A good day in Mazatlan.

Monday, January 4, 2010

The day started pretty slow with me doing my walk and Eric downloading some mapping software from Pat & Jim from Carson City, Nevada. Jim has all the maps from the Mexican government on a disc. Eric downloaded them and they look very detailed and as you know we all need as much information as we can get.

Rita and I ready to go.

After lunch Sam showed up to see if Eric and I wanted to go out on  the Harley's. Rita was up for a ride if I went and she thought that after the accident it might be good to get back on the horse so to speak. Sam and Rita (from Winnipeg Manitoba) are good for us as they have been staying in Mazatlan for five years and are familiar with the area. Unlike Eric, Sam is a very social guy, much like Eric's brother Brian and is really good at mingling with the Mexican people so he and Rita are a good fit for us. Really nice people. We left just after 2:30 and headed out to El Quelite which is northeast of here on the Libra road. Sam and Rita had been there before so they led the way.

When we rode into this little colonial town through the large arch we were greeted by cobblestone streets and charming painted houses. Everything was spotless (no garbage anywhere) and since this is popular tourist destination the people are used to the gringos that arrive on a daily basis.

Kathy enjoys a cerveza.

In front of the fountain inside the restaurant.

Sam and Rita

Sam and Rita chose a restaurant and we stopped for cervezas and a bowl of tortilla soup. This was proceeded by tortilla chips and an assortment of guacamole, soft cheeses and salsa all included in the meal. Shortly a small mexican tortilla pizza arrived followed by the soup which was excellant. The end of the meal brought a small sweet bowl of a rice/tapioca pudding, again part of the meal. With 5 cervezas, four soup and the starters etc. the bill for four was 269 pesos which with a tip was about $27.00 Canadian for four, pretty good for a really nice restaurant. We took a few pictures and the owner saw that Eric was interested in the many woods such as ebony and many other woods used in the restaurant and he was happy to point them out.  Eric and I would like to go back another time and walk around through the village.

The Tycho's aboard Blue in front of the bronze hip ball statue.

Sam and Rita in front of the statue.

On the way out of town we stopped at the bronze statue of the man playing Ulama which is a form of Aztec hip ball still played in that town today. See http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-ball-game.html for the history of this game. Eric knew all about it as he has always been very interested in history, especially Mayan and Aztec. The mentor of the town a local doctor Dr. Marcos Osuna Tiradowho who was born there has made it a major tourist destination and even so it is still basically a quiet farming town. I finally felt like I was in real Mexico and we will go back. We left through the big arch that welcomes you to town and were home by 5:30 after a really nice day.