Hola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well in your respective locations and that the weather is still not too bad. Of course it's always sunny in Chapala so no complaints on that front. However we're not quite in Chapala yet as of this number 3 episode but the time line is getting shorter.Last time I wrote we were staying in a really pretty hotel in Guyamis but only lingered for one night. The next day we were off to Mazatlan not sure if we would be able to make it in one day. The trips are advertised as taking a certain length of time but invariably seem to take longer. This leg or the journey was particularly expensive on the "quota" highways and we're not sure why. The roads were not particularly better than the ones we had already been on but "es muy misterioso". On the highways they have signs which we don't have, two that I especially like: "Do not mistreat the signs", which conjures visions of going up to the signs and verbally and or physically abusing them" and another one "Do not leave rocks on the road". Again this one seems to indicate that you would somehow deliberately load your car or truck with rocks and then purposely leave them there. By the way most of the signs were not mistreated and there were no rocks on the road so I guess the messaging is working.Highway driving may be O.K. but driving in towns is another matter altogether. To slow down traffic at pedestrian crossings and in the towns there are "TOPES" and "ViIBRADORS". Topes are protrusions of varying heights across the length of the road and they can be really hard to see. If you hit them at a good speed it can really cause some damage. I am constantly on the lock out for topes. Vibradors are smaller but once again if you hit them at a good clip it can give you quite the jolt. Yes you do vibrate but not in a good way. HahaWe did get to Mazatlan in one piece. The weather was unbelievably hot and humid. It felt like 45 degrees out there and I'm not exaggerating.We checked out The Belmar an old, labyrinthine like hotel which has certainly seen better days. Nissa knows it. Somehow it didn't look much better the second time around so we went to check out The Siesta next door. I did a little bargaining and we got a beautiful room with view of the ocean and central air...yeh. We spent a lovely 4 days there. The ocean was so warm that it was barely refreshing but lovely nevertheless for our first ocean swim.We went to the cheap "commedores" at the central market. Commedores are like cheap luncheonettes and where Mexicans mostly eat. Breakfast was 20 pesos each with Nescafe coffee. A good deal but don't be too hung up on cleanliness if you want to eat there, luckily we're not and still no tourista so that's a good sign.That's it for now. Next installment will find us leaving and arriving in Chapala. Lots of love,Josiane, Maman, TatieHola Everybody:Hope you're all doing well in your respective locations and that the weather is still not too bad. Of course it's always sunny in Chapala so no complaints on that front. However we're not quite in Chapala yet as of this number 3 episode but the time line is getting shorter.Last time I wrote we were staying in a really pretty hotel in Guyamis but only lingered for one night. The next day we were off to Mazatlan not sure if we would be able to make it in one day. The trips are advertised as taking a certain length of time but invariably seem to take longer. This leg or the journey was particularly expensive on the "quota" highways and we're not sure why. The roads were not particularly better than the ones we had already been on but "es muy misterioso". On the highways they have signs which we don't have, two that I especially like: "Do not mistreat the signs", which conjures visions of going up to the signs and verbally and or physically abusing them" and another one "Do not leave rocks on the road". Again this one seems to indicate that you would somehow deliberately load your car or truck with rocks and then purposely leave them there. By the way most of the signs were not mistreated and there were no rocks on the road so I guess the messaging is working.Highway driving may be O.K. but driving in towns is another matter altogether. To slow down traffic at pedestrian crossings and in the towns there are "TOPES" and "ViIBRADORS". Topes are protrusions of varying heights across the length of the road and they can be really hard to see. If you hit them at a good speed it can really cause some damage. I am constantly on the lock out for topes. Vibradors are smaller but once again if you hit them at a good clip it can give you quite the jolt. Yes you do vibrate but not in a good way. HahaWe did get to Mazatlan in one piece. The weather was unbelievably hot and humid. It felt like 45 degrees out there and I'm not exaggerating.We checked out The Belmar an old, labyrinthine like hotel which has certainly seen better days. Nissa knows it. Somehow it didn't look much better the second time around so we went to check out The Siesta next door. I did a little bargaining and we got a beautiful room with view of the ocean and central air...yeh. We spent a lovely 4 days there. The ocean was so warm that it was barely refreshing but lovely nevertheless for our first ocean swim.We went to the cheap "commedores" at the central market. Commedores are like cheap luncheonettes and where Mexicans mostly eat. Breakfast was 20 pesos each with Nescafe coffee. A good deal but don't be too hung up on cleanliness if you want to eat there, luckily we're not and still no tourista so that's a good sign.That's it for now. Next installment will find us leaving and arriving in Chapala.
Josiane