Breakfast was a sandwich and drink bought at a rest stop. Arriving in Saltillo, saw my first armed soldier, at the bus depot. Don't know if he was protecting the passengers from the locals or the locals from the passengers! (Sorry, no pic. Just did not feel comfortable doing that.)
 
First, booked my bus to Guadalajara por mañana, then went to find a room. Couldn't get internet up when I arrived in Saltillo so I couldn't find the hotel I'd originally chosen and had to scramble to find an inexpensive place. Walked around looking for a place with wifi and a little privacy - ended up in a quiet booth in KFC, but after lunch (nugget meal under $4), I needed a local phone number to get onto their wifi. I didn't want to get too far away, 'cause the bus leaves at 0845. Asked a taxi driver to take me to a cheap hotel, and he took me to the most expensive one in the area. I told him 'barato' (spanish for cheap), a clerk in front of the hotel heard me and repeated the word to the driver. So then he took me to another place. His meter said 20 before he quickly shut it off. I gave him a 50 and he said it was twice that. He played dumb like he didn't understand what I was saying. So I gave him another 50 and told him I didn't think that was right, and jumped out of the car. 100 pesos is $6, so I wasn't going to get in an argument over that. The nicer inexpensive ones were full, so I settled. But what do you want for under $20 in a city this size (750,000). Should have done a little more homework while I was still in the states. I didn't feel comfortable with where he left me, so I decided to hoof it for a while. I think I went to most of the hotels in the area; two had rooms for about $18, but not 'til tomorrow. Hotel Primavera had one for the same price. You get what you pay for: (sorry, forgot to take pics) no screen in bath window, broken screen in bedroom window, room had an odor to it, fan but no A/C,no shower curtain, no towel hanger, hot water slow to arrive, shower was a slow stream. Luckily no bugs; temps so far, low 80s to upper 60s (pretty close to ideal for me).  
 
Why didn't I book ahead? Several reasons: unforeseen delays (loss of funds); possible change in plans; rooms not quite as advertised. There are so many lodgings that are not advertised in these (third world  know, this might offend some - just take it with a grain of salt - I'm not looking down my nose at anyone]) countries, that many are cheaper and better than what's on the net. Once I start running into other travelers, I'll get more recent info then what's on the net.  



Haircut day! I've been putting it off so I could do it cheap in Mexico. Asked about 6 people and no one knew of a place nearby. Walked around a bit and found five salons and barbers in a four block area. The last one, and cheapest, was almost across from my hotel! (started looking in the opposite direction). I figured this old guy would just give me a quick and dirty cut, but he took more care than the Americans charging more than five times as much. This guy was really old school, even shaved around my ears and neck. Cost: less than $3! How's this for low maintenance?
  



Walked around looking for a Sim card and a place for dinner. The only place that had a Sim card cost $20 and the guy couldn't tell me how many minutes it included or how to add minutes. I did buy an air freshener at a good sized market, and had a security guard covertly tailing me, as I was wearing my backpack!  


 

So I went round and round looking for a place to eat, but all I saw were pretty dumpy places. (Entire area is dumpy. This is in southwest Saltillo. Didn't check out any other parts of town as I was only there for one night -- Why do bus depots always seem to be in the worst part of town?)  

    


 


 
 



 



 
Even though it was dinner hour, not a lot of people in the restaurants, so I couldn't use that as a gauge as to the quality. Small grocery stores were busy; I guess the shoppers were picking up their fixings. Maybe the diners come out later. ( I'm here trying to do this blog, instead of checking out the late evening dining situation.) I finally decided on a decent looking place, though there wasn't anyone else in there Didn't see much activity in the other so-called restaurants either. 
    

 
 









 


 

 
I can't remember the name of the entree, but the fish and rice were tasty, the vegetables cooked just right. Had 2 fresh squeezed lemonades; they were very refreshing in my mouth, but had a funny taste going down my throat. Cost: meal, about $5; juice, about 75 cents each; total under $9 including tip (my figures will always include tip). 

Everyone I've met has been pleasant, helpful, and patient even with my almost non-existent spanish.  

Night! Night! Going to bed early so I can get up early and take some of the pics I missed today.

I've read that Latinos play lots of loud music, even into the wee hours, but it's been real quiet so far. Slept okay.