Huatulco Now

We arrived safely in Huatulco after a long but relatively painless time spent on the First Class Ado bus. For anybody who has never travelled in Mexico there is an extensive network o First Class buses which leave every time of day and night for anywhere and everywhere. If you take a First Class bus you go through security and your luggage is tagged and checked upon retrieval. It’s extremely safe and efficient unlike many other things in Mexico. This one works well. Many other destinations in Latin America offer the same kind of service. Argentina, Chile and Ecuador come to mind. Before getting into Huatulco I would be remiss if I don’t describe our visit of the Santo Domingo Church and Monsastery in Oaxaca. The Church is a study in Baroque excess as befits its location which was very important to the Church.The Church is only a small part of what forms an extensive labyrinth of courtyards and cloisters for the Dominican monks who lived there and worked on its construction. The Museum attached to the building now houses the Cultural Center of Oaxaca which features an impressive collection of pre-Columbian artefacts which was taken from an excavated tomb in the nearby archeological site of Monte Alban. (We visited that site last time we were in Oaxaca, not as extraordinary as other Zapotec sites, we preferred Mitla). The Museum is not only worth a visit for its priceless collection but also for the fact that it’s an architectural marvel which has been lovingly restored to its former splendour. In addition to the museum there is an ehno botanical garden which grows many of the plants native to the area as well a some others which can survive in this sometimes punishing climate. Apparently Oaxaca state is the best and most in many things. It has the most variety of peppers, the most variety of corn, the most variety of agave for Mescal and Tequila, the most indigenous groups, the most native languages spoken on and on it goes. It truly is a marvellous state and nobody can fault it fo it lacking in anything especially when it ones to the arts and food. Their different types of mole is famous worldwide. Huatulco is nothing like Oaxaca. The only culture to be had here is the beach culture although Zipolite and Puerto Angel are even better locations if that is all which one wants to do. The hotel whee we are is vey functional. The oom is big, two double beds, thee is a little balcony, television with cable and the WIFI is very good so far. We will be stayin around 20 days here and for 18 days the cost did not exceed $1000 and includes breakfast which is more than adequate. Whenever you get these package deals coffee is never ever good. It’s more like tepid slightly brownish sock juice although I have never had the latter. If you don’t go to a real coffee shop you’re out of luck when it comes to good coffee. We don’t really mind, kind of used to it. The town is called La Crucecita and it offers many restaurants, a nice zocalo, some ice cream shops and other hotels. It’s more than adequate for our needs. The closest swimmable beach can be walked to on this impressive tourist walkway built at great cost to the Mexican government when it had great hopes of turning Huatulco into a mega luxury destination. Although the town is popular with mostly Mexican and Canadian and American tourists, it’s no Cancun with its endless hordes of all inclusive patrons.which is a fine thing indeed. The weather here is much more reliable than in Cancun. At this time of the year it invariably hot and not too humid. It can get a trifle too hot but luckily we do have air conditioning in the room. It would be hard to survive without it. The little beach we have been walking to is called Santa Cruz and it’s a lovely little spit of sand. It’s not a huge beach for walking but it’s perfect for swimming with crystal clear water and no waves to speak of.There are many palapa restaurants to while away the hours, sipping a cold beer and eating guacamole. We won’t complain about the heat that would be downright unseemly considering the lousy weather Canada and parts of the U.S. are having. Tomorrow we will visit another beach, by cab. I will try and post some photos