Beneath the Pavement, the Beach

I wouldn´t recommend arriving in Salina Cruz at two in the morning. That goes for many Mexican cities, but some-- like Acuyucan, which we had left five hours previously-- exude a wholesome atmosphere which welcomes you at any hour. Looking at a road map of Mexico in Catemaco, only one bus south presented itself, and from there we knew to look for a bus towards Salina Cruz. Towards being the key word. But as things go in Mexico, the bus showed up late, left even later, and dropped us off in front of a bus pulling out for the Pacific Coast. And so we blindly ran inside, bought tickets and jumped aboard. Only then did I think to ask the driver when would arrive. Only on arriving did I think maybe we should have gotten off earlier, where the highway splits to the East, where people were still up eating and cheap hotels were stones throws away from the terminal. But sometimes you want to tear up the guidebook and take your chances with the unknown.

And so we came to be in Salina Cruz, a town known for oil and not much else. I´ll remember it for its gaudy hotel rooms and being the first time Melody saw the Pacific. It should have been a magic moment, like when we reached the Gulf after hours on a bicycle-- but it couldn´t stand in greater contrast. A pedestrian bridge took us over some littered train tracks, then we signed in with a security guard; the port of Salina dominates much of the coast here and we were to follow a fenced in portion inside the naval compound. The beach itself is blocked on one side by a mountainous pile of concrete rubble, several oil tankers lay right off the coast and a sign prohibited any swimming. It was the only craphole town we had visited yet, and my health followed suite; the first bout of traveller´s sickness in Mexico, moments of razor blades ripping up intestines.

In the end we lost a morning a few pesos, and got back on track with a new plan. I left Salina Cruz upbeat; we made a mistake but it taught me to trust me instincts and to remember that every tomorrow travelling is an unknown.