Mexico - Zihuatenejo

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David here...

We got up early and both had showers and a quick breakfast of cereal and juice before jumping into a collectivo and making it to the bus station for our 09:00 bus to the coastal town of Zihuatanejo (pronounced see-what-a-nay-ho, yes the place mentioned in The Shawshank Redemption). The bus journey took 5 hours, so it gave us time to enjoy the films Reign of Fire, Sister Act and Jump In (a made for TV Disney film about skipping), all in Spanish of course, though we could follow what was happening. We arrived at 14:00 and immediately booked our tickets to Mexico City before leaving the bus station, crossing over the main road and jumping into a collectivo right into the centre of town. Our first choice hostel, Angelas Hotel, had a room free for M$275, a bargain to be honest. The staff were friendly, our room was big and clean, with a spacious bathroom, a balcony and 2 fans which were needed as Zihuatanejo is the hottest place we´ve been for quite a while. Everything in the room was hot and giving off heat. The mattresses, the tiled floor, even our towels were hot. We did manage to resist paying the extra money for air-con though.

We got ourselves cleaned up and headed out into town, stopping to drop off some laundry before making our way down to the beach area and the lure of 2x1 beers and cocktails. We ended up at Daniels bar and had a couple of beers and 4 cocktails each, the Mango Margeritas being a delight. After a few hours there we went to Tamales y Atoles Any and had fish dishes which were very nice. We then bought some beer and headed back to our room and sat on the balcony and listened to our MP3 player before heading to bed. The next day we went to Doña Licha for Huevos Rancheros for breakfast, which was delicious and huge. We didn´t need anything else to eat until dinner time, that was for sure. After breakfast we headed to the pier and got a boat over to Playa Las Gatas, a protected beach where we expected to be able to find some shops and a place to sit and read. The reality was that all that was there was row upon row of sun loungers in front of restaurants and bars. No shops and nowhere to get away from the relentless touts or waves. We only stayed for half an hour before admitting defeat and heading back across the bay, where we found a sheltered area and sat and watched the sea and beach for a little while. That is all there really is to do in Zihuatanejo, just relax, take your time and watch the world go by. We did end up going for a couple of cocktails at Daniels again before wandering back to the hotel to relax before the evening. That night we went to Los Braseros where we shared Tacos al Pastor (Pork) and a Gringa (Pork and cheese in tortillas) with Refried beans and Guacamole, which was delicious before buying more beer and making use of the balcony again.

Our final day before the overnight bus to Mexico City was spent wandering round the shops, going back to Tamales y Atoles Any to try their famous Tomales (Very good though a bit much after the first one) before sitting near the beach and relaxing again. We did succumb to a couple of beers (no cocktails this time, we had a bus to catch) before looking round for a seafood dinner, However after looking at the recommended places and not liking the menus at all we headed back to Los Braseros for Fish Tacos, only to find that they had no fish, despite what the waiter on the door told us to lure us in. By this time it was almost time for us to head to the bus station so we left the restaurant without eating anything and went back to the hotel for a shower (a service they offer to guest who store their luggage) and to pick up our luggage before jumping into a collectivo back to the bus station for our 23:30 bus to our final stop in Mexico. We had been looking forward to this stop as we wanted to see a different aspect to Mexico, and Zihuatanejo delivered. It is so different from everywhere else we had been and was full of Mexican holiday makers and few international tourists. We enjoyed the relaxing by the beach however after two days we were ready to move on.

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