Gemma's World Teaching Journal

Photos: Lagos de Montebello

gemma — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:02:00 GMT

Nikko

gemma — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:58:00 GMT

This was a place that all my students had recommended I visit and I'd been wowed by tales (and photos) of the stunning red and gold autumn leaves there. So despite not having much cash, we decided to head out to Nikko for a day trip on our first long weekend in Japan.

The journey there is quite a long one and as we got closer to Nikko we noticed the weather getting worse and worse. By the time we got there it was raining heavily and was bitterly cold. "Nevermind" we thought "we can still enjoy the scenery - we're not afraid of a bit of cold and rain..." So we got the bus up to Chuzenji-ko lake where there were meant to be some beautiful waterfalls and a lake surrounded by those brightly coloured leaves.

The bus ride up there should've been pretty spectacular in itself but the windows steamed up so much that we couldn't see a thing on the way up there, despite glimpsing some rather pretty colours through little peepholes we rubbed in the steam. It was even colder up by the lake and I had to stop off in a souvenir shop and buy some gloves. We headed to the waterfall but it was such a misty day that we couldn't actually see the falls from the viewing platform!

We stopped to shovel down some of our packed lunch, but didn't want to stay sitting down for long because of the cold. We walked to the lake but it was the same story - couldn't see the trees behing the lake because it was so misty! There were some beautiful trees up close to us by the lake and they gave us an idea of just how stunning it would be if you could see the lake in its full glory. Sadly it just wasn't to be that day!

We decided to take the bus even further up the mountain to Yumoto-onsen. We went past a lake on the way with a kind of baordwalk around it which would've made a great place for a day walk in nicer weather. By this point we had decide that we woulod come back to Nikko another time. Yumoto-onsen was cold and there were very few people around. No-one else was perhaps foolish enough to go up there on such a miserable day!

We intended to walk around and find a hot spring and maybe walk through the field where the source of the hot spring was. The place smelt sulphurous which was a good sign! We walked to a buddhist temple which had its own onsen (hot spring) and were just debating whether to go in or not when it started to hail. It kind of made the decision for us.

We went in, arranged to use the onsen and I went to the women's area and Ed headed to the men's. I stripped down naked, covering myself with the tiny modesty towel the lady had given me and went into the onsen room. It was really small and there were two other women in the bath. I washed and then walked bravely to the bath and dipped a toe in. It was so incredibly hot I almost squealed!

I noticed that the other women spent more time out of the bath than in i so I kind of followed their lead. I sat with just my legs in for a good few minutes before lowering my whole body into the hot hot water. I may have gone in a different colour to the other two women but we all came out the same colour - red!!! I spent a few minutes in and then came out and sat on the edge of the bath and stared contemplatively at the water as I had seen the other women do. Once the heat started to subside from my legs, I braved another dip, and another and another. It was nice but in a slightly torturous way.

Eventually the ther women left and one of them told me to add some cold water if I was finding it too much. I didn't stay in there long after they left, but it was nice to have the place to myself for a while.

Afterwards the temple lady gave me some tea while I waited for Ed, and we went back out into the cold. I don't think the redness wet down in my legs for quite some time. We just made it onto the bus back down to Nikko and it was starting to get dark by this point.

Back down in Nikko it was still raining hard. That night there was a special "light up Nikko" festival where they lit up all the shrines and temples and had guided tours around them for free. I really wanted to stay but we had over an hour to kill until it all started and it was cold, dark and rainyb and we couldn't think of what to do for an hour without spending loads of money going to a restaurant.

So sadly, we didn't stay and headed bacck to the station instead and took the long ride back to Tokyo.

I think we'll be heading back to Nikko in the future to go hiking, see the shrines and maybe even go snowboarding, but we'll be checking the weather first!

San Cristobal de las Casas (final trip in Mexico)

gemma — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:12:00 GMT

We'd really been looking forward to San Cristobal de las Casas having heard a lot about it and already having made plans of what we were going to do there. It lived up to our expectations in many ways but it was also the turning point for the weather on our trip. That is to say rainy season set in and we got drenched more than once!

We arrived there in the afternoon, found our hotel, which was actually a hostel offering private rooms and a very cute bohemian style one at that. Our room was lovely, with 2 double bed, one on a platform hanging above the main room and the other safely on the floor. It even had it's own brightly painted little bathroom with a warm shower!

We headed down into town for a look around and a coffee in a cafe on the main square. We also picked up loads of leaflets about horse riding trips and things to do in town. We also got caught in the rain for the first time and got drenched through. We'd forgotten just how bad rainy season could be... After heading back to the hostel and getting changed and into our wet weather gear we headed out for dinner at a lebanese restaurant which was really delicious.

The next day we awoke to clear skies and headed to the horse riding meeting point. We were met by an old lady who took us to a farm miles away on the bus. We arrived and waited quite some time for a group of american kids to arrive and then set off on some highly strung ponies for the indigenous village of San Juan Chamula. I'm not sure the horses were so well looked after and I did feel a bit guilty that I had given them my money, but other than some scary moments on the ride with ponies biting each other and getting overexcited the trip was enjoyable.

San Juan Chamula was interesting - a colourful market and a church carpeted with pine needles and hundreds of candles was a sight unlike any I'd seen before and facinating, if not completely off the well beaten tourist path. Outside the church we were quickly surrounded by children and old grannies all selling little hand made friendship bracelets for a few pence each. You feel obliged to buy something and end up feeling bad that you can only buy from one person - I guess that's part of the tourist bargain you strike when you decide to visit their village. The people from San Juan Chamula wear really thick black furry woolen skirts and apparantly each indigenous group/area can be identified by their own style of dress.

In the afternoon, we relaxed, looked round the town and went to a cultural centre/restaurant/cinema and saw a film about the Zapatista movement which was thought provoking but left a lot of questions and doubts in my mind.

The next day we were supposed to be going mountain biking on a tour that we had booked a couple of months in advance. However the weather was terrible and we decided to postpone it until the next day. The weather was upposed to be much better outside the town and so we headed down into the valleys of Chiapas to the Canon del Sumidero.

It took us some time to decide that it was safe to leave the car on the square and go and find out about trips down the river. We got a bit annoyed with all the people ahssling us and eventually decided on the quietest most out of the way tour company simply because they weren't pushy and not because they offered anything the others didn't or at a better price - there's rarely any real competition in these things at the end of the day in Mexico...

The tour was really great though and I'm glad we did it. The Canon is stunning and it's height is truly spectacular especially from such a tiny boat. We saw wild crocodiles and monkeys by the river and even some tiny baby crocs clustered on a rock as well as loads of birds and plants. The only not so nice thing was the pollution at some points on the trip. There was a huge amount of rubbish at one part that the boats had to plow through to get to the clean areas again which was shocking and quite unpleasant - we heard that it gets washed down the river form the cities in rainy season and they try to minimise it but there's so much that it's difficult for them to control - nasty.

Afterwads we were anxious to make sure the car was where we'd left it so we hurried back and as there didn't seem much else to detain us in the town we headed back up the mountain to San Cristobal where we went out for more international food at a indian style restaurant (not so easy to come across in mexico) and a relaxing evening after stopping off at the cafe museo cafe (coffee museum cafe) and learning about coffee production in the area.

The next day, despite the weather still not looking too promising we headed off on our mountain bike trip with a Swiss lady who organises fantastic trips around San Cristobal, Chiapas and even out to Guatemala for the more adventurous. We just took the one day trip around the local area out to a limestone bridge and through indigenous areas. It was fun and definitely hard work - especially for me as I wasn't that confident on a mountain bike but we did go to places that we would never have seen otherwise and it was so peaceful and quiet. The rain spoilt it a little bit, mainly by turning the route we were meant to go into a mud bath, clogging up our wheels and meaning that we had to stop every few minutes to clean the wheels so they could actualy turn! Unfortunately we were asked to leave our cameras at home so there are no pics of the trip.

On our last evening in San Cristobal we went back to the cultural centre and watched another film before going for dinner in a little cafe with live music and a bit of veggie food on their cheap set menu.

San Cristobal is probably the only city that could convince me to go back and live in Mexico - I could imagine spending a long time there and it's got such a laid back international feeling to it that is just sop different from opther Mexican towns. It's also beautiful, close to the countryside and fun! If I ever go back to Mexico I know I'll be passing through San Cristobal again.

However the next moring we got ourselves ready, took some snaps, bought some souvenirs and headed off to the Guatemalan border and the Lagos de Montebello.

Palenque (Final trip in Mexico)

gemma — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:58:00 GMT

I'd waited so long to get to Palenque and been looking forward to going there for such a long time. We arrived before it got dark, a day earlier than planned. We decided not to camp and went to the rainforest area El Panchan to find a cabana for a couple of nights.

The first one we were shown was really cool: it was round and the bedroom was up some spiral stairs and was right in the middle of the rainforest. However, the bathroom was downstairs and was dirty and had no toilet seat. We said we'd think about it.

The next one was a lot less quirky and cool but it was clean and very nice. In the end cleanliness won out (and the prospect of being able to sit on the toilet and not feel like I was in a crap public one) and we went for the marginally more expensive second cabana.

In the evening we went to the main restarant / bar in El Panchan and had cocktails and huge pizzas! There was live music and lots of people watching opportunities. It was the first time I felt I was really on the "tourist/traveller route" in Mexico, which was both good and bad.

I liked the place, but i was tired and determined to get up early the next day and get to Palenque before the crowds. It rained duing the night and it was quite fun to have our first rain of the trip in the exotic rainforest setting (and it made me glad that we had gone for a cabana rather than a tent!)

We got to the ruins before they opened the next day. Luckily it on of the Sunday's in the month where Mexican's got in free and in Palenque that also included foreign residents in Mexico, so my FM3 came in handy and got me a free ticket - Ed had left his in his suitcase at the cabana and had to pay though.

Palenque was beautiful and I wouldn't have minded paying as it was a stunning site - everything I'd hoped for and more! It took us 8 hours (including a lunch break!) to see the whole thing. I felt like you could just wander round all day. I don't really think I can describe what we saw there (especially as I'm no expert on the Mayans and was really just enjoying my day at a really beautiful site) - hopefully the photos will be all you need.

The first area that you enter is so impressive, with the palace ahead of you and towering temples to the right. What you don't realise is just how much there is to explore in such a tiny area and how exhausting it is to see everything! Hidden behind each thing you visit is another path, another route taking you to yet another room, or building or set of steps. This is one of the things that just makes it such a magical place. Unlike other ruins I've visited I could really imagine this place working as a town - being more than just a load of old ruins.

The areas further into the sight were maybe not as impressive as that main area near the entrance, but we still had a great time wandering down loads of steps, through the jungle and all the way back down to the museum, looking at bits and pieces of ruins along the way - many of them buried under the jungle that surrounds it.

We had a look round the museum and then headed back up to the car on a little shuttle bus, bought a guide book so we could learn more about what we'd seen that day and drove back to El Panchan for some relaxation time!

We ended up back in the big main central restaurant and had huge pizzas and a couple more cocktails for dinner. We planned the next day and decided to drive to Ocosingo via two sets of waterfalls: Misol-ha and Agua Azul.

So the next day we set off quite early towards Misol-ha on a windy little road. It took quite a while to get there and we were a bit nervous because these roads had been described as some of the most dangerous in Mexico and that tourist muggings, vehicle hold-ups and robbery were not uncommon, but it was really quiet and peaceful and when we got there we walked down to the waterfall - thought about swimming in the beautiful but deep and cold water, but didn't. Took a few pictures and then decided to move on to Agua Azul where it said there was nicer swomming and more to explore.

Agua Azul was a lot busier with hundreds of children selling stuff in the car park, loads of food and clothes stalls, but a really lovely area for swimming and several sets of stunning waterfalls. We walked up to the top of the waterfalls, took loads of pictures and enjoyed relaxing and dipping our feet into the cool water.

When we got back down to the bottom we both went swimming in the shallow, calm water after having a little picnic.

After lunch we headed on to Ocosingo. It started raining on the way and by the time we got to Ocosingo it was cold and grey. We found a hotel and went up to the room for a sleep as it was raining hard and we didn't want to go out at that point. We thought we'd go out for dinner and a walk around later.

The weather didn't improve much, but we decided to go and find an internet cafe and get a coffee somewhere. We found a nice coffee place which had balconies looking over the square. It was pretty cold though so we had to move away from the balcony table and go further inside.

We had a small dinner there and then bought a few more snacks to eat at the hotel. Ocosingo is a pretty small and unremarkable town. I think the only thing it's known for is the Zapatista movement and at the moment that's all pretty quiet. So we decided to get up early the next day and visit Tonina (more ruins!) before the inevitable afternoon rain.

Tonina was really different to other ruins we'd been to and really empty and quiet. It was all set into the hillside and just climbed and climbed with buildings and a lot of steps all seeming like part of one great big hillside building.

It was really fun to explore but kind of scary too as it had not been tidied up for tourists as much and some of the paths would have been closed off at other ruins, but there you could go anywhere you wanted. Safety was your own concern!

Despite the lack of safety precautions we scrambled all the way to the top where we had a very close encounter with an eagle silently soaring past us, no more than a metre away, and breathtaking views of the valleys of Chiapas. It really is a beautiful site, if a bit difficult to get to.

It was quite difficult to get back down from the top and we had to do most of it sitting down and sliding on our bums! It was a bit nerve wracking but a really fun experience.

The museum there was nice and informative, but we knew it was time to get going so that we'd make it to our next big destination: San Cristobal before it got too late. We stopped off at the supermarket in Ocosingo and stocked up with provisions and set off through Zapatista country to San Cristobal - a place we'd been looking forward to visting and the longest stay on our trip.

Villahermosa (Final Trip in Mexico)

gemma — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:31:00 GMT

Villahermosa was a few hours further south than Catemaco and seemed to mark a transition point on our trip as we were entering the state of Tabasco which has a very different landscape and feeling to Veracruz, where most of our trip had taken place up to that point.

However, Villahermosa failed to impress us. We arrived in a busy, and not very pretty city and got stuck in loads of traffic. The hotel we had booked had no parking and was really difficult to access, so as we couldn't find anywhere within a few streets of it to park we gave up and started looking for a different hotel which did have parking.

The hotel we ended up in was nothing special and it did have parking but possibly the tgtest and most awkward parking ever. Once we'd got in we went for a walk down by the river and had a drink. The river was nice but again, nothing special. We had a wander round looking for fod and browsing the shops and ended up having dinner in a sort of mid range hotel restaurant.

By this point we'd decided just to spend the one night in Villahermosa and in the morning we'd go to the sculpture park and then move on to Palenque. So we got an early night and headed out to the sculpture park in the morning. Unfortunately the traffic was crazy and the car park was rammed. It tok over half an hour just to drive through the carpark, not find a space and get grumpy and angry.

W drove to a shopping centre nearby but didn't think it was worth parking there and walking back and eventually decided to go to the Yumka safari park, near Villahermosa. For a Mexican safari park it was quite fun and we had a nice morning there. The irst part is a walking tour through Mexican woodland / jungle - there were wild pigs, iguanas and birds roaming around free and pumas and other wild cats in cages - they looked like the hapiest big cats in cages I'd ever seen as there were really active and playful which was nice to see.

The next part was the African and Asian safari on a tractor pulled trailer. It was nice and quite fun to see all the animals, but not as impressive as some other safari parks. When you got to the end of the traler ride there was an area with a restaurant, aviaries and a few other small animals as well as hippos in a small lake. We had lunch and relaxed there for a bit before taking the rest of the trailer ride back.

We didn't do the lake tour because you had to pay extra for that. We were all set to give up on the sculpture park and just drive on to Palenque, but as we got to the toll booth we suddenly made a U turn and headed back into Villahermosa for a quick walk around the park before leaving.

And I'm so glad we did. It was by far the best thing abut Villahermosa. It was beautifully laid out, the sculptures were interesting and the whole park was lovely. We got round in about an hour and a half but I could've stayed longer and I really enjoyed the time we spent there. It's a good reason to visit Villahermosa, even if there's not much else I could recommend about the town.

After that we headed on to Palenque, before it got too late.

Photos: San Cristobal de las Casas

gemma — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:22:00 GMT

Gallery: Palenque, Misol-ha, Agua Azul and Tonina

gemma — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:17:00 GMT

Gallery: Villahermosa

gemma — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:58:00 GMT

Catemaco (Final Trip in Mexico)

gemma — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:47:00 GMT

We drove onto Catemaco from Veracruz, glad to be on the road again and excited to be venturing further south and to the first patch of rainforest we would come across. Catemaco is famous for two things in Mexico: being the witching and sorcery capital of the country and having the world's most northerly patch of rainforest.

We arrived and started searching for the campsite we'd read about on the internet. We found it eventually and although it wasn't that close to the centre it seemed nice, green and spacious and with a pool so we set up there. The long term RV residents scared me slightly with their tales of a tarantula that lived in a hole onsite, not far from the swimming pool, but they said it rarely came out and luckily I never saw it!!!

It was extremely hot there, and so we drove into town rather than walking. We had a little walk about but it was very quiet and there didn't seem to be much to do except the lancha lancha! tours on the lake which didn't inspire us much as we were a bit lancha-toured out by this point. (If you've spent any time in Mexico you might know what I mean - anywhere with more than a small puddle of water is surrounded with people desperate to sell you lancha tours). Ed bought a pair of shorts to replace his old ones which had finally fallen apart and then we headed out to Nanciyaga - a sort of eco-resort in the rainforest. We got there and it seemed totally deserted - we weren't sure where to go and after wandering around a few paths and over a bridge we decided to head back to the car and do it the next day instead.

We headed back to the campsite for a swim and then barbeque. It took a while to get the bbq going and it was dark before we got anything to eat. The temperature dropped (thankfully!) in the evening and we had a pleasant and not too sweaty night's sleep.

The next day we went back to the Nanciyaga resort and found our way to reception and took a little guided tour of the resort and the rainforest. It was quite good fun but the information was mainly focused on the replica statues dotted around the place than the rainforest itself. They were also keen t tell us about the celebrities that had visited, mainly Mexican telenovela stars which meant very little to us but also Sean Coney who had filmed Medicine Man there and Mel Gibson who had filmed Apocalypto around the Catemaco rainforest.

We did get mud masks on our tour which was quite fun and drank well water out of little leaves - they gave you the option of having a spiritual consulatation with a shaman but you had to pay extra for that so we thought we'd give it a miss. The tour was nice enought but a bit silly. I'm sure it would be a nice place to stay though. We had some lunch in their cafe by the lake and then wondered what to do for the rest of the day.

We ended up heading to some waterfalls called the Salto de Eyipantla. It took us a while to get there and a long walk down some steps, but the waterfall was beautiful and despite the sweat pouring off us in the heat of the day it was a nice place to visit. After this we were yet again stuck for what to do and went to the supermarket in one of the nearby Tuxtla towns to get more bbq food! We headed back and had amuch earlier and more successful bbq than the night before.

We thought about going into town for a drink but couldn't really be bothered and just relaxed and had an early night at the campsite. The next day was a bit unplanned and we had provisionally planned a night camping on the beach not far from catemaco, but we'd heard about some other beautiful places nearby, so thought we might check them out en route.

Gallery: Catemaco

gemma — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:43:00 GMT

2 nights camping in the witching capital of Mexico

Gallery: Veracruz

gemma — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:01:00 GMT

City of Veracruz on our final trip in Mexico

Veracruz (Final Trip in Mexico)

gemma — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:38:00 GMT

We arrived in Veracruz in the afternoon and went to the hotel to see if we could check in a day earlier than planned. For a very cheap hotel it was ok and it had a garage which meant we didn't have to leave the car out on Veracruz's busy streets. Once we'd got settled in we went for a walk down to the waterfront. Veracruz immediately felt more European than other places we'd visited in Mexico. The waterfront felt like a mixture of an industrial port but also a tourist town. The streets were wide, the architecture was mixed and I can't pinpoint exactly what it was about it, but it didn't feel Mexican.

We walked for quite a way before heading back to the hotel. In the evening we went to the main square which again had that European feel to it. Lots of tourist filled restaurants under archways around a big open plaza with trees and music. It felt much more cosmopolitan than many of the other towns we'd been to. Despite all this we ended up with (expensive)gorditas on a bench in the square for dinner!

In the evening we decided to go out. We'd heard that the bars were in an area a bit further along the coast, so we got on the bus and headed out that way. We didn't see much in the way of nightlife and got off the bus at a little town. We walked back to the seafront (the bus had turned off the coast road) and saw that there were a few bars open but not many at all. We debated what to do for some time and eventually went and had a drink in one of the bars. The atmosphere was far from exciting though and so we only stayed for one drink before getting in a taxi and heading back to the hotel.

Maybe Veracruz has slightly more rocking nightlife than we discovered but for us it was a bit of a let-down.

The next day we got up a bit late, grabbed a pastry from the bakery across the road from the hotel and decided to do cultural things. We went to a kind of fortress thing that was the only remaining part of the wall which used to surround Veracruz when the Spanish settled there. However it looked pretty small and it cost quite a lot to go in. Apparantly it had some beautiful gold treasures in there, but we were happy just to see it from the outside and move on.

It was an incredibly hot day and to escape the heat we wandered into the (free) Naval Museum. It was air-con heaven and actually quite an interesting little museum with nicely set out displays and info about Veracruz (as well as the rest of Mexico) from pre-hispanic times to modern day - all with a nautical theme.

After that we grabbed lunch in a little square near our hotel. It was nice to sit outside in a square sipping a smoothie or agua fresca and whilst we sat there relaxing in the shade, we decided to go out to the fortress of San Juan Ulua - a Spanish fortress on a little island linked to the mainland by road.

We drove round there (it was quite far out of town)and were happy to find out that Sunday was free entry day for everyone! The fortress was huge and impressive, although now it's not used for anything. Next to it is the huge dockyard and I was mesmerised watching all the crates being stacked onto the ships. The fotress itself was interesting and we enjoyed walking around it despite the heat of the day.

When we got back into town we visited the fototeca which had a nice display by a Mexican photographer on. We spent some time there before goign back and chilling out at the hotel.

We decided to head out to the area where the supposed bars were again, but this time in search of food and in the car. Lonely Planet had listed a bar/restaurant which sounded cool with sushi and a ocean view deck. However it is now some crappy little seafood shack or something. We ended up at a really nice Italian restaurant, where we splashed out and had a really delicious meal with wine and dessert. The food was excellent and we both enjoyed having a bit of luxury.

Afterwards we stopped at a beachfront oxxo for a little walk and a gaze at the full moon, which was low in the sky and a beautiful orange gold.

The next day we got the bus to the aquarium plaza. We arrived a bit early and the aquarium wasn't due to open for another 45 minutes or so. We were descended upon by people selling boat tours to the Isla de Sacrificios which we brushed off but were actually quite interested in. howvere the aquarium had to come first so as soon as it opened we got in there!

It was a really great aquarium with loads of interesting fish and interactive bits and pieces to play with ( a little bit dated but fun all the same). The tubular aquarium room where we were surrounded on all sides by fish and coral and sharks was really impressive. It was one of the best aquariums I've been to and I really love aquariums so this is high praise indeed!!!!

We went to a litte stall in the foodcourt in the shopping centre which the aquarium was in for lunch. I had a really weird but surprisingly delicious banana and cheese dish.

After this we went in search of lancha lanch tours to the Isla de Sacrificios. We were sold a tour and after some umming and ahhing decided to go. However it didn't quite turn out to be what we expected. We knew we couldn't get off at the Isla de Sacrificios but we expected to see a bit more than what we did.

We literally sat just offshore for about 5 minutes while the guide explained a few things about it and then left. The remaining hour and a half was spent at Cancuncito - a little sandbar in the middle of the sea where you could go snorkelling and swimming. That's if you had your swimming gear with you, which we did not. I wasn't even wearing clothes I could swim in and so after wading about in the shallow water, holding a few bits of sealife that the boat tour guide had found for us wile snorkelling, we sat down in the boat and did absolutely nothing for about an hour unil everyone else had finished swimming and enjoying themselves. It would've been a great trip if we'd had swimming stuff as the water was warm, crystal clear and not too deep but as it was it was disappointing.

We sat in a beach bar when we got back and had a drink looking out to sea before heading back to the hotel for a bit of relaxation.

Later we drove out to soriana and picked up a few things for a picnic that evening. We drove down the coast a bit and stopped to have our picnic on the beach, but it was a bit too windy and we were eating a bit too much sand for our liking. We drove back to the beachfront oxxo and ate our picnic on a bench on a little plaza in front of the beach.

We planned to get up early the next day, take some photos of the things we'd missed ou on snapping in the previous two days and then get out of Veracruz and head for Catemaco...

Gallery: Costa Esmeralda and Zempoala

gemma — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Beaches and ruins on the final trip

Costa Esmeralda (Final Trip in Mexico)

gemma — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:41:00 GMT

We got to the Costa Esmeralda in the afternoon, it wasn't a particularly long journey from El Tajin. There were so many trailer parks along the coast that it was difficult to know which one to choose. We figured that they would all be much the same and chose one that had a pool and palapas so that I had some shade to sit in as I was still not recovered enough to go out in the sun.

There was absolutely no-one else there and we pitched the tent next to a palapa with a picnic table underneath it so that we would have a nice spot for our bbq later on. The campsite was right next to the beach, and we had a little walk along the beach (well covered in sun cream, of course) and spent the afternoon relaxing.

We went out to buy some bits and pieces for the bbq just before it started to get dark, and with some difficulty got the bbq going and had our first, very satisfying meal off it.

It was hot but not unpleasantly so and we had a very nice first night in our tent. After our camping in the rough experiences in Toluca, it was quite nice to have lights and civilisation nearby! the mosquitos started to be a nuisance here and we needed to cover ourselves in spray - even this didn't prevent a good few bites.

The next day we woke up early and walked along the beach to see the sunrise. It was a bit cloudy and so not the most spectacular sunrise ever, but it was a nice morning, and I was enjoying the time I could spend outside the shade of the palapa.

We spent the day relaxing, reading books and Ed did a bit of sunbathing and splashing about in the sea. I was a bit jealous as the sea looked wonderful: shallow and calm and great for playing in, but I didn't risk stepping out in clothes that revealed anything more than my ankles! It was a nice relaxing day though with a bbq lunch to finish off the buns and sausages we had opened the evening before.

Later on, when the sun was less strong, and there was a good amount of shade over the pool, I had a dip with the rubber ring in the campsite's little pool. It felt nice to be in the water, and I stayed in there, splashing about until the sun started to go down.

For dinner we decided to head out to a pizza place which we'd seen on the drive in. We missed it the first time round, but saw it on the way back, and although it wasn't exactly a fancy restaurant, we had a very enjoyable pizza dinner.

We had another night under canvas but decided that the next day we would move on. We intended to go and stay at another beach between the Costa Esmeralda and Veracruz, but it didn't quite turn out that way.

We got up fairly early and drove down towards Veracruz. We'd planned to go to Zempoala, where there were some ruins, and on the way down we spied a sign for more ruins - the Totonac tombs at Quiahuiztlan. They were a short journey up a dirt track, and despite a hefty entrance fee there wasn't actually that much to see. The tombs were interesting and there were beautiful views over the sea (just down the road was the site of where the first Spanish fleet had landed - they certainly choose a beautiful bit of coast to arrive on!)

After we'd wandered around for a bit, we followed a track which led up and up and up. We soon realised that it was not taking us to any more ruins, and that it was almost certainly just leading up a very big rock, which would have great views but it was hot, we didn't have any water, and couodn't really be bothered. So we turned back and headed back to the bliss of the air-conditioned car.

We continued on to Zempoala, which was a very intereting site and which looked quite different from the others we had seen. The stones had been smoothed away - i think they'd come from a river, and they had a beautiful and distinctive look to them. There was also a huge tree which would've been hundreds of years old, and I loved the idea that we were sitting there under a tree which would have been there all those years ago when Zempoala was a real town.

After that we had lunch at a little comedor next to the site. The food was really nice and filling - we discovred that in Veracruz state sopes (one of our favourite Mexican snacks) are called picadas but are still really delicious.

We decided to go to Chachalacas and spend the night there, either camping or in a cheap hotel. However when we got there, the beach didn't seem that nice and the town was pretty grotty too. We tried to follow signs to the sand dunes, but never got there. Instead we found ourselves at a dead end and a rubbish dump. It was huge, filthy and there were skeleton like dogs with no hair and sores on their exposed skin everywhere. The idea of people living in conditions like this really upset me and after that I just wanted to get out of Chachalacas. I didn't really care about having another night at the beach and preferred the idea of just going to Veracruz a night early. As we were only about 50 km away, that is exactly what we did.

Gallery: El Tajin

gemma — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:30:00 GMT

The most beautiful ruins in Mexico

Papantla and El Tajin

gemma — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:00:00 GMT

We travelled down to Papantla, and I was in some discomfort due to my sun burns. The temperatures down there were even higher than La Huasteca and I have to admit that I didn't enjoy my day in Papantla that much. We didn't stop at the hotel, which was outside the town, on the way in. We drove right into the centre (which was pretty tiny), parked and went to find lunch and explore. It was so hot and I just wanted to be in the shade all the time. The central square was very pretty and had a huge stone frieze along the front of the church which Ed photographed in sections on my phone as I'd left my camera in the car.

We had lunch at a little cafe overlooking the square which was really cute and the beautiful lady who worked there made me a delicious salad as they didn't have much in the way of vegetarian options on their menu.

Afterwards we went shopping and bought a huge bottle of vanilla liquer as the only options were tiny or huge and we didn't think the tiny option would satisfy our vanilla liquer needs! I wanted to go back and relax in the hotel, but before that we headed up to the volador monument, which was up a really long windy track. We only stayed up there for a matter of minutes as it was incredibly hot up there and it also seemed to be a meeting place for Papantla's teenage couples...

The hotel was ok and I was glad to just sit back and relax with the air con on. We decided not to stay 2 nights in Papantla as planned and to do El Tajin in the morning and then head on to the Costa Esmeralda in the afternoon. That night we had a few drinks, watched a bit of very fuzzy TV and go an early night in.

In the morning we got up early, checked out and drove to El Tajin, which didn't open until an hour later than the book had said it would. We browsed some stalls and had a coffee while we waited for it to open and finally we walked in to one of the most beautiful ruins I've seen in Mexico. We were one of the first visitors of the day and despite the early hour of our visit it was exceptionally hot and humid.

The ruins were stunning, from the notched pyramids to the ball courts and stone carvings, I just loved it there. It was very green and there were trees and grass all around the site which made it immediately different from other sites I'd visited before. The other thing I loved about it was the way the structures were all really close together which made it feel like a real village and I could imagine the people wandering round there hundreds of years ago. What I'd loved about Monte Alban at Christmas had been the space and emptiness and it was exactly the opposite of this that made me fall in love with El Tajin.

We saw a volador performance after our walk around the site, and did a bit of shopping in the museum shop.

Then we got in the car and drove down to the Costa Esmeralda to chill out at the beach and have our first night in the tent....

Gallery: Tampico

gemma — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:48:00 GMT

Beach time on the Gulf coast of Mexico on our final trip

Gallery: Taninul

gemma — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:29:00 GMT

The first stage of the Final Trip in Mexico in a spa hotel in La Huasteca Potosina

Tampico (Final Trip in Mexico)

gemma — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:50:00 GMT

We arrived in Tampico fairly quickly - it was only a short journey from La Huasteca. Our first impressions weren't the best, it seemed noisy and busy and not very clean. We found the hotel which was possibly the worst we stayed in on the entire trip. Saying that, it wasn't totally horrible - just a bit old and past it's prime.

We wandered into town, which was ok but nothing special. We had a great smoothie from a nice little juice, smoothies, milkshakes etc. We didn't spy anywhere that inspired us for dinner and the smoothies were pretty filling and so we went back to the room for a while before plumping for a pizza for dinner, in the hotel in front of cable TV. After our clssy start in the spa we'd taken a step down in th world, but we enjoyed it!

The next day we headed for Playa Miramar - we went out there fairly early in the morning and it was just miles and miles of golden sand and it was totally deserted. We found a little spot and not wanting to get stung for a deckchair fee later on in the day, put up our little umbrella and lay down our mats on the sand. We got changed and ready for the sea and went for a swim. The water was shallow and wonderful for swimming so we had several dips in the sea.

I enjoyed lying under the umbrella and relaxing, although it was extremely hot. Later on in the day I went for a walk up the beach and noticed a weird thing on the shoreline. Getting closer I could see that it was a rather pretty blue jellyfish. It didn't look too friendly so I started walking back to our little camp to inform Ed of this unwelcome visitor, on the way I spotted two more. Swimming time was over.

Over the next 20 minutes or so more and more of them washed up on the beach. They were a bit scary. We stopped a small child from grabbing one and getting stung. His stupid parent decided to pick them up with a stick and flick them further along the beach from where they were sitting which to my mind was a bit of a crap idea and wouldn't stop anyone getting stung.

I also noticed I was looking a bit red and so we packed up, had a quick shower and then went to one of the few beach bars which was open for a drink and a bite to eat. The food was good and we enjoyed chilling out in the shade gazing out in the almost deserted beach.

After that we started to drive back. I wanted to stop at a supermarket and pick up some suncream and aftersun for my red bits. When we got back to the hotel and I took my clothes off to put the aftersun on the full extent of my horrific burns became apparant. The sun umbrella had clearly not provided the protection I had assumed it would and I was red. Very very red. The pain was unbelievable. It was not one of the best nights of the trip for me as every move I made hurt.

I was glad that we weren't staying in Tampico much longer and were getting away from the beach the next day. In the morning we went out to take some photos of the city and found a much prettier plaza, which made Tampico a little better than the boring place we thought it was. But it was definitely time to move on and I was excited about the ruins to come...

Taninul (Final Trip in Mexico)

gemma — Thu, 9 Jul 2009 20:34:00 GMT

We collected our (again automatic) car on Sunday morning, packed it as quickly as possible, said goodbye to our old house and watched as our friends started to move in to what had been my home for almost 2 years. And then we headed off to our first destination - a night at the spa hotel Taninul deep in the La Hasteca countryside in San Luis Potosi.

It was a long drive and after the midway point we began to feel nervous as the car was making a bit of a strange noise. It got worse and worse - a kind of grinding noise when we breaked and eventually even when we weren't breaking. We made it to Taninul without any disasters but had decided not to go ay further in that car. So it was a day of mixed emotions - frustration over the car, joy at being in a beautiful tropical spa resort and a twinge of sadness.

Despite frequent phonecalls to the car rental company and not so many returned calls from them we managed to relax and enjoy our day by the hot sulphurous pool which was fantastic to just lounge about in (if a bit hot). In the evening we had massages and a nice dinner at the restaurant there. We were still worried about the car but knew there was nothing we could do until the following morning so we crashed out in our huge bed.

Taninul is a really beautiful resort, the building is pretty from the outside, there's greenery surrounding it, the sulphur pool, a normal pool, tennis courts, mango trees, birds and animals everywhere - a nice little tropical paradise and highly recommended if you can get a good price on a room like we did.

The next day we got up, determined to enjoy the time we would have left there. We called Hertz again and they said they'd bring a new car at about 2:30pm. So we had some time to kill. We did this most effectively by getting covered in 2 different types of mud! The firs was from a little pit next to the sulphur pool - it was filled with a thin greenish mud which we splashed all over us, dried off in the sun and then washed off under the mini waterfall which came from the sulphur pool. Then we'd seen other people covered head to toe in thick dark mud and we knew we just had to do that!

Some boys working there got on their goges and dove to the bottom of the sulphur pool. They emerged with yoghurt tubs full of that thick black mud we'd admired and we began spreading it liberally over ourselves. It was good fun and we enjoyed waddling around in it as much as we enjoyed washing it off in the sulphur pool (where it had come from in the first place) and finding soft pinky skin underneath again.

By this time we were ready for a shower, check out and lunch and then we just had to wait for the new car to arrive. Which it did eventually - and joy of joys it was a manual!!!! It took a while to sort out all the documents and the guy who had brught the new car out was none too keen on driving the other one back to SLP so there were many frantic phone calls back to the office. The new car really was new - only 2 weeks old, so we happily loaded al our stuff into it and finally headed for Tampico and the Gulf Coast.