Of course, posting here seems to be always an exercise in catching up. I guess the habit of trying to put up a new post in the morning means that I will always be using photos from the past day to tell the story of that day. In real terms, this doesn’t matter as one day is like the other – a day worth remembering.
Our task for Friday was to learn how the bus system works so that we could travel around the area more easily. Our local bus is really a large van that is refered to as a “combi”. We walked to the village square where we caught this combi. When we got there, two others were already in the van waiting. We paid our 78 cents each for our fare to travel about 20 kilometres to the centre of Progreso, the largest town of the beach communities, really, a small city. It wasn’t too long before there were enough passengers for the trip to begin. This is how a driver decides when the journey begins, not by a timed schedule. As we drove towards Progreso, we made a few stops along the country roadside to pick up a few more passengers. We also stopped in two villages en route. There are no bus stops. The driver stopped when people waved to get his attention. Interesting.
Once we got to Progreson, a half hour earlier than planned, we went on a quick walkabout to check out the area near the bus centre so that it would be easy to find our way back to the centre when it was time to go home to Chuburna. We saw a few areas of interest that we wanted to return to and investigate at a later time. Then, it was time to return to the bus centre to meet our friends from Sask Landing, my golf buddy Roger and his wife Suzanne. Our first stop was their apartment in a beautiful small complex for lunch. With full stomachs, we then began a walking tour of Progreso led by Roger.
A "frigate" bird sails above the Malecon beach in Progreso.
It was time to head back to Roger and Sue’s for a quick snack before heading home. Of course, we walked slowly down yet more lanes where Sue was busy showing us great places to buy various things such as deli meats and cheese as well as clothing. It was a good lesson for us about what Progreso has to offer and the best places to shop based on their several years of experience in spending winter vacations in the city.
Saying goodbye to our hosts for the day, we then made our way to the Centrino where we caught our combi for the trip back to Chuburna. At home, it was time for tea, for supper and then relaxing on our beach patio studying the stars, the full moon and the gentle movement of the sea in front of us. Another day, another story.
How nice to have another place explored. Soon it will be home to you like China was. I am curious to know how the salt beer and lime tasted so fill me in.
The lime and salt beer tasted … well, let’s just say that I won’t be ordering it again. That said, I have learned that it is proper to take a section of lime and clean the mouth of glass beer bottles just to make sure that there is no “water” residues on the bottle. The lime is then popped into the bottle giving the beer an interesting and decent taste. Of course, this is only for glass beer bottles, not cans.