Wow is that ever confusing: I just lost an hour somewhere.  

I've been fighting with the internet for about two hours, going back and forth to the hotel desk. They gave me a different address with a slightly better signal, but it's only available in certain parts of the hotel (mainly in the lobby). I spent some time getting caught up on FB (about 2 days behind, due to no connection).  

It's now 5:30pm (thought it was only 4:30), so I'll have to resume this after sunset pics and dinner. Clock setback here is one week earlier than in US. Also, approaching PV, you go from Mountain time to Central time. So somewhere I ended up back one hour - no wonder sunrise seemed so early!  

Well, I was going to finish off this blog, but, this is what happened. Walked along the beach looking for a place to eat, while watching the sun and trying to get good shots. The clouds didn't cooperate again.  

Anyway, walked to the south end of Melaque: mostly private homes, a few small hotels, a couple with restaurants, but neither the hotels or the restaurants were open. A couple of big hotels, but all undergoing renovations.  
 


*Note: I titled this piece 'after the hurricane', but I haven't featured it in the story. I took a bunch of pics from the bus on the way from Perula to Melaque. Click on the slide show, below, to get some idea of what the high winds did. The rest of the damage was from water: flooding from rains or surf; lots of water and sand on the ground floors (couldn't get in to take pics).*

 
 Same old, same old: the sidewalks get rolled up at sundown.  

Saw only a few places with lights on (elec is expensive in Mex, that's why they charge you 20-50% more for a room with A/C). The only places I saw lit were 3 washaterias, 2 pizza places, and a bunch of 7/11 types. It's like they can't make enough to pay the bills if they only get a few customers; cheaper to stay closed!  

So after walking around a little more, I decided on pizza. Sat down and had a couple of beers while the pizza was cooking. Got to talking with another guy waiting on his pizza. He grew up in Bakersfield, Ca; spent 25 yrs there, had a son (now 17 yrs old). He's of Mexican descent and has now been living here for 15 yrs, married a local girl, and has two more boys, 11 and 6.  

While we were chatting, I saw a backpacker walk by eyeballing the pizza sign and then walk on. I ran out to the street, asked if he spoke English (yes, but he's from Montreal - I think his Spanish is better than his English), then I asked him if he was hungry. Even a medium pizza was too much for me, so I told him he could share, and then I bought him a beer too. He does carpentry work when he needs to. He's been on the road for more than a year, and he's 29. He's already been to South America, and just came back from visiting home. He figures he can work here for a while repairing hurricane damage. Then he's off for Asia. He mentioned something about looking for a place to sleep (he tents out a lot), but heard negative things about sleeping on the beaches around here. I have two beds in my room, so I offered him one (I asked if he was gay; he said no. Okay I believe him. If you don't hear anymore from me ...)


All of this blog, up to now, occurred from about 4pm to 9pm. Now I'm going back to 7am.  
 
So I got up this morning and worked on my blog. Then I packed up and headed up the road. Yesterday I'd seen some cabbies around, but there was nary a one to be found today. So I hoofed the two miles to the hwy ( about 50 min, and a pound of salt and sweat). No free ride today; I would have gladly paid the $2 or $3 for a cab.  
As I get to the hwy, the bus is just pulling away from the bus stop. I was in front of him, so he just pulled over and I jumped on. This happens a lot: just yesterday in Boca, I saw the bus crossing the hwy to return to Mismaloya; someone flagged him down from two blocks away, and he stops in the middle of the road to wait, even though the next bus is only about 20 min later (very busy route). Nobody gets in a huff about this; doesn't take more than a minute; no horn blowing; everyone takes it in stride.  

Pulled into Melaque 1 1/2 hours later. As I ranted about in an early blog, most bus depots seem to be located in the seamier part of town. Not so here: it's one block from the beach, and one block from the town plaza. Smack dab in the heart of town, and the nicest part of it - unlike some other towns.  

So I strap up my backpack and start to look for a room. Right across the street from the bus depot, and right on the beach, is a nice looking hotel. Out of my price range but I decide to check it out. The price on the board (which I didn't see right away) is $40. I asked the clerk how much for a room; she tells me $27. I told her I'm looking for something around $20, and can she tell me which way to go to find one. She turns around and starts talking to the manager (didn't get a word they said), then turns back to me and I thought she said $24. Okay, let's see what it looks like. Judge for yourself.

They could have put me on one of the wings that extends toward the street (no view); they could have put me on the bottom floor (obstructed view); they're doing repairs on the third floor. They put me on the end of the second floor, no one in the room next to me. I overlook the pool and the beach, with a beautiful view of the ocean, right in the center of the best part of the beach! Wow! I couldn't pass this up.  

So I went back down to pay, and she said it was $25 per night (I guess I misunderstood her). Still, a $40 room for $25 is pretty cool. There's no AC (costs extra), but none needed at this time of year, no fridge (there are other - more expensive - units with them), but all in all a large, comfortable, quiet room.  

I dropped my pack and went looking for lunch. I walked down to the end of the beach toward my right. Saw maybe four places open for business, another four closed or under repair. None had customers, even though some looked inviting. So I went up a block to the main street, walked down it, saw nothing, walked past my hotel, back down to the beach in the opposite direction, went past two places, glanced further down the beach, didn't look like much down that way. So I turned around and went to the last place I'd passed. There were two tables with Americans.  










 



I ordered a beer and a chef salad. Turned out pretty good. They didn't serve chips and salsa like most places, but they did bring peanuts (maybe they cater more to Americanos).  

You already read what happened the rest of the day. We both took showers (one of the reasons I brought this guy back with me is that he said he hadn't had a good shower in a while - no he didn't smell - just taking sponge baths), turned on the fan, and slept well.  



(completed on Nov 12)