Wasn't planning on staying in Pochutla, but thought I'd take a look around anyway. Upon closer inspection it doesn't look like my room was cleaned: the sheets weren't crisp and the bath was dirty and had trash in it. So I slept on my own sheet and touched as little as possible.  

 
Walked some of the streets. Went up this street, turned right and went up some more, and more: even vehicles strained to make it up this hill!  

After the street topped out, I kept on going. It turned to dirt, but I thought maybe it was because of the new sewers they were putting in. Then I found myself on this ridge with the ground dropping away on both sides. I knew there were more streets on my right, but there were none to connect with them. I saw people ahead, so I kept going.  

 Finally there was a turn to the right. There was a high school way out here in the boonies. Have I mentioned the number of times schools have been located on prime property? Even in Mazunte, there was a small school (2 - 3 rooms) on the beach side of the road. In Ajijic, on Lake Chapala, way up on the hill, several acres of buildings and classrooms stand on the hillside with great views. And there are others. Somewhere down the road, this one will be in prime real estate.  

Anyway, past the school there was a right turn and I eventually went down and back to civilization. Took a much longer walk than I intended and I was worried that I might go past checkout time.  

 
I was okay time wise. The van that I took yesterday doesn't have much room for luggage. So I asked the helpful hotel clerk if there was a bus or truck. Nope, but right across from the vans was a taxi stop. Sometimes the taxis work as 'collectivos', stopping to pick up and drop off people on the way, same as the vans. The van is $1.50, the collectivo is $1.75. The taxi loads two people in the right hand seat and as many as they can stuff in the back seat. This old lady had the same problem as me: a large package. We waited about twenty minutes, and three more showed up. The old lady, me, and another guy in the back; two girls in the front. We hauled ass up, down and around the twisty hills for about 50 minutes: it was like a roller coaster ride!


Collectivos drop you off at a certain spot. So I grabbed a cab ($1.50) to my hotel, got my key, left my bag in my room, and went to lunch at the nearest restaurant (one block).  
 


The 'green' salad was okay: green beans, peas, green peppers and avocado; would have been a little better with spinach added. No dressing offered, only limes. $3



I usually go walking around, but I was a little tired, and needed to catch up on the blog. Started on the blog, but nodded off waiting for pics to upload. I just couldn't get my energy up, so I slept for a couple hours.  
I started messing up my room before I thought of taking pictures. Took these two days later. Refused maid service because I didn't want her messing with my stuff: so here's my lived-in look.  





























 



 
 
The internet bogged down when I tried to get back on. So I headed out to dinner.  

 

 Walked in the opposite direction of my lunch restaurant. Down the block and across from me, I spotted this shop: guys working looms by hand. On the next block, right at the corner, they're putting up another hotel. There's at least one hotel on each block; often more than one hotel on each side of the block! And of course there are more restaurants than hotels! This entire area having been developed as a tourist center, there are an abundance of actual restaurants versus the mom and pop eateries prevalent everywhere else. There are eateries here too, but they are in the minority.  


 One more block and I see Mama Mia's: looked good, and I liked the song and the movie!  

 



















I was wanting pizza, so I ordered the vegetarian. Hand rolled dough right there; not much stuff prepped ahead of time in this country. Nice enough restaurant. But the pizza was disappointing: too much flour on the bottom, only mushrooms and zucchini sparsely scattered.  

 Went to my room, read for awhile, went to sleep.