Greetings and Salutations!
Progreso!
The Yucatan (as you can see)!
Chichen Itza!
Which I unfortunately couldn’t hit. $$$ issues doncha know?
HOWEVER!
Cozumel and it’s ‘stuff’?
No problema.
Payday is overnight tonight.
Either way, the Enfield is going to be raffled off when I get back. I’ll poast pictures up of which on it’ll be. Understand the bore on it is shytte. Damned near shot out but it does fire and is pristine.
Soooo… dinner last night with the Tall Brunette went well…
The food was 5 Star.
The company was about the same, 5 Star as well…
Other than that, I’ll leave it at that, and I’ll poast the touristy sites as my internet is sporadic at best… utterly shitty at worst. Hopefully in Cozumel I’ll be able to get the pics onto the lappie and poast from there. The only pic (besides these two above) was the one I took as I/We were being taken downtown to check out the scenery:
Now, the Progreso pier is the worlds longest pier according to all the info I got on the boat, and even the Google agreed:
5 Miles long.
With all the security on it (backscatter x-rays and search points) it took almost 30 minutes to get downtown. Once there, We did the slow-exploration, after I pinned the “Evac Point” on my maps. The bus ran every 30 minutes, so getting back to the Boat wasn’t an issue. Since we left early, the town really wasn’t fully open yet, but this was a plus, as we were like the only folks out and about, and it was still cool temperature wise. It got as how as Iraq it felt like as we’re straight up on the equator, and that sun was physically beating down by noon….
Now, the bus was exactly the same model busses we had in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. Chinese made and your basic ‘tour bus’ with seats that were seriously undersized for my Large Western Frame… and add on the pic above?
Those big stones are part of the breakers for the waves that hit the pier… at first, I thought they were HESCO barriers, as they sure as hell LOOK like HESCOs. Between being on the same type of bus, and what appeared to be HESCOs? Yeah, mad flashbacks. In a cool way that is.
For the uninitiated, HESCO barriers were the DotMil answer to a shortage of sandbags and such. They were 5 foot? by 5 foot? (I think) by 5 foot deep metal frames (like a heavy chicken wire but waaaay thicker) and a burlap bag, which was then filled with dirt and rocks to make BIG shrapnel-proof barriers which were then put ALLLLL around various buildings in the Area Of Operations.
Then downtown, we went to what was a bazaar…
Like LITERALLY a just-like-in-Kuwait and baghdad… A souk as the Arabs call them… a roofed over open air market selling everything from hot food to household cleaners to fresh veggies… pics to follow as I said.
I stopped into said Souk/Bazaar with my companion and we went to a smol cafe… She asked “Why are we eating here? It looks dirty…” To which I pointed out that it, compared to what were obviously tourist oriented places, the fact that it was positively packed with the locals who were obviously getting their ‘eat on’ before they opened their little stalls and/or businesses, and that was proof enough to me that the chow would be first rate.
And maaaaaan
I was right.
The empanadas were off the chain, and the cokes were ice-cold and REAL Mexican Coke. No chemistry and tasted magnifico…
And was it dirty?
Fuck yeah.
This was Third World Dining at it’s finest…. I was in my element however… “Back in the Saddle” so to speak… Eating in strange local places, keeping my head on a swivel, and being left the fuck alone as I had turned up my ‘vibe’ I was projecting to “lethal” so almost everyone was smiling and friendly, as they sensed it’d be a BAD IDEA to piss off or fuck with the HUUUUGE Gringo and the chick who was with him….
GOD I love doing shit like that!!!
I missed this shit man!
And then, (no pics allowed due to security) I found a Yucatan State Police Checkpoint with a whole crew of cops…
The town was positively crawling with Fuzz… (a good thing IMO) both state and metropolitan… The State Police were something right out of “Sicario”… Ford F-250s with mounted M-240Bs or M249s. I went over and talked to El Sargento in charge, and explained (and showed my ID) that I was a former Soldado americano, and just wanted to talk guns and maybe get a picture or two?
He apologized, but no pics allowed (OPSEC, which I dig what w/cartel bullshit) but we talked guns… ALL of them were running Sig P226s in low slung cowboy style Blackhawk leg rigs, with M-4A1 (full auto able) and the aforementioned Squad Automatics… I was able to get across that I was an Experto en armas i.e. an armorer and they dug the fuck out of that.
I got to get an up close check of the squad weapons… Their gear was in pretty damned good shape… used but not abused and El Sargento said that on occasion the weapons got a lot of use.
I wish them guys good luck man… they’re on the pointy end Aye? So that was cool. I picked up some tchotchkes for some frens and the usual, and then we went back to the Boat early to hit the pool. Tonight is the Adult Comedy show… I got a taste of the PG side of it last night, but tonight is the Adult Only show… it should be good as the guy was funny AF even tho he was stuck doing a PG version…
So I’m off to meet up with my frens…
More Later
Big Country
I told you Cozumel is a cool island with awesome food.
It’s also great that you have a “lady friend” and are having a good time.
As the saying goes, there is nothing better than “good food, good ass and a good whiskey”. 😀
I hope he keeps track of his kidneys… that is how you lose one.
Sounds like the’ve really got their guard up. Telling the cartels not to fuck with that tourista dinero. Only time I went to Mexico was to Juarez across from El Paso. Went to one of those markets, quite interesting and entertaining bargaining with the locals.
In Central America there is a dirty secret that all of the locals know.
That is the Cartel guys just like the mafia here and in Italy have the illegal side of their business and the legal. The legal they invest in and launder the dirty money through. Point being they don’t want ANYTHING or ANYONE messing with their legit businesses and investments.
Guess who REALLY owns and runs these resort areas that see mucho gringo dollars rolling through ?
You guessed it, the Cartels and there is ALWAYS heavy police and even military presence there not to keep the Cartels out rather the rif raff criminals that would prey on tourists. Meanwhile the Cartels have agreements that no fighting or BS in these areas and illegal activities are strictly controlled.
Mmmm… Tall leggy blondes and brunettes. BASTARD!!! I want pics!
until you find out they have crotch rot AND mental issues..
something like 3 out of 4 whammen are infected with whore-itis
BC clearly has a different appetite for risk in that regard than you or I, and with the life he’s lived doing genuinely dangerous shit in crazy places, I guess it makes some kind of sense. No hate on my part, he’s a big boy and can roll however he wants.
But having come face to face with cluster B insanity, and having been lucky enough to somehow walk away from it unscathed (which almost never happens) I took my one “get out of jail free” card, and accepted the unexpected win to mean I needed to make sure I didn’t fuck up like that again. One miracle to a customer, eh?
I don’t hate the ladies, just decided I’d reached an age and stage in life where I didn’t need (or really want) to take the risk anymore. Always was sort of a lone ranger, so it suits me fine.
Otherwise, interesting account of the action in ol’ Mexico. Stay cool and don’t get fucked up down there, ok?
You got it. I have my pick of just about every woman I want- single or not.. I also know they have already been pumped n dumped by dozens or more infected losers.
I get ear to ear smiles from young’ns and sly smirks & grins from the 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 year olds.
Bitches… They always be shopping, cheating, monkey branching, and whoring. It’s just what they do.
I’m waiting for a sweet German Baptist type young widow who is virtuous with her own fortune. I know they’re out there and I have an “in” with that community.
So – so far – is this cruise better than the last one? You said ther were less nogs, and it seems the food is better… is it because the price is higher?
I did a dive trip to Cozumel in pre-cartel days. Good times. Glad you’re having fun!
True dat about eating with the locals. Here in Houston the big tell is the parking lot, and knowing the local ESL radio stations. F150s, beaters, that kinda thing, and and no “solo los exitos” bumper stickers.
We ate at small watch them make it pizza place.
Went into wrong bar (?) with pornos and hookers.
I think Pappy knew.
I grew up on the border and would often go across the line at Nogales. The best restaurant there was a mile or so in, away from the tourist areas. I could feed 6 people a nice meal there, with beer and an after dinner shot for $25 US. It was dang good food, too. If I was taking some elderly or otherwise mobility restricted people with me, I could catch a taxi for us. Sure, you can (or could back then – haven’t been in a good 15 yrs. or so) drive across, but I didn’t want to deal with the other Mexican drivers or get searched by the Federales and have them find any loose ammo I missed under the seat or something – 1 yr in prison per round, if you can’t pay the “fine”. There was a guy who got a 2 yr sentence for 2 rounds of .22LR in his truck box. I know he did at least 1 yr of it. He may have gotten an early release, but I don’t recall for sure.