Mazatlan

We left Sherman at 6:00am yesterday morning an walked to the bus terminal. We had done this route the day before so that we would be familiar with where the station is, and so that we could confirm what bus we were taking etcetera. The plan was coming together. Or so we thought.

We got up to the ticket counter at 6:35am in order to buy the tickets for our 7:00am departure. The girl says it's sold out, and shows us the red on her computer screen where it says unavailable. On Friday, when we had spoke to them I had specifically asked if I needed to buy the tickets then, or if it could wait until morning. The girl had said it didn't matter, but I guess she was wrong! Anyhow, we wandered over to another bus line and paid slightly more money for a one way trip. We'll figure out the return trip later. Anyhow, she said this bus was leaving in minutes, and sure enough, it left shortly after we got on it. Then it stopped at the gas station to get fuel!

The journey itself was uneventful. Our bus window wasn't very clean so we didn't take any pictures along the way. When we got into the city of Mazatlan, the driver took a different route than we expected. We were hoping to get off the bus early and just walk to our friend Lee's house, but instead stayed on right to the central terminal. 270 kms (168 miles) and four hours. Cost was 243 pesos ($18.95) each for the one way trip.

When we got off the bus, the taxi drivers were all over us like wolves. There are two different taxi unions in town and they alternate turns accessing the bus station. Lee had told us not to pay more than 40 pesos for a taxi to her place and the first couple of guys wanted 60 pesos. We walked away from them all and flagged a cab down on the road a block away from the station. He first wanted 70 pesos, and I told him that we paid 40 last time and so he said "okay". A gringo will be treated like a tourist unless you're on your toes!

Lee is an American who bought a house here in a middle class Mexican neighbourhood about 10 years ago. Her husband passed away a few years later, and she stayed on here. Lee and her husband used to be RV'ers, and I had asked her some questions on an RV'ing forum about where we could park in Mazatlan. When we took the ferry from Baja to Mazatlan in the spring of 2008, Lee was kind enough to meet us at the ferry terminal and took us on a tour of Mazatlan before letting us park on the street outside her house. We wanted to visit Lee again, and that is what brought us here this time.

Lee's house in Mazatlan

We just relaxed for the afternoon. Lee had a dinner she had to go to in the evening, so Ruth and I just walked down to the taco stand at the end of the road. They were a little pricey, at 72 pesos ($5.62) for 6 of them, but they were good. And I guess that's not a bad price for dinner out!

Sorry for the lack of pictures from yesterday, but I promise we will make up for it today. Lee has a busy day planned for us!