Puerto Escondido is a lovely spot! We relaxed today. Walked down to breakfast at Cafecita where we had dinner last night. I had a big bowl of fruit with granola and yogurt. Duke had French toast and fruit.

We talked to an American guy who is retired military and has been traveling around Central America looking for a place to settle. He said he was going to look at houses today.

We spent the morning reading. Around noon we headed down to a different beach from yesterday. We swam and had beer and some shrimp tostadas for lunch.

When it got warmer we headed back up to where we are staying and cooled off in the pool.

Tonight we went down to the center of town and had a wonderful dinner overlooking the beach as the full moon came up!

This morning before we left Bahias de Huatulco we went for a short walk on the beach to celebrate being on the Pacific and the warm weather.

Then we got in the car and drove about two hours up the coast to Puerto Escondido. We are staying in a lovely place with high ceilings, ceiling fans and working air conditioning! There is a pool right outside out door and the beach is about four blocks away.

As soon as we got here we headed down to the beach. We sat under a palapa (thatched-roof sun umbrella), had some cold beer, went swimming, had some more bear, and went swimming again. About four we came back up to our place and I tried out the pool. It was wonderful!

For dinner we had another great fish dinner while sitting outside.

Duke visited Puerto Escondido back in the 1980s. It was much, much smaller. There was an old aerial photo of Puerto Escondido on the wall at the restaurant. When Duke asked when it was taken the waiter said it was taken around 1975. Duke commented on the fact that he flew in here on a DC3 once back then and the waiter told us that where we were sitting used to be the airport!!

We finally made it to the Pacific today but not without a bit of excitement. We are staying at the resort area of Bahia de Huatulco. We were about halfway between Tuxtla Guitterez and here when we saw the cars and trucks ahead all stopped. Duke rolled down the window and asked Que Pasa – what’s happening. Someone told him that the garbage workers were protesting!

I’ve heard of these protests. They just stop traffic for who knows how long. We sat for about 45 minutes in the car in the sun wondering what would happen. While we were waiting with all the trucks and other cars A big inter city bus pulled up near us The passengers got off. A bunch of tuk tuk three wheel taxis appeared and ferried the passengers to the other side of the protest. The bus turned around and here came a bunch of people from the other side of the protest. They got on the bus and off it went. About 15 minutes later another bus pulled up and the same thing happened again. Obviously this is fairly routine! And a good deal for the tuk tuk drivers.

A late model VW had been waiting in front of us this whole time. Another car pulled up next to us and the driver started talking to the VW driver in front of us. It seemed obvious that he was explaining that he knew a way around the protest. The guy jumped back in his car, turned around and took off. The VW driver turned around and followed him and we decided to do the same. It was about a 2 and a half hour detour, some of it on dirt roads but our ‘guide’ seemed to know where he was going. Although there were a few wrong turns eventually we were on the interstate again

We had no more detours and eventually got to Bahia Huatulco where we are tonight. It is a beautiful resort community built from scratch about 30 years ago. Now that we are on the coast it is hot and humid. We had our first long anticipated fish dinner. Unfortunately the AC in our room only barely works. Tomorrow we are going to head to Puerto Escondido.

I wonder if all those truck drivers are still waiting at the protest!

It has been a busy day! When we woke up this morning in San Cristobal de las Casas the rain had stopped and there were even patches of sun. We walked toward the center of town and found coffee and breakfast. Then we headed towards where we had left the car nine days ago. After a bit we got a collectivo going in the right direction. When we recognized our corner we got out and retrieved the car from the place that kept it for us. It was great to be on the road again in our trusty own car!

We drove to our hotel, checked out and then walked to Na Bolum. It is a museum and research center that was the home of Swiss anthropologist Trudy Blom and her Danish Archaeologist husband. In the 50s and 60s they fought to protect the local people and environment and explore and survey ancient Mayan sites. The pictures and artifacts were fascinating.

On the way back to the car we stopped at a chocolate store and had yummy hot chocolate.

Then we were on the road retracing our steps toward home. Tuxtla Gutiérrez is just 50 miles west of San Cristobal de las Casas but it is 4600 feet lower. The temperature is warmer, and it feels more modern. In San Cristobal de las Casas there were lots of indigenous women in traditional dress in Tuxtla Gutiérrez we saw none.

We have been here before and did almost the same thing. We went to the marimba museum then watched the marimba music in the square. There were a lot of people mostly our age or older dancing. After about an hour we sat in a restaurant overlooking the square, had a great dinner and listened to the marimba players some more.

It was raining a bit as we walked back to our hotel but when it is warm it makes a big difference.

Tonight we are back in San Cristobal de Las Casas where we left our car. I just looked at the weather and it is 90 in Reno and 61 here in San Cristobal!

This morning in Antigua the van picked us up at 5:30. It was full but most of the people were going to Lake Atitlan. After they all got off there were just four of us. So it was a very comfortable ride. The weather has been cool here in the mountains but at our rest stop it was still dry and they had charcoal fires going in the restaurant. The hot coffee hit the spot.

They have had a lot of rain and the main road was washed out. We had to take a dirt road detour. The bus company was paying some of the villagers to add gravel to the road on the muddy hills. These Guatemalans are resourceful!!

When we got back on the highway the sun was shining through and it looked like a promising day. But it was raining when we got to the Mexican border and the rain just kept getting harder

We arrived in San Cristobal de las Casas at about 6 pm to torrential rains. We started walking to our hotel in the rain. Eventually we were soaked and still not sure where the hotel was so we got a cab. I need to either get a cover for my suitcase or get a new waterproof suitcase!! Pretty much everything is wet! At least we are in a dry hotel room 🙂