Folks, just a bit of catch up and back tracking to fill you in on what had no time to write about before. Now in Bacalar we are decompressing from the arduous two weeks on the road trying to catch up to Jerry. As i said previously the road from the boarder to Manuale was good and mostly uneventfiul except the Jean parting company with us and heading to Puerto Vallarta. On the advice of Jean we took the road from Emanuel southwest to Lazaro Cardenas, Panuco, Temporal de Sanchez, Tantoyuca, Tepetzintla, Tempache, Estero Del Idolo, and ending up in Pazo Rica for the night. That way is no good. Most of the road has been washed away due to heavy rains and gong that way is very bad going. Better to go straight throug Tampico instead accoring to most oter we spoke with. STAY on the MEX 180 and do not take any of the perficos around Tampico. Obey the laws and you will be fine in Tampico regardless of all the hipe about the police there being on a rampage to collect money from the tourists. BS ! OK, so after a noisy night in Pazo because of a wedding party next to us, we left for El Tajin to see the Mayan ruins there. When coming down the road to El Tajin do not go into the village but stay in the main road until you get to the entrance to the rui ns site which is well marked. We spent the better part of Sunday there as there were the pole dancers, a large market and restaurants besides the ruins.
See more pics of El Tajin here >
These ruins were the most impressive we have see and a recommended place to visit. You can camp on the site if you wish to stay over, we did not but went on to the Emerald Coast and found a spot on the beach at Hotel Torre Molino which was a bit over priced. Check around as there are many camp grounds in this area. We took the first one we came to as we were tired, bad idea ! We did meet some nice folks though from Ottawa and Quebec travelling with 5th wheelers. It was their first time in Mexico and they were having a good time. So outa there on the Monday morning and we found our way around Vereacruz without much problems, then over to Villahermosa for some shopping at the Wal Mart then through the town getting stopped TWICE by the Police for Rita not having her seat belt on which they eventually saw that she DID and they told to keep moving. We then ended up in Oluta at Pemex 9092 on the Cuota for the night. It was quiet there for change. Tuesday morning we were back on the road and wound up in Escarcega at a Pemex for the night. It was another noisy night as it was a huge truck stop. But,we did have a good fried chicken diner across the road though. Not much excitement on this leg of our journey but we did see many Guadalupe runners on the road. Wednesday morning we left and made our way across the peninsula to Bacalar getting in around noon. The road across is mostly good four lane with some two lane parts being redeveloped into four lane. Eventually it will be a good straight drive across. All in all it’s a long haul and we highly recommend you take more time than we did. There are many things to see and do along the way but were in a press to catch up to Jerry which was never to happen. OH, well, we’re here now and all together and all’s fine. Just to mention that after leaving Tampico you can take the MEX 180 and in some places the 180 D which is the Cuota. Some places you have no choice some you do. If your in a hurry and don’t mind the extra expense take the Cuota whenever possible. Otherwise take the Libre whenever possible. Both are fairly good roads but the Libre will have more villages and Topes !
Jean, your friend Denis with the yellow Desiel Vanagon Westy who was suppose to travel with you is here camped with us now. He got here on Thurdsay. I spoke to him a lot about going to Tekal. He’s off that direction soon.
Jonathan, Internet here is not as good a situation as it was in La Manz. There are two Internet places, open at 9 one closes at 10 the other at 11. No bars like in La Manz. I found one free WiFi spot out on the main highway near a bank and a Pemex. All are FAR from the campground. Tony say there is afree wWiFi spot down the road between the camp and his palce but i have not been able to find it yet. It’s the most promising as it is close by if it works. It could be reachable form the camsite with my new antenna that yo have !
Yesterday, Saturday, I took my canoe with it’s new eclectic motor and cruised the 1/2 hour ride down the Laguna to Tony’s and spent the better part of the day working on his van which was incapacitated due to many problems incurred while it was in supposed storage while he was away. Eventually we got them sorted out and it’s now running and he and Eilene have transportation again. The fuel tank is leaking badly so we cannot put much fuel in it but he has a new one so we do have another project on the horizon. So much for my vacation from Vanagon work ! My canoe is still at Tony’s so today I will have to go get it and ride it back down the Laguna to our campsite ! Jerry just left for Cancun to pick up Sofie. They will spend a few days ALONE before coming back here with us. Wednesday, it’s our turn to go to Cancun to pick our friends Bernard and Elena coming in from Toronto. So, no lack of action here !
Adios,
Frank, Rita & Hunter
