Tuesday, 31 January 2017: Paraiso

Today was Justin's birthday.  And it was a day on the road for us.  We left Coatzacoalas after breakfast and after the consierge gave us a long list of hints and places to go.  He told us of waterfalls and hotels as we go north toward the Yucatán.  The Zar hotel is a small chain; this particular location has been opened only one month.  Perhaps that explains why the elevator doesn't work yet.  Otis hasn't been to Coatzacoulas yet.

Nice bright sunshine greeted our day!  We were feeling confident and took the road less travelled.  Off the toll roads, we took the route closest to the water.  The beaches were fabulous and deserted.  We stopped at one point and spent a couple of hours in total isolation.  Justin got his birthday plunge in the Gulfo de Mexico.  (A couple of years ago when we were in Japan, I took an APL day on Justin's birthday and we went to Hayama and to Kamakura.  He has a birthday swim then too.  This is so much better especially since neither one of us has to go to work tomorrow!)  We walked for seemingly miles with no other people.  I collected sand dollars -- more than I've ever seen anywhere.  I hope I can at least get a few home intact.

Back on the road, we had quite the experience.  The road was less than maintained.  It was washed out in some spots.  Justin said he felt like he was not only on an obstacle course, but a slalom course.  The puddles were the size of lakes and the sand was deep in spots --  too deep to go fast and too deep to go slowly.  All of this was dwarfed by the pirates.
At two points, locals had set up their own toll booths.  Sure it was only 10 pesos, but ropes and chain to bar the street when you are in the middle of nowhere and the road is washed out was a bit intimidating.

When we arrived in Paraiso, we ended up in a creepy hotel with snacks for dinner as we were too tired to go to explore.  Even though it wasn't a memorable birthday dinner, it was a special birthday!