OR AT LAST I HIT THE LA PLAYA!
I’ve been an industrious solo traveller, searching out pyramid complexes, museums, art galleries and general things of wonder across Mexico, so now is time for a little rest and a swim, little snorkel and a little sunbathe and a little good food and wine. My last beach had been Belize for the snorkelling, so I was due siesta days. This is the time to try and rest my foot (yeah that’ll never happen) and luxuriate in the beautiful Puerto Escondido, the surfers paradise.
Another Long Bus Journey….
It was worth it, but TWELVE HOURS ON THE BLOODY BUS. I left excited and smug from the smart ADO bus terminal. I had my little breakfast and snacks and entertainment for the bus figuring around a five hour journey.
Top Tip: Always check how long a bus is going to take and where it will stop. ADO one of the better Mexican bus companies have a very easy-to-use app that lets you choose your seat and departure time and nearest terminal. What it does not do is give you is an ETA. My bus took a route invented by route masters from hell. Don’t be stupid like me and if you’re unsure get your hotel to give them a call to check times. My other outings with them had been heavenly and I never gave it a second thought when I saw a slightly different logo than I had used previously. It was their cheapo one but I only looked at the departure times and it offers no more explanation so you shrug your shoulders and think its a lovely early time to go and view the countryside. It made me arrive in the dark and that’s a big no no.
I was a wreck when I arrived. It was pitch black most of the last bit (apparently coastal town people require very little street lighting, they like driving in the dark and crashing all the time as ascertained by the many crosses on the grass verges. At the terminal it took me ages to get a cab (no UBER there) who promptly dropped me off at a similarly named hotel ( they do that a lot) and I had to stagger whimpering down a sandy unlit alley to my hotel. I had had to email them that I would be late but the lady was lovely and the place beautiful and the room oh so Ibiza-before-it-got-pants.
My morning was perfect with the promised home baked brown bread and jam and some tacos. sitting in the beautiful garden full of sculpture and a sandy floor and finally I limped down the road to what I could see was a magnificent bay. Oh but the steps. Many, many steps in the searing heat. my foot was again like a puffer fish and pain throbbed through it in pulses. I had managed to make it a lot better in Oaxaca but it seemed the stress journey and now the steps had done me in! Now I would have to rest properly…. AND WATCH A DOG EATING A COCONUT! (see below)
Playa Puerto Angelito
Day two I tried out this double coved beach which I loved as I could cab it straight to the beachside. Each time I luxuriated on a beach bed with an umbrella and each time I soaked my feet in that lovely salty water.
However now I had the quiet coves I yearned for I could also see in the distance the long white beach, the surfers beach! So the next day I cabbed it there and what a treat. The drama of the huge waves, and because I had gone to the furthest point, not many people. Met a lovely girl there who loved the concept of old birds flying solo and she took a couple of shots for me, hello if you’re reading!
A hostel and a luxury apartment.
I moved twice while at the beach. The season was starting and there was no room at the Hostel inn except for one night (thank god peeing in a bottle because the bathroom is down the corridor is not cool!)
I had a lovely time there and the younger crowd were very impressed by my travels and wanted me to come to beach volley ball match ( shurely not?) I politely declined and found an Argentinian restaurant that had the best steak in the world and rather outshone the Mexican fare. My hippy room was cool man, it was called the unicorn room and had a stoners psychodelic mural on the wall and purple sheets. Air con and a small swimming pool, not like the hostels of my day where you had to bring your own sheets. there was a big kitchen and a ‘trust’ bar too with a variety of craft beers.
My apartment in Puerto Escondido with a fabulously equipped kitchen that would be fab for an extended trip. Every appliance you could wish for a jacuzzi in a beautiful garden and a roof terrace that had a huge hammock so I could rest my fat foot.
OVER AND OUT FROM A SUPER CHILLED OLD BIRD X
Old Bird Travels Solo! 