Guatemala to Oaxaca in Mexico, a lot of ground to cover! Nice air con buses helped me get to my destination, andactually once in Mexico realised this is the only way Mexicans travel, unlike the rest of central americans on these crazy and fun disco chicken buses which I had grown to love very quickly, but now my modes of transport seemed a lot more civalized, serene, and can I say, a bit boring! My1ststop was Tapacula,just across the border, Igotinat 9pm so was praying a nice hotel was near by as usually Idont like to travel at night. On the bus I got chatting to, or rather he got chatting to me, an old prob mid fifties american guy named Bill, heoffered me some good tequilla in at lunch time at the beggining of our trip, I politly declined, but 8hrs later when still on the bus, I tookhiom up onhis kindoffer and we shared a few swigs together whilst hetoldme of his reasons for traveliing, divorce beingone of them, being kicked out ofhis house byhis wife and having a girlfriend inNicaragua being another! This passed the time untill I made my excuses and went back to my seat, with a slightly warm fuzzy feeling from the booze ahhh. Ifound a nicehotel right by the bus station andsettledfor thenight and Dirty Dancingwas playing on Cable so all was good.
Well,I thought Id head to the pacific ocean on my way to Oaxaca City, just for a few days, I seem to get withdrall symptoms if I dont spend a few lazy days hanging out at the beach every 2 wks or o, I think this is fair enough. BUT, and as you can see, this is a BIG BUT, unless I choose a beach which my guide book says is comercial and is equiped for tourists then it really is not worth going to. The big problem being the accomodation, or lack of, rather than the beaches themselves which are always pretty stunning. I arrived by collectivo taxi, to abeautiful strectch of Pacific Ocean, only to find myselfbombardedby men, trying to help me find a suitable place to stay for the night, this bit was fine, but I looked at 3 rooms in various locations just off the beach front and OH MY GOODNESS they got progresivly worse, as did my mood! Ok think Bankok Hilton!! these places were horrendos! I walked into this one room, which had a steeldoor and tiny tiny window like a prison cell, the lady was saying bonito si (pretty yes) paint peeling off the dirty stone walls, a scruffy sink in the corner, a skanky probably bug ridden dirty mattress on an old wooden frame and the thought even now,is sending shivers down me!! how on earth did these people think that this was acceptable, yes it was only $10a night but I wouldnt keep pigs in somewhere like that! so disgusting! but I actually found myself, just for 1 second thinkning, maybe it would do for just 1 night,then suddenly right away came to my senses and backed quickly out of the room smiling and cringing saying gracias but not for me and practicaly ran in the opposite direstion, which is kind of tricky with my 2 stone backpack on my back!! So,I hobbled to the pretty beach,sat and ate some good grilled fish and drank homemade lemonade and contemplated whilst being stared at by some local young chicos on quad bikes, what on earth to do next! Get the hell out of here, and maybe just see if there is a night bus all the way to Oaxaca City, this is exactly what I did. Luckilyonce Iarrived 2 busses later in Oaxaca City at 4am,I made afriend, an Israli guy named Joran, we whiled away the hours of the night in the bus station waiting forthe new light of the day so we could venture to a nice hostel, me eating cookies and us just swapping stories and chatting away, lovely,and as I hadnt really spoken to anyone properly in a day or 2 this came as quite refreshing. We found a lovely hostel, settled in, met another guy, called Danilefrom Bible camp in a near by village, he was sweet and acted as our tour guide for the morning, took usfor breakfast inthe local Plaza and we watched the day unfold and the city become alive, and I gotthat feeling of content and realised I had a found a little gemof a place and was very happy to call this home for the next week.
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