Fortuna to San Jose

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A frantic start to the day. We were relaxing after breakfast when our bus arrived. It was a half hour early so it was a scramble to pay our tab and finish packing. We were the only ones going to the capital so lots of seat choices. We took the same road back to the city but it is always nice to see the same thing from another perspective.

Though it was only noon, traffic from the outskirts to downtown was heavy. With all the one-way streets, a GPS is essential to get around. We finally stopped at our hotel, the Santo Tomas, http://www.hotelsantotomas.com/ . It looked ok from the outside but the surrounding buildings are somewhat dilapidated. Man, it is noisy on this street! Have to ring a bell to get through the barred gate. The guy at reception was a bit frazzled as the computer system had been down for a while. Otherwise, check-in was easy and we were led to our room. It seemed small after the cabin we had in Fortuna but it is only for one night.

First order of business was to arrange transportation to Coahuila the next day. Being on vacation, we were not aware that this would make it Saturday. Our travel plans were not confirmed until 8pm and by that time we were anxious to leave the city as quickly as possible. But I get ahead of myself.

Opening the curtains of our room revealed a seemingly oasis of tranquillity of a small pool, water slide and hot tub surrounded by patio furniture and flowering shrubbery. It was only upon stepping outside that the aggressive cacophony of noise hit me. It seems that we are close to the bus station and there is a bus accelerating down the one way street every thirty seconds.

Realizing that we cannot stay cooped up in our room for the next 24hours, we ventured forth in search of the main post office, as I do in each country I visit. That is another story. After about an hour of frustration we started to wander around the downtown core. We found the central market, a building that takes up a city block. A real souk, full of small stalls. Anything and everything is sold there. We were even approached by a well-dressed young fellow who offered some Mary Jane.

I did find a few treasures, including 100% pure chocolate, some Jamaican spice and some fresh turmeric tubers for a fraction of the price back home, when it can be found. This last purchase was facilitated by an older lady working at one of the many food stalls in the building. She saw Claudette flipping through her dictionary looking for the Spanish word for turmeric. In broken English she asked if she could help. We finally got the correct word, the same as in French, with the help of a nearby basket of ginger. Off she went, weaving through the various stalls, with us in tow, to the stall I where I had bought the Jamaican spice. Claudette gave her a big hug for her kindness. The people’s genuine desire to be of assistance is one of the redeeming qualities of this country.

Back on the street, we were hit with the noise of hundreds of country folk peddling their produce. They would make great stage actors as their voices easily overpowered the noise of traffic. We plotted our way back to the hotel. Little did we know that this took us through a really rough part of town. We started to notice some well-worn ladies of the night and rambunctious street-front bars. Thirsty as we were, we kept on moving.

Things started to improve, slightly but I was beginning to get overwhelmed by the noise. When we saw our hotel we realized that we didn’t have any mix for our local alcohol. Foot-sore, we started around the block. Luckily, we found a small store and got some fruit juice. After a stiff one, we were ready to venture forth again for supper. We had noticed earlier that there was a small Egyptian resto just next door and decided to give it a try.

It was well worth it. Just five small tables but very clean and run by an Egyptian couple. There was a family of four and another couple arrived soon after. Reinforcements were called in. She looked like she could be the owner’s sister. They bustled around the kitchen so small that I would have found difficult to work in on my own. A beautiful meal was served. I chose a lamb dish and was pleasantly surprised by its tenderness. I had risked a homemade lemonade on ice and had no ill effects. I guess my stomach has adjusted to the local bacteria. Apparently , they have only been open for a year and seem to be making a go of it. I wish them good luck.

We returned to our room and I decided to explore the hotel a little more. The lobby has a small exchange library with books in several languages. The doors to unoccupied rooms are left open to keep them cool, so I was able to compare them with ours. They are laid out in small groupings of two to four with a maze of hallways leading to the lobby. One door was behind a pillar in the hallway,leaving barely enough room to squeeze sideways through and had a number 5 on it. The door was closed. Out of curiosity to see if it was a hotel room, I opened the door. All I could see was a pair of legs on a bed. I sure hope there is another entrance to this room.

I returned to our room and crawled into bed. The bed was comfortable and the ceiling fan, thankfully silent. At least this room has a bedside table with lamp and was comfortably cool for sleeping.

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Photos

Living Fence
We saw these fences frequently on our travels. Simply dig a hole and insert a branch freshly cut from a tree. Within six weeks it will begin to grow new branches and root into place.

Long View Across the Plateau
Though it is the same road we took toFortuna, we saw from another perspective going the opposite direction. It is a drive of over 4 hours. One hour climbing up the mountain range, an hour across the plateau, another hour going down the other side and the rest of the trip getting around the capital.

San Jose Building 2
Mixed in with the modern are a few colonial era mansions. Beautiful.

Feeding the Pigeons
His parents had bought him a bag of popcorn to feed to the pigeons and were busy filming their kid. I saw this coming. A brave pigeon jumped up on his thigh and was persistant in begging for more.