Monday, January 4, 2010

Sayulita


Sayulita is not huge!!

So, yesterday we went by local bus to Sayulita. It is a great and harrowing ride there because the road is a bit twisty and the drivers are fast. The better part of the experience is that the forest is very green now, due in part to the recent rains. Unlike last year there has actually been some rain!


Sayulita is like a younger La Cruz, that is, there are a lot of younger surfer folks there instead of us older La Cruz sailing cruiser types or the Puerto Vallarta cruise ship types. It made the day fun because it seemed a tad more chaotic and the vendors were more brazen. The colorful little town is really alive with activity. We got off the bus at the end of the line, which is a few blocks after the bus enters the town and before it can cross the bridge into the more congested streets of the main part of town. Immediately we could hear the sounds of some sort of sports thing going on… you know, cheering and music mixed vendors and such. I peeked into the gate, no fee required, and there was a Beisbol game in the warm up stages. The crowd was festive and the players were just getting ready for a game. Some fun!!



Beisbol happens!!

Over the bridge and we were into the full senses assault of the lively place!! There was an alleyway blocked to vehicles and it was a fantastic street flea market sort of thing with all sorts of great vendors.


Street market fun!!!

Keep in mind this was on a Sunday so I don’t know what the daily fare would be but it was very fun bopping down toward the beach stopping at every other stall. It is that mix of art and practical that is so much fun. One stall having videos (DVD’s) for sale (most of them pirated) next to the guy selling shoes, next to the woman selling jewelry, next to the guy selling various kinds of brightly colored cloth. It is just wonderful. By the time we got the beach (la playa) it was clear that there were a ton of people in town and sure enough the beach was chock full. The surfing schools had lots of rental boards out and in use past the rocky part of the beach with a smallish but fairly consistent swell coming in. Initially there were not many birds visible but as the day progressed the pelicans and terns found their way there and we just watched for over an hour while we had lunch at a restaurant on the beach.


Mmmm, octopus burger with fries!! Quite the feast, really!! Our waiter, Omar, was lots of fun too.



Beach access>>>

A little more shopping ensued and we eventually found our way back to the end of the line for the bus ride back to La Cruz. It is a two bus deal so we had to gauge where to get off the first bus without going too far into Bucerias to get back to La Cruz. That was a thing that needed careful watching and since we also had Mary with us and needed to let her know in enough time to get off with us. It was a long day and Sandy was half snoozing so it was a scramble to get off at the right place. Another good day followed by chicken on the BBQ and another round of Mexican Train (domino game). Whew, too much of another great day!!