Manzanillo,Colima

We meant to spend half a day in Manzanillo (Chamomile Town) but we ended up spending the night and nearly spent another we liked it so much. I think the reason we enjoyed it was that purely by accident we did much of our business in an unpretentious working class neighborhood that you’d never see if you stuck to the arc of the splendid waterfront. Broad modern avenues, palms and in the distance the cranes of the industrial harbor: 

We never even saw the main waterfront as we drove into town to look for another folding office chair to match one we had bought in Culiacan to replace our broken expensive Pico camp chairs. First we did some food shopping at Layne’s favorite grocery store. 

Then the chair:

Then Walmart with its odd mixture of American brands familiar to any North American as well as products decidedly aimed at the local market. These days if you travel south you can rest assured you can find most of what you need in Mexico and you don’t have to lug suitcases filled with what you are used to consuming at home. 

And if you need a motorcycle or scooter they sell those too. This rather attractive Vespa lookalike goes for US $1500 approximately. I saw a few on the roads too. Divide pesos by 20 to get the dollar amount. 

We wanted our clothes done so after we dropped them off at a laundry we found at random on Google maps we walked the neighborhood. Layne has long wanted to be back in the land of whole roast chickens sold on the streets. 

Come back tomorrow she said, I’ll be selling my aunt’s home made cheese. We said we would even though we planned to leave. Across the street we stopped at the bakery. Pick up tongs and a tray and help yourself. 

Colima is a green zone in Mexico, a Covid rating of low infection. The further south we have traveled the less mask wearing we see. 

Manzanillo is a street filled with trees, wide avenues and medians. Rusty made himself at home in various shady spots as we shopped. 

The cobbled streets are a pain in the ass, literally in the van. Some have cement strips which help but there are topes all over the place that cause our van to lurch. Just like this:

Our laundry wouldn’t be ready till 7:30pm so we decided to stay in town for the night. Maybe we’d get the homemade cheese after all. 

I was waiting for the laundry admiring a Honda 160 parked on the street when a distinguished looking man in his 50s showed up and got astride. We ended up talking motorcycles, as you do. He keeps a bigger machine for road trips but the little 160 does well around town. He’d like a van like our Promaster, Marcos said, as he could take his family camping with him. He noticed my Italian accent and said he had visited Italy recently. Mexico is very similar I said. Yes he said but Italians are much louder! 

Night was falling and the little businesses were closing up. Lavanderia MAR had shown us a whole separate side of Manzanillo. 

Van lifers in the States frequently talk of sleeping at Walmart. We never have, preferring freeway rest areas for quick stops while traveling. This was our first ever stop at a Walmart. Not romantic but so useful. A quiet peaceful night on the streets in Mexico.