Bubba Returns to Ajijic

My wife and I just returned from one our periodic sojourns to the Chiapas Highlands where we live much of the year and yesterday, as is my usual habit upon returning to Lakeside from San Cristobal de Las Casas, I took a stroll down and around Colon to see what is currently happening in Ajijic Centro. I noticed some new commercial activities on Colon including the reopening of one of my wifes favorite stores, Arbol Magico, which had been closed for a while due to the Coronavirus scare. They have reopened with safety precautions against the virus as required by the state so I decided to take a look inside. They typically have a selection of blouses and rugs, items with which I normally hold only a marginal interest but which my wife adores now and then so I stopped in to look around and could not resist buying her a new blouse of which she turned out to be quite fond, I am pleased to say, since I normally buy clothing items for my hard to please spouse with some trepidation. Trepidation exacerbated by the fact that I also could not resist, on the same stroll to centro, stopping off at one of my favorite watering holes on the plaza for a stiff drink of tequila or two which left me in a pleased but pensive mood for my stroll home requiring my presentation upon my return home of a gift for La Jefa to soothe any ruffled feathers , a tactic that, in this instance at least, was successfully carried out. It is good to see that, at least so far, the Ajijic central business district appears to be weathering the just ended business interruption problem quite well as is also the case in Central San Cristobal and environs in Chiapas. I love the Chiapas Highlands but it is good to be back at the lake again. I do understand that one of my favorite recurring strolls along the Ajijic Malecon was legally interdicted by the powers that be because of virus concerns for a while but I hope the malecon has reopened. I will have to check that out. If it has reopened, see some of you other malecon strollers there.

Well said!

You're a brave man to buy clothes for your wife. No one except my daughters can buy me clothes i like. Everyone else who tries to invariably says "I saw this and I just knew you'd love it, it's so you." And invariably it's something I wouldn't be caught dead in.

Good question about driving between Lake Chapala and Chiapas these days, CB. For those readers unfamiliar with that journey, we are talking some 1450 kilometers by the most direct path which takes one from Lake Chapala to the Chiapas Highlands via Michoacan, Puebla, Veracruz, Tabasco and Chiapas States. These are good roads almost all four lane or top quality two lane autopistas but there are long, lonely stretches of highway through some almost deserted rural areas or areas of unrest and some areas where highway robbery is not uncommon, especially at night. In numerous drives over the years over this route, we have never been accosted by anyone and only occasionally have we had small troubles from the traffic police never resulting in mordida demands. We first moved to Lake Chapala in 2001 and bought in Chiapas in 2006 and initially we drove back and forth with regularity. Generally speaking, we still drive this route taking two days with a stop usually in the Orizaba area and always, without fail, starting the road journeys early in the morning, never in mid to late afternoon or at night. One does not wish to be driving or stranded on these highways at dusk or in the night, ever. Total driving time Chapala to San Cristobal de Las Casas is about 17 hours at a reasonable speed. Up until the Coronavirus scare, there were two hour non stop flights between Guadalajara and Tuxtla Gutierrez which were a good alternative to driving but nowadays a stop often for quite some time in Mexico City will probably await the traveler and that is far less attractive an alternative. There are two alternative road trips between Lake Chapala and the Chiapas Highlands but both take a significant longer time to accomplish. One is to cut off east of Morelia and go down to Chiapas via Oaxaca State and City and the other way will take you down the Guerrero Coast through Acapulco and the Oaxaca Coast but that alternative is just for sightseeing and variety on in case there is trouble brewing on routes one or two when you travel.

kiko wrote:I have always followed Bubba's posts for years and I have always wanted to meet him to know him.  I bet he has a lot of great stories to tell.

You guys would like each other! We could do that . . .

After the virus.