We Could Not Resist A Warm Beach!

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THURSDAY (1-24-13) Ok, so here is the story, last night we decided to change of our plans. We have decided to head somewhere that is out of the mountains and closer to the coast. We loved San Cristobal, but the city sits at 6,000 feet. That translates to warm days and chilly nights. After several chilly nights (low 50s or high 40s) we decided it was time to adjust our plans. So we are not going south to Comitan. I got out the book, did some reading and figured out how to get us to the coast. So the question became, is it the northwest coast or the southern part of the coast? After some discussion, we picked Puerto Arista, this location is just about 125 miles north of Tapachula and the Guatemalan border, which is on the Pacific Coast. It is a very small community that is a bit difficult to get too. We will take a small bus (hold 10 people) to Tuxtla Gutierrez. Then we will take another bus to a very small city by the name of Tonala (3 hours). From there we can get local transport (pick-up) to the beach community (20-30 minutes). Here is what my book says: "This one-street town has a handful of basic hotels and simple palapa restaurants......it makes it a mellow place to kick back for a day or two." One of the hotels was recommended to us by my teacher. So the plan is to stay at Hotel Lucero. It has a pool and sand floor restaurant. Should be fun for a couple of days!

We arrive in Puerto Arista! It was a bit difficult to get here but not too bad. About 90 minutes in a small van (collective – stop whenever some waves their hand); followed by a 3 hour bus ride to Tonala. We arrived later than we wanted to, and all of the local transport has stopped for the night. I exit the bus and get us a cab -30 minute later we arrive in Arista. We arrived at 8 pm on Thursday. The city was dead. We find the hotel, Lucero and decide to stay, we check in. We are both hungry. I asked about a restaurant. He kept saying “in el centro” (in the center of town) and I kept saying give me a name. Finally I realized that I was not getting a name. Well, we had just driven through this one street town and I saw nothing open. But I said ok, and we set off on foot. It is dark and the streets are not well lit. We take our flashlight, but we really do not need it. As I already suspected, nothing is open except a few small stores selling candy, chips, snacks, sodas, and beer. Finally we run across a guy that was making some food in front of his house on the street (quesadillas, Tacos, Tortas, hotdogs, and hamburgers). We both had quesadillas! He was the only place that was open. (See attached picture - doesn't he look happy to have 2 gringo customers!)

FRIDAY (1-25-13): This village really is a pleasant little tropical spot, not known that well to the tourist crowd and if known, people don’t want to go through the trouble to get here. At this moment, we are the ONLY non-mexican tourists here. Three are a few (perhaps 10 or 15 mexican tourists in the town). The place seems almost empty. Just outside of town I did notice a coconut plantation. I attached pictures so you could see how crowded the beach is at 9 am! It is warm and the ocean is extremely warm (low 80’s).

I guess we can tolerate the warm sunny weather, empty beach and street (there is only one) of this little seaside village for couple of days! In truth, we are told that it is crowded during Mexican vacation periods such as Holy Week and Christmas, but empty most of the rest of the year.

From the beach area, the peaks of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas can be seen in the background, the top of the peaks with clouds making the view breathtaking. It was one of the first things Teresa noticed this morning. The beach is wide and very long with a fine, gray, volcanic sand. The surf appears to be pretty heavy. Like most of the Pacific coast riptides are dangerous, capable of sweeping people out to sea. There are -0- indications as to the water safety and no lifeguards – well that may be because no one is on the beach except Teresa and me! Tourist infrastructure is well, uh, nonexistent. The city mostly consists of basic hotels and simple palapa restaurants which are on the beach and face the ocean. Our hotel is considered to be one of the two upscale hotels (Hotel Lucero, the other is Arista Bugambilias). The cost for a room for 2 was $40. The only problem was that a damn rooster was crowing all night. The damn thing did not understand that he is suppose to keep his yap closed until the sun comes up! The palapa restaurants sell almost exclusively seafood dishes, and I am pretty sure all have similar menus. Have I got you salivating yet?

This morning as we walked the beach, all of the palapas were closed. So I asked one of the ladies cleaning when they would open. She said, “I will open for you now!” So she did and we had our favorite breakfast scrambled eggs Mexican style, fried beans and bread with fresh squeezed orange juice. Total cost for both $10.00.

Today we have been lazy, just laying at the pool ad enjoying the weather. Soon we will pick a place to eat dinner – fresh fish of course. Tomorrow we will depart the city around noon. We should arrive in Tuxtla around 4 pm. I need to find us a hotel and then we leave on Sunday morning : ( We returned to our room about 4 pm. As I walked to out room on the 2nd floor, I could see the family in the back of the hotel. There is 9 ft cement wall separating us. There were 5 kids. So I called out to them and said "I have gifts and toys." They all came running as did their mother. So I tossed the gifts to them (small dolls, jump ropes, coloring books and crayons, frisbees). They loved them and one of the kids was chanting regalos (gifts). Then we left to walk down the beach.

All day I was worried that I would not be able to find a restaurant with truly fresh food. It is so dead here that I was certain they would have to freeze even the fresh catch. So we started walking down the beach and I was thinking that I would make them show me the fish before I ordered.....when all of the sudden there came such a clatter I turned my head to see what was the matter. When what to my beholding eyes did a see, but a boat of Mexican fisherman anchoring from the sea. I charged and asked at which palapa can I get fresh fish. They point to one directly in front and then walked me to the place. I could not believe my eyes. Their entire catch was spread out on a table most of it still in the basket/bag. They said, what do you want? I asked for the local fish that Teresa read about on the internet, Robolo. The leader of the group said, yes, I did catch one, but it is 7 kilos (that is 14 pounds). Well, Teresa and I really did not think that we were that hungry. So we settled for two nice looking red fish and asked for the prepare them "al la Vera Cruzano" (see pictures). They were yummy!! While we waited for the fish, I saw their kids. So we gave out more gifts and made some great friends! It was fun watching the fisherman divy up the fish and and get paid by the group leader. They sat at a table and talked, he gave out money and then they walked to the fish. Each person took some fish, crabs, or shrimp. The leader took the rest (a larger portion) and walked to his motorcycle with a very large basket on the back and drove off. He returned with an empty basket about 10 minutes later. What a great experience and dinner.

Thoughts about the cool little beach village.

DINING: Beachfront restaurants run the length of town. All are basic thatched-roof and sand-floored establishments (I use that word loosely) serving simply prepared, fresh seafood.

BEACH: The beach is 15 miles of nearly deserted beach. The whole place is geared to the laid-back visitor. There is little to do in town except relax, read and eat.

TIPS: There are no banks or ATMs in town. There is no pharmacy, police station, hospital, or post office. Wait, there is one place that is kind of a medical center. On the front door it says “SHOCK TRAUMA”. Not sure what that means. There are no Internet cafes, gas stations or nightclubs. All of these things can be found in Tonalá, just 17 miles away.

STORES: There are several small stores in town offering life’s necessities – pop, chips, cookies, booze, plus some dry and canned goods.

SUN: The sun here is HOT. Don’t forget your sunscreen, sunglasses and such. Teresa and I both got a bit too much sun in just 3 or 4 hours on our first day.

TRANSPORTATION: Puerto Arista consists of one street about ten blocks long, so obviously walking is the way to go. There are no public buses. Although we saw a couple of taxis, I don’t think they are always in town. Puerto Arista is in the state of Chiapas, the southernmost state on the Mexican Pacific coast. From Tonala, combis (public transportation vans) make the 45-minute trip to Puerto Arista throughout the day. Cost was 17 pesos. We took a taxi both ways and the cost was 120 pesos. But the taxi trip is 25 minutes and they will drop you off at either of the bus stations (OCC or 2^nd class). Regular long-distance buses from Tuxtla Gutierrez, Oaxaca, and a few other cities service Tonala.

I just booked a hotel in Tuxtla. To help our adjustment back, I booked us a room at the Holiday Inn Express, located directly on the Marimba Square in the center of town. So it will be fine and we can listen to music in the evening. Tuxtla is the capital and the center of all commercial activity. Not my type of town, but ok for one night. Saturday we will returned to Tuxtla Gutierrez . It is the capital and largest city in the state of Chiapas. It is considered to be the state’s most developed and important city and the financial center of the state. It will provide us with some fun night life, a nice hotel and many wonderful restaurants for our last night in Mexico. Our plane departs at 8:30 am.

SATURDAY (1-26-13): I am up early so I can walk the one street in Puerto Arista before we leave. I would love a cup of coffee but at 7:30 am in this town there is no chance…..or wait. I hear this lady walking down the street calling our “Café, Postre, & Dulces”. I turn and walk to her. She is selling coffee. I buy a cup. I walk for a while, enjoy my coffee then turn around to find her for a second cup. She is still walking the empty street. I ask if I can take a picture while she pours my second cup! I walk on and then see a man carrying a bucket with something. I stop, enjoy my coffee and watch. Finally someone rides by on a bike. He charges holding up a bag of shrimp and offers to sell. He walks to everyone on the street and finally get a buyer from a home in the central area. He is happy but appears to have several more bags of shrimp in his bucket.

I walk around and then return to the hotel. Teresa is up. We spend a few hours at the pool and catch a taxi to the bus station in Tonala. On our final night in Chiapas we walk the city of Tuxtla, have tacos for dinner, buy more jewelry and 8 movies. We go to bed early and head to the airport in the morning. Another great trip to Mexico is in the history book!

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Photos

Fine Dinning
The only place open after 8 pm!