Final Days in Mexico
Yeah! We are in Guatemala City with Patrick now. It is so great to see him and hear about home.
The past week has been hot and busy. We spend 4 days in Huatulco, which is more developed than I expected. No little fishing village anymore! I suppose that after weeks of tranquil beaches that Huatulco during Semana Santa is a bit overwhelming. Most of the people are Mexican tourists that come for the holiday week. They pack a bunch of people into a little hotel room and go the beach completely self-sufficient with coolers filled with beer and bags filled with food. We adopt the Mexican way and find a restaurant with nice palapas, then order a margarita, and proceed to eat our own food and drinks all day. The beaches are crowded – much more so than Ixtapa. The Mexican tourists go in the water fully clothed, in just their underwear, or bathing suits – anything goes. One lady strips down to her white bra and skirt to take a dip. Even though the Huatulcan bays are calm and shallow, many people wear life jackets. We spend a couple days at the beach just checking out the chaos. On our final day, we are happy to remain close to the hotel to run errands, go to the movies and swim in the pool.
One of the highlights of Huatulco is a great taqueria with “tacos al pastor” (we refer to this as mystery meat – a large chunk of compacted meat strips roasting next to a fire). The cook carves the meat onto a tortilla, then flicks a piece of pineapple from the top of the fire spit onto the tortilla. The tacos are absolutely delicious.
On our way to the border, we stumble into a bustling town called Tonala. The town is about 20 miles inland and just a typical Mexican town. No tourists, no hawkers, no tacky gift shops. Connor says that this is the most Mexican town that we have visited. The hotel is situated on the square, which is full of life. The hotel has several parrots and a toucan which Quinny really enjoys. Connor is thrilled with the colorful décor, A/C and TV (the simple comforts are very appealing these days). Paul explores the food markets and finds yummy tomales for breakfast. I enjoy sitting on the patio and watching life go by. At dusk, the birds go crazy, flying haphazardly from tree to tree and squawking loudly.
When the weather cools, Connor and I hike up lots of steps to a monument and look-out point. Really cool to see the town from above. We spot a large blue and white church, and continue our walk there, then through the market. Connor wonders why everyone stares at us. We certainly stand out here.
As we near the Guatemalan border, we see all kinds of crazy stuff on the road. Old pick-up tricks pulling cars, trucks with cars inside – the best was a truck pulling another truck with a car inside. We assume the vehicles are bought cheaply in the U.S., then driven down to Guatemala for resale. As we head further south in Mexico, the temperature rises up to 100 degrees. We splurge at a nice hotel with A/C at the border city of Tapachula. The highlight for the boys is the girls from the Miss Pacifico pageant that are staying at the same hotel. Our jaws drop as these tall, thin, gorgeous women in full regalia walk past us in the lobby: Miss Mexico, Miss Guatemala, Miss El Salvador, Miss Nicaragua, Miss Honduras, Miss Costa Rica, and Miss Panama.
A side note about bathrooms. Yes, we Americans like our luxuries, yet the bathrooms here are so far from decent that I am sometimes baffled. No toilet paper, no toilet seats, no paper towels, sometimes no hot water. Even at nice hotels, we only get 2 skimpy towels and 1 roll of TP for 4 people. The showers can never seem to hold the water in the shower stall, which creates a big wet mess. Enough said – I imagine that bathrooms will get worse as the trip goes on…
All in all, we spent just over 4 weeks in Mexico and covered about 4,000 miles. The weather went from windy and cold in Baja California to stifling hot and dusty in Southern Mexico. The food was delicious, from delectable tamales for breakfast, savory tortas for lunch and Paul’s favorite, caldo de mariscos (seafood soup) for dinner. Yet more important that anything was how our family overcame challenges and bonded, and is better equipped to handle whatever comes our way.
Wishing you a very happy Easter!
Tags: Mexico
hwy1alltheway
It’s great to hear about your adventures.