The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Playa Tangolunda (Huatulco, day 14)

Ruth walked down to the beach at 6:45am to see the sunrise. We are usually up before 7:00am anyhow, but today Ruth wanted to go watch the sunrise. I don’t blame her, the sunrises over the ocean are beautiful.



After we had coffee and tea, we took Whiskey for her morning walk on the beach.

A panorama shot I took of the two large resorts here, the Barcelo on the left, and the Dreams on the right.

I managed to get the wheels cleaned on Sherman’s drivers side, but didn’t get any further before the sun started getting to that side. I’m going to have to start work earlier in the morning, I guess!


Ruth took some more bird pictures. We even got pretty close to a parakeet type of bird. We don’t go looking for these birds, they are just ones that we happen to spot while sitting under our awning.

Here is the large jug of purified water that we buy. It costs between 10 and 12 pesos (between 90 cents and a buck) and contains 25 litres of drinking water. And, we don’t even have to go anywhere…a water delivery truck comes by every day.

We had bought a shoe caddy when we were in Puerto Escondido and finally got around to trimming it to one row and attaching it beside the entrance steps. This way, shoes and sandals will keep off that step. I was always tripping over them!

We needed a few more grocery items, so we decided to take a taxi into town and go for pollo asado (roast chicken) dinner at the same time. The first chicken place we went to was only for takeout, where you could buy the whole roast chicken for 60 pesos ($5.00). So we walked to another place that was off the beaten path and away from the tourist restaurants. Here, we ordered a half chicken that came with rice and beans and tortillas and salsa. We thought we were ordering a half chicken each, but when it came it was only the one half chicken, the rice, a bowl of beans each and tortillas. So we could have used one or two more pieces of chicken, but there was certainly enough food for a decent meal each. The total bill, including tip, was 65 pesos. ($5.42). Yes, that is $2.71 each!


Mucho pollo!

Speaking of cheap, I can’t get used to how cheap the taxis are. I mean we would never think of taking a taxi anywhere in Canada or the U.S. because they are so ridiculously expensive. Anyhow, we flag down a cab here (they are everywhere) and we paid 30 pesos ($2.50) to go the 5 kms (3 miles) or so into town. It’s not normal to tip the taxi driver, but I couldn’t help giving the guy on the way back an extra 10 pesos for helping with the groceries. I mean you can’t even get on a city bus in our old hometown of Ottawa for under $3.00, and that’s per person!

10 comments:

  1. As always, excellent blog! We took one look at your shoe caddy and knew that was the answer. What a great idea and just the right place to put it.

    John
    relaxedrush.blogspot.com

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  2. Thanks for your time and information. We hope to follow the trail you have blazed!

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  3. What a great idea on the shoe caddy! Bravo!!
    Cabs are so expensive here because they charge for you just sitting in the car (I think it's $2.50 start fee).

    You guys look relaxed, tanned and certainly happy!

    How do you get the water delivered? Do you need to call someone or do they approach you?

    Cheers!

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  4. John and Ellen...We hope the shoe caddy will work out the way we want it to. Time will tell. I have attached the other sections on to the bottom of the bed.

    Fueled by Freedom...Thanks for taking the time to check us out. Should you have any questions about any of the places we have stayed or things we have done, don't hesitate to contact us. We are only too happy to help out.

    WBY...Let's hope it works! The cabs here don't even have meters in them. We always ask how much it is to go our destination before we climb into the taxi. That way they know they have to give you a good price or you will wait for another taxi that may give us a better price. If you just hop in they may charge you more thinking you are just a tourista.

    The water delivery truck just drives in to the parking area and beeps his horn. Some places we have been, there have been gas trucks, potable water trucks, seafood salesmen, bread, fruit and vegetable, but no beer and liquor gets delivered, not sure why?

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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  5. I am sure the taxi driver adds the "Gringo Tax" when he quotes the fair. A local would probably pay 20 pesos for that trip. It is still ridiculously cheap for us and I usually add a tip anyway. We did get cheated once in Cancun when a cab wanted $20 USA dollars for the short ride from the ferry to the RV park in Punta Sam, a ride that should have been 20/30 pesos.

    He accepted $100 pesos after I loudly called him a thief and chased off a fair. It was still five times what the ride was worth. It was the only time I did not negotiate the fare before we got in the cab. Expensive lesson, but then it was Cancun!

    We always paid 30 pesos for a ride from the Siesta RV Park to downtown in SMA. Locals paid $20 for the same trip. One driver always charged us $20 and got always a $10 tip. The others got no tip.

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  6. The prices sure are great for everything. Ruth looks so tan!

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  7. Croft...no, we aren't paying any "Gringo Tax", although we have had a driver or two try and charge us more than we should be paying. I always state the correct fare and ask if he still wants the job and they always have. We are confident that we pay the same as the locals do because we research the cost of fares ahead of time. As you know, we're not big on tipping to begin with and we don't like it when the locals expect a tip just because we are gringos.

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  8. Karen and Al...One of the many reasons we come to Mexico is that we like their prices.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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  9. What a great looking meal and those chickens all lined up look scrumptious! Great to see the food as it cooks, you kinda know what you are getting....

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steveio
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  10. Karen and Steve...It was a great meal and gotta love the price. I don't know what kind of sauce they spread over them but it sure tastes great, especially with them cooking over the wood fire. Generally if a place is busy with locals you know it is good. We always look for that if we are going to eat out in Mexico.

    Kevin, Ruth and Whiskey

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