On the road to Tuxla

On May 8, 2014 by emily With 1 Comments - Uncategorized

Just out side of the thunder storm

sky is clearing up

We chose our next destination to be Tuxtla Gutierrez, it was a good drive around two hundred and fifty miles but it would put us only a two hour drive from San Cristobal da las Casas. We also located a great hostel for cheap to stay in Tuxla. The rain clouds were beginning to creep in as we were closer and closer to the end of our ride. It had been a really rainy day as it is, and at the beginning of our day I dropped a glove, so we drove 40 minutes back to see if we could spot it on the road somewhere. Nothing, this is when the rain started. Eventually we gave up, we were to be little soggy beans the whole day. The wind was warm and at the toll road booths you could see the people being sad for us. Today was a toll road day to get us where we needed to be, we don’t take many toll roads mainly just all free roads. Sometimes the free road do not go directly where we need to be. We had one mountain pass to cross over, the closer we were the darker it was, soon enough we were in the heart of a rain storm. It quickly included thunder and lighting, not the sort of thunder and lighting that you watch in the distance but the sort of thunder and lighting that breaks right in front of you and is felt in your chest. This is a time when headset devices would be nice, to communicate with Mateo. There was no pulling over only being very careful, trying to miss the large boulders that had fallen onto the road and other cars swerving. A red VW bug was in front of us, they were horrible drivers so passing them was on our agenda. Luckily they did drive through water over the road way that we had not spotted and we quickly slowed down and stuck our feet up not to get water directly inside our shoes. Our bags were a different story, once finally making it though the storm on the descend of the pass we were relieved to see the city of Tuxla Gutierrez. Arriving an hour later than our scheduled check in time at the La Casa Del Jardin (the garden house).

Really the only way we can make sure the bike is safe at night.

Garden House

We stripped off our wet clothing and emptied out our bags of all of our fairly wet belongings. Our hostel room looked like a washing machine threw-up everywhere with wet clothing and riding gear. Hopefully the people sharing a room with us won’t be here for a while. Mateo and I wanted to venture out into the city but had no energy, the storm had really taken it out of us. The hostel was also a cafe that we received 20% off at, so I soothed my tired self with a hot chocolate and crepe, it felt good to be warm and fed. That night the mosquitos came out in a vengeance from the storm, attacking all four of us sleeping in the room at 2am. It was too hot to hide under the sheets so we applied repellent and they all seemed to disappear, thank goodness. I can’t sleep at night when all I can hear is the buzzing of mosquitos. We had a casual morning of crepes and heard about this awesome gorge we should drive up to.

Look out point Center

My favorite bird the Vulture

Parque Nacional Cañon Del Sumidero

One of the Five look out points

La JunGaLa

On May 8, 2014 by emily With 0 Comments - Uncategorized

Great bus selection.

Crazy is as crazy does!

We arrived back to our hotel just in time to shower and hit the road before our checkout time. Veracruz here we come, I had planned in our route to drive along a small strip of land that boarders the cost of the Gulf of Mexico.

Mateos first time basking in the Gulf of Mexico

Then camp some where in the National Park of Los Tuxtlas. Our late start on our day is going to hurt, less stops more petal to the metal… MORE butt hurt, a little more everyday. Or it gets better everyday. After few stops we arrive in Heroica Veracruz, it is a normal beach town, feels a bit like a party in the streets. With the shortened time, continue on we must. Heading south since we arrived on the Gulf of Mexico, we will soon be passing through Alarado a small village on a small strip of land that will take us to Los Tuxlas. I see all these cars turning toward the beach, we are in need of a pit stop so we follow. This is the first time I have ever seen the Gulf of Mexico and walked along the beach, what a good place to stop. We soon headed towards the coast to find camping about 60 miles more. We carried a prize possession with us a pineapple we had bought at a stand.

Trusted fruit stand, piñe is successfully purchased.

After the long drive we realized we were not on the coast but we were close to a a giant lake, and from what we have read it’s common to just approach a house and ask to pitch a tent, I wasn’t really sure of this option. In search for such a home we found nothing, but we did see water. In the town beforehand we talked with the tourist people and they said to go about seven kilometers and there is Agua de playa. We were also looking for that place or a place to camp, turning down toward some houses and realizing they were all deserted, luck was running thin and the sun was on its way down, thinking the main road may be better we nearly both fell over from the downhill slope and rocky dirt road. Proceeding down the main road again we passed Agua de playa it just looked like a resort. We started looking at the maps on Mateo’s phone and found a location for camping, a place call La Jungala. In the next couple of kilometers we came upon a sign that said La Jungala, I was so excited to find this place! The drive way was long maybe a kilometer full of rain forest foliage and really rocky. The driveway opened up, we parked and went to talk with whoever to check in, the price was reasonable and the guy was really welcoming. We pitched our tent and ate our pineapple and finished with some tequila we had been caring around since Mazatlán. This was really a jungle hut in the middle of no where right on a lake, the bugs were not bad and the homemade swimming pools were great. Too bad we only spent an evening and morning there. Every minute was awesome.