February 8, 2015

February 8, 2015 Nearing the end of day two in Zihuat and what a full day it has been! By the time we get to Troncones we're gonna be ready for a hammock! Had a great sleep at Posado Citlali last night in spite of the Saturday night festivities that were going on at the club across the street. I'm guessing that might have had something to do with the fact that we were both falling asleep on our feet! In fact we were so tired that we almost didn't notice the fact that our room was on the second floor which meant we were back into climbing stairs with our cases yet again! My shower this morning was a RUDE awakening as it took forever for the hot water to come and so I had resigned myself to a cold one. By the time I was finishing up...the hot water decided to make an appearance though so I got to have my final rinse with lovely warm water....back to keeping your mouth closed in the shower here though...that luxury only happens in Canada. LOL! Desayuno (breakfast) was down the street at DiDi's, a popular local restaurant with the Mexican community. It hit the spot and the price was right. It seems impossible to pay more than $5 for any meal here! After breakfast we stocked up on water and hit the road in our oversized luxury ride. Fortunately, it is Sunday and so there was little traffic which made the driving MUCH easier I'm sure. As we headed south from Zihuat we passed orchards of avocado trees and several little pueblos en route to the ruins we were headed for just this side of Patalan. The highway we were travelling along would have taken us to Acapulco had we continued on it for another hour or so. One would think that a ruins would be fairly easy to find but no....not for us. We ended up missing the turn which took us further south than we had planned but....since we are the luckiest people we know that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After several stops for directions (in Spanish of course) we lucked out when we met Alexi, his mom, and her friends having lunch at a roadside location. In no time at all, Alexi's mom had volunteered him to come with us in our car so he could show us the right turn to take off the main highway. Alexi hopped in and we were off, back across the river (which they refer to as sweet water since it's not salt) and to the elusive corner we'd been searching for. Once we knew where we were going we returned Alexi to his family and since they were such a nice group of folks...decided to join them for lunch. So it was chili rellenos con queso for us. They were DELISH! And again....under $5! Once we'd said our good-byes to our new friends we were back in the car and headed to the ruins. By the time we finally arrived at the site I have to admit that it was a little disappointing as they're pretty small in comparison to some of the others we've visited on previous trips around Mexico. We did make it to the top though (yes Gail and Darlene....more stairs - lots more stairs!) Once we'd had our fill of the site we hit the road again en route back to Zihuat but along the way decided to take a little detour down to the oceanside at Playa del Barra Portisea. It was an interesting stop as there is a little bay that comes in there and so there were dozens of locals wading in the water throwing out the fishing nets looking for lunch or dinner. The little town (and I use the word 'town' loosely here) is known for it's great fish options in the restaurants. After a little wander on the sandy shores of the Pacific we were back in the car and off to the airport where we were able to change the oversized luxury ride we'd enjoyed for the trip south. It was kind of like when we were in Zanzibar and asked for a downgrade...we were happy to be granted it once again and now Lynda is finding it much easier to manoeuvre through the crowded streets of the city. This evening we got lucky again and stumbled upon an annual celebration in Zihuat where the community comes together to intentionally send out a collective consciousness for world peace. The event was very stirring and I think they called out the names of every country in the world! After the official statement in support of world peace, a group of local indigenous dancers took the stage and once again Lynda and I were in the line of fire (or in this case ceremonial smoke) and so were blessed by the process. I will admit that it's hard not to cough and splutter when you can't get your breath for all the smoke but....it is still a pretty special experience to be gifted with. After the dancers (and our smoky blessing) we ambled along the beach and into the zocalo where many food vendors were set up and as we learned earlier today every Sunday you can get fried quesadilla's....which we did line up for and enjoy immensely. Now we are sitting on a pedestrian roadway just down from the zocalo enjoying an after dinner drink and catching up on this blog. Hasta luego amigos, L & L