Mexican Riviera Part Two: Mazatlan

View of Mazatlan from the pier

After a quick trip across the Sea of Cortez, we arrived at Mazatlan. A city of around 400,000 people in the state of Sinaloa (home of the world's finest drug traffickers), Mazatlan is Aztecan for "place of the deer". Apparently there were a lot of them roaming around at one time,and the local Mexican League baseball team honors this by having the nickname “venados” (deer). For you fans of the beers of the world, the brand Pacifico is brewed in downtown Mazatlan just a stones throw away from the dock. A final fun fact? Mazatlan and Seattle, WA are "sister cities".

Mazatlan cliff diver in action
In cruising literature, Mazatlan is divided into two parts. One is called the Golden Zone. This is where the pitchmen on the ship encouraged us to go and buy diamonds, sit on the beach and buy expensive drinks and the like. I'm sure the financial arrangement between those businesses and Royal Caribbean works very well for both of them but we weren't interested in playing. We wanted to see what Mazatlan is like and not what the Ramada Corporation thinks it ought to be like.

So we signed on to a city walking tour of the "other part" of Mazatlan....Old Mazatlan. After a whirlwind bus ride through parts of Mazatlan that looked darned interesting (but wouldn't want to walk alone in) we arrived at the waterfront. We immediately started to learn about the history of Mazatlan from Jesus himself....um....that was our tour guide's name actually. He pointed out a cave in the side of a mountain that ice was once stored in. We saw beautiful sculptures on the beach, as well as cliff divers carefully guessing wind speed and direction before they made their accurate plunges.

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The Cathedral of Immaculate Conception

We turned inland toward the city, and visited a bakery that has been there for nearly 100 years. It was unmarked on the outside. You just have to know that that's where the bakery is. We peered inside the Melville Suites. The author of "Moby Dick" lived in Mazatlan for a bit in the mid-1800s.

After visits to a museum, a restored opera house (Teatro Angela Peralta) and the cathedral (Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, built in 1875) it was time to get a bite to eat before we broke from the tour group to explore the Central Market on our own. Our tour guide suggested a place called Panama’s. They served up a nice plate of chicken enchiladas while BowlingWidow opted for the some kind of a corn cake topped with chicken and cheese. Can’t remember what it was called but she really liked it.

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Mazatlan butcher: waste not, want not

Mazatlan’s Central Market is a hodge-podge of a lot of different kinds of family run businesses under one roof. Kind of like Seattle’s Pike Place Market only far older and without money for improvements. It was actually designed by Gustave Eiffel. Yes, the Eiffel Tower guy. There were several butcher shops and fish markets, all of which served as a reminder that the locals will let no part of an animal go to waste. Not always what I’m looking for as a taco filling but its nice knowing I could.

After going through some produce stands and tiny grocery areas (where we purchased some pure vanilla) it was time to sample some real food from a real hole-in-the wall taco stand. First, we made sure there were some actual customers eating there and that it wasn’t a popular place among the insect community. Good on both counts. I ordered a carne asada taco, delightfully simply prepared with a small layer of whole beans at the bottom and the seasoned meat coming next with a bit of fresh cilantro sprinkled on top. I asked in fractured Spanish which of the salsas was the spiciest and was kindly rewarded. As for BowlingWidow, well, she was content just to watch the action.

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The street outside of the Central Market

We moved on to the leather and purses section where we skillfully negotiated the purchase of a small purse for our son’s girlfriend back at home. We didn’t move them down a whole lot of pesos but were satisfied with a $2 or so reduction from the original asking price. As Americans, bartering just didn’t come naturally.

Some of the images of the streets of old downtown Mazatlan will remain with us both for better and for worse. The city seemed to be a bustling place with people going about their business. Even festive in parts. But then there was the blind man sitting on a corner begging. He controlled a small bucket that was suspended by ropes looped on either side of it. I hesitate to say he held it, because he had no hands. The ropes were set on at the end of his arms, at the wrists. As we learned in Los Cabos, Mexico is a country of contrasts.

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Market scene: love that Mexican wrestling poster

With a couple of hours left before the ship was scheduled to leave, we decided to play it safe and get a taxi back to the pier. The driver of the large golf-cart-like vehicle was maniacal as he crazily sped through intersections offering a simple honk of the horn a split second before he got to them. Everything you probably believe to be true about Mexican cab drivers is accurate.

Next up: Puerto Vallarta.