Puerto Escondido

This blog isn't anywhere close to being current. 

     I didn't go far this summer vacation.  When you already live in one beach resort, it seems pointless to travel long distances to other beaches.  What am I going to find that I don't already have?
      Puerto Escondido is just 2 and a half hours down the road by scooter and it makes a nice change of pace.
That's the end of the restaurant drag in Zicatela.  I decided to see if I couldn't get a good deal beyond the heavier traffic and didn't look far at all before I found Casa Olga. 

For a great price, I got a panoramic view of the ocean, access to a pool, and a table and hammock right outside my door. 

It's a bit isolated up there on the hill.  Several of the neighboring hotels were closed up for the slow season.

The nights were hot and I slept with the glass doors open for the first two.  On the second night, I woke to a thump and someone screaming.  The commotion settled down very quickly.  I figured someone had just had a bad dream and went back to sleep immediately.

In fact, someone had snuck in through the open doors of the young Australian couple above me.  The man had managed to save his laptop from the intruder but found out later that his wallet was gone.  The victims said they had come home pretty drunk and were probably followed  for easy pickings.  No doubt that was true because I was on the floor below with my door wide open and he didn't stop to visit me.  Everybody slept with closed doors after that.

      Beyond the restaurant strip, it gets pretty dark and I felt a bit vulnerable walking home at night.  On my first night, I went downtown for dinner and noticed the same shady looking tattooed guy hanging out outside Oxxo from the afternoon, apparently for hours.  By the time I left the restaurant, he had finally moved, to outside my restaurant.  I stopped at a bar for some watered down mojitos and there he was again.  When it came time to return home, I stopped at the corner before stepping into the dark lonely street and turned around to confront anyone following me.  There was no one.  I stopped again before turning into the even darker alley/ driveway of the hotel.  I saw someone else turning the corner and shifting into an immediate power walk/run up the hill without looking back.  I wasn't the only one on alert.  It's wise not to let your guard down too far in any tourist town.  Wherever there are tourists, there will be predators and basic street smarts should be the rule. 

Over the rocks from Zicatela to Principal.  It looks a lot safer these days with a bar parked right at the midpoint but I still wouldn't recommend this shortcut after dark.

I must not have been here during the rainy season before because this is the first time I've ever seen this moat separating the town from the beach.  I hesitated but other people were crossing it so I tried it too.  It felt as swampy and nasty as it looked.  I recommend the longer route.

Promising clouds for a cook refreshing rain.  Nothing happened.

Two guys, probably not locals judging by the English, with spray paint cans and time on their hands.  Maybe the second one was mad because the first beat him to the clean concrete.