Puerto Escondido, OA - Enjoying the traveler's life

Acapulco was an interesting experience, but I was beginning to get a little bit lonely.  It was strange, because I don't think I've experienced much loneliness in my life.  I've missed individuals, but for the most part, I think I've been quite content with just my own company.  In the campground in Acapulco, all alone, I was hungry for contact with other people.

I knew from experience that a great place to make fast friends is a backpacker's hostel, so I booked in to one down in Puerto Escondido, a surfing and tourist town a few hours drive down the coast. I was excited about the idea of meeting other travelers and just having a beer or two with people from all over the world.

Up to this point, I was almost exclusively driving on toll roads in Mexico.  These roads are nice, wide roads with few potholes and large shoulders.  Tolls, while not individually expensive, are abundant.  I was beginning to get fed up with stopping every 20-40 minutes for a toll that ranges from 30 to 250 pesos. After Acapulco, the option for driving on the toll roads seemed to disappear, and I very quickly saw the wisdom in the line "don't know what you've got 'till it's gone".  Windy roads, no shoulders, crazy drivers, and the bane of my driving existence...the "reductor".

Sleeping policemen.  Speed bumps.  Botts' dots.  Whatever you call them, there were lots of them.  They were diverse in nature, some being well painted, while others blended into the surrounding road.  Some were mild, hardly warranting a slowdown, while others were massive walls telling you to slow to a crawl or suffer the consequences.

I suffered the consequences, and when I got to Puerto Escondido, I realized that my exhaust pipe had detached itself from my muffler.  Since I only had approximately 3000km left to drive at this point, I decided to just remove the tailpipe from the bracket holding it in place, and throw it in the bin.

The hostel in Puerto Escondidto was everything that I'd hoped.  great people and a fantastic vibe to the place.  I stayed in Vandrew, parked outside on the curb, but still used the hostel's toilets, showers, pool, hammocks, and bar.

There is a conservation movement in Puerto Escondido to try and protect the local turtles.  If not protected, locals will use the eggs for cooking, so the eggs are removed and incubated, and when they hatch, people can pay 50 pesos to release a turtle into the ocean.  Once released, the turtles still only have a 25% chance of survival.  I named my turtle Lawrence.,

I also experienced the "Super Moon" on a beach with some new friends.

The beaches in Puerto were pretty amazing too...

Me with new friends Carmel and Paola