The drive down the coast. south towards Veracruz, is very pleasant. The road passes through numerous small coastal villages, all with the prerequisite topes, and through rich farm land. At times it runs right next to the Gulf, at other times it winds through rolling hills slightly inland, sometimes with the Gulf still visible.
Coming into Veracruz I miss the bypass...again. I think this now makes me 3 for 0. We are not particularly lost, but it is slow going. On the other side of the city I decide to stick to the toll road or "cuota" as they are called, instead of taking the no doubt more scenic route along the coast towards Catemaco and Acayucan. The wind picks up, blowing dust across the road and sending our already terrible gas mileage plummeting.
Turning off Mexico 150D (toll) and onto Mexico 145D (toll) I think that now we will finally be able to make good time. Man, am I wrong! The last 30 miles of the road before reaching Acayucan, which has a posted speed limit of 110 km/h (70 mph), is so incredibly rough that all of the traffic is only going 30 - 40 mph. The fact that Mexican toll roads are quite expensive adds insult to injury.
We decide that, even though we have travelled less than 300 miles for the day, it would be best to stop in Acayucan as we are unsure if we will find a decent hotel on the next leg of the trip before dark. We are very glad we do and are pleasantly surprised by Acayucan. It is a busy town with a nice Centro area. People seem quite content and there is a good feeling about the place. I would have liked to spend more time there.
We find a decent hotel, Hotel Joalicia, one block from the central plaza. The room has four beds in it and comes at the reasonable price of 540 pesos. The down side is that they will not allow Tiger in. Mark volunteers to sleep in the van with Tiger and guard our belongings. I am not too worried as they have secure parking, but still...
We decide to walk to the Central Park and find somewhere to eat...outside. It's still too hot to leave Tiger in the van so he has to come with us. We find a sidewalk cafe where...you guessed it, the boys order hamburgers. Barbe and I have fajitas. The evening begins to cool off and we are in no hurry to return to the room. As darkness begins to overtake us we wander back to the hotel. Mark and Tiger retire to the van and the rest of us to our room. Mark and Tiger sleep well. Everyone else complains that I keep them awake snoring.
Coming into Veracruz I miss the bypass...again. I think this now makes me 3 for 0. We are not particularly lost, but it is slow going. On the other side of the city I decide to stick to the toll road or "cuota" as they are called, instead of taking the no doubt more scenic route along the coast towards Catemaco and Acayucan. The wind picks up, blowing dust across the road and sending our already terrible gas mileage plummeting.
Turning off Mexico 150D (toll) and onto Mexico 145D (toll) I think that now we will finally be able to make good time. Man, am I wrong! The last 30 miles of the road before reaching Acayucan, which has a posted speed limit of 110 km/h (70 mph), is so incredibly rough that all of the traffic is only going 30 - 40 mph. The fact that Mexican toll roads are quite expensive adds insult to injury.
We decide that, even though we have travelled less than 300 miles for the day, it would be best to stop in Acayucan as we are unsure if we will find a decent hotel on the next leg of the trip before dark. We are very glad we do and are pleasantly surprised by Acayucan. It is a busy town with a nice Centro area. People seem quite content and there is a good feeling about the place. I would have liked to spend more time there.
We find a decent hotel, Hotel Joalicia, one block from the central plaza. The room has four beds in it and comes at the reasonable price of 540 pesos. The down side is that they will not allow Tiger in. Mark volunteers to sleep in the van with Tiger and guard our belongings. I am not too worried as they have secure parking, but still...
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| Cheers! |
We decide to walk to the Central Park and find somewhere to eat...outside. It's still too hot to leave Tiger in the van so he has to come with us. We find a sidewalk cafe where...you guessed it, the boys order hamburgers. Barbe and I have fajitas. The evening begins to cool off and we are in no hurry to return to the room. As darkness begins to overtake us we wander back to the hotel. Mark and Tiger retire to the van and the rest of us to our room. Mark and Tiger sleep well. Everyone else complains that I keep them awake snoring.
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| Tiger enjoying a Fresca with Mark. Acayucan, Mexico |
Enjoying the blog. Glad all is going well. Miss you all already. JIM
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim. Missing you guys too. Thomas has emailed or Skyped with J a few times.
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