2017 - 2018:  Punta Mita Mexico to Quetzaltenango Guatemala

Nov 21, 2017.  Hotel del Rio, Orizaba

• Picked my car and drove on the (free) hiway 150 to Orizaba.  Slow going, lots of ruts, holes, and speed bumps.  Lemon trees, sugar cane, cows, and gradual ascent from the coast to 4,000 feet.  Nice and cool - even wore my windbreaker.  Hotel is clean, with parking, but: lousy WiFi, bad phone reception, and about 5 bad TV channels. Oh well: it only cost $20.  Went to “El Churrasco Casa de Asados” for dinner, where I was presented with a tray full of all the steak cuts offered - I chose the t-bone.  Huge, with French fries, salad, bread, tortillas: $15.  I was practically the only customer.  

• Best was the walk after dinner along the Rio Orizaba, paths on both sides dimly lit, lovely old arched bridges, and caged animals (!) including a jaguar, an American Brown bear, and a bunch of ostriches.  Strange.  Again, I was mostly alone - tourism is not big in this city.  Had another emergency dump by the river.

Nov 22, 2017. Hotel del Rio, Orizaba

• Cool and cloudy, no chance to see the big mountains nearby.  Just wandered around town, ending up at the Gran Café de Orizaba, in a great metal building by Eiffel.  The Diego Rivera’s I had hoped to see at the Museo de Arte del Estado had all been loaned out.  And one more emergency dump in town.  This is getting to be a major hindrance.  

• Trying to learn a bit of Spanish by listening to Coffee Break Spanish lessons on my iPhone, but feeling discouraged on how little I seem to retain.  French was a whole lot easier.  Is it my age?  I think so.  Picking up where I left off in “Infinite Jest”.  Continuing my commitment to learning more American history with “American Sphinx, the Character of Thomas Jefferson”, by Joseph Ellis.  Already read bios of Washington and Adams.

• Dinner at Marrón Cocina Galería - first pizza on this trip, thin-crusted, square, delicious.

Nov 23, 2017. Hotel Fortín de las Flores, Fortín

• Began the day with a huge fresh orange juice, then a hike up Cerro del Borrego - surprisingly tiring.  I clearly have lost a lot of the conditioning I had on the CDT.  Clouds and haze blocked any possibility is seeing Pico de Orizaba.  Then a terrific brunch of cóctel de camarón, followed by a sopa de mariscos - and of course a café lenchero.  I am definitely in coffee country.

• Easy short drive to Córdoba, but not so easy to find a parking place.  The Museo de Antropología had some interesting Aztec ball court yokes.  Nothing much else for tourists here, so I headed for the Lonely Planet recommended Calufe Café: another great coffee, supplemented by coffee cake.  I am basically eating my way through Veracruz.

• Short drive to Fortín de las Flores to see the Barranca de Metlac, spanned by the Puenta de Metlac, at 131 m the highest rail bridge in North America.  Then back to Fortín for a look at some amazing flower stores.

• No real recommendations for hotels in Fortín by guidebooks or booking.com, so I walked into what looked like a luxury hotel just for the hell of it.  Hotel was amazing: room overlooking gorgeous pool, great WiFi, two good films in English on TV, nice breakfast of the big four fruits (papaya, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe - banana would have made it five) and coffee cake - but coffee was a disappointment), all for $25.  Dinner of five tacos and a wonderful Mexican dark beer whose name escapes me at the best taco place in town, Pipiritacos, found by “restaurants near me” in Google Maps.  Once again, I was the only customer.

• Drizzle this afternoon and evening, so no mountain views.

Nov 24, 2017. Hotel Maria Victoria, Xalapa 

• Leisurely drive to Cuatepec, with Orizaba briefly visible among the clouds.  Winding road through small towns and at one point beside a deep ravine.  Road full of speed bumps, nasty holes, and slow trucks piled high with sugar cane.  

• Stopped briefly at Coscomatepec to check out its famous bakery - famous or not, the Mexican baked goods I purchased were the usual: dry and tasteless.

• Passed a Coca Cola plant as I entered Cuatepec: close to the source of its sugar.  The smell of coffee is everywhere: I have entered the heartland of the Mexican coffee region.  About to eat a late lunch at the Café Santa Cruz, highly recommended for its original dishes, including red and green pepper cheesecake (!). Only four tables.  Best salad ever: lechuga, queso, manzana, jamón, jitomate, semillas, aderezo de miel y mostaza.  Main course: Callos a la Veracruzana- pig parts (Intestine?  Lung?) soup.  And of course, coffee.  Then a visit to El Café de Avelino, where owner Avelino Hernández brewed up the finest espresso money can buy (he’s known locally as the Poeta del Café).  It took him half an hour, grinding, mixing coffee varieties, pre-heating the cups, but it was worth it.

• Drove on to Xico for a quick visit, then finally to this hotel near the center of town: modern, efficient, my room marred only by the incessant whistle tweeting by a traffic policeman outside my window.  Oh, and the WiFi sucks too - but I’m getting used to that.

• Dinner at Tomales y Atoles, the former soft and not spicy at all, the latter a delicious warm drink of corn flour with lemon.  Yum.  Then coffee, hot chocolate and tiny pastries at Cali Cafe.  Burp.  Why didn’t I think of chocolate before?  From now on it will be my evening drink.  So good!

Xico