Got out early so I could catch an early bus for the 8 hour ride to Puerto Escondido. There aren't any beach towns, or anything else  to see or do, in between.

Got to the bus station at 7:30am and the next bus leaving was at 8:25, after that it was 10am. So I had a drink and a donut.  

Leaving Acapulco, for the first half hour you're still in the suburbs, it's still dirty: trash on the streets, piles of it on street corners: depressing. For about another 40 min, we went through small villages that were just as dirty (I wonder if these were people who'd picked up bad habits in Acapulco).  

 
After that, things improved remarkably: down to raking and sweeping dirt streets! They may not have money for improvements, or even a coat of paint (heck! that's expensive even in the US), but they put in plenty of labor to keep things in as good shape as they can.  

  
You can see from the pics this road goes through a higher elevation. Lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. I read an internet comment that this road also has a lot of speed bumps: lots of small villages, that we didn't stop at but still had to slow down for. All of this makes for slow going; hence an 8 hour trip.  

A few ocean views on the trip. Finally rolled out of the hills and into Puerto Escondido. Wasn't too impressed at first, but at least it wasn't depressive.  

Got out. The air temperature was quite comfortable compared to what I've been experiencing. Got a cab. Fair rate. Dropped me off at the Spanish school. Oh, you don't know about the Spanish school? I was researching Puerto Escondido, looking for things to see or do other than the beach. Found some references to Spanish schools. I'm going to take lessons in Guatemala (real cheap there), but I really need to know more right now. So I found one that is very reasonable, when you add in the accommodations: most schools charge $10-15 per hour; unless you do the bare minimum for housing ($7/day for a bunk in a dorm) about $20/day (I've had to spend more than that) for a private room is good. I'm getting 7.5 hours of private tutoring, and a very nice apartment for 7 nights, for $220.  

The apartment won't be ready until morning. So I walked down the street, and found this hostel (my first one). Gave me a room with ceiling fan (high or off), shared bath (with 2 other rooms), wifi for $9.  
You can take a look here http://www.hosteltrail.com/hostels/hostalshalom/, but only believe half what you see (things never measure up to ads).  

It was already getting dark and I wanted to get something to eat before it all shutdown. So I took a walk down this stretch of sidewalk starting from the hostel. There were half a dozen restaurants within a block! So I turned back to one where there were a couple english speaking guys, but I didn't engage them as they were having their own little conversation. (It was too dark to take a pic, so I went by twice the next day, and still they had no tables out.) I decided on something cheap but tasty: cheeseburger with fries. Again the burger had a thin slice of ham on it. This one tasted better than the last one. $4. $3/2beers.  

Went back to the hostel (the manager spoke english) and asked if anyone might be showing Monday Night Football. She told me about a grocery store down the street that had tvs on the sidewalk (tables and chairs too). MNF hadn't started yet. I went back to my room to cool off under the fan.  

Came back out a while later. Walked down the strip, checking places as I went. Saw 'Pug's advertising futbol. Asked if they were showing MNF, they said yes. This place is just above the restaurant I'd just eaten at, owned by the same family. So I went up. They already had the game on their big screen (crappy) and on a smaller one (40 in). I got in front of it, under a fan, and, although they had several occupied tables, and more later, I was the only one to watch the game. A few people played some pool on a small table. All in the place were 20 somethings; but they didn't bother with or seemed bothered by 'pops' (me). Had 5 rum and cokes and an order of wings. Heartburn followed.  

Pats squeaked in another win. Bedtime.