from the center of the town so I took the local junk bus for 6 pesos to get to the old town where cheap accomodations are located. Can you imagine? It took me almost an hour to pass thruogh the side streets.
Cheapies are located on Madero street and there is a good choice - Ana Liz charges 190 pesos per room.
Sunny morning gave me a chance to enjoy the beauty of the town: long, palm-fringed promenade, Guadalupe Cathedral and the green hills around... Vere few tourists... But a lot of Americans and Canadians has appartaments here... Hot and lovely day with a romantic sunset at the end! I will have my favorite rhum in papaya to my dinner again! Buenas noches!
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Nov 29, 2009 07:00 PM Crucero San Blas
Thanks to all of you who send me greetings and wishes - sorry I cannot answer all of them....
San Blas is now sleepy, little town on the coast, about 35 kms off the main road. I took a bus heading from Mazatlan to Tepic - 4,5 hours, 200 pesos - and asked politely driver to leave me at crucero /junction/ San Blas. It was already completly dark when he left me there. Hitchhiking in the dark is unsafe, but I did not have the other choice. Few cars passed by ignoring me. Finally I was lucky: I jumped on the last bus coming from Tepic.
San Blas is charming. Spaniards built here a little fortress to protect their ships anchoring in the mouth of the river. You can see romantic ruins - walls and churches. I found accomodation in the family-run Hotel Morelos. They charge 200 per room with fan and bath. From my experience it is not easy to find in nowadays Mexico something cheaper. Once I saw a room for 130 pesos but it was dump and not so clean... Bring mosquito repellent with you - flies are very nasty!
People are nice here when they recognize that you are not a rich gringo but a backpacker from far-away Europe...
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Nov 28, 2009 07:00 PM Second high lighthouse in the world
What I visited so far on my ´09 Mexican trail could be described as Mexican outback... Now it is the time to relax little bit and to enjoy the sun and the warm Pacific Ocean. Mazatlan is the first city on the Mexican Riviera I visit.
It was early morning when I was climbing the hill overlooking both - the long beaches of tourist Zona Dorada and the port. On the top of the hill they built in 1882 the second high lighthouse in the world - the light is on the level of 157 m above the sea. A lot of sweat, but the view is rewarding...
The highest lighthouse is in Gibraltar - I saw it years ago.
Mazatlan has interesting old town - narrow streets full of colors - very quite on Sunday morning. No cruise ships in the port so I had the old town for myself... Pleasure stroll... I stay in the beach hotel Sands - just 500 m walk from the camionera. It is still low season so they charge only 250 pesos for the huge room - it is really good deal if you have companion... To be on the beach just cross the street!
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Nov 27, 2009 07:00 PM Iron church and the junk ferry...
Gustave Eiffel designed for the World Exhibition an iron church... After exhibition they brought it to... Mexico. You can see it in Santa Rosalia. Small but interesting.
I decided to come back to the Mexican mainland - there in a little junk ferry sailing 4 times per week from Santa R to Guaymas. I paid 605 pesos and embarked the junk after obligatory double security control... Few passengers aboard - enough place to sleep in the salon on the seats in front of the TV...
Sea of Cortes was calm and in the morning I desembarked in Guaymas. Well - the town is here nicely located at the bottom of the red hills, the main attraction is the former jail - reminding rather city hall with a clock tower...
Then it was a long, 13-hours bus ride with a locals from Guaymas to Mazatlan. Distances are large in Mexico... A 1-litre bottle of coke cost 10 pesos in the supermarket, I consumed two...
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Nov 26, 2009 07:00 PM Hitchhiking to St Xavier... Broken bus...
Above Loreto - in the mountains there is old mission of St Xavier - one of the most interesting and very isolated.
No public transport. They offered me a car rental to get there (70 USD plus fuel). Sorry. It was 7.30 am - just after sunrise when I was already on the empty side road. 32 kms to the mission... No cars... I started to walk, enjoying great mountain vistas... ´One hour, 40 minutes... Two pickups passed by but did not stop... I was lucky to get a ride after 2 hours walk. The road t the mission is paved untis km 15. Then it is a challenge - gravel, stones, streams to pass.
St Xavier on the other side of the range is worth to see. In the empty stome church you will see 3 altars taken here in the 18th century on the mules...
I was lucky to get the ride back - it took me 1.5 hour, and in the afternoon I wanted to take an onward bus north. Bus arrived, but they announced that it is broken. Only 6 pax inside - I think they wanted to save fuel... Next bus arrived 2 hours later and I went again throuth the nice coastal scenery to Santa Rosalia...
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Nov 25, 2009 07:00 PM Landscapes of Baja California
Camionera - the bus station in La Paz is conveniently located on The Malecon - shore´ promenade dotted with picturesque palm trees - so it was not a long walk with the backpack from ¨Convento¨ where I stay to the bus. Ticket to Loreto costs 239 pesos... It is a long, 5 hours drive.
Baja California or Californian Peninsula is wide country - from Cabos to Tijuana is 1700 kms long... There were great views on the way - thousands of cacti per each kilometre. But the nicest landscape is in the area of Sierra Giganta range. You will see not only the mountains but also blue sea bays... The driver was polite and allow me to take a conductors seat so the pictures will be nice...
I disembarked in Loreto after 5 hours, left my pack in Salvatierra Motel and walked to see the oldest Spanish Mission in Baja located just 500 m away... Nice, old building with a museum attached. Entry to the churches is free but for the museum you have to pay 37 pesos. Great sunset...
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Nov 24, 2009 07:00 PM Los Cabos - Bahia California
Did you see the huge Californian Peninsula on the map? Here I am. I landed in the morning from the ig ferry in La Paz /do you remember my stay in Bolivia? - here is other La Paz/. I found the room in the Convento - cheap hostel located in the courtyard of the former little monastery - 200 pesos per room with bath. Then I took a 3-hours bus drive /120 pesos one way/ to the southern tip of the peninsula. It is nice route - thousands of cacti on the hills. Distant hills and lovely sandy beaches...
Cabo San Lucas is at the end of the route. What a difference... I saw there big American-style resort. Two cruise ships, many white tourists. It is easy to find a boat /10 USD/ for the 1-hour trip to the famous rock - The Arch... Nice place... I was surprised by the little colony of the sea lions living there - like on Galapagos. Dolphins, pelicans and cormorants were also around. Sorry, no sun today, but no rain and only 27 deg. Celsius...
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