La Concepción

We tried to sleep in but were once again unsuccessful thanks to some noisy birds 😅 But the night was very calm and even with a very nice moderate temperature. We got some coffee at the food vendor where we had dinner but even though I asked for no sugar they still added some ☕ Julia had a little nap and then we went for breakfast at Café Huatulco located beautifully on the main square within large trees. I've tried a Tamal de espinaca which is made here in the South with banana leafs, not corn leafs. It was really good, very juicy!

Then we met briefly with our guide Victor from the day before yesterday that took us to the bioluminescent lagoon. He had helped us to organize the tour adjusted to our wishes (only half a day and focus on snorkeling) so we were on our way to the National Park on a pretty big catamaran and full sound and entertainment 🙈 The boat ride took only about 20 minutes but it took another hour until we were snorkeling because of the large group. The beach was absolutely amazing with crystal clear waters and fine sand. There were some really nice views on the corals but it was difficult to enjoy it because the water was soo crowded. Afterwards we spent some time at the beach relaxing and swimming. The catamaran continued on to another beach to drop us off for a two hour lunch break, which we took advantage of to take a taxi back to the harbor and Ruedi because we had more plans for the day...

We had heard about a mountain town called San José del Pacifico which is about three hours away and offers a beautiful rainforest setting. We should've made it right on time for the sunset but after just half an hour the road got first progressively narrower and then just worse. There were pieces of the street missing, little rivers running down, deep muddy sections, large potholes and rockfalls 🙈 Even though it took a lot longer than planned, Ruedi managed to overcome all the obstacles and then the road merged with a better one for the remaining route.
The views were spectacular all along the way and shortly before arriving we saw the sunset intensely red burning. But what was really remarks about it was that the moon had already risen and shined in a rose glimmer from the sun.

The hostel we had looked up apparently didn't exist anymore, so we just stayed at the next best one. The staff was really friendly and we felt immediately welcome. Julia managed to get a spot for the Temezcal later in the evening. This is a traditional (pre-colonial) ceremony to cleanse your body and mind. It kind of works like a sauna, with the smell of herbal water that is drizzled over hot stones. It felt so good after the long day. Another couple had it already booked and had allowed us to join. They turned out to be German and been working in Playa del Carmen for a few months as dive instructors. They were really nice and we met again later after the ceremony over dinner and talked for a while before we went to bed.
We were back at over 2000 metres and the temperature had dropped at night down to 2 degrees. Czytaj więcej