Southern Comfort: Day 20

Tampico Playa is definitely not a resort beach - well not any more it isn't. It’s more like what I imagine post-apocalyptic Littlehampton to look like only with palm trees. It has seen better days and I feel as though I've arrived about 25 years too late. Not that I’m anxious to do much crowd mingling you understand. Actually I really don’t mind at all. I have a great deal of catching up to do work-wise and although the wifi connection I have doesn't really allow any heavy duty up/downloading, I'm able to make some progress while enjoying some beach time.

I’m in a very cheap hotel (which has also seen better days) on the seafront and as happy as a clam.

Dining options are abundant but generic. Chicken a-la Mexicana, and tacos. In fact, there are so few tourists here I got a room rate reduction just for wincing at the receptionists initial bid, and I had two restaurant owners have a pushy and shouty fight on the sidewalk over my custom. In the end, I disappointed both restauranteurs and went to find the seediest bar I could, and sat for an hour wondering if their complimentary bar nuts would make me horribly ill, then got back to work.

Right now, I'm really not sure what all the fuss is about regarding Mexico. 5 years ago, Tampico used to have running gun battles in the street between gangs apparently. Not so anymore. Unless that's just a weekend thing now. My exposure to Mexico so far is very limited I'll admit, but I AM off the tourist trail, in the drug corridor, and pretty vulnerable being an old man lugging a big pack around. And no-one has batted me an eyelid so far. In fact, the worst I could say about it is that everyone has just wanted to rip me off for a few extra Pesos for whatever it is that they're selling. And that's a global thing, not a Mexican thing. When I get mugged and left for dead in a ditch, I'll edit this post, obviously.

A nice beach, completely unspoiled by the presence of any human life.