The Mayflower

With time on my side an Ra safely back in Sydney, I decided to head to Peurto Escondito (PE), a small beach resort located on Mexico's Pacific coast about 500 or so kilometres south of Accupulco.

Famed for being the home of Mexico's surfing culture, the beach has monster swell, the fastest breaking waves in the world, as well as a few bars and numerous backpackers hostels which house surfers from all over the globe, desperate to have a crack at the giant surf.

I chose to stay at The Mayflower on the recommendation of Ra's entourage in Guatemala. The Mayflower is a small popular hostel of about 40 beds near the fising port and main street, 10 mins from the real surfers paradise.

With plans to stay a few days, I ended up spending 10 days at the Mayflower, and Mexican life became routine... i would wake and eat either scrambled eggs or hot cakes (depending on my mood), spend a few hours at the beach, read my book (finished two in a week.... Paul Theroux's 'Dark Star Safari'... he is excellent but an arrogant git and a lovey book called 'Purple Hibiscus'... both in preparation for AFRICA), sleep in the hammock, read some more and maybe take another swim before an afternoon nap and getting ready to hit Puerto's nightlife... which consisted of a couple of surfy bars where thongs (the footware) were considered tre chic, frequented in the main by Mayflower guests.

Life in PE was nice an extremly relaxing after 7 weeks on the road...a town with long sunsets and an endless array of stars with plenty of beach to enjoy them on.

Whist i was there, i avoided writing my blog, not for lack of interest but life seemed so simple, plain and boring that i did not want to let you down... it felt like i escaped from the world... i did however keep writing in my little journal... just never felt to share the thoughts.

To enjoy my days (in between beach and hammock), i spent a lot of time talking to the guests of The Mayflower and below is an introducion to some of the characters, simple vingettes that allowed 10 days to pass with out my even noticing.

In no particular order of relevence or interest ... here goes.

First, there is Avian, the sleazy 27 year old Israeli who rubbed me up the wrong way the instant i met him by denyng that Egypt is a part of Africa, amazed with his geograpy educaton (or lack there of as Israel boarders Egypt) he was determined to spend an entire week telling me that i was wrong thinking that is neighbouring country could be in an area widely known as North Africa because they played soccer in the Asian league. It is for this reason that Avian thought it would be wise to ridicule my education for the entire week with taunts of.... here is the girl who thinks Egypt is a part of Africa... it was infurating me. In between Avian would try and flirt with me and spend as much time as possiable near me... always forcing me to make some excuse to leave... hard in a beach town where all there is is the Hammock, internet, sand and surf.

Next there was Nicko the handsome swiss guy who smiled a lot. Tall, dark haired and muscular Nicko had a large Che Guevera tatoo on his left shoulder. Nicko struck me as being interesting and i was keen to talk to him and hear of his adventures...unfortunatley language was a massive barrier... his english poor and my spanish worse. I did find out that he was planning to spend a month living with people of the Zapista movement in Chapis ( a rebel group that gained prominence in the 1990s... google them for more info) as some sort of human shield.... (was ot sure that things were so bad there that they needed swiss protection). Nicko was a permentant fixture of The Mayflower and an exceptional cook.... lucky for me i must have smiled at the right moment as i managed to get a few meals cooked by him.

Next there was Matt, an almost albino english man who had been on the road for 10 months, of which two were spent at the Mayflower picking up girls, drinking and learning to surf in his spare time. Whilst i was at the Mayflower it felt like i was at Matt's house, he made it is point to welcome everyone and give some good advice... ie the beach is dodgy after dark, on Mondays go to X bar, last week someone got mugged at X etc etc. Matt's motives were travel were unclear, i think half of the reason was because he hated the UK so much he would do anything to avoid the place... which is fair enough.

And then there was Carl, the Canadian nutter from Vancover who beieved in UFO's, connecting with stars and talking to aliens. At first glance Carl seemed liked your everyday individual (aside from harry high pant trousers).. it was not until he started talking that the strange stuff dribbled out...slowly and in a soft voice meant to convince you...perhaps thats how Hubbard got his converts...

Which brings me to Brandon, an oakie from Oklahoma. Brandon was one of the most interesting people I have met on my trip so far. 6 foot 5, lanky and aged 28, he had quite a few unusual stories to tell. First there was the one about his time as a figher pilot in the airforce (never met one of those before).. he nickname was goose... dissapointing, as i thought he had mavrick written all over him, before his career was wreaked by a near fatal attack (is that what you call it...) of Crohns disease and he was discharged before ever entering battle. Next there was the time he spent living and working in Antartica and finally if that is not interesting enough... there was the time he decided to walk across america... Brandon was the type of person i wanted to talk to, certain somewhere in his story i would get the script for my novel... it was almost too unbelieviable.

Finally there were Kelly and Jordan, English friends travelling together ( I am sure he fancied the pants of her). Kelly and I hit it off immediatly and within a few days we were spending all our time together... Kelly is a soul food friend, one i hope to have forever. With a mutual love of partying and lazing on the beach our routines merged slowly into one and we would gossip for hours... (me talking code columbo), kelly talking about the boyfriend she had left behind and Jordan... did i think he liked her... clearly YES... it was great to have a girl to chat too. I think that is because girls tend to travel in tight knitted groups making them almost inpentrable for an outsider.


i will continue this post... lap top has no battery...