Acapulco – Puerto Escondido : 426 km

We left Acapulco late. We had planned to leave relatively late, at about ten or eleven, but after wandering around looking for breakfast, and the slowest service ever, we didn't even get in the car until midday. Once we had finally set off, we had to crawl our way through the traffic of the city and find the right road. Neither of these turned out to be that easy, and after battling our way through the roadworks where the traffic of a three lane motorway was squeezed into single file, we had to do a u-turn in a military compound and ask for directions.

The only problem with asking for directions in Mexico is that everyone will give them. This might sound convenient, but it's not when not everyone knows the way. The state police directed us in one direction, and a petrol pump attendant another, and we ended up going a completely different way, which was signposted. Our way unfortunately involved a toll road. We had to pay 22 pesos for about 2 km of road. Outrageous. We also discovered that unlike most cars, where the low fuel warning on a Dodge Dynasty doesn't mean that you've still got about 50 miles worth of petrol. It means low fuel. So as we started up the very steep hill we'd parked on, it was sounding distinctly like we might not make it.

After a quick refill we were back out on the open road. We passed through a few small towns, with some very over-zealous speed bumps, so we weren't quite racing towards are next stop, but at least we were out of Acapulco. There were a few things that slowed us down today. A military checkpoint, where a very lacklustre search was carried out on our car. The didn't bat an eyelid when they opened a coolbox with 20 empty beer bottles in it. Another killer was a series of huge, double length lorries. Some posed no problem as we overtook them on the straights, but there was one that we were stuck behind for at least half an hour, until we finally overtook it on a speed bump. Going over a speed bump at forty was definitely worth it for the time we saved! The final obstacle was animals, dead and alive. Dogs that run straight out in front of the car are becoming the norm, but we also had to contend with cows, horses, and a dead donkey.

We stopped for lunch about two thirds of the way to Puerto Escondido, and ate well despite the waitress being a sandwich short of a picnic. While we were eating, it started to rain. Obviously it's the rainy season here, because it wasn't exactly a shower. We drove out of it as we headed to the coast though, and were in Puerto Escondido much before we expected. We managed to find a hostel after some searching. Once there, we settled down to some beers with the other guests, and at about two we went to bed. A little bit late perhaps, but it was good to spend some time socialising.

Related posts:

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2. Maruata – Acapulco : 503 km
3. Hotel – El Tajin – Puebla Mexico D.F
4. Oaxaca – Veracruz : Dodge Dynasty Delight
5. Zacatepec – Oaxaca