Today would take us to the fishing village of Puerto Arista. It's about a 2
hour ride, with the only obstacle being La Ventosa( the wind) , where there are
steady strong cross winds. I was warned of this prior to leaving, so we were
prepared. The road is inland from the coast about 20k and I assumed the winds
would come from the ocean, but they were coming from inland. Don't know if this
is the norm, not what I expected. They were strong, but no worse then our first
day crossing the border. We continued down this nice deserted toll road for
about 10 miles, when it just ended. No barricades or any signs I recognized,
not to say there wasn't a sign, just not one my limited Spanish processed while
driving down the road at 65-70. Ahhh Mexico, stupid people will die. No big
deal, turn around and back track to the exit we passed. We stopped at a Pemex
that had an overpriced cafeteria, but the food was good and it got us out of
the wind for awhile. We jumped back on the road and drove down to Tonala, where
we stopped at a Pemex, on the bypass to tank up. We then wandered over by a
pulperia, which is just a little roadside vendor of Mexican junk food. Here we
were introduced to a middle-aged, overweight, loud Mexican that worked there.
He talked a lot and fast, and it didn't seem to bother him that I told him I
didn't understand what he was saying. He just continued on, with a lot of hand
and facial gestures and synchronized whistling. He was entertaining for a
while, but I'm pretty sure he would of annoyed me faster if he spoke English. I
had been entertaining myself by telling everyone that Curly and Moe were "close
friends" in Spanish, so I continued the tradition here, and we said our
goodbyes and headed to the beach about 15 minutes down the road.
Puerto Arista is a little fishing village, that must cater to Mexican tourists
on weekends, because it was all but deserted except for locals, a Mexican
couple and some Dutch backpackers. It has a lot of hotels, but no one was
working them. We drove down the beach road and back up and found one that had a
pulse. I know I paid gringo price here. $40 on the beach, but what the hay, I
just wanted to get into some shorts and sandals and park my arsh under a
palapa, pop some fizzy's and order a big plate of cammarones ceviche (fresh raw
shrimp that’s cured by tossing it in lime juice for 5 minutes and adding
onions,tomatoes, cilentro and hot sauce, served with tostada chips). You can
also rent a palapa or cabana for 10 bucks and sleep in a hammock under the
stars. It really doesn't get any better then this. We just sat there all day
watching the locals run out to the 7 or 8 large fishing boats anchored
offshore. to buy fresh catch. The only other excitement, was when the Mexican
couple got sucked out to sea by a strong undertow, and had to be rescued by the
locals. A couple more fizzy's, a ocean sunset, a meal under the stars.....yah,
life on the road is hard..........stay tuned
Day Seven
