Viva Hualtuco!

If you like sleepy little Mexican towns, Hualtuco is your paradise! Like Costa Maya over on the Yucatan Peninsula, Hualtuco is being developed as a resort destination by the Ministry of Tourism, and it really is a nice location. There are seven bays – one right after the other - with clean, sandy beaches and nice warm Pacific waters. You can walk from one to the next if you’re ambitious and good a rock climbing.

The town itself is very clean, prices are terrific (I got a bottle of Diet Coke and a pair of nylons for less than two dollars) and traffic is light. Like the rest of Mexico (from what I’ve read in the trades) the town is hurting for tourists. Mexico has taken a double whammy this year from Swine Flu and from violent crime in some of the northwestern states. I walked from the port to the little town of La Crucecita, about a mile each way, and passed at least a dozen nearly empty looking hotels. Chairs piled on top of tables, nobody in the pools, kind of an abandoned look. I’m hoping the tourists will come back soon, this is definitely a nice little hideaway! Lacks any major monuments, ancient ruins, monasteries or sunken treasures, but the sun, the beaches and the prices are right; the natives seemed very friendly. This guard even lowered his rifle to take a picture with me! (Don't like the photo of me, so I'm making it small!)

That’s about all there is to Huatulco, except of course for some unusual souvenirs. There were several to choose from, but I’m going with Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. I have no idea what this has to do with Mexico, let alone Hualtuco. The really scary part is that when I walked back past this shop the wolf was no longer there.

I guess there’s a souvenir for every taste and budget!

Think I can count the two miles walked to wards my 45 minute gym requirement? Not if it was done in a dress? Damn. Alright, I’m going - but only because they just returned my laundry which had all of my socks in it. As a Princess “Commodore” level agent you get free laundry! Whooooeeeee! First time someone’s done my laundry – AND ironed my clothes – in years ... I’m staying!!!!!!