12/11/08-12/12/08....Restaurant La Guitarra..
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We did our shopping at Walmart in Acapulco and it was now getting late in the day. We turned off at the town of Marquellia Km 135 from Acapulco to find a camp spot. There was not much available and the owner of Restaurant La Guitarra said we could stay in his motel's little yard across the road from the beach. We gladly took up his offer and here we are.....The charge for camping was 100 pesos ($10) each.
Our trip today was a little faster than the normal 40-50 Km/day. The roads were good and the usual topes through the many small towns. We were held up for a half hour going through one town due to the Guadelupe parade. Day time temperatures have been around 30-32 C with high humidity, this morning (5am) it is 23 C. Our 12V portable fantastic fans are life savers. We are not using our A/C much, and the humidity is not bothering us as I thought it would. We have had no problems with the police (federal) so far, in fact a few went out of their way to help us or check on us that we were doing ok. While trying to find our way to Walmart East of Acapulco Centro we missed the left turn and could see we were headed for the extremely busy downtown area with our big rigs so decided that we needed to turn back. The only way was to make an illegal left turn. First, Ben stuck his nose out and made it through, then Larry .... oops....a Federale Police car came along side and was flashing his lights....Are we in trouble? ....No, he guided us all through the intersection with his flashing lights!!!
12/12/08-12/13/08....El Paraiso RV Park just West of Puerto Escondito..
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El Paraiso RV Park just West of Puerto Escondito is listed in Church's book. RV camping is 150 pesos ($15 cdn) and tenting is 100 pesos. It is right off the highway in a nice shaded grassy area with access to the lagoon. There are no hookups but showers and water are available. Ignacio, the owner speaks very good English. He is very nice and likes to chat. Ignacio has many lemon trees, almond, cashew, banana and even a cotton tree. (yes, a cotton tree, like a cotton plant but a small bush that grows for 8 years of so)
We had good breakfast at Ignacio's daughter's restaurant, met some of his grandchildren and then departed for Oxaca around 09:20. Our original plan was to take Mex175 out of Puerto Angel but Ignacio talked us into taking Mex131 (Mex135 in Guia Roji Maps) out of Puerto Escondito. It is a very windy road but a beautiful trip. The road was mosty paved but did have some rough spots. We climbed over 6000 feet. It took us 4 hours to travel 80 km. There are not many places to pull over or park so when we reached San Pedro Juchatengo and saw an open area by the river we pulled in there.
As we were coming into the town of San Pedro Juchatengo, we could see the river and some open fields by the highway. It was now 2:30 so we were looking for a night camp and that field was the first flat spot in a long while. We drove in as a convoy with lots of stares as we parked. The owners son came over, spoke fair English and we negotiated a fee of 50 pesos per rig. We had a few visitors who came over to practice their English and show us their kids. The night was a bit noisy with dogs and chickens and burrows....but what the heck...we are in Mexico eh!
We depart San Pedro Juchatengo at 7:50 am for Oaxaca. The drive was very beautiful and uneventful. We knew that there were only 2 RV parks in Oaxaca and these were pretty crummy so we were looking for alternatives for our night camp. About 15 Km from Oaxaca we come by a soccer field and a large pull off by a secondary boarding school. It is now 1:30 so we decide to use this spot for the night. We set up camp, have lunch at a portable restaurant right beside us (was very good), unhook our toad and head out for the ancient ruins of Monte Alban. Ben stayed behind to watch our rigs. He later told us that some students came by and asked if they could wash his car. They did a good job. The same kids came by and asked if the rest of us wanted our cars washed. The looks on their faces were priceless when we agreed to let them come back the next day to do this. Later in the evening we are regularly visited by students from the boarding school. We practice our Spanish and they practice their English and have a good time. Betty made up some Root Beer with our soda maker. They loved it. This morning at 6:00 am the boys are here and they wash one of the cars. They will do the others after school.
This is our roadside camp for 2 nights. We are visited by students from the nearby school. The night is quiet, little road traffic. Day traffic is steady but not bad. Cost is free and no hookups.
Dec. 16th at 8 AM we leave our busy campsite near the school. We have decided to take Mex175 through the mountains back to the coast at Puerto Angel. The girls wanted to check out 2 small villages near Oaxaca on Mex175 which specialized in certain products. After their shopping it was off to the mountains. Our destination was about 240 Kms away but we knew we could not do this in one day. Our average speed through the mountains and villages and many topes will be about 30-35 kms making it an 8 hour trip. We are hoping to find a level spot large enough for us to camp for the night. If we don't we might have to drive in the dark....not something we are looking foward to.
12/16/08-12/17/08....Near San Miguel Suchixtepec on Mex175
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Satellite view
We find a spot!....Tonight we camp beside Mex175 near a small town called San Miguel Suchixtepec. We are in the mountains at 8500 ft. This is the first open area that we have come across since we hit the mountains and it is very nice, nestled in the pines. We are close to the highway but the traffic is not heavy and it is relatively quiet. This morning the temperature was 10 C. At this altitude the high today would probably reach 22 C.
