This is our trip and we reserve the right to whimsically change our plans. Rather than follow plan ‘B’ towards the Pacific coast and into Guatemala we reverted to our original plan and headed north east towards Xalapa (ha-la-pa) - also spelled Jalapa - in the state of Veracruz. It was a long but pleasant drive. We used the toll roads (cuota) despite their cost, avoiding the small towns with their countless speed bumps but we didn’t sacrifice scenery. We abandoned our search for a ‘posada’ near the crowded town center and ended up at the budget breaking Crowne Plaza Hotel. After five nights of ten peso camping we felt little guilt and as it turned out the hotel was only a short walk from our reason for visiting Xalapa.
The Museo de Antropologia de Xalapa or MAX is devoted to the archeology of the state. It houses 29,000 artifacts but it is most famous for its seven giant Olmec heads, Cabezas Colossas in Spanish. They date from about 1,500 BC and the largest stands eight feet high. It is a informative museum, the exhibits are well designed, and the building itself is worth seeing. We spent a couple of hours there and had the entire place to ourselves.
We left Xalapa around noon and drove all afternoon, generally south. We are staying in Acayucan only because it is near the highway and we were tiring. Connie’s cold is on the mend but seems to be worse. Our hotel is Spartan but clean and costs 1/5 of what we paid last night. We are still 200 miles from Palenque, our next stop.
