Sunday, October 02, 2005

Acapoophole

Waking up to a new day, we were determined to find the good side of Acapulco. We promptly checked out of our dingy hotel and took one of the many air-brush painted, pimped out buses to the resort hotel area and found a place for US$30, with a swimming pool. A lot of money for us, but a bargain in this town. It is really hot and humid in Acapulco, so after having some lunch (as it was lunchtime by this stage), we went for a swim in the pool, very refreshing. We then showered and were going to watch the famous cliff divers, but they only have one afternoon show, the others being in the evening. So we got on our bathers and went down to the beach.

The beach as Acapulco looks pretty much how we expected. High rises dotting the sand along the pacific. There were lots of people out on the beaches and eating at the many restaurants. We were happy to see that most of them were Mexican vacationers. We walked along the beach for a while, searching for a good place to sit for a while and go for a swim. This idea was quickly shot down when we approached a river of water rushing from the land into the ocean. If the smell didn´t give away what is in the water, then the piles of black and brown gunk floating in it does. It was and endless supply of raw sewage spewing out into the water. We couldn´t really believe it at first, and stood there for a while watching locals try to make the huge leap across so as to avoid stepping in the tainted water. It was so disgusting. The hotel pool was turning out to be an even bigger bargain than we originally thought, as there was no way we were swimming in the ocean now (despite the fact that tons of others didn´t seem to care/know and were happily frolicking in the ocean).

So, we decided to have a drink instead, even though they are not cheap. We settled in under an umbrella at one of the many places on the sand, and decided to splurge on US$10 for 2 drinks. We placed our order, only to be informed that it would be another 35 pesos for the use of the umbrella and chairs! It only took us about 3 seconds to laugh at the man, jump out of our chairs and quickly walk away. We think these restaurants have a lot of nerve to charge for the ¨use¨ of their umbrellas and chairs when they are already asking an arm and a leg for drinks and food anyway. We finally managed to find a guy willing to let us use his umbrella and chairs for free if we bought a drink. So we had 2 beers for 40 pesos (we´ve been paying about 16 pesos for 2 beers) and sat there for a while, just watching the people.

We walked back to our hotel along the street, thus avoiding the disgusting sewage this time, and went back to the hotel for another swim. We relaxed for a bit before heading over to watch the clavadistas, or cliff divers. The cliff divers of Acapulco have been delighting spectators since 1934, jumping from 25 or 35 metres. Where they perform now is a beaufiul spot on the Pacific, and we arrived in time to enjoy the sunset. When the show was about to start, about 6 divers (in speedos) climbed down one side of the cliff, turned on the spotlights, then scaled the opposite wall (they dive into a small inlet between 2 cliffs when the tide is high). They all prayed to the Virgin Mary at one of 2 altars they have up on the top, and then one by one they dove it. It was pretty cool, and they had my heart racing. We were glad there was no cheesy music or anything.

Afterwards, we took a pimped out techno bus back towards our hotel, and lit our mouths on fire with delicious tacos al pastor for dinner, before heading back to the hotel and to bed.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home