Lifetimes in a day
Vera Cruz... voladores, el son jarrocho, seafood, la costa, verde verde verde el paisaje, mucho calor.
Ellia and I spent a few more days in Vera Cruz with my friends. On Saturday we went to a beach that was beautiful exept that it was like a mile away from a nuclear power plant. Then we headed south to Cardel, to eat some sea food. They were celebrating carnaval there, but we arrived at the end of the big parade on Saturday. We then headed to La Antigua, the second place that Hernan Cortez went to so many years ago, and a place where he had a house. We walked around for about 30 minutes, then headed the city of Vera Cruz. We got there pretty late, and stayed at my friend's aunt's house. We really didn't spend much time there, but did go for a walk by the water. There used to be a coral reef there, but it has been replaced by a large industrial port, with lots of ugly boats.
On Sunday, we made a mad dash to a town called Catemaco, which is famous for its brujos and monkeys. We took a trip on this fiberglass boat in a beautiful lake there. The natural beauty is impressive but it is super touristy, too much for my taste. After eating some more seafood and icecream, it was on to the bus station again. We had a packed couple of days. I enjoyed it, but was definitely ready to rest for a minute. I like traveling at a rapid pace sometimes, because you can get to see and feel so many diferent places...but only to a certain degree. I think I enjoy staying in one spot for a longer time a little bit more.
So, we hopped on a night bus to our next destination, Palenque. The trip was interesting and involved a long layover in Coatzalcoalcos, where carnival was also being celebrated, and everyone was trying to get back home for work on Monday. That meant that the bus station was totally packed when we arrived at 11 pm, and it was totally surreal. But it all worked out perfectly, and we arrived at 8 to Palenque. I didn't know anything about the place before arriving, just that there are ruins there. Ellia had some info about some cabanas that are on the way to the ruins, so we made our way there, first looking for a colectivo, but giving up and taking a taxi in the end. I was totally suprised when we arrived at el Panchan, a place with a couple different businesses that rent cabanas. It is in the jungle, and...wow, I'm still not sure what to say. We meant to stay maximum 2 nights, but stayed for 4. It was a little touristy for me, but...the jungle is increadible, and the whole place has a kind of magic, wild feel because of it, I think. We heard dinosaurs in the jungle (they were really howler monkeys), ate mangoes sitting on the porch of our cabana looking over a stream, met increadible people. On Thursday, we went to a place called Lacan Ha in (or close to) the Lacandon jungle, and met some Lacandon people. They are an indigenous group with a story that I'm learning more about. The family whose house we went to had 12 children, and the dad was albino. I will have to write more about this later.
We left for San Cristobal today. We got a ride from someone we met at el Panchan, and had a nauseatingly winding trip thru the mountains to San Cristobal de las Casas, were we are planning on staying until Sunday morning. Then its off to Guatemala!!
Ellia and I spent a few more days in Vera Cruz with my friends. On Saturday we went to a beach that was beautiful exept that it was like a mile away from a nuclear power plant. Then we headed south to Cardel, to eat some sea food. They were celebrating carnaval there, but we arrived at the end of the big parade on Saturday. We then headed to La Antigua, the second place that Hernan Cortez went to so many years ago, and a place where he had a house. We walked around for about 30 minutes, then headed the city of Vera Cruz. We got there pretty late, and stayed at my friend's aunt's house. We really didn't spend much time there, but did go for a walk by the water. There used to be a coral reef there, but it has been replaced by a large industrial port, with lots of ugly boats.
On Sunday, we made a mad dash to a town called Catemaco, which is famous for its brujos and monkeys. We took a trip on this fiberglass boat in a beautiful lake there. The natural beauty is impressive but it is super touristy, too much for my taste. After eating some more seafood and icecream, it was on to the bus station again. We had a packed couple of days. I enjoyed it, but was definitely ready to rest for a minute. I like traveling at a rapid pace sometimes, because you can get to see and feel so many diferent places...but only to a certain degree. I think I enjoy staying in one spot for a longer time a little bit more.
So, we hopped on a night bus to our next destination, Palenque. The trip was interesting and involved a long layover in Coatzalcoalcos, where carnival was also being celebrated, and everyone was trying to get back home for work on Monday. That meant that the bus station was totally packed when we arrived at 11 pm, and it was totally surreal. But it all worked out perfectly, and we arrived at 8 to Palenque. I didn't know anything about the place before arriving, just that there are ruins there. Ellia had some info about some cabanas that are on the way to the ruins, so we made our way there, first looking for a colectivo, but giving up and taking a taxi in the end. I was totally suprised when we arrived at el Panchan, a place with a couple different businesses that rent cabanas. It is in the jungle, and...wow, I'm still not sure what to say. We meant to stay maximum 2 nights, but stayed for 4. It was a little touristy for me, but...the jungle is increadible, and the whole place has a kind of magic, wild feel because of it, I think. We heard dinosaurs in the jungle (they were really howler monkeys), ate mangoes sitting on the porch of our cabana looking over a stream, met increadible people. On Thursday, we went to a place called Lacan Ha in (or close to) the Lacandon jungle, and met some Lacandon people. They are an indigenous group with a story that I'm learning more about. The family whose house we went to had 12 children, and the dad was albino. I will have to write more about this later.
We left for San Cristobal today. We got a ride from someone we met at el Panchan, and had a nauseatingly winding trip thru the mountains to San Cristobal de las Casas, were we are planning on staying until Sunday morning. Then its off to Guatemala!!
posted by Emi at
8:52 PM
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