And on the seventh day, we rested..

After all the driving, being exposed to dangerous situations and doing logistics work, we arrived yesterday to Puerto Escondido (See last posting, it has updated pictures!). Being this a cool town full of sea food, sand and a beautiful feeling, we decided (at around checkout time) that we wanted to stay one more day here.. What does this mean to us? That we will have to be out and driving by 5:30AM tomorrow morning so we can make it to San Cristobal de Las Casas (Chiapas) before night falls.

It turns out that was the right decision because today we did a lot of things: nothing, nothing and nothing.. well, actually, we relaxed and that was very welcomed after so much work getting here.







Early in the morning (read 10AM) I got up and wanted to head downstairs to call the hostel in our next city (in Chiapas) but I looked at the mirror and did not like what I saw. We had been going on a bet of not shaving our faces for the entire trip. But my beard was reaching my upper cheeks! So I retouched the beard.. this lead to a whole breakdown of our betting systems but I´ll let Todd describe the rest.

So the first order of the day was to get a good hearty breakfast. Last night we had gone to this restaurant by the beach where we had an incredible ceviche de camaron!! plus other specialties and margaritas (these ones were actually not that great). Our visit, however, allowed us to check out the breakfast menu which sounded fabulous. So this morning we went back there for breakfast. Amazing!

We are staying at the Hotel Ines (great place for $450 pesos per person).. It´s been good, wireless internet, pool (both kinds) and in general a good feel to it. The place is located in the Zicatela beach. So after breakfast we needed some money and Todd left to the other beach (Playa Marinero, 15 minute walk) to the ATM. Greg and I just did what we do best, relax.

Then, Greg and I decided to leave to walk around town and perhaps checkout the sea. Todd stayed back to read a book or something. During our walk through the other beach, we body-surfed (you gotta try this one, Greg is a master and I am a grasshopper at this point) and I even rented a boogie board. The waves at the Zicatela beach where we are staying are immense so I would not even dream of going in there. We stayed in the Marinero beach throughout. After meeting Lisa from Road Island (I´m sure she'd have spelled it this way) and having coconut water at the beach, we returned to the hotel to find a Todd sleeping on a hammock, peacefully. We abruptly woke him up and after swimming for a little bit on the pool, I took a shower while Greg and Todd prepared themselves mentally for heading into the mighty waters of the Zicatela beach.

The waves there must be about 7ft or more and quite frankly, I´m scared of even getting in the water because the undertow is lethal. But these valient soldiers went in there and rented their boards, Todd his boogie board and Greg his surf board, and they went. Truthfully, I looked all around the beach to take a picture of them taming the sea. I never did find them. However, I did watch an incredible sundown and a soccer match at the beach.

I headed back to the hotel pool to find both characters demoralized but at least in one piece. Even sipping cold suds. Apparently, Greg tried to surf the waves but a particularly big wave hit him hard and he did not want to play anymore. So Todd and Greg went to Playa Marinero to try better luck. There, Todd served as inspiration for young kids throughout the world not to get into the sport. No no, truthfully, he went on to ride 4 waves masterfully.

Right now we just came back from dinner. You guessed it! The same restaurant as last night's dinner and breakfast. The guy already knows us so the service was a bit (stress on bit) faster (in general having dinner at this place is a whole night affair) The sunset was sooooo romantic! We were all complaining about sharing such an absolutely beatiful scene with each other and not beautiful girls (such as Muoi).. but in the end, we had a great time, tip the waiter good bye and are on our way to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a 13 hour drive so we must be prepared.