After lunch, I figured I had better do something productive

It's not very often that we just sit around and do nothing. The blog posts would be pretty boring if that was all we did every day!

But as I said yesterday... it's pretty easy to be lazy around here!

"Hey, there's a whale!"

We are about 50 kms (30 miles) south of the tourist area at Ixtapa - Zihuatanejo at the town of La Barrita. La Barrita is not actually a town, as such. There are about 100 people living here... a few beachfront restaurants and a couple more out on the highway... and an elementary school. That's about it.

There isn't much in the way of shopping available, although there is a fruit and vegetable truck that comes in every couple of days. Yesterday, Ruth and I went with our host Lorraine into the small city (pop 20,000) of Petatlán.

It's always an adventure in Mexico!

Driving days are always interesting because you just never know what's going to come up! Yesterday was definitely one of the more interesting ones.

We were only doing 170 kms (105 miles), but as I've mentioned before, coastal highway 200 is pretty slow going. You'd be lucky to average 60 km/h (36 mph). So we planned to set off at 7:30am, with intentions of arriving at our destination by 11:00am or so. But we were a few minutes late leaving!

Boat tour and birds

Yesterday, we took 10 members of the group and booked a boat tour of the lagoon on the opposite side of Pie de la Cuesta.

The price was 150 pesos ($7.90 USD, $10.50 CAD) per person for what was billed as a three hour tour. We arranged it for a 10am start.

Acapulco

Yesterday, nine of our group took the local bus into Acapulco. Ruth and I have not been to Acapulco since 2013, but not much has changed. Although Acapulco doesn't receive as many international tourists as it once did, the city is still an ocean playground for many people from Mexico, especially since Mexico City is only three and a half hours away by car.

There are two things you have to do as a visitor to Acapulco... one is to see the famous cliff divers at La Quebrada... and the other is to take the local bus!

We walked out the gate to the road, and a bus was coming!

Saying goodbye to Tioga George

Sad news out this morning that long time vagabonder supreme Tioga George has passed away. I guess his family was finally able to post on his blog...

https://blog.vagabonders-supreme.net/2019/02/dear-readers.html

We first met George here in Mexico in 2013.

Playa Ventura to Acapulco

We weren't sure when we were going to be able to leave Playa Ventura. The problem was that they were holding their annual half marathon, and we were parked right near the finish line!

So at 7:00am, there was all kind of activity going on. Originally, we had been told it should be all over around 9:00am, but it did not look promising.

Puerto Escondido to Playa Ventura

We hit the road at 7:00am on Saturday morning, so did not have time to do a blog post that morning. So... a quick update about our activities on Thursday and Friday...

Thursday night, we went to see the bio-luminescence in the Manialtepec Lagoon west of Puerto Escondido.

January Expenses

Well, nice to see our expense report is finally back to normal for January! In fact, it's the cheapest month for us in almost a year.

Normally, we do not spend very much money while touring Mexico. Last year's trip was an anomaly because we were still responsible for our fuel and toll road costs and there was a lot more driving involved than usual. This year, our route is a lot less distance and we try to stay off toll roads when it makes sense to do so.

Bought some more flight tickets!

Our regular readers will remember that we cancelled our plan to go to Newfoundland with the motorhome this summer when I bought us some cheap tickets to Australia. The Australia flights are from Calgary to Melbourne on May 16th.

Then, I bought us a couple of tickets from Ottawa to Calgary on May 8th. We will rent a car in Calgary and go back to Cabri, SK for a couple of days to visit. These tickets were on sale for $220 CAD each and I had enough Visa Travel Points to pay for them both.

Beach time

Went to a few different beaches yesterday. We were actually trying to check out some tour prices for the group. We were thinking of doing either a dolphin/whale watching tour, or a trip out to see the bio-luminescence effect in the lagoon near here.

There aren't many places in the world where you can see the bio-luminescence... Ruth and I saw a similar effect in South Africa.

Happy to be back with our Mexican family!

Yesterday, we brought the group from Playa Tangolunda in Huatulco to Playa Carrizalillo in Puerto Escondido. Not a long drive, so we didn't set out until 9:00am.

We haven't been in Puerto Escondido since 2014! Despite the fact that it is our favorite coastal town in Mexico, it just didn't happen the past couple of years. And after doing last year's route that didn't include any of our three favorite places, we weren't about to miss it this year.

A face only a mother could love...

Ruth and I went for a stroll on the beach here at Tangolunda Bay yesterday morning. While it's too hot to do any actually exercise as such, going for a "stroll" is okay.

Lots of people out enjoying their one and two week all inclusive resort time.

Bike ride and chicken lunch

The roads around Huatulco area are really good for bike riding. Well, except for the fact that there are a lot of hills! But, it's the hills that give you some good exercise... so Ruth and I finally got the bikes off the back of the motorhome and went for a ride.

This is the first time since we crossed the border eight weeks ago today that we have used the bicycles. There is not really a lot of opportunity in the first half of the trip... but there will be more in the second half.

Snorkeling day at Playa la Entrega

Yesterday morning, eight of us hopped in two taxis to head to the other side of La Crucecita to one of the best snorkeling beaches in Mexico... Playa la Entrega.

It's located on a very calm bay with a reef so there is always lots of sea life. Strangely, it's a very "Mexican" beach and not that many gringos go there. Quite a change from Playa Tangolunda where it is mostly white people due to the three all inclusive resorts.

Beach time and birdwatching

Nothing planned with the group yesterday. Good thing though, because after the long drive on Wednesday everybody needed some relax time. Four of us did go into the town of La Crucecita to the big Chedraui grocery store there to do some stocking up.

At 9:30am though, Ruth and I went for a walk on the beach before it got too hot. Here on the southern Pacific coast of Mexico, the temperature is a very consistent 30C (86F) every day.

Long drive to the coast

We've been in Mexico for just over 7 weeks and we finally made it to the Pacific Ocean. We're going to spend the next three weeks or so having some beach time as we make our way up to Zihuatanejo before heading inland again.

But it was a bit of a drive to get here!

Off to the beach!

Yesterday was a rest day so everybody did their own thing. A couple went into the Walmart, and another couple had missed the big tree the other day in el Tule, so they went in to see it on their own. I think everybody else just hung around the campground.

We chose to get out and get some exercise because we had seen a path going up a hill in behind the campground. Bob and Denise like to hike too, so they came with us along with dog Scarlet.

The biggest tree in the world

Only 5 kms (3 miles) down the road from the campground is the town of Santa Maria del Tule where the largest tree in the world is located. Not the tallest... the largest. To be more specific, the largest diameter of the trunk.

So yesterday morning, we got the group down to the main highway and flagged some taxis to take us to the central plaza where the tree is located.

The petrified waterfalls at Hierve el Agua

Our driver Omar arrived with our 20 passenger van right on schedule at 9:00am. This time, we had 15 people heading out. There is another couple here at the campground in their VW campervan, and we invited them to join us for the day of touring. Plus, more people in the van makes the cost per person cheaper!

First stop was the huge Sunday market at Tlacolula.

Back by happy hour!

A bit of a long day for me yesterday. I was up at 3:30am to get to the bus station in Oaxaca City in time for my 5:00am departure to Puebla.

Our campground host Del, was nice enough to get up at silly o'clock with me to drive me into the bus station.

Rug weaving, alebrijes, and pickpockets!

Most of the villages around the city of Oaxaca have specialty artisans. We visited two of them on Friday.

Our driver Omar showed up with a fancy 20 passenger van that we had booked for 9:00am. The van with bilingual driver rents for 370 pesos ($20 USD, $26 CAD) per hour. Omar can be contacted at [email protected].

Travel day... Puebla to Oaxaca

I'm certain that Roy and Sue thank you all for the "get well soon" thoughts. And, it seems to be working. Sue is pretty much back to normal, and Roy is improving every day. I'm pretty sure they'll be ready to travel when I go to collect them on Saturday.

In the meantime, the rest of us did the fairly long drive to Oaxaca City yesterday.

Moving on today

Not under ideal circumstances though. Roy and Sue's health seems to be improving, but not enough for them to do a six hour drive.

We spoke to the doctor again yesterday morning, and he asked us to take Roy to get a chest x-ray.

Still in Cholula

Cholula doesn't seem to want us to leave. Which is fine, because it's a nice enough spot that we're at and there is still stuff for the group to do in the area. Or for others, it simply gives you a chance to relax and get caught up on things.

Which is pretty much what we did yesterday!

2018 Financial Year in Review

I spent a couple of hours this morning finally getting caught up on our expenses from November and early December. Fortunately, I had been on top of things since mid December, so since then, and into January are already up to date!

2018 was our most expensive year since we took off in the motorhome in 2007. By far!

Minor change in plans

We were supposed to be on our way to the city of Oaxaca this morning, but Sue and Roy are still fighting a bug and we had the doctor back to check on them yesterday evening. So we're going to stay at least one more night, and possibly two. Actually, we'll stay until they feel well enough to drive.

That's the benefit of our schedule. We do have a route and a schedule planned out, but we are flexible enough to be able to make adjustments as we go along. Nothing is written in stone depending on if medical or vehicle problems come up.

Really good day showing off the city of Puebla

We took the group into the city of Puebla yesterday.

Where Uber is available, we use it a lot in Mexico. The system works so well, and it's so cheap. We stood outside and three of us ordered Uber using our phones. Within five minutes, the rides showed up and took us right to the center of Puebla, about 14 kms (8.7 miles) away. Total cost per vehicle was about 125 pesos ($6.75 USD, $8.75 CAD). Divided by 4 people, that's a pretty cheap ride!

Doctors still make house calls in Mexico!

We hung around the RVs yesterday morning. One of our group came down with a bug of some kind, and his wife ended up getting the same thing. We asked around if we could get a doctor to make a house call, and sure enough that's exactly what happened.

Just before noon, the doctor arrived. 

Probably the cheapest lunch ever!

We love showing people parts of Mexico that they have never been to before. And since most Canadians and Americans stick to the touristy beach cities of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cancun, we're getting a lot of opportunity to show off some areas of Mexico that are off the typical tourist trail.

We are now in Cholula, which is essentially a suburb of the city of Puebla. And the city of Puebla is pretty much a suburb of greater Mexico City, except it is separated by two big volcanoes!

Driving day... Tepotzotlan to Cholula

Driving days are always interesting... you never quite know how smoothly things will go. Turns out that yesterday went pretty smooth, although there were a couple of minor glitches!

First thing we had to do was to top up the fuel. Mexico has been experiencing some fuel delivery problems, and there have been a lot of stations without any fuel at all. Usually, it's a very temporary situation.

Last day in Tepotzotlan

It was our last day at Pepe's RV Park. We spent the morning relaxing, and then after lunch a bunch of us walked into town to see the World Heritage Virreinato National Museum here in Tepotzotlan.

The building itself was a Jesuit College, built in the early 1600's. The attached Church of San Francisco Javier was built between 1670 and 1682. It is likely one of the most ornate churches we have ever seen, all of the alter pieces are carved of white cedar and adorned with 23 1/2 karat gold leaf.

A couple of days to get caught up

Compared to last year's trip, we have a lot more days of rest on this trip. It's one of the things we wanted to change, and so far, we think we have found the right balance. In fact, someone left a comment yesterday saying "Sure sounds as though this small caravan is working for you two."

And yes, we think it is. We had a little discussion yesterday with some of the group about things we could change or do differently, and it would seem that everybody is very happy so far. Including us!

Day trip to the ancient city of Teotihuacan

One of the highlights of the Mexico City area is the ancient city of Teotihuacan. It's a little difficult to get to from where we are at Pepe's Hotel and RV Park, but Pepe's sells organized tours to the ruins site, along with a guide and a bus. So our group took them up on that.

Yesterday was the first day of the year where the Mexican population is back to work and school. It was suggested to us that we leave early to make the best use of our time, so we were all on the bus at 8:00am.

Last day in Mexico City

We got the group back down for breakfast at 8:00am. With only three days and two nights in the Big Tamale, you want to take advantage of every minute. If we do this again next year, we might spread it over three nights and try to relax a little more. The downside to that might be that we don't relax, and we just try to see even more!

Anyhow, we decided to walk over to the Monument of the Revolution. Then to give the group a different experience, we took the Mexico City Subway to the historical center.

The best way to see a city is by walking

There is a lot to see in the downtown area of Mexico City, and there are many ways of getting around. Taxis are inexpensive, and Uber works well and is even cheaper. The metro buses, the subway (underground) shared bicycles, shared electric scooters... transportation for everyone!

But we choose to walk. Although... the shared electric scooters look like fun!

Into The Big Tamale - Mexico City!

A minibus arrived at Pepe's Hotel and RV park just after 10:00am Friday to take nine of our group into Mexico City. We all piled in, and it was sure nice to have someone else do the driving in the busy city traffic.

Mexico City is huge. They say that the metropolitan area  is around 21 million people, but they're probably off by a million or two either way. How could they count that many people all squeezed into such a small area?

Traffic jam!

Yesterday was a driving day as we made our way from Valle de Bravo to Tepotzatlan. Ruth and I have been on most of these roads before at some time or another, but never this particular route all in one day.

There is no easy way to get 8 motorhomes from Valle de Bravo to Tepotzotlan.