Home » Mexico » Paradise (?) Revisited, 4 Countries in 1 day, Guatemala Still Gorgeous, Mediocre Moles and More Mexicana Madness in Puerto Escondildo

Sorry, I’ve edited and re-edited but it’s still a long tail!

Starting off…..Back in sweaty, sultry, sloow, San Juan del Sur, if Puerto Viejo was desultory San Juan is sultry…..more gringo developments arising around us and a Japanese funded port facility (many Nicaraguan road bridges are signed “with the love and friendship of the people of Japan”, now I understand!) and the dolphin research centre next maybe?… but it’s still beautiful, maybe No. 2 after Bocas, went for my early morning dip and copped a sea wasp across my arm, blisters and pain, vinegar cure, sunsets at the Iguana Bar, D still hanging in, the usual crowd and some interesting travellers as always.

Paradise (?) Revisited, 4 Countries in 1 day, Guatemala Still Gorgeous, Mediocre Moles and More Mexicana Madness in Puerto Escondildo

Bill Shum
2006-08-21 17:09:01

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discussing the implications of the US senate debate on immigration, those awful xenophobia-titivating arguments, so familiar to us from children overboard etc, will it degenerate into the same thing, there’s already the fear that they (the Latinos) will take over the culture, aren’t we a nation of immigrants though, isn’t that what makes us/them strong, and what about the positives, the family values, you never see babies unattended in latino, the old folks live at home, the original extended family, the roles they play, invaluable, no nursing homes in latino, no child care centres, who has the richer, healthier culture? Who has a problem with detached, disillusioned young people, and depression, there seem to be some parallels with our Asian immigration policies.
D was telling me about the ex-pat community in San Juan and how many of them are a bit NQR somehow, past their use-by date maybe, schadenfreude or that déjà vu thing Oaxaca, Mexicoagain, shades of the Aussie bar owners in Viet Nam. Not so much the Euros I’ve met bbut certainly some of the seppos fall into this category.

Another day, another 200 kms of incredible winding roads back to the coast, I’m up in the clouds, almost chilly, am I on the right road? Jesus wept, I don’t want to go back thru’ all this, this is so cool, but hard work, after 2 hours I’m getting tired, getting dizzy, endless curvery, on the way up ruta 180 was 5th gear stuff, this is all 3rd and sometimes 4th gear, constant hard braking, endless sharp bends, I’m becoming disoriented, have to stop and take a breather, pull off and nearly drop the bike, totally fcuked…take a break and then back to it, down, up, across and down, will this ever end?….finally Pachulta and the relatively straight coast road to Puerto Escodido, I need a break!

A perfect sunset, small smudgy clouds in front, the pink, purple clouds behind, for a minute or two the froth of the surf has a surreal pink colour, never seen that before, too bizarre, the last brave surfers are catching the last dusky waves, Oaxaca, Mexicothe surf here is so powerful, huge waves just rise up from nowhere and crash down, awesome stuff.

Up just at first light and down to the beach, the ocean is so deceptively calm, looking out it appears flat with just a slight ripple, then suddenly a massive wall of water rises up, jesus wept (again) (sorry Benno) some Niagra Falls, or Viagra Falls, how can this happen, from nowhere, a monumental wall of blue green, translucent at the peak, feathering, reaching out, then curling and crashing down, the power is mind boggling, the survival chances less than nil, but there are tiny figures out there, the surfistas, launching their tiny fibreglass boards down the face of this monster, unbelievable, and many snapped leg ropes and a few sorry souls battling their way out of the shore break and collecting the two halves of their boards….gutsy play whatever…and did I rent the boogie board? And did I brave the Puerto Escondildo break? No fcuking way!! Ha!

So much for a day off, I needed it after the Oaxaca ride, so much after a fair lay-off, took out the mapa and see just how far I have to go, Oaxaca, Mexicowishing I could just stay in Mexico for a year or so, what a fantastic country.

Altho’ now, coming back, I can see the gringo influence more clearly, the culture is changing with the influx of the surfistas and the touristas in general, sort of like the Oz influence on Bali, just the locals aren’t quite as cool as the lovely Balinese.

OK, see if I can get some pix up…..and then the ‘puter goes sleepy byes for a few days, maybe Mazatlan and the ferry to Baja in 3 or 4 days, then maybe back in the US of A by next week, who knows, I’d like to go diving in Baja but I know I’ve got to keep moving…or do I??

Love youse all…..