Halfway through Mexico

Mexico is BIG... well not so much wide, but very very long.
I had planned to zip through Mexico in about 5 days, then R & R in Guadamala.

Mmmm, best laid plans and all. Five days of flat out travel from San Diego, had only got me around half way down the length.

The fifth night, when I did my last blog, made a rather stupid mistake.. Thought I had booked into the best bargain hotel I have ever seen.. Lock up garage, superb facilities, ushered straight into garage when I first arrived (dog tired, and dirty from the road) room service cheap, with first class food, and wierdly two channels of óver the top ´the whole chicken´style porn on the TV. All for around $21.00 per night. In my fractured phrase book Spanish I established that check out time was 8 oclock. Well I thought, this is all very weird, never heard of a Hotel like that, but then again I am an alien in an alien world.

I was quite happy with everything, and eventually got off to sleep, only to be suprised by the phone, at 1.00 am. I thought maybe Helen had called and got the time wrong.. Turned out it was reception, at first in Spanish, to which I crankily responded that Yo no comprehendo´´´ My tormenter immediately turned to perfect English, informed me that my 8 hrs was up, time for me to go!!!! I was very angry, but in the end paid for another 8 hours, it was the middle of the night, and didnt want to get up and they had big security guy´s which I had previosly found comforting..

I left that town the next morning in the fouulest mood possible, which lasted all day.

Beautifull ride through stunning country but all I could think about was the rip off, and the lousy Mexican roads, and how long this was all taking, and I think I´ll just bloody turn around, and head for home.

Anyway, after a terribly long unpleasant day on the road, quite by accident, I stumbled into what I thought was another dusty Mexican village, and thought I was going to have to sleep in a cocoroach infested slum with noisy traffic roaring past all night.... Wrong.

The town of Malaque, on the west coast about half way down Mexico, is a low end tourist town, still very Mexican, but with many beautiful hotels, fabulous beach, great eating and a very active community, both tourist and Mexican... Cock fights, Bull fights, and a national festival tonight.

I ended up in a beautiful Hotel on the beach for $25 per night, and have ended up staying 3 days..

I am now relaxed and ready to continue. Have come to grips with it taking a long time to travel on Mexico, and am determined not to let it get to me again..

By the way the rip off hotel turnrd out to be an enormous cultural mistake by me... It is what they call a love hotel... Extended familys with lots of kids and granparents mean very little privacy for parents, who sometimes escape to the love hotel for a few hours privacy... Lesson learned.

I would be interested to recieve any comments, so I know if anyone is out there.

Ian. Feb 9 2007