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Manzanillo and the Pacific Coast

My last day in Colima started out with rain and me sweating the moment I got out of bed. My plan for the day was to move to a new hotel and then find the bus to the neighboring town of Comala. I found the bus to Comala and arrived in town just as it [...]

My last day in Colima started out with rain and me sweating the moment I got out of bed. My plan for the day was to move to a new hotel and then find the bus to the neighboring town of Comala. I found the bus to Comala and arrived in town just as it began to rain even more and the sky became overcast. My main reason to go to Comala was to check out the local active Colima Volcano. It was too overcast to see the volcano so I just walked around the small town for a couple hours.

I hopped on the bus back to Colima. In order to get on the bus to Comala I had to take a 20 minute walk to a local bus station. On the way back the bus seemed to take a different route. The bus kept going and I saw a sign for ‘Centro’ pointing north so I got off and walked north to the center of the city where I saw a yellow-orange domed cathedral. When I got to the cathedral I didn’t recognize the area which means I wasn’t in Colima but some other surrounding town.

So, for the first time I was completely lost. Eventually I figured out I was in a town called Villa de Alvarez and that orange domed cathedrals aren’t that rare around here. I was debating just grabbing a taxi back into town but a local woman told me it was 15 pesos. A 15 peso cab ride means I had to be close so I decided to just walk back and check out the area. 2 kilometers and 2 cathedrals later I was back in the center of Colima.

Two days was enough in Colima so I hopped on a bust to make my way to the coast and arrived in Manzanillo yesterday. My first goal once in town is to figure out where I am but the map at the tourist office was absolute crap. It had one street on it which ran the distance of the bay. Not very helpful. I had written down the name of two places to stay in town. I pointed to the first place on the list and the taxi dropped me off. Still trying to figure out where exactly in town I was I took a walk. Eventually I figured out that my hotel was north of a large lagoon. Getting to the beach required a 45 minute walk around the lagoon. 3 ½ hours later I arrived back at my hotel exhausted and completey drenched in sweat. My shirt was so wet with sweat that a small backpack I was carrying had been soaked through and the last 60 pages of a book I was carrying was absorbing what was coming through the bag. 2 liters of Gatorade and a liter of water on the walk wasn’t enough so I got back to my room and had another liter of Gatorade with dinner.

Not happy with my location near the lagoon I decided to move. I arrived this morning at the second place on my list and this is where I should have been yesterday. It’s a 10 minute walk to the beach. There is a pool and the owners are Canadian which means they speak English. I had my first English conversation in 4 days which also meant it lasted more than 30 seconds.

Spending the day walking along the beach and laying down enjoying the waves has me thinking I’ll stay here for the next two nights and relax.

I have to be in Acapulco by September 4th to meet Kate at the airport so I’ll slowly be making my way down the Pacific coast over the next week.

Filed under: Cubicle Ditcher, Mexico

About the Author:

Sam Langley left a comfortable and profitable job with an insurance company in the USA to travel the world. He has been going for years, and has not stopped yet. Keep up with his travels on his blog at Cubicle Ditcher. has written 147 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

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  • Kate August 31, 2010, 1:14 pm

    I am obviously dumber than your blog. I put that I wanted to "follow" your blog. It told me that it would email me when you posted something new. So, I have checked in a week. Like magic… you have two new posts. Your blog lied. I have no idea what I did wrong 🙁

    I cannot wait to get there. Only 4 more days of work and a LOT of packing.

    Travel safe and see you soon!

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  • Sam August 31, 2010, 11:38 pm

    That's odd…I wonder if others are having the same problem.

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  • Julia September 1, 2010, 10:57 pm

    I haven't gotten any emails about updates either

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  • Sam September 2, 2010, 2:07 am

    Ok, I'll figure out what's going on.

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