Before Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Ixapta and Cancun found glossy copy in romantic tourist brochures, Acapulco reigned as queen of the tourist experience. Although the port city is still a popular spot with great tourist attractions, another face of the city lies hidden from view. This is the face of the shady 'lady'. Some people describe Acapulco as an aging whore of a city. When I drove there with my family five years ago, the history of this image caught me by surprise.
Reality sometimes bites the unsuspecting.
Little did I suspect to be included in Acapulco's steamy sexual history. I found the wild, undeveloped coastline of the Mexican states of Michoac n and Guerrero exotically beautiful. The Lonely Planet guidebook advised alertness while travelling through this region. This advice relates to periodic political unrest and the relative geographical isolation of the coastline. An ongoing trickle of intrepid road travelers ventures down the south coast highway towards Guatemala.