NOVEMBER & DECEMBER, 2004
November 28, 2004 - December 3, 2004
The taxi driver who drove us from the bus station to our hotel - incidently in a white golf cart (a.k.a. a pulmonia), which is the vehicle of preference for most Mazatlan cab drivers - simply could not grasp how and why we did not want to stay in the Zona Dorada, the tourist section of Mazatlan. During the entire ride he insulted our hotel, telling us it was really old, and that there were much nicer ones in the Zona Dorada, as well as excellent discos.
Notwithstanding this "advice," it turns out we made a good choice in choosing our hotel and the section of town in which it was located. Hotel Lerma, as it was named, was signinificantly nicer than the one we stayed at in Los Mochis. It was very clean, safe, and quiet, had hot water and a fan to drown out any noise, and best of all, it had a really comfortable bed. Another plus was that it was located in the old historic part of the town (el centro) rather than in the Zona Dorada, which is pretty much US ex pat land. And, it was only $12 US dolars per night!
Although the Zona Dorado has some beautiful hotels and beaches, a few good restaurants, and of course, the discos, it is overpriced and very touristy. Hence, we spent most of our days wandering around the various plazas in el centro, checking out some of the beautiful old cathedrals (including catching part of a Sunday mass), eating and shopping at the huge market in the middle of town, running along the boardwalk, watching high divers jump from the cliffs at Los Olas Altas, and inadvertently watching teenagers making out (there was quite a bit of heavy PDA going on in Mazatlan, particularly with the young crowd).
We also found a great internet cafe just off the main plaza where we spent a few evenings taking care of things that invariably crop up, checking email and updating our website. During one such evening, we happened on a fabulous outdoor concert in the main plaza, put on the by the local symphony. Apperently, it was the director's 25th anniversary with the symphony. There were tons of people, all kinds of food, and the music was excellent. It was here that we learned that the Teatro Angela Peralta, which was recently renovated and opened to the public, was putting on a flamenco show the following evening. Of course, we went, and we are not sure what was better - the amazing dancers and singers in gorgeous vibrant costumes or the beautiful old shakespearan style theater. Either way, they were both great and Los Angeles definitely needs one of these theaters (if it has one already, we need to know where it is!).
The 75-80 degree weather in Mazatlan did not hurt matters either. It certainly was a welcome change from the cold of Creel and Copper Canyon, so welcome that we busted out our bathing suits and hit the beaches for a few days. Mike even braved the water and went swimming. We also took some long beach walks, including one very long, but excellent walk from our hotel in El Centro to the Zona Dorada (all along the ocean front). That same evening, in the midst of all the tourist traps, we found a great restaurant, Arre Lulu. It was affordable, fun, and really tasty. Another evening, we also found Mazatlan's equivalent to Jerry's Famous Deli (alright, not quite, but very close), called Panama, and ate dinner there just for kicks. It was actually very good, cheap, and had Ruthie's Te Helado (ice tea) which is not easy to come by down here, so she really enjoyed it! And of course we had to eat dinner while watching the sunset from a restaurant patio overlooking the ocean in the el centro district. The rest of the time, we pretty much ate at the market stands which were yummy and very affordable. So far (knock on wood) so good!
The rest of our time in Mazatlan was spent in the immigration office - well, that is not entirely true, we did go see The Forgotten (Mysterio Obsession in español) with Julianne Moore one night at one of five movie theaters (all showing the same exact movies). Either way, we ended up spending about two hours a day of each of the five days we were in Mazatlan at the Immigration office, and actually spent two extra days in Mazatlan (five rather than three) because of our immigration "problem." Hey, there are worse places to be stuck, right?
If you are wondering why we logged so many hours at Migración, as they say in español, travelers from the US to Mexico beware. When we came across the border by bus, they were supposed to stop at immigration for 10 or 15 minutes to allow us to fill out the paperwork to obtain a $15 tourist card, which US citizens need to travel in Mexico for longer than three days (it is in lieu of a visa). When you fly to Mexico, you obtain this card from the airline and the cost is built into your ticket. But, it is not automatic when you walk or drive across the border. In the case of the latter, you have to affirmatively fill out the paperwork and get the card. If you don't obtain a tourist card then technically you are in the country illegally. If you get in any sort of trouble and they ask for your tourist card and you do not have it, they can deport you, etc. Although this may never have become an issue, we kept reading about how you need one and reading about things that happened to people without one. And, apparently, you can't leave the country without a Tourist Card. Glad we got it!
So, when we got to Mazatlan, we went to the immigration office, learned we needed a letter from the tourism agency (of course located on the opposite side of town) saying that we had inadvertently not gotten one of these cards when we crossed the border. Then we had to go back to the immigration office, fill out some forms, make copies of our IDs, passports, credit cards, the letter, etc. at the store down the street, buy some special forms from the same store, go back to the immigration office, fill out some more forms, go to the bank and pay $40 for the card ($20 for the card and $20 to expedite our receipt of it) and then return to the office the next day at 12 noon, fill out some more forms and the card, and wait for an hour while someone "upstairs" signed off on it all. Of course, all of this took twice as long since we were walking everywhere, not to mention that poor Betty, the lone immigration officer working intake and filling out the necessary forms, was completely overworked. Plus, the office closed every day at 2pm. Needless to say it took five days to get the cards, but thankfully, we only spent a few hours each day on this task. And, we are chalking it up to experience. Onward and upward!
