Mexico Travel: A Day in Melaque

by Maria Espinosa on

Cocks have been crowing for hours before the sun begins to rise over the village of Melaque on the Pacific coast of Mexico, several hours drive south of Puerto Vallarta. The town lies along a large bay. At the northwest end are steep green hills, studded with rocks. The sea at this end is calm enough for easy swimming and fishing. Further southeast towards Villa Obregon, the surf is rougher and at the southeastern end is Barra de Navidad, where white buildings gleam in the sky. I run down to the beach for a quick dip in the ocean and afterwards come back to my room, drink coffee and munch a bolillo, still warm from the local bakery.

Later I may walk along the beach or on rough cobblestone streets into town. Stores cluster around the central plaza, a large grassy square with benches, a raised bandstand, a fountain decorated with a frieze of dolphins. Next to it is the Church of San Patricio. Most of the small stores are family run and there are always children around – a baby in someone’s lap, a child running in and out from the street, children are everywhere.

Despite the fact that this is the tourist season, the town is still comparatively slow paced. At the corner grocery, a young couple nestle against each other behind the cash register, as they watch a TV novella. The woman rises from her husband’s lap to help me look for candles. In the tiny one-room post office with its home-made curtains, the postmaster waves away my consternation when I realize I don’t have enough money for the postage stamps.

“Bring the money next time,” he says.At noon, all the shops are open, as well as restaurants and taco stands. Small restaurants beneath a covered arcade offer tacos and comidas corrientes, or daily specials, accompanied by rice, beans, fresh warm tortillas, and salsa. There are also a number of pelapa restaurants on the beach that serve fresh fish. Around two o’clock almost everything shuts down for “siesta.” The sun glares down on nearly deserted streets until around four or five o’clock, when shops roll open their metal shutters, and the town begins to stir again. At dusk, young boys boogie board in the surf while couples stroll along the beach. By night, the plaza is bustling with life, music, and lights.

People of all ages gather in the plaza-families with small children, older couples, and lots of teenagers. There are many festivals, of which Saint Patrick’s day is the most important. It lasts an entire week in commemoration of the Irish who fought for Mexico during the Mexican-American War. Then the sound of music, fireworks, entertainment will last late into the night.

Despite its festivities the town has a slow rhythm. Buses and trucks lumber slowly along the rutted roads. People have a slower pace, a slower walk. Nothing is hurried or rushed in Melaque. The softness of the air, the sun, the warmth, and the ocean all combine to create more a spacious sense of time along with a sense of clarity.

ACTIVITIES

Melaque is a place to swim, fish, walk, or just hang out and enjoy the sunset over a beer or margarita.

WHEN TO GO

The town comes to life during the tourist season from November through the end of March. The summer is hot and humid, with lightning storms and heavier surf. September is the rainiest month. Christmas and Easter weeks are the most crowded. During the summer, bargain rates can be negotiated at the nearly empty hotels.

WHERE TO STAY

Budget: Hotel Santa Maria, Abel Salgado 85, tel: 315/355-5677; Hotel Hidalgo, Hidalgo 7, tel: 315/355-5045

Mid-range: Hotel Bahia, Legazpi 5, tel: 315/355-6894

Top-end: La Paloma Oceanfront Retreat & Art Center. Reserve well in advance.

WHERE TO EAT

Ayala Calle Carrillo Puerto & Ramon Corona, two blocks from the plaza. Inexpensive, tasty breakfasts and lunches.

Bigotes on the beach near the central malecon. Restaurant and bar. Happy hour.

Cesar y Charly, a few blocks further north on the beach. Wonderful fish dinners.

Flor Morena on the square, open 5 pm – 11 pm. Excellent enchiladas and pozole

Maya, several blocks south of the plaza, offers tapas and wine.

GETTING THERE AND AWAY

Airports: Manzanillo – 20 minute drive to Melaque; Puerto Vallarta – four or five hour drive to Melaque

Bus Stations: Two long distance bus stations, Primera Plus and Cihuatlan, are across the street from Banamex, just a few blocks from the plaza.

Primera Plus runs only one or two buses a day (at ungodly hours) to Puerto Vallarta, but Cihuatlan runs hourly 2nd class buses. There are frequent bus departures for Manzanillo, Colima, and other cities, while a local shuttle runs between Melaque, Barra de Navidad, and surrounding communities.

GETTING AROUND MELAQUE

Walking: The town is so small that for the most part you can get around on foot.
Taxis: There is a taxi stand next to the central plaza and one next to the bus stations.
Local buses go to Barra de Navidad and neighboring towns. They run along Gomez Farias, past Banamex, and make frequent stops.

More information about Melaque, and the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Mexico travel, is available here.

Maria Espinosa is a novelist, poet, and translator. Her publications include three novels, including Longing, which won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. Read her blog on Red Room.

Hawaii’s living ghosts: Retelling of lives at Hawaii cemeteries

by Pam Chun on

In Hawai`i, everything in nature-trees, rocks, wind, rain-evokes a chicken-skin ghost story. It’s in the air, our blood, and retold on dark winter nights. The hair on the back of your neck will rise and prickle when you visit these spots.

Nuuanu Pali Lookout and the Old Pali Road

I grew up in Nu`uanu, the luxuriant valley that leads up to one of the best views of O`ahu, the Nu`uanu Pali Lookout. In 1795, King Kamehameha I united the Hawaiian Islands and drove O`ahu’s defending warriors up our valley. Rather than surrender, O`ahu’s warriors leapt 1000 feet from the Pali to their death. When the Pali Road was constructed in 1897, crews found the skulls and bones of over 800 men at the base of the Ko`olau Mountains.

During World War II, a few servicemen emboldened by alcohol leapt off the Pali. Powerful gale-force winds pushed the drunks back to safety. Lucky, they said. Our ghosts and gods, locals said.

Since ancient days the Old Pali Road was the only land route between Honolulu and the Windward side of the island. It was, and still is, a spooky road. Eerie winds whistle through the tree tunnel, waving vines drape from arching branches of the jungle forest, and leaves dart in the darkness like nervous fingers. At night we hush our voices and hold our breath until we emerge into the lights of Honolulu.

My grandparents warned us, “Never carry pork on the Old Pali Road.” The unwise who did told how their car would die. Attempts to restart were futile. Sometimes an old woman or man would appear at the side of the road. If one offered them a ride, their passenger, and the pork, would disappear before they got to town.

When I was in college my boyfriend and I returned from a party in Kailua via the Old Pali Road. The police stopped us so they could carry up from the ravine below the bodies of four young Hawaiian men whose skin shone unusually pale in the moonlight, victims of an accident. At a beach bonfire with fellow students a year later, two brothers, Harvard medical students, told us they had just returned to Honolulu along the Old Pali Road and at a certain curve they heard knocking on their windshield, as if someone wanted to get in. The brothers immediately backed up. Unnerved, they slowly started forward but each time they reached that spot in the road, they heard knocking, and retreated. The fifth time, the younger brother shouted, “Just drive! No matter what, don’t stop! Go!” His older brother floored it back to Honolulu.

“Where exactly did you hear that knocking?” I asked. They were athletes and fraternity men, not easily frightened. They described the curve in the Old Pali Road and the ravine below, the exact spot where the four boys had crashed the year before. We Hawaiians gasped; the dead youths were looking for someone to take their place.

Hours: Daily during daylight hours; no entrance fee. $3 parking; portable toilets; trash cans; food concession; interpretive signage; no drinking water.

O`ahu Cemetery

O’ahu Cemetery offers one of the finest collections of 19th century graveyard art in Hawaii and is one of the known ghost haunts. Through the Sailor’s Home Society, seamen from New England, Australia, Scotland, Peru, and even Iowa were buried here in the 1800s alongside the most distinguished and powerful landowning families such as the Campbells, Castles, and Dillinghams. The only full-sized statue, of Maria Kahanamoku, sister of Olympian Duke Kahanamoku, looks gently down among the palm trees lining the interior road.

Take one of the occasional tours. Step back into Hawaii‘s culture and history marked by marble statuary, granite obelisks, sarcophagi, ornate Celtic crosses and cryptic symbols. These landscaped grounds from are one of the most important historic sites in the islands and at night, alive with voices.

In the early 1900s, my grandmother’s uncle told of returning to Honolulu after his round of deliveries on the Windward side. Whenever his horse and cart passed O`ahu Cemetery late at night he encountered ghost seamen, probably from the 1800s whaling days, playing cards right outside the cemetery wall on the corner of Judd Street and Nu`uanu Avenue. The salty spirits, furious at being disturbed, would yell at him. “Go away! Leave us alone! Begone!” Leaves whistled through their bodies when they rose and chased after my great-grand uncle, hurling stones and curses as he urged his horse, ‘Faster!”

To this day, my aunts and uncles drive out of their way to avoid this corner which is on their direct route home. www.O`ahuCemetery.org 2162 Nu`uanu Avenue, Honolulu, HI. Phone 808-538-1538

Pu`u o Mahuka Heiau

High above the beach where surfers flock to surf the legendary 30 to 60 foot waves on the North Shore sits Pu`u o Mahuka Heiau, the largest religious site and temple on O`ahu. It covers almost 2 acres. As you drive up Pupukea Homestead Road off Kamehameha Highway you head up into the mountains through wild shrubbery. Nothing prepares you for what you are about to see.

Constructed in the 1600s, stacked lava rock walls from 3 to 6 feet in height define three walled enclosures. Within the walls were thatch and wood structures. It is conjectured this heiau was used as a sacrificial temple, perhaps for success in war. Situated on a ridge with a commanding view of Waimea Valley and the northern shoreline of O`ahu, signal fires from here could be seen as far as Kaua`i.

Stay outside the walls to avoid further damage to the site. You will see offerings of stones wrapped in ti leaves on the wall.

I’ve noted that at these Hawaiian heiaus, the air feels unusually still and no birds sing, as if it is still imbued with the sacredness of long ago. Everyone I bring here gets chicken-skin; the hairs on their neck and arms prickle as if the spirits of those who died here still roam. This is the ancient side of Hawaii, a layer most tourists miss.

More information here. Hours: Daily during daylight hours; no entrance fee; trash cans, interpretive signage & walkway; no drinking water.

Pam Chun’s award-winning first novel, The Money Dragon, was named one of 2002’s Best Books in Hawaii. Born and raised in Hawaii, she has been featured on NPR and has spoken at the Smithsonian. Read her blog on Red Room.

Travel to Macau: See, sleep and eat your way through Macau’s top tourist spots

by Jenny Block on

This piece was written by Red Room contributor Jenny Block.




Macau, it’s not your modern-day Las Vegas. Yes, Macau does have a number of casinos from the classic Lisboa to the enormous and glamorous Venetian. And, yes, it has gobs of neon, killer entertainment, great shopping, and over-the-top hotels. But that’s just a glimpse of what really comprises Macau. There are also serene temples, busy shopping alleys, and street food from basic to extreme.

Although once a Portuguese Colony, Macau is now a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. The delight of Macau, however, is that from moment to moment you can’t tell if you’re in Europe or China – from the food to the architecture to the street signs, there’s a confliction of countries in every direction. It’s a strangely surreal and singular experience to eat Portuguese food in front of a Buddhist Temple, with smells of incense and ocean air wafting on the breeze and strains of English, Portuguese, and Chinese filling your ears.

To be in Macau is to be in many cultures all at once. Although you can spend your time in Macua gambling, you can also spend days on end exploring the sites, tasting the delicacies, enjoying the beaches, and pursuing adventures without ever setting foot in a casino at all.

The choices are endless, so here are a few hot spots and tricks of travel for your next visit.

[Photo credit: Flickr, Yong Shimin]To sleep

Mandarin Oriental Macau: The latest hotel to open this year. It’s the first property of its kind in Macau without a casino. If you go, be sure to book a Spices of Portugal Journey treatment in their spa.
Address: Avenida Dr Sun Yat Sen, NAPE
Telephone: 853 8805 8888
Email: momac-reservations@mohg.com
Five Star hotel with 25 meter heated, outdoor pool and fitness center
Rates: Starting at $243.00

Pousada de Sao Tiago: A former Portuguese Fortress that is now a 5-Star Boutique Hotel. Regardless of if you stay here, stop by and visit their restaurant bar at sunset for a spectacular view.
Address: Avenida da República, Fortaleza de São Tiago da Barra
Telephone: 853 2837 8111
Email: reservation@saotiago.com.mo
Five Stay hotel with outdoor swimming pool and terrace
Rates: Starting at $230 a night

Grand Hyatt at City of Dreams in the COTAI Area: High-end digs for those looking to experience the “new” Macau. Because the Grand Hyatt is part of the City of Dreams urban resort, entertainment, dining and shopping options are on the property.
Address: Estrada do Istmo, Cotai
Telephone: 853 8868 1234
Email: macau.grand@hyatt.com
Five star hotel with 40m lap swimming pool and fitness center
Rates: Starting at $143.00 a night

To survey

A-Ma Temple: From which Macau gets its name. Here you can truly get a taste of old Macau and be witness to what the first Portuguese sailors saw when they arrived in Macau almost 500 years ago.
Rua de S. Tiago da Barra, Macau
Admission: Free

St. Paul’s Church: Key to understanding Macau’s Portuguese legacy, St Paul’s is the first Jesuit Church in China and houses a rich collection of relics from Asia’s first missionaries.
Rua de Sao Paulo, Macau
Admission: Free

Senado Square: The feel of a European city…in Asia! For centuries, locals and visitors alike have flocked to the square to celebrate Macau’s major holidays. You can feel the past in your feet as you wander the square.

Around the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro
Admission: Free

To savor

Antonio’s: Nestled in Taipa Island, Antonio’s is home to local celebrity chef, Antonio, whose big personality is in complete contrast to the tiny restaurant. Order steak cooked on hot stones or desserts that are flambéed, both of which are cooked right in front of your eyes. If you ask nicely and order a bottle of champagne, Antonio himself will saber it for you. Now, that is a sight not to be missed.
Address: António, Rua dos Negociantes No. 3, Old Taipa Village, Taipa
Telephone: 853 2899 9998
Email: reservations@antoniomacau.com
Entrees: From $13.00 – $23.00

O Porto Interior: Located in Macau’s old harbour area, Porto Interior can give you a taste of the city’s juiciest African chicken (a local delicacy) and of Macau’s abundant history. You’ll find a variety of Portugeuse specialties here as well as stuffed crab Macau, which is well worth the visit.
Address: 259B Rua do Almirante Sergio, Macau Peninsula
Telephone: 853 2896 7770
Entrees: From $9.75 – $23.00

Fat Siu Lau: Over 100 years old, Fat Siu Lau is Macau’s oldest restaurant and serves classic Macanese cuisine. Their signature dish, roasted pigeon, is not to be missed. Although, you can hardly go wrong in a restaurant whose dishes and atmosphere have lasted a century.
Address: Rua da Felicidade No.64
Telephone: 853 2857 3580
Email: fsl1903@macau.ctm.net
Entrees: From $11:00 – $23.00

To see

House of the Dancing Water: The latest show from Frank Dragone, House of the Dancing Water cost a billion dollars to produce and opened to rave reviews from audiences and critics alike. Think: an alternate Cirque du Soleil with water. Through the insanely ingenious use of fountains and elevators, they are able to convert the stage from a stage pool 3.7 million gallons of water (a record breaker in this category), equivalent to 5 Olympic-sized swimming pools to a solid stage surface. Be sure to book your seats early, House is one hot ticket.
Address: City of Dreams, Estrada do Istmo, Cotai
Telephone: 853 8868 6688
Email: contactcentre@cod-macau.com
Tickets: From $44.00 – $114.00

Zaia: Macau’s resident Cirque du Soleil show. Located in the Venetian, Zaia is as magical and inspiring as the Cirque shows that preceded it. Highlights include a polar bar gliding through space, a massive globe floating above and around the audience, and a miniature city built right on the stage.
Address: The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel,
Estrada da Baía de N. Senhora da Esperança, Taipa
Telephone: 853 2882 8888
Email: inquiries@venetian.com.mo
Tickets: From $25.00 – $162.00

MGM’s Lion’s Bar: Locals and tourists flood the place on weekends and weekdays alike. The bar is known for its exceptional cover band fronted by the handsome and charismatic singer Baby Boy.
Address: Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen, NAPE
Telephone: 853 8802 8888

Words to the Wise

Rome wasn’t built in one day, and you can’t see Macau in one either. While some visitors think they can pop over to Macau and see it all in a few hours it’s important to remember that Macau also has two islands, Taipa and Coloane, which you don’t want to miss.

Going to Macau without having a Portuguese Egg Tart at Lord Stow for breakfast or afternoon tea is like visiting Paris without catching a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. If you want to get a real taste of Macau, start with a tart.
Address: 1 Rua da Tassara, Coloane Island
Phone: 853 2888 2534

Free samples aren’t just for Sunday at Costco. Take a scenic stroll from historic St. Paul’s Church to Senado Square and enjoy a variety of free goodies from beef jerky to almond cookies.

If you’re looking to feel the thrill of Macau, try jumping off the Macau Tower. You can also walk along the outside of Tower’s top or, for the less fearless, walk along the tower’s glass floor and see the view below without setting your heart racing.

Did you know Macau has a Grand Prix? The third week of November is Macau’s Grand Prix races, much to the delight of car racing fans all around the world.

If you have a USA passport, no VISA is necessary to visit Macau. But, if you happen to have a VISA for China, you may want to take a stroll across the border into Zhuhai, China for a bit more shopping and dining.

Hong Kong is just a ferry ride away from Macau. Take advantage of the proximity and spend time before or after Macau visiting Hong Kong’s busy streets. Travelers tip: It can be very cost effective to fly in and out of Hong Kong and use the ferry to take you to and from Macau.

Macau is not like anywhere else in the world and is not to be missed. It’s not like Vegas, mainland China, or Portugal. Instead, it is a travel treasure that only 6,000 years and such a dramatic mix of cultures could create.

A former college English instructor, Jenny Block is a freelance writer for numerous print and online publications and the author of Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage. Read her blog on Red Room.

[Photo credits:
St. Paul’s Church, Macau; Flickr Les.Butcher
Macau-Hong Kong ferry; Flickr Michael McDonough]