Doug's Bike Journey: Mazatlan Review

Knowing what I know now, I would have done Mazatlan slightly different. Let me explain.

I picked a hotel which was half way between Olas Altas and Zona Dorado, which basically means it was near nothing except the beach. If I went back to Mazatlan, I would stay at a hotel in Olas Altas during the week and move to the Golden Zone for the weekend. The reason I suggest Olas Altas for the week is that it is on the beach and still walking distance to the Centro and the Historico. The reason I suggest Zona Dorado for the weekend is that is where the discos are which are only happening on the weekends.

The Centro can probably be skipped unless you are looking for some cantina action. Gringos entering a cantina get a similar reception to the one received by Hans Solo and Luke Skywalker.

Church in the Centro

The Historico district felt like a tropical New Orleans. The roads were narrow and paved in cobble stones, the houses were brightly colored, and there was a decent number of restaurants and bars around the Machado Square. I went to La Tertullia on two occassions in the Historico and happily enjoyed 12 Peso cervezas and a decent margarita. Beach Burger had great food and the best margarita in Mexico so far; however, the waiter tried to rip me off in a two ways that I know of. First, he failed to bring out my entire order as described on the menu. Second, he added tax to my bill when tax is already added into everything in Mexico.

Machado Square in the middle of Historico

The urinal at La Tertullia in Historico. I thought it was cool.

Olas Altas is the 4 block strip of bars and restaurants along the Malecòn. I enjoyed myself at Fonda and the upstairs at Bicho. They both had live cover bands playing American tunes. After the show at Fonda, I asked the lead singer if he understood the words he was singing, he gave me the look like he was trying to decode what I just said. I know this look well because I make the same one all day when I attempt to converse with the locals. At any rate, his look answered my question.

Live band in front of Fonda. The guitarist on the left could really shred. He also played the drums.

The Zona Dorado is where the tourists go to feel more like they are in America. I went there to eat food other than tacos. Even though there was construction going on down the block blowing dust in my food, I had a great Cesar salad at Gringo Lingo. The food at Yooper`s was sub par but provided a nice place to watch Thursday night football in English.

I feel like a broken record commenting that these tourist destinations are seriously hurting from the Mexican reputation, but it couldn`t be more obvious than at Fiestaland. Fiestaland is a place that has about 7 discos. The largest is Bora Bora. The size of this place rivals those of Las Vegas, except this one is on the ocean and the drinks are about a quarter of the price. I can imagine Spring Break 5 years ago must have been quite a spectacle. I could count the number of people in this place on my fingers and toes. Granted, I was there on a Thursday which is not a big night for Mexicans. A place that put on a decent showing was Joe`s Oyster Bar at the Ramada Hotel. This place is also on the ocean and played American Top 40s. I ended up with drinks I did not order, but maybe the drink runners were mind readers. I went here Friday and had a good time.