Everything changes. Road work has begun to facilitate construction of a new hotel zone near Cacaluta. This means some of the directions to Playa Organo from the previous post ( http://alackofcleardirection.blogspot.com/2009/10/playa-organo-and-how-to-get-there.html ) are now out-dated. But those former landmarks were huge potholes. Just watch out for the topes. They are legion.
This is my new preferred entry way to the arroyo. I can drive the scooter right up to the last bushes before the beach. The arroyo can be soft and sandy so moving too fast is a guaranteed wipe-out. I’d also recommend keeping your feet well within the scooter. A bush left a clean gash across my right foot.
Scooters aren’t much fun when you have to push them home. My accelerator was stiff ever since the Puerto Escondido run. That’s why I didn’t make any big detours on the way home. I was afraid it would quit working entirely. But I continued to ride all around Huatulco. It was just a matter of getting used to the new feel. But Friday, on my way back from Organo, I didn’t get past the second dusty tope before the accelerator died. It was almost like running out of gas except that the engine continued to turn.
It could have been so much worse. That would have been tough pushing it through the soft arroyo. Or worse. I might have been stranded between here and Puerto Escondido. There are some very lonely stretches on that highway and, when you come across the occasional puebla, there is no guarantee there’s going to be a mechanic in town.
So I pushed it up a couple of hills and coasted down the other side. Eventually I made it to the mechanic but he was locked up until Monday. It wasn’t that much further home. The trip took the wind out of me. One and a half litres of water seems like plenty when you’re splashing at the beach but it goes pretty fast when you get home the hard way. I use old plastic bottles filled with frozen tap water for my cooler. I was so glad to have them for the trip, stopping every now and then to roll them all over my body. By the time I got home, they were mostly water again and I emptied them over myself and hit the couch for a hard nap.
It has been a hot week so I’ve been watching a lot of mainstream movies at the local cinema to enjoy the air conditioning. Life is short. Take warning . “The Book of Eli” is not worth your time unless you need to escape the heat. “Alice in Wonderland” has ten more minutes of cool and it must be spectacular in 3D. Sadly we only get 2D in Huatulco. Too bad they tried to give it a conventional story line so it resembles just about every other big budget children’s lit fantasy flick for the past 8 years. I give the air conditioner 5 stars, 4 for the special effects and 3 for the writing.
It seems to have been a day for breaking things. I smelled smoke when I returned. It wasn't too strong, like a piece of paper smouldering in an ashtray. My timing could have been worse but it could have been a whole lot better. I had started a pot of Jamaica and forgotten it immediately.
