Diary of 3 Weeks in Mexico

June 15
Friday 930am

Today marks the official halfway point of our trip- 11 days in Mexico and 11 left. So much I´ve seen, enjoyed, learned and so much to come.

I´m on a bus again this morning- this time moving away from the beaches and coastline and heading inland a few hours to the mountains and volcanic city of Colima.

We got up early yesterday morning as well and made a quick jump a little further down the coast and into the city of Manzanillo. Kind of a pit stop for us as buses don´t go directly from little Barra to Colima. We figured we´d spend one more day at a beach town and cut our trip into halves to give us a little more time each day. The less time on a bus in one day, the better.

However, Manzanillo has proven to be a bit of a dissapointment. The city borders the ocean like a spread out, soft and curved ´w´ with the port and city center on the southern most points, a few grand houses and resorts on the central peninsula, and some rocky cliffs and mountains to the north with beautiful beaches spread in between.

The beaches though, were deserted. We were close to the only people there- and there was nothing to either see or do. We walked hours and miles, took buses and taxis to both ends and found no touristy spots. No shopping, no beachside restaurants, only a few run down hotels and the occasional side-of-the-road food stand... there were however, a large amount of abandoned buildings and quite a few mechanics shops.

It was sad- so much natural beauty but nowhere to enjoy it. The port was really dirty and the city heavily commercialized- smoke pouring from lines of tall smoke stacks into the skies. When following the main street from our own run-down beach hotel, we had to walk 6 blocks or about 15 minutes just to find a convenience store or a computer. I feel we did nothing yesterday but walk - looking for something, anything, people. We asked bus drivers and taxi drivers and shop owners for suggestions, but they couldnt give us much. They would point to the sandy beach and say enjoy... and in the end we did. But it was a bit of a dissapointment.

It was hard not to get frustrated... with the situation or each other. Kristen and I havent struggled being together at all, but yesterday was a test. We passed though and are still fine today... but there were a few short sentances with each other in deciding how to make a day out of nothing yesterday. She really had wished we´d stayed in Barra another day.

We questioned ourselves yesterday... maybe we had become jaded or unappreciative or spoiled. Maybe, but really I was sad for this city. It has the makings of something wonderful and looks as if it once was... If it can preserve anything of its past Im sure it again will be. It just wasnt so fun during our visit.

When the tide began to come in, and the jellyfish came out, I left the beach, cooled off quickly in the pool and we watched Charlie´s Angels in the hotel room.

We´re hoping our inland adventures today will renew our hope, as Im sure they will... otherwise these next 11 days arent going to be as great as the 1st. And if anyone´s looking to buy some cheap, prime oceanside property that will double in value the moment the Sheridan or some other such franchise and Walmart move into Manzanillo... I´d say it´d be a good bet. In fact I know in a few years a lot of the places we´ve been will be much more commercialized and much more expensive. It´s a good thing we´ve come when we have.