The land of distractions and the bus ride from hell

So we wake up and decide it´s time to visit the mineral springs called Los Estacos resort...a mere 13 km out of a nearby...did I say nearby? town called Jojouatla...well as usual we get distracted and decide to go to the Bodega super store for hot sauce and tequilla...good bargins too! and then we´d grab the bus and stay the day at the springs...this started at 9 am....well we wandered the market once more took some pics and finally grabbed the bus to the NEARBY town of Jojouatla.........2 hours later we arrive at the spring to find it closing in the next 45 min or so...just friggen great! But what a spot...absolutley beautiful!!

Just when we thought things were going smoothly it happened....oh man did it happen! The springs close...we need to get back to Cuautla...find a combi to take us back to the bus depot where we can catch the bus back right? Not a chance...Tlaloc was going to have a bit of fun with us first....Mario the combi driver gets us to a cross roads where he tells us that the bus right there...is going to Cuautla...we thank him jump out and after having the bus driver confirm that he is indeed going to Cuautla with a simple "Si" we jump aboard....this is around 630 pm. I soon notice that we are heading in an unkown direction...no familiar landmarks and the one that is familiar...the strip club I noticed...is on the wrong side of the road. After about 2 hours we arrive in a town...don´t know which and find the bus depot closed...bus driver says no problema we´ll go to another one...it´s also closed...after another half hour he drops us off on the side of the road witha few others, and tells us the next bus to Cuautla will be here soon.

Bus comes, we board..ask the driver..¨does this bus go to cuautla...answer is inevitably a hearty "SI!" another hour goes by and we arrive in town...only the depot does not look at all familiar...this is Cuautla i ask...the answer is "SI"....(sigh) After disembarking we find out the town is call Igualo and the next bus is at 530 tomorrow morning.....(?????)

I decide to give Leticia a call to let her know were ok and to find out where the hell we are, as suddenly our spanish speaking abilities are not doing very well at the moment.... she has a good laugh after settling down and tells us that we´re in a completely different state (Guerreo) about 3 hours north of Acapulco...we finally got a bus at 130 am, I think the guys at the desk re-routed one from Puebla just for us and we arrived back in Cuautla at 430 am...had to pay him a two cerveza bribe...it was worth it....ahh i just get to sleep in my bed...when....I was woken up by a marching band in the square...some sort of Flag honoring day...speeches, pledge of allegiance the whole nine yards.

I laughed to my self and said only in Mexico...I must have looked a site...2 hours sleep...hair askew...no shoes and shirt on backwards, shooting the above pictures for you readers..Greg was blissfully asleep having the forsight to put in ear plugs.

Cost of the ticket to Jojutla.....20.00 pesos

Dinner at the all night Fonda in front of the bust depot in Igualä ( with 6 pack)....85.00 pesos

Bus ticket back to Cuautla....185.00 pesos and 8.5 hours

The experience of the adventure?....PRICELESS!

In Cuautla

We landed under the cover of dark on the 25th of January to what seemed to be a dark dingy town...no vibe, no people, no internal music playing and we were tired. Oh well we're here, so we walked the 4 blocks to the Zocalo and again woke up the propieter of the Hotel Colon...even at this late hour he was all smiles...room was 250.00 pesos per night...again we were tired so we thought we'd sleep and then push back to Cuernavaca after a day of market research. Greg was pretty much the walking dead and I wasn't much better { after my climb at Cacaxtla}, we needed some down time although didn't know it.

I woke up at 730 am and blasted out of the room leaving Greg to sleep...as I had to check out what kind of town this was in the light of day.....manomanonman! was I in for a shock!! the town was alive! people everwhere...vendors, kids, mamacitas and me. I was going to jsut sit and have a coffee and watch, but decided to take a boo around...the streets were jamm packed...it's like the entire town is one big market.

See the pic...all of the streets were like this..no kidding! Greg joined me in the square and we both decided that we needed a day with out packs on us , so we'd stay a night...do the mineral springs the next day and then head to Mexico City to meet up with Leticia parents and family.

Typical Street scene in Cuautla every morning

We ended up staying three days in thsi town...people extremely friendly and helpful...certainly like to come back and visit it again...on to the springs.

And at night...the Zocalo is the place to be for families and teenagers....it's where it all happens.