2017 - 2018:  Punta Mita Mexico to Quetzaltenango Guatemala

Nov 28, 2017.  Tlapacoyan, Posada Oliver Hotel

• Up early for a walk to the Volador Monument (the Volador tradition is very much alive here: there’s a 100 foot pole in front of the main church which is used every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday); then coffee with milk at the Café Catedral, which offers only coffee and pan dulce (I passed on the bread).  For a real breakfast I went to the market for a local specialty, sacahuil, a delicious mix of chicken and beans.  

• Then a long day’s drive on another bad road to Tlacotalpan.  Stopped on the way for some roadside pulque.  Made from the maguey cactus, the same as mescal, but not very alcoholic.  Very refreshing, in fact, and dirt cheap.  It was getting late, so I worked with maps.me, Google maps, and both my guide books and figured out how to get to El Cuajilote (not easy), arriving 1/2 hour before closing time.  No one knows who built here, probably the center of an unknown Mesoamerican civilization, with the earliest buildings dating as early as 1,000 BC.  The main temples date to around 600-900 AD, surrounding an enormous long rectangular plaza, with trees growing out of the stones, and a central phallic stone.  As usual, I had the place to myself.  

• Hotel very nice, right on the main square, and only $15.  No hot water though.  Dinner of oyster soup and shrimp cocktail at Las Acamayas, also on the main square.

Nov 29, 2017.  Tlachichuca, Hotel Gerar

• Morning drive through beautiful jungly mountains covered with banana plantations to Tlachichuca.  Then up the rough road to the start of the Piedra Grande route, which goes to the summit of Pico Orizaba, the highest in Mexico at 18,491, and supposed to be a very tough climb indeed.  

• Back down to town, which is getting ready for its annual 8 day festival: flowers in the plaza and in the church, decorations on the front of the church made of colored beans, and a procession with a female statue ending up by installing her in the church.  And of course, mariachi music and really loud firecrackers, the latter all night long.  But no good eating, and really cold at over 8,000 feet.

Nov 30, 2017.  Mexico City to Veracruz, Hotel Posada Doña Lala

• Long drive to the Veracruz airport to return my rental (9 days, plus damage to right front hubcap; total bill about $48.  Woo woo!)

• Then second class bus to Tlacotalpan (2nd class drops you right in town; first class outside town.  Thank you, Rough Guide to Mexico!). The road follows the seashore, then threads its way between the Gulf and Camaronera Lake, then inland beside the Rio Papaloapan.  The hotel, supposedly the best in town (it better be: $35!), put me in the wrong room, where I managed to plug the toilet before getting transferred to a suite with two balconies overlooking the river.  Very nice, but mosquitoes!  

• Had troubles finding a restaurant (I hadn’t eaten much all day), finally located an Italian restaurant, but was unable to finish the pasta con camarónes: for the first time this trip I had an upset stomach.  Rough night, felt a bit like barfing, but hung on.