On June 14th, 1999 I decided to leave Guadalajara and head north west towards the Pacific. Since I had a three week time constraint I thought that starting off in Manzatlan, would be best. So here I was at the Camionera del Norte on the outskirts of Guadalajara waiting for my 1:00am bus.

Mazatlan, which is one of Mexico's finest resort type cities is situated just about 650km from Guadalajara. Despite this geographical fact, the trip felt a bit longer since I sat next to some largely overweight mexican who placed his head on my right shoulder and snored straight into my right ear, while drooling shamelessly on my shoulder for the duration of the entire trip. With the help of my elbows I managed to get some hours of sleep under my belt.

A few hours later the bus pulled in the Camionera Central de Mazatlan. As I picked up my backpack I took a few minutes to look up some hotels in my guide...It's about 8am by now and I just made a reservation to a hotel but the check in time is 3 pm. I asked if I could leave my backpack at the reception desk. The clerk looked a bit indifferent but with no hesitation pointed at the sign above: "We are no responsible for you lost stuff", I smiled and assured him that I understand.

Well with six hours to spare I decided to walk downtown in search for a nice breakfast. Right off the main road the local "El tiburon" restaurant stares me in the face. Right in front a big sign "Breakfast special: 2eggs and 2quesadillas, beans and rice for 25 pesos" ($2.50US) caught my attention. I was starved and it sounded like a great deal.

The downtown seemed quite small. In the center there is the typical Zocalo (main plaza), kind of like a 1 block by 1 block park, which marks the center of the city. Surrounding the Zocalo, one can visit the Cathedral, the Government Palace and the Court House.

A couple of streets over is the flee market where locals sell all kinds of traditional art, crafts and jewelery. As I passed by, I heard one of the locals shouting at me:
"Oye Gringo, cheap silver for your lady". Another followed:
"I got better price only for you!" Another:
"Come here I have more silver".
I later found out that the trick was to totally ignore them. If you happen to look their way you're screwed large.

That day, I bought a silver bracelet for my girlfriend as one of the locals shouted "Money Back guaranteed on silver". When I approached him I asked him how the guarantee works, And he replied: "Guarantee? No Guarantee! You bullshit to sell, no bullshit no sell, amigo!"

On the other hand, if you ignore them they'll try another language, something in german, french or maybe something in russian. I seems that each of these people have mastered their pitch in every language imaginable. It's awesome! As long as they can see you they'll keep shouting. The further you are the louder they shout.

It's about 12:30 and I decide to head down to the beach for a couple of hours. I return to the hotel, as the main beach "Playa Dorada" is about a 5 minute walk from there. Luckily, the clerk which I guess he got fed up with my backpack which occupied most of the leg room in his office, told me that he happened to have a room for me already, and that I should probably take my bag upstairs.

The beach was great, powdery sand, clear water and just a few waves here and there. You could walk about 100 meters in the water, and it barely reaches your waist. It really seemed like an immense swimming pool. I closed my eyes and I passed out for 4 hours, this time though, to the sound of crashing waves and not snoring Mexicans.

I woke up as the smell of fresh seafood was getting to my nostrils. It's time to eat some "Mariscos" as they call seafood in spanish. I picked up a shrimp cocktail, and some burritos de huachanga some type of local pacific fish. Later, I called off the night with a few cold Pacificos at one of the local touristy bars. The plan was to spend another night here and then take the bus southbounds along the Pacific coast to the town of San Blas.

<sup>Next Page


Trip A Trip B</sup>