Sat 1303 Okay, sitting on the hostile terrorists, killing yourself fairly quietly, but not so terribly suspect. [Wtaf? Voice typing. Hostile is hostel of course. I suspect I said I am talking quietly but not saying anything terribly suspect if anyone can overhear me.]
Didn't sleep super well. I've got a vague feeling. I've got some sort of slight cold coming on, but I'm not sure. I dithered a bit about getting up, but I did get up a bit earlier than yesterday. I was in the sea about half past eight, which is not quite 20-25 minutes earlier than yesterday.
I think I was feeling slightly sick at some point, maybe because of the saltwater and perhaps dehydration a little bit. I was in the water maybe 40 minutes, ignoring the fact that I got out once or twice to have a little drink of water from my bottle on my sand. And I was maybe swimming for 15ish minutes, really hard to say. I did a lot of treading water, but a bit of swimming back and forth. Did manage to do some star floats, maybe because of the salt in the water. I was trying to mess around letting some of the big waves carry me towards the shore but they just never seemed to be there when I was more than a meter away from the edge so maybe that's just how it works or maybe I got impatient. There were a few people practicing surfing.
I extended for another night, only paid 200. There was some not quite adding up stuff about booking.com prices and they quoted me something that was more than booking.com and then said booking.com didn't include tax when it does. But anyway, I got the extra night for less than booking.com so I'm not complaining in the end.
So I was going to go pop out to El Cafecito practically next door to get breakfast and then think about things because I'd already sort of seen that EC was one of the more tolerable if still probably overpriced nearby options but there was a queue to get into it and then there was still a queue later on and it's like I draw the line at queuing to pay to get into an overpriced restaurant.
So I went for a bit of a wander, just trying to find somewhere to eat, bit warm. This is maybe about 11ish. Er, I found Antojitos Jenny, which was a super local and incredibly hot inside little, vaguely Tacoish place, although they didn't do Tacos, as far as I could see. I had four pretty decent and large quesadillas and a hibiscus juice, and that came in at 115, and I tipped another 15. I won't say I did the Spanish brilliantly but you know I got by so I can't complain. Obviously it doesn't help but I'm always trying to query saucds and stuff in really weird ways and what's this and what's that and I can't just be free and easy about ordering some random dish and seeing what it's like.
Then I came back to the hostel after stopping at the supermarket to get a litre of sugary coffee, drink, and some pan con nuez, which is very sugary and probably not good for me.
So, I've been thinking about Acapulco and I started looking into it and I was just trying to look up the safety of, like, walking from the ejido bus terminal to maybe a nearby hotel, although probably about 15 minutes walk, maybe a smidge less, and whether that'll be safe at night. And then I start finding all the usual internet, scary crap, and you do wonder if some of these people have any perspective and then you think, well, some of them probably do.
And although I don't want to overdo my reliance on this advice, I did check and not just the US government but also the UK government and I think as a random example the New Zealand government all recommend against all but essential travel to Guerrero State except for a couple of towns which are not Acapulco. I'm also vaguely dubious though i haven't seen any definite advice about the safety of the bus along the coast road. I mean, no one told me this is bad. It's just the way even though chiapas is supposedly basically okay. Sergio the owner at the hostel in the San Cristobal was telling that guy in a motorbike to be careful down south and stuff. He is local and doesn't seem particularly windy kind of chap. You know, so it's sort of thing that makes me realise there probably is some genuine danger. You can't be utterly blase about it, even though you've got to try and keep a sense of perspective.
So long story short, I'm a tiny bit concerned about the safety of the bus to Acapulco that it's probably fine. The timing of it is a bit of a flockfest either way whether I go day or night. I'm not entirely sure about the safety of walking or getting a taxi - apparently there is no Uber as far as I can tell - from the ejido terminal to even a nearby hotel. You then have the issue of getting from there all the way down to the bonfil area where the airbnb and the conference is. And then there's the question of, even if it's only five minutes, is it okay to get local taxis between, you know, some bar and your accommodation late at night down there? It feels like there's a hell of a lot of crappiness and if-iness.
On the other hand, it's like it could be potentially sort of nice. It could also be potentially a washout. It doesn't sound like going to or being in Acapulco in and of itself is going to be a huge amount of fun. If I did want to go, it would probably make more sense another time to either fly in or get the bus down the main toll roads from Mexico City, Puebla, Cuernavaca, whatever. It will be nice to maybe hang around with some people with congenial views and so forth, but honestly it's looking like it's going to one way or another burn about a week because, you know, let's say there's a night bus and then there's a single night in the hotel near the bus terminal and then there's probably four nights in the Airbnb in the Confency kind of region, so that's what, six nights. Then I have to get out. and it's probably not too hard to get to the terminal to get out but still.
On yet another hand I don't really have anything specific I want to do but you know I'm sure I can find something fun to do I could try this little town down down the road from here or I could go somewhere else or I could start looping back vaguely towards Cancun at the moment I have like three and a half weeks if I go to this conference then you're down to two and a half weeks yeah I've been at the conference and maybe it's nice and I've had fun ...but what with the safety issues and the general massive stress of getting there and stuff? I mean Bonfil is near the airport, so in theory, if another time I were to fly in, it would be perhaps a lot easier just to go directly to the Airbnb from the airport and whatever, but I mean I could have done that, although the flights were not particularly convenient from San Cristobello anywhere nearby, you have to change in Mexico City. But it's a bit late for that now.
Obviously there's that element of if you miss out on something you imagine it was the best possible thing ever. The conference certainly was interesting as an idea but honestly I'm really really really torn and I'm kind of thinking it's just not worth it. I mean I was thinking look let's just go because I do have enough time after and it might be cool and serendipity and everything but now...
Oh it's not a huge deal but I had a quick look on telegram last night I think and even though I use a genuine phone number the telegram app seems to want me to sign in again so presumably they've decided my account is in some way fake and I would have to continue jumping through hoops to sign up over and over again. Not a critical factor but a bit annoying.
And that's a bit of an extra thing. This isn't new. Jim told me back in San Cristobal that the fringe kind of event, the guy who was running it essentially collected a lot of money off people and did a runner. So while that's not to say there won't be any kind of fringe events or meetups, the culture around the conference has probably been a bit corrupted there. So there's an extra element of what will it be like and even though Jim's been before he's Not quite as confident as he would be that there is this fringe stuff because, you know, after the guy stole all that money the other year, who knows what it's like now.
1323 Just had a quick look at the flights. The absolute cheapest is coming in about 138 euros and that is for quite a few days in the future. It's like a 6-7-8 hour flight. I can't remember. I'm not looking at it right now. You have to change somewhere in Mexico City. Obviously you've got to get to the airport here as well. That's from Puerto Escondido. I don't like that very much.
1333 Just been having a look at the secret place on the coast that C/M told me about. The closest I can find is some sort of slightly weird, volunteer-y, hostly kinder place that costs about 2,500 pesos for three nights and I think is about 63 kilometers west of here. But apart from that there's like a 40-minute walk from town or a collectivo. Once an hour I'm struggling to find any details about what the town is called.
Got to admit, I'm kind of feeling like maybe I'm in a rushing-around kind of mindset which isn't good. I mean I don't regret coming to Puerto Escondido, you know I did at least get to swim albeit only a tiny bit, it is kind of cool although I've been feeling a bit stressed with Acapulco, the sunsets are quite nice, it's cheapish, I've effectively had a private for at least the last two nights, don't know what will happen tonight.
But maybe I should like go back to oaxaca, put a night or two in there and then meander back, not rushing at all vaguely in the direction of San Cristobal, some of the small towns around there, Tabasco. I don't know. I think I might actually go for a bit of a walk, see if I can see some of the beaches west of the hostel, I went east yesterday. The voice typing just keeps throwing random fragments away. Obviously if I'm going to acapulco I need to get stuff booked, relatively speaking, ASAP. But as I say I'm starting to wonder if I should go at all. It's a huge faff. There are perhaps genuine security issues, you know, like the whole state basically is advised against and stuff like that. It takes a lot of time anyway. I think I maybe go for a walk and sleep on it, not sleep on it, but you know.
Oh, I asked when I extended for the night and they said I can leave my bag behind the bar tomorrow if I do have a night bus, so at least that's an option.
Have somewhat over snacked and feel a bit bloated and it is hot as fuck but let us go for a semi leisurely walk.
1649 went for a walk over to playa baccocho (playa coral appears to be Inaccessible). Nice enough but nothing special, some quite dramatic waves. Hung around a bit feeling a bit bloaty and semi meditative and looked at guide book and walked back.
On terrace at hostel. Checking with suntimes and trail sense apps, the sunset is probably visible from the terrace here so I may try it from here tonkght.
I am toying with going to zipolite tomorrow. There are others town in That little cluster, which perhaps suit me better, but Zippolito seems to be the easiest to access, and although there's a single bus during the day, which probably goes from the ADO OCC terminal, I need to make sure I catch that. I think once I get to Pochutla, there are lots of collectivos. It would be a dorm, but might be quite sociable, and if I book him for two nights, you know, also I haven't actually shared a room for three or four nights anyway. I'm probably not going to acapulco but I suppose technically this keeps my options open because I could come back do a night bus on Tuesday and be there Wednesday or something but I don't really want to be doing that you know I'm kind of decided and I kind of need to decide nowish really.
Anyway, you know, from Zippelite, if I wanted to, I could maybe go to one of the towns just down the road without it being too stressful in terms of unknown buses and multiple collectivo hops, or I could possibly make my way along the coast eastwards and get back to Chiapas and Tabasco that way, or failing that, I think I could perhaps get a bus from there to from Pochutla to Oaxaca and pick the road up there. This way I've still got plenty of time and I can afford to bumble around a bit and take a chance and see what's nice and what's not.
I am a little bit sick of warm, over warm beachiness, but it sounds quite attractive in Zippoliti. I don't think you can swim, and I'm not super keen on the idea of the beach being clothes optional, but not a huge deal, you know. And, as I said, I only be there for a couple of nights, and it might be attractive, and, you know, it might be a nice vibe in the hostel, or peaceful, or whatever.
I have been using the life straw here by the way. I don't think there is free water and if there is it's very inconsistent. I did notice I think it was last night that I think I'd not quite got the thread right and it was actually leaking the dirty water out when I squeezed it along with the water coming through the filter. I hope I got away with that. I don't think any of that would have got into anything I drank but I think I've just got to be careful to make sure I don't get the thread slightly off And make sure that it's not leaking around that seal after I fill it.
1657 Just saw what looked like maybe a very big spindly spider walking on me and giving it a bit of a shock and it's actually a big stick insect, very, very spindly looking one. I've tried to video it but I don't think it's worked. Sort of cool. Actually, it's not that big as stick insects go. It's bodies maybe like inch and a half long, two inches. Yeah, probably about that. So it's not like the really big ones I've seen. But anyway, that's kind of cool.
I feel a little bit at a loose end. As I say I'm probably going to watch the sunset here. I hope I've not burnt a little bit sitting in what shade I could find. Obviously I've got a long sleeve top on and some sunblock but I do wonder if in the front of my neck maybe got it a little bit but probably not too bad and nothing i can do about it. (I have sunblock on nose and cheeks and ears and back of next but probably not front of neck, but I guess having face down looking at phone prob helps sheild that.)
1808 Okay, just had a shower, also done a cold water wash of a few things, just one set. I went over to the ADO slash OCC terminal, spoke to some bloke who was semi-helpful the second time. Anyway, I think there's actually quite a lot of bosses to Pochoutla, which seems to be how it's pronounced, according to one of the announcements. It's only 180 pesos, and I asked, although it was a leading question, and I'm not sure he really knew. I think there's lots of collectives from there to zipolite.
There were also buses, E.G. to tapatula and tuxla from the terminal here. So even if I have to double back to here, that seems reasonably optimistic and a bit like a plan that I could head eastwards from here after maybe doing the Palite and maybe one or two of the other small towns here. If I'm really lucky I can go without doubling back here, but, you know, coming back here isn't too far.
A little bit sad to be leaving, but as always, that's better than being glad. I haven't done a lot of the tourist stuff here, but I don't fancy the turtle release. It feels a bit fake. Like, where do they get the turtles from, the baby turtles? Like, why can't they just release them themselves? The bioluminessence tour might be cool, but even though you probably wear a life jacket, I can't swim that well yet. Everything feels so touristy here. I'm really not in the mood for it.
There are surf lessons which obviously vaguely appeals but I cannot swim anywhere near well enough yet so I'm still working towards that and of course if I did intend to learn to surf then I would have set aside a big block of time and picked somewhere to go and do it and that would have been a major focus of the trip. It's not something I would ever likely do just casually because I see it somewhere.
FWIW on Carrazalillo beach yesterday morning there was a small half roped off area with a sign in Spanish saying not to disturb as it was a turtle nest. That was quite cool and felt vaguely organically caring rather than some of the mass produced eco tourism.
Feeling vaguely edgy about going to get a beer at bar here and watch sunset but no reason to of course.
FWIW still have dorm to myslef. I suspect I won't in zipolite but to some extent it would be nice to be with other people and maybe chat to someone either in dorm or common area or at bar for a day or two.
1841 watching sunset from hostel terrace with beer. Not as cheap as takeaway from supermarket but OK. Feel slightly bnm but also not actually that many people around and I also kind of don't want to talk.
Vague regrets about pseudo decision wrt Acapulco but it does also feel sort of right.
1845 second beer. Might wander down to the beach "after dark" since I suspect there is some lighting and I have seen people coming up quite late at night before so be interesting to see since it is right there.
2021 Back on the hostile terrace. Looks like there's two more guys. Well, guys are girls. I don't know. In my dorm now, there's just some bags in the other beds. Obviously slight shame, but not in the world.
So I went down to the beach, I maybe spent half an hour, 45 minutes there, it was quite nice actually, all the beach bar type places were closed on that minute, it's not that big a beach, but there were quite a lot of people about and there's some lights and there's a handful of people in the waves, braver than me, but I guess they were only standing and at one point someone played Eres Mi religion on a Bluetooth speaker or something.
Maybe milked beach slightly. I came back up stairs and there was a very big spider, something actually bigger than I would ever expect to see in the UK. Climbing upstairs, I got some video of it and a couple of photos. Obviously hard to estimate, but maybe 3, 4 inch leg span. You know, like not full on grown tarantula size, but a very substantial spider that you would not, I think, expect to see back home.
I didn't see anything but I decided I'd go to the supermarket and I got a bigish packet of mixed spicy things, a tiny fraction of which are takis fusgo and a litre of milk. I've had the crisps and I'm drinking the milk now and then I'll probably clean my teeth and go to bed. I've not booked the hostel for tomorrow, I'm thinking I'll do that tomorrow morning. Time permitting, I just might go out to the place I had the quesadillas today, and have something to eat before I go over the terminal, but we'll see what happens.
2043 quick dump then bed. Quick check on ado site shows bus at 1130 and nothing til 1730 then, bloke at terminal told me loads eg at 1000. I may well aim for 1130 to play it safe.
Didn't sleep super well. I've got a vague feeling. I've got some sort of slight cold coming on, but I'm not sure. I dithered a bit about getting up, but I did get up a bit earlier than yesterday. I was in the sea about half past eight, which is not quite 20-25 minutes earlier than yesterday.
I think I was feeling slightly sick at some point, maybe because of the saltwater and perhaps dehydration a little bit. I was in the water maybe 40 minutes, ignoring the fact that I got out once or twice to have a little drink of water from my bottle on my sand. And I was maybe swimming for 15ish minutes, really hard to say. I did a lot of treading water, but a bit of swimming back and forth. Did manage to do some star floats, maybe because of the salt in the water. I was trying to mess around letting some of the big waves carry me towards the shore but they just never seemed to be there when I was more than a meter away from the edge so maybe that's just how it works or maybe I got impatient. There were a few people practicing surfing.
I extended for another night, only paid 200. There was some not quite adding up stuff about booking.com prices and they quoted me something that was more than booking.com and then said booking.com didn't include tax when it does. But anyway, I got the extra night for less than booking.com so I'm not complaining in the end.
So I was going to go pop out to El Cafecito practically next door to get breakfast and then think about things because I'd already sort of seen that EC was one of the more tolerable if still probably overpriced nearby options but there was a queue to get into it and then there was still a queue later on and it's like I draw the line at queuing to pay to get into an overpriced restaurant.
So I went for a bit of a wander, just trying to find somewhere to eat, bit warm. This is maybe about 11ish. Er, I found Antojitos Jenny, which was a super local and incredibly hot inside little, vaguely Tacoish place, although they didn't do Tacos, as far as I could see. I had four pretty decent and large quesadillas and a hibiscus juice, and that came in at 115, and I tipped another 15. I won't say I did the Spanish brilliantly but you know I got by so I can't complain. Obviously it doesn't help but I'm always trying to query saucds and stuff in really weird ways and what's this and what's that and I can't just be free and easy about ordering some random dish and seeing what it's like.
Then I came back to the hostel after stopping at the supermarket to get a litre of sugary coffee, drink, and some pan con nuez, which is very sugary and probably not good for me.
So, I've been thinking about Acapulco and I started looking into it and I was just trying to look up the safety of, like, walking from the ejido bus terminal to maybe a nearby hotel, although probably about 15 minutes walk, maybe a smidge less, and whether that'll be safe at night. And then I start finding all the usual internet, scary crap, and you do wonder if some of these people have any perspective and then you think, well, some of them probably do.
And although I don't want to overdo my reliance on this advice, I did check and not just the US government but also the UK government and I think as a random example the New Zealand government all recommend against all but essential travel to Guerrero State except for a couple of towns which are not Acapulco. I'm also vaguely dubious though i haven't seen any definite advice about the safety of the bus along the coast road. I mean, no one told me this is bad. It's just the way even though chiapas is supposedly basically okay. Sergio the owner at the hostel in the San Cristobal was telling that guy in a motorbike to be careful down south and stuff. He is local and doesn't seem particularly windy kind of chap. You know, so it's sort of thing that makes me realise there probably is some genuine danger. You can't be utterly blase about it, even though you've got to try and keep a sense of perspective.
So long story short, I'm a tiny bit concerned about the safety of the bus to Acapulco that it's probably fine. The timing of it is a bit of a flockfest either way whether I go day or night. I'm not entirely sure about the safety of walking or getting a taxi - apparently there is no Uber as far as I can tell - from the ejido terminal to even a nearby hotel. You then have the issue of getting from there all the way down to the bonfil area where the airbnb and the conference is. And then there's the question of, even if it's only five minutes, is it okay to get local taxis between, you know, some bar and your accommodation late at night down there? It feels like there's a hell of a lot of crappiness and if-iness.
On the other hand, it's like it could be potentially sort of nice. It could also be potentially a washout. It doesn't sound like going to or being in Acapulco in and of itself is going to be a huge amount of fun. If I did want to go, it would probably make more sense another time to either fly in or get the bus down the main toll roads from Mexico City, Puebla, Cuernavaca, whatever. It will be nice to maybe hang around with some people with congenial views and so forth, but honestly it's looking like it's going to one way or another burn about a week because, you know, let's say there's a night bus and then there's a single night in the hotel near the bus terminal and then there's probably four nights in the Airbnb in the Confency kind of region, so that's what, six nights. Then I have to get out. and it's probably not too hard to get to the terminal to get out but still.
On yet another hand I don't really have anything specific I want to do but you know I'm sure I can find something fun to do I could try this little town down down the road from here or I could go somewhere else or I could start looping back vaguely towards Cancun at the moment I have like three and a half weeks if I go to this conference then you're down to two and a half weeks yeah I've been at the conference and maybe it's nice and I've had fun ...but what with the safety issues and the general massive stress of getting there and stuff? I mean Bonfil is near the airport, so in theory, if another time I were to fly in, it would be perhaps a lot easier just to go directly to the Airbnb from the airport and whatever, but I mean I could have done that, although the flights were not particularly convenient from San Cristobello anywhere nearby, you have to change in Mexico City. But it's a bit late for that now.
Obviously there's that element of if you miss out on something you imagine it was the best possible thing ever. The conference certainly was interesting as an idea but honestly I'm really really really torn and I'm kind of thinking it's just not worth it. I mean I was thinking look let's just go because I do have enough time after and it might be cool and serendipity and everything but now...
Oh it's not a huge deal but I had a quick look on telegram last night I think and even though I use a genuine phone number the telegram app seems to want me to sign in again so presumably they've decided my account is in some way fake and I would have to continue jumping through hoops to sign up over and over again. Not a critical factor but a bit annoying.
And that's a bit of an extra thing. This isn't new. Jim told me back in San Cristobal that the fringe kind of event, the guy who was running it essentially collected a lot of money off people and did a runner. So while that's not to say there won't be any kind of fringe events or meetups, the culture around the conference has probably been a bit corrupted there. So there's an extra element of what will it be like and even though Jim's been before he's Not quite as confident as he would be that there is this fringe stuff because, you know, after the guy stole all that money the other year, who knows what it's like now.
1323 Just had a quick look at the flights. The absolute cheapest is coming in about 138 euros and that is for quite a few days in the future. It's like a 6-7-8 hour flight. I can't remember. I'm not looking at it right now. You have to change somewhere in Mexico City. Obviously you've got to get to the airport here as well. That's from Puerto Escondido. I don't like that very much.
1333 Just been having a look at the secret place on the coast that C/M told me about. The closest I can find is some sort of slightly weird, volunteer-y, hostly kinder place that costs about 2,500 pesos for three nights and I think is about 63 kilometers west of here. But apart from that there's like a 40-minute walk from town or a collectivo. Once an hour I'm struggling to find any details about what the town is called.
Got to admit, I'm kind of feeling like maybe I'm in a rushing-around kind of mindset which isn't good. I mean I don't regret coming to Puerto Escondido, you know I did at least get to swim albeit only a tiny bit, it is kind of cool although I've been feeling a bit stressed with Acapulco, the sunsets are quite nice, it's cheapish, I've effectively had a private for at least the last two nights, don't know what will happen tonight.
But maybe I should like go back to oaxaca, put a night or two in there and then meander back, not rushing at all vaguely in the direction of San Cristobal, some of the small towns around there, Tabasco. I don't know. I think I might actually go for a bit of a walk, see if I can see some of the beaches west of the hostel, I went east yesterday. The voice typing just keeps throwing random fragments away. Obviously if I'm going to acapulco I need to get stuff booked, relatively speaking, ASAP. But as I say I'm starting to wonder if I should go at all. It's a huge faff. There are perhaps genuine security issues, you know, like the whole state basically is advised against and stuff like that. It takes a lot of time anyway. I think I maybe go for a walk and sleep on it, not sleep on it, but you know.
Oh, I asked when I extended for the night and they said I can leave my bag behind the bar tomorrow if I do have a night bus, so at least that's an option.
Have somewhat over snacked and feel a bit bloated and it is hot as fuck but let us go for a semi leisurely walk.
1649 went for a walk over to playa baccocho (playa coral appears to be Inaccessible). Nice enough but nothing special, some quite dramatic waves. Hung around a bit feeling a bit bloaty and semi meditative and looked at guide book and walked back.
On terrace at hostel. Checking with suntimes and trail sense apps, the sunset is probably visible from the terrace here so I may try it from here tonkght.
I am toying with going to zipolite tomorrow. There are others town in That little cluster, which perhaps suit me better, but Zippolito seems to be the easiest to access, and although there's a single bus during the day, which probably goes from the ADO OCC terminal, I need to make sure I catch that. I think once I get to Pochutla, there are lots of collectivos. It would be a dorm, but might be quite sociable, and if I book him for two nights, you know, also I haven't actually shared a room for three or four nights anyway. I'm probably not going to acapulco but I suppose technically this keeps my options open because I could come back do a night bus on Tuesday and be there Wednesday or something but I don't really want to be doing that you know I'm kind of decided and I kind of need to decide nowish really.
Anyway, you know, from Zippelite, if I wanted to, I could maybe go to one of the towns just down the road without it being too stressful in terms of unknown buses and multiple collectivo hops, or I could possibly make my way along the coast eastwards and get back to Chiapas and Tabasco that way, or failing that, I think I could perhaps get a bus from there to from Pochutla to Oaxaca and pick the road up there. This way I've still got plenty of time and I can afford to bumble around a bit and take a chance and see what's nice and what's not.
I am a little bit sick of warm, over warm beachiness, but it sounds quite attractive in Zippoliti. I don't think you can swim, and I'm not super keen on the idea of the beach being clothes optional, but not a huge deal, you know. And, as I said, I only be there for a couple of nights, and it might be attractive, and, you know, it might be a nice vibe in the hostel, or peaceful, or whatever.
I have been using the life straw here by the way. I don't think there is free water and if there is it's very inconsistent. I did notice I think it was last night that I think I'd not quite got the thread right and it was actually leaking the dirty water out when I squeezed it along with the water coming through the filter. I hope I got away with that. I don't think any of that would have got into anything I drank but I think I've just got to be careful to make sure I don't get the thread slightly off And make sure that it's not leaking around that seal after I fill it.
1657 Just saw what looked like maybe a very big spindly spider walking on me and giving it a bit of a shock and it's actually a big stick insect, very, very spindly looking one. I've tried to video it but I don't think it's worked. Sort of cool. Actually, it's not that big as stick insects go. It's bodies maybe like inch and a half long, two inches. Yeah, probably about that. So it's not like the really big ones I've seen. But anyway, that's kind of cool.
I feel a little bit at a loose end. As I say I'm probably going to watch the sunset here. I hope I've not burnt a little bit sitting in what shade I could find. Obviously I've got a long sleeve top on and some sunblock but I do wonder if in the front of my neck maybe got it a little bit but probably not too bad and nothing i can do about it. (I have sunblock on nose and cheeks and ears and back of next but probably not front of neck, but I guess having face down looking at phone prob helps sheild that.)
1808 Okay, just had a shower, also done a cold water wash of a few things, just one set. I went over to the ADO slash OCC terminal, spoke to some bloke who was semi-helpful the second time. Anyway, I think there's actually quite a lot of bosses to Pochoutla, which seems to be how it's pronounced, according to one of the announcements. It's only 180 pesos, and I asked, although it was a leading question, and I'm not sure he really knew. I think there's lots of collectives from there to zipolite.
There were also buses, E.G. to tapatula and tuxla from the terminal here. So even if I have to double back to here, that seems reasonably optimistic and a bit like a plan that I could head eastwards from here after maybe doing the Palite and maybe one or two of the other small towns here. If I'm really lucky I can go without doubling back here, but, you know, coming back here isn't too far.
A little bit sad to be leaving, but as always, that's better than being glad. I haven't done a lot of the tourist stuff here, but I don't fancy the turtle release. It feels a bit fake. Like, where do they get the turtles from, the baby turtles? Like, why can't they just release them themselves? The bioluminessence tour might be cool, but even though you probably wear a life jacket, I can't swim that well yet. Everything feels so touristy here. I'm really not in the mood for it.
There are surf lessons which obviously vaguely appeals but I cannot swim anywhere near well enough yet so I'm still working towards that and of course if I did intend to learn to surf then I would have set aside a big block of time and picked somewhere to go and do it and that would have been a major focus of the trip. It's not something I would ever likely do just casually because I see it somewhere.
FWIW on Carrazalillo beach yesterday morning there was a small half roped off area with a sign in Spanish saying not to disturb as it was a turtle nest. That was quite cool and felt vaguely organically caring rather than some of the mass produced eco tourism.
Feeling vaguely edgy about going to get a beer at bar here and watch sunset but no reason to of course.
FWIW still have dorm to myslef. I suspect I won't in zipolite but to some extent it would be nice to be with other people and maybe chat to someone either in dorm or common area or at bar for a day or two.
1841 watching sunset from hostel terrace with beer. Not as cheap as takeaway from supermarket but OK. Feel slightly bnm but also not actually that many people around and I also kind of don't want to talk.
Vague regrets about pseudo decision wrt Acapulco but it does also feel sort of right.
1845 second beer. Might wander down to the beach "after dark" since I suspect there is some lighting and I have seen people coming up quite late at night before so be interesting to see since it is right there.
2021 Back on the hostile terrace. Looks like there's two more guys. Well, guys are girls. I don't know. In my dorm now, there's just some bags in the other beds. Obviously slight shame, but not in the world.
So I went down to the beach, I maybe spent half an hour, 45 minutes there, it was quite nice actually, all the beach bar type places were closed on that minute, it's not that big a beach, but there were quite a lot of people about and there's some lights and there's a handful of people in the waves, braver than me, but I guess they were only standing and at one point someone played Eres Mi religion on a Bluetooth speaker or something.
Maybe milked beach slightly. I came back up stairs and there was a very big spider, something actually bigger than I would ever expect to see in the UK. Climbing upstairs, I got some video of it and a couple of photos. Obviously hard to estimate, but maybe 3, 4 inch leg span. You know, like not full on grown tarantula size, but a very substantial spider that you would not, I think, expect to see back home.
I didn't see anything but I decided I'd go to the supermarket and I got a bigish packet of mixed spicy things, a tiny fraction of which are takis fusgo and a litre of milk. I've had the crisps and I'm drinking the milk now and then I'll probably clean my teeth and go to bed. I've not booked the hostel for tomorrow, I'm thinking I'll do that tomorrow morning. Time permitting, I just might go out to the place I had the quesadillas today, and have something to eat before I go over the terminal, but we'll see what happens.
2043 quick dump then bed. Quick check on ado site shows bus at 1130 and nothing til 1730 then, bloke at terminal told me loads eg at 1000. I may well aim for 1130 to play it safe.
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