"Richard" wrote in message
news:eugv9h$okp$1@dns3.cae.ca...
> I just got back from a trek through Michoacan and a bit of Guerrero.. here
> are some notes:
>
> 13/3 - Flew from Montreal to Mexico City to Zihuatanejo.
>
> I'd already bought the Montreal-Mexico City ticket when I decided I wanted
> some time on the beach. I chose Zihua over everything else because the
> original motivation behind the trip had been to explore Michoacan so I
> wanted something close. Bus from Mexico City to Zihua is approx 9 hours
and
> the flight with AeroMexico was 1 hour so I took it, despite it being about
> twice the price (~400 MXN by bus versus 100 CAD by plane).
>
> Stayed at a place called Angela's Hostel and Hotel which is essentially a
> small hotel with a kitchen that has one guest room converted into a dorm
> with 5 beds. They've recently moved so anyone who's guide book is older
than
> 1 month will want to look up their new co-ordinates on Calle Mango just
next
> to the market.
>
> One bunk in the dorm was 90 MXN per night. Angela's husband, who helps run
> the place, is a Canadian named Gregg so there's no problem using English
> there.
>
> 14/3 and 15/3 - Lay around on the beach
>
> First day I took a bus and a boat out to Ixtapa Island, which has 4
beaches,
> some for snorkeling, some for scuba others for swimming, etc. The
snorkeling
> wasn't that great and was supposed to cost 120 MXN but the guy readily
> lowered his price to 80. There were a few vendors but none too intrusive.
>
> Next day I walked down to Playa Madera, sat around, went in the water a
few
> times, and had a few beers. This beach is more accessible and nicer than
> Isla Ixtapa (from where I was staying at any rate).
>
> 16/3 - Travel to Uruapan.
>
> After poking around Zihua for a bit (there's really no reason to go here
if
> not for the beaches), buying some souvenirs and having a seafood lunch, I
> hopped on a bus to go to Uruapan. My bus ticket on a first class bus ran
me
> 245 MXN.
>
> I got there around 8pm and went straight to my hotel, the Posada Morelos,
> where a room with a shared bathroom cost 60 MXN per night and the zocalo
can
> be reached on foot in 5 minutes. I found a pretty good taqueria just down
> the street where, after finishing my tacos, the guy working there sat down
> and chatted with me for a good hour (dunno how well this would have worked
> were I not able to hold a conversation in Spanish).
>
> 17/3 - Up the Volcano (Paricutin)
>
> I started out early, grabbing some pancakes and hot chocolate from a
street
> vendor at the zocalo before trekking out to a Pemex just north of a
> roundabout just north of park at the west of the city. From there I split
a
> cab with some locals and paid 20 MXN to get to Angahuan which is a
Purepecha
> village where you can easily find guides and horses for the 32 km trek to
> the base of the volcano. I suspect that mine ripped me off (I paid 600 MXN
> for the guide and both of our horses) but I'd been looking forward to this
> more than anything else I'd researched, so I went anyway.
>
> My impressions of Uruapan were that it seems quite run down with an almost
> complete lack of anyone who's not Mexican but that's not necessarily a bad
> thing depending on your perspective. Upside was that it was incredibly
> cheap.
>
> 18/3 - Patcuaro/Tingambato
>
> I packed up early and headed for Patzcuaro on a 37 MXN bus ticket, where I
> based myself at the Posada La Rosa, which cost me 100 MXN per night for a
> more luxurious version of the same accommodations I'd had in Uruapan. By
> "more luxurious" I mean that the paint wasn't chipping off the walls, the
> bed wasn't a single, and the bare lightbulb was screwed into a fixture
> rather than dangling from a wire. It's on the west side of the Plaza
> Bocanegra just below the market which is a great place for cheap eats. The
> plaza itself is currently boarded up; they're doing some serious
renovations
> to it.
>
> After checking in and exploring town a bit, I backtracked to Tingambato to
> see the ruins. Getting off the bus at the side of the highway, I heard the
> familiar "Que onda, guero?!" and saw four Mexicans piling out of a red VW
> bug, one of them approaching me with a beer in hand. I drank that one with
> them and then made plans to do some more drinking after the ruins.
>
> Tingambato was worth a couple hours and was quite picturesque. Afterward I
> headed back for my newfound friend's place where we finished off half a
> bottle of tequila before I headed back to the highway to catch the bus
with
> a considerable buzz going.
>
> After getting back and grabbing a bite to eat, I headed for the zocalo
where
> I caught a free concert and met a cute local girl with whom I spent the
rest
> of the evening chatting :-)
>
> 19/3 - Ihuatzio and Tzintzuntzan
>
> Both are accessible via the local buses which run between 4 and 8 pesos.
>----snip------
Excellent report! You have rekindled many great memories of our own
experiences in those wonderful places, people and food. The best meal in my
life, second to Pompano a Papelliot at Antoins in New Orleans, was a chicken
dinner bought from a street vendor at the Patzcuaro market.
Thanks for sharing!
Wayne
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