We were awakened a couple of times last night by trucks coming and going but then managed to sleep until 8:30 or so. We had breakfast at the Pemex restaurant and hit the road by 10:00. The roads were much better today and we actually had one nice stretch of brand new, wide shouldered concrete highway! The final stretch of autopista into Mazatlan is the same as always, straight, wide and fairly well maintained. Lots of toll booths along the way though! From the border to Mazatlan we have forked over $109 in tolls. It will actually get worse as we go. Gas has gone up in price to $9.6 pesos per liter. This works out to $.72 CAN per liter or about half what we pay at home. I don't know what it would cost to fill the tank as I always order $1000 pesos of gas and have the cash in my hand where he can see it. When he finishes, I hand him the cash and add a small five or ten peso tip. I have found this works best for me and avoids the hassle of me not having the exact change and him claiming to have no change.
Today I bought gas near Mazatlan and tried to use my credit card. I have never had much success with this and today was no exception. I was told they only take Mexican credit cards. My friend Chris tells me he never has a problem using his credit card and I sure would like to have him with me to show me how it is done!
We arrived in Mazatlan, checked into Las Jaibas and parked next to Eric and Kathy, our friends from Terrace. Filipe, the park owner, charges in US dollars. Thirty per night for short term. If you insist on paying in pesos, he will make the conversion which will probably not be in your favor. We got the Starchoice working, had a beer with Eric and Kathy and now Norma is making a salad and I am Blogging! It is warm but slightly overcast today and the sand fleas are out in force.
We are paid up for four nights as we have a list of chores to do and some people to meet! The time will go quickly!
We've been in Mazatlan almost two weeks.
1 hour ago
sounds like you had a nice travel day..I never mind the tolls as long as the road is worthy...but thats alot of tolls you paid yesterday..good thing you saved so much on fuel :) have a super weekend
ReplyDeleteGet Lee to take you to the "Te Amo Lucy" restaurant for Sunday brunch tomorrow...you will love it!
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Is the little restaurant (trailer and tent) still operating in the front of Las Jaibas? We ate there almost every day. I second Te Amo Lucy - fantastic mole there (and easy access via bus). Oh, your blogs are bringing back the memories... very good ones. :)
ReplyDeleteThat was a great little restaurant wasn't it! No, it is gone. Filipe kept raising the rent until Arnaldo could no longer make a go of it and left.
ReplyDeleteWe use Mexican and American cards. Never an issue. I think it is a matter of them trying to charge on your card. One station near our house has minor system problems and sometimes the charge won't go through due to lack of a connection. So I ask them to charge the card first with "X" amount that I know will fit in the tank. If it goes through, good. If not, I have the cash or move on to the next station. Might help.
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