Acapulchole

Today didn´t really start off great, and only got worse. We went down to one of the bus stations in Taxco around 11:00 am to catch the 12:10 bus to Acapulco. They wouldn´t let us buy tickets until the bus arrived. So we waited and waited, and still the bus did not come. Nigel kept asking one of the ticket ladies, and she said there is a lot of traffic, and the bus will come, just keep waiting. So we waited and waited some more. 1:00 came around, and by 2:00 we were really frustrated. They just kept telling us there is a lot of traffic. Well, the next bus was scheduled to leave at 2:40, and we didn´t want to miss out on this bus either. Finally we talked to someone who said that the 12:10 bus had broken down and was not coming, and the bus at 2:40 was also cancelled. Well, did I give them a piece of my mind! We had been waiting for over 3 hours, only to be told the same thing over and over, NEVER once any information about the services being cancelled. We were pissed, and the guy who works the tourist information booth vouched for us as well. Never take the Estrella Blanca group buses in Mexico. So we stormed out of there and walked about 1km down the road to another bus station, the Estrella de Oro buses. Here is was a sea of calm and quiet. We bought our tickets for the 3:00 ¨Pluss¨ service to Acapulco, one step up than the Primera (1st) class and the same price as the other crappy company. They were friendly and helpful, the bus showed up and we left on time. And it was a pretty luxurious 5 hours to Acapulco.

When we arrived in Acapulco, it took us over 2 hours to find a hotel. Not only were they way overpriced, they were dirty and gross as well. We struck out in the resort hotel area, so went to the supposedly cheaper area and still couldn´t find anything. I sat in the Zòcalo for a while while Nige walked around some more. By 10:00 pm we had to settle on a not so great place for US$22. In desperate need of a beer and some dinner by this stage, we dropped our stuff in the room, and headed out to get some food. This is supposed to be the cheaper area in Acapulco, but we struggled to find a reasonable priced taco place or anything for that matter. We finally found a place tucked in behind some tourist stalls, but the food was so greasy and gross that I barely touched my tacos. Nigel ate his hamburger and sorry excuses for french fries, but didn´t enjoy them. We then headed to Oxxo, Mexico´s version of 7-eleven (though they have these too) and got some 2-minute noodles. When we got to the beer fridge, we read a notice saying that due to elections, no alcoholic beverages may be sold in the city for the next 2 days. What!!??? That was just the last straw for us. So far, Acapulco is not really a place where we´d like to spend any time. We took our noodles and microwaved popcorn back to our hotel, where Nige managed to get the girl to sell us a few beers. They were overpriced but cold. But after the day we had, we didn´t even really enjoy them.