Dos cervezas por favor...... - Puerto Peñasco, Mexico
Puerto Peñasco, Mexico
Puerto Penasco, MX., population approx. 45,000 unless its American Thanksgiving and then it probably doubles. Our friend Norm spends time down here every winter and told us that he always reserves his spot on the beachwall a year ahead of time. I like to plan ahead or at least not to be surprised so I phoned down to the Playa Bonita RV park to inquire about a spot.....no problema senior, lots of space. Well we show up and the place is wall to wall with Americans down for the Thanksgiving holidays and we're forced into a dinky little spot in the back row between a couple of behemoth motorhomes.....aaahhh Mexico love it or leave it.
Actually it wasn't all that bad, the gringos cleared out on the Thanksgiving weekend and within a couple of days the RV park and all of Penasco was like a ghost town. If you drove downtown to the Malecon where the fish and shrimp salesman are along with the vendors for all the other tourist stuff, you were bombarded with waiters waving their menus on the street trying to get you to come in. Needless to say, with the lack of business, the deals are everywhere....if you're in the market for something. I can see the lack of tourists here in Penasco because despite the fact its not 30 below like at home, its not hot here either with highs of maybe 17C and lows around 8C. With the big winds on the beach it can be pretty chilly but I know I'm not getting any sympathy from up north.
In reality, you don't have to go anywhere further than your lawn chair at the RV park and anything and everything comes to you. It starts out early in the morning with shrimp salesmen followed by the tamale lady and then the vendors start. Bowls, hats, toys, tables, jewelery, more jewelery, blankets, donuts, cookies, more jewelery, the torilla lady, fishing trips, metal flowers, plates and of course a little more jewelery. You have to feel for these poor people, they live on corn, beans and rice and work their buns off to make a meager living. Now thats not to say that we're going to overpay for their trickets, especially when you don't need it nor in most cases do you want it.
Liz is slowly learning the art of bartering from the master who honed his skills in Thailand and Vietnam. The key is, in reality you don't want it and the only reason you'll even consider it is if its a crazy low price. The biggest mistake you can make though is to look at the stuff and you've committed a major faux pas if you venture to ask the price. Now they are camped out, spreading all their wares out in an effort to convince you to buy. Rule of thumb, they ask $30....you offer at least half of that, maybe even a third if you really don't want it. After a lot of haggling, if he/she isn't willing to come down to your final offer...walk away, say gracias and adios......suddenly with the fear of completely losing a customer (and right now they are few and far between) they realize its better to make a few pesos rather than nada. There you go, bartering 101. I feel bad for them to the point I'd just as soon give them a couple of bucks because you know they walk all day and in a lot of cases don't make a single sale. A tough way to feed your family.
So far Liz has succumb to a number of colorful items that have caught her eye which shall remain nameless in that some may end up wrapped and on your doorstep in time.
Whatever you heard about rules in Mexico should be taken with a grain of salt (lime and tequila as well). Heres a crazy example. Just before the Mexican border (like a matter of feet), the US border patrol stops you and asks you all the questions they would as if you are entering the US from Canada or Mexico.....why should they care...you're leaving the States?? Ok, you pull ahead 20 feet and you are now in Mexico, no one comes and asks anything, the bar goes up, you get the green light and are free to enter.....huh? One day you can bring down meat and vegetables with you, the next day or the next car for that matter, they confiscate all of it. The rules are constantly changing if there are any to begin with.
When we crossed the border I was concerned that we required a tourist card to exit the country so I asked a border guard and he says, "if you only go to Rocky Point you don't need a tourist card"....but how do they know where I'm going or where I've been, or for how long....I don't get it.
The shrimp boats are out everyday and the shrimp are relatively inexpensive so we've been feasting on them along with the fish tacos and of course the ever present cervezas. There are a lot of things that the Mexican do right, cheap beer and food are 2 of them.
Liz and I have also played some golf down here. There are 3 courses in the area with 2 of them being Jack Nicklaus designs. The prices are quite reasonable at this time of year due to the lack of tourists and cool weather. The first time we played was at Laguna del Mar and it was only $45US per person with powercart. I had scouted out the Mayan Palace course before we came down here and wanted to play it but heard rumours that it was like $170 a round, in fact the high season rate is $196 a round but with the lack of tourists and remote location that its at, I can't see it attracting players at that price. Liz and I were initially offered it at $150 for both of us but after asking if they had a birthday boy special the gal let us play for $130. THE NICEST GOLF COURSE I HAVE EVER PLAYED !!!!!! It was absolutely immaculate....the greens were like the finest carpet....not a blade of grass out of place.......I LOVED IT and didn't want the day to end. We had to course to ourselves and never saw another golfer until we got to the 13th hole and saw 3 fellows on the 17th hole. It didn't hurt that I played some of the best golf I have all year. I would go back there in a heartbeat despite the fact that it is 30km out in the middle of the desert on a peninsula next to the ocean and surrounded on 3 sides by water. The hotel is not finished but apparently there are some timeshares that are open.....we could have played for free if we attended a timeshare presentation but to anyone that has ever done that knows you can't play very well after they apply the thumbscrews for the sale.
I have a birthday tomorrow and have decided to forego having a tooth extracted here until Wednesday so I can have a last meal for a while, short of refried beans and salsa. This will not be the last entry from Mexico in that we will be here for at least another 3 weeks so manyana !!