Zipo Creepo
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2006
1
226
228
Trip End
Jul 15, 2008
Puerto Angel,
Mexico
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Pochutla, Oaxaca, Mexico
Exchange Rate: $1 = 10 pesos
This morning Tony and Lily got us on the right bus to the Mexican border. Tony insists that the border crossing at Cuidad Hidalgo is too dangerous and he finds the bus heading towards the El Carmen crossing. There is no direct bus so he tells us we have to take a bus to Coatepeque first and then take a bus to the border. It turns out not to be that simple. Our bus tickets from Xela to Coatepeque cost us 32Q; we departed Xela at 8:20 AM and arrived in Coatepeque at 10:35 AM. We left Coatepeque headed to El Carmen at 10:50 AM on a collective type van with our bags tied to the roof at a cost of 10Q headed. When we get to El Carmen we find out that it is near the border but not actually on the border. We end up taking two more collectivos for an additional 15Q before we actually get to the border crossing at 12:30 PM. It costs us nothing to get into Mexico.
There is a time zone change when we enter Mexico so it is 1PM when we leave to border to Tapacuhla. That bus costs us 30 Pesos. We arrive at 2 PM in Tapacuhla and find out that the next bus to San Pedro Pochutla doesn't leave until 10 PM. We have lots of time to kill so we walk around but there isn't much to see in Tapachula. We end up reading books and eating Pollo Compero until our bus is ready to board. It leaves late, at 10:50 PM. The bus to Pochutla costs 720 pesos for the two of us. It is a nice bus but not a sleeper or cama bus so the twelve hour trip is not that comfortable.
29-01
June 29, 2008
Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico
We arrive in Pochutla at 11 AM and immediately take a taxi to Zipolite (100 pesos). This is our third trip to Zipo. Zipolite is near Puerto Angel and has an unofficial free beach, which means it is clothing optional. The town was created by some hippies in the early 1970's and is still very laid back. Commercialism here might be two gay guys renting a stall to sell crepes. It is not for everyone so we can't recommend you go there. In fact don't go there; because the more people who discover the place the worse it will be for people like us who want to keep it secret. It is the rainy season and so despite the free beach we didn't get much sun. We stayed again at our usual place, and on the top floor with a balcony overlooking the beach. We got the name of a computer technician in Puerto Escondido and we made a trip there. But the tech was unable to fix our computer. This is a really tough virus. So we'll have to try to get it repaired in Mexico DF. Arvid has figured out how to copy files on the laptop to DVD disks using DOS commands. So he's been able to save all the photos and document files. If the hard drive has to be totally wiped out we will still have our photos. Actually, there is only about one month worth of photos on the laptop because we periodically copy our photos to DVDs which we mail to Irina's brother Al. He lets us know if they came through okay and then we delete them.
We spent 11 happy days in Zipolite and hope to return.
