Los Mochis was a surprise. It was more like a typical mid-size American town than a Mexican one. The streets were wide, tree-lined and laid out in a sensible grid pattern. Street signs were everywhere and it was easy to locate everything. I was very relieved to see this. I was still feeling a bit stressful from the encounter with the coupon guy earlier.
Trying to stick to our budget, or at least get back on it, we checked into a lower priced hotel. Big mistake. Our first clue should have been that the place was all torn up and being remodeled. Everything was dirty and dusty, but, like travel weary fools, we checked in anyway. I think mostly because there had been such a bad atmosphere in the car for the past few miles, nobody wanted to argue about anything so we all just said "Fine" to this hotel.
My personal "schedule" was off during this entire trip. I'm the type of person that needs to relax over a cup of coffee in the morning to get the 'ol system moving and cleaned out. I rarely had a chance to do this as we had to be on the road early most mornings. This day of travel had been no different. As a result, whenever we checked into a room, I usually made a bee line for the toilet. Imagine my chagrin at this hotel to discover, a bit too late, that the toilet would not flush! By hook and by crook (no other details are necessary here) I was able to finally get everything down and exited the bathroom madder than I had been in a long time.
We decided to check out a different hotel. But first, we had errands to run and wanted to leave all of our luggage in a safe place.
Our first stop was the railway office where we had to purchase tickets for the train ride to Creel and the Copper Canyon. We had been told (and read) that a window seat on the right side of the train was imperative if you wanted the view. Alas, even though we were a day early in buying our tickets, all of the window seats were gone. And we could only buy one way tickets. At 800 pesos each. The saleslady told us that we could purchase our return tickets on the train the day we came back. Knowing just a bit about the way Mexico works, I was a little leery about this. But what choice did we have but to believe her?
Our next stop was in Topolobampo, 24 kilometers south of Los Mochis and located on the Sea of Cortez. We wanted to get our tickets for the overnight ferry ride yet to come. We would be going to Baja California South, specifically La Paz, upon our return. There we were met with the news that tickets could only be purchased on the day of departure. Another wasted trip.
Back in Los Mochis, we advised the grumpy and uncaring desk clerk that we were checking out. We waited for him to ask why but the question never crossed his lips. In fact, he said nothing at all. Just kind of gave us a dirty smirk. As we left the hotel, luggage in hand, the staff that was working that day had all gathered in a group by the door and giggled and smirked at us as we walked out. It was really weird.
Our next hotel was the complete opposite kind of experience.
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3 comments:
It is great to see the return of this series -- almost as if a favorite television program was back on the air. But it also reminds me of the trips I have not yet taken in Mexico.
Also glad to see you back.
I thought this blog had died and was missing it.
We had a funny moment in the plaza in Los Mochis. We were wandering around sightseeing and I was drinking a coke. We had been sitting and resting on a bench in the plaza, (nice plaza by the way) and a few of the local people had been covertly watching us. As we got up to leave we were walked past one fellow. He teased me about drinking Coke as in his opinion Pepsi was the better drink. lol. I of course insisted the Coke was better and he laughed. Just a funny moment.
We also stayed in a yucky hotel there. After checking in we found the the window behind the drape was broken and there were drunks fighting in the hallway most of the night. It was an uncomfortable night for me, Roy, of course, slept through it all.
The RV park in Los Moches is no better. Just a parking lot with crowing roosters and barking dogs!
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