Veracruz to Tijon Ruins

 

 

Hola once again,

 

It's still April 21st (maybe) and I'm determined to get these emails caught up, even if they don't get sent for another few days.  I forget so much if I don't write it down.

 

So, Veracruz was interesting but we were outta there after two nights and on our way to the Costa Esmerelda.....the Emerald Coast.  Now, I sorta thought that the Emerald Coast would have emerald water but I think they must have been talking about the land.  It's very green.  In fact, the whole time we've been in Veracruz the weather has been cloudy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, cloudy in the evening and raining at night.  It's very green.......

 

However, the beaches aren't all that great.  More South they were white sand, etc. but up here the sand is sorta grey and there is a lot of seaweed.  And Portuguese Man of War's, ick.  I think the Pacific coast is way nicer all around but it's still been fun to see the Gulf of Mexico.  The campground we chose at the Emerald Coast was very nice and had lots of palm trees and two swimming pools.  And cheap too.....only about $13.50 a nite.  But while we were there we decided that we wanted a little more excitement so we've changed our intinery.  We are now heading more inland to visit San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato, both in the state of Guanajuato (handy).  Since we didn't stay as long as we expected in the last couple places we have extra time and these are places that we really wanted to visit badly but thought we'd missed the chance given how much time we had left.  (Currently 13 days.)  So we're on a new track..

 

We always did plan on coming here to Tajin, which are ruins near Poza Rica, Veracruz.  We're here right now after visiting the ruins today.  We passed through the town of Papantla, which is famous for the "Papantla Flyers", and we were fortunate enough to be able to see them do their thing here at Tajin this afternoon.  They do this twirling, hanging by their waist, around a tall pole unwinding rope....you just have to see it.  They make it look easy but I'm sure it's dangerous and....well...you just try it if you want.  I won't.  Mike said that after they came down they all went to the restroom....he felt it was so they could vomit!  I wouldn't be surprised.  Anyway, it was cool to watch.

 

Then we went to the ruins.  They're beautiful.  They're different from any we've seen in that you can't walk up them.....they really don't have steps.  They are mostly just monuments or something.......no insides!...  They're built on piles of rocks and/or hills.  Plus they're much newer than the others we've seen.  Only about 1,000 to 800 years old.  But very beautiful.  And the stonework is amazing.  And the setting.  Loved it.

 

We are right now in the parking lot of the ruins.  They let you stay here and have security, etc.  It costs 40 pesos......less than $4.00.  We even had the Papantla Police come by to let us know we're safe.  They stopped and chatted a while.  I asked them if they wanted to see the camper so they all came inside.  They were so funny.  They saw Mike's scotch and asked for a taste!!  They all made a face but we had a good time.  I love the people here in Mexico.  Super wonderful kind loving funny people. 

 

So....now I'm tired and am going to go to bed.  And tomorrow we're going to drive as far as we can (thank you, Mike) so we can spend as much time as possible in San Miguel.........we will love it there.

 

Aloha, Adios, Nos Vamos,

Gayle   (yes, Mike is sleeping of course!!)