Saturday, April 26, 2008
Day 17 Saturday April 26
NO TRAVEL DAY
Temp: 38 degrees C
Hazy & Hot
We loved it here so much we decided to stay another day! Took advantage of the one local internet café to bring the blog up to date and upload the pictures in our FACEBOOK photo albums.
Then off to dinner and beers….
There is a concert by local musicians in the park tonight to celebrate Seniors…glad I could make it. Sue says we’re DEFINATELY going!
We met Carlos, the guitarist, this afternoon and he invited me to play mandolin with him but mine is at home, may be able to borrow one tonight though??
The zocallo is alive with festivities tonight, it is the coronation of this year’s king and queen of seniors and all the city honorables were in attendance as well as most of the populace, newborns to the most elderly, a major family celebration accompanied by the full gamut of street vendors, musicians, and fanfare.
Last years king and queen were led in the parade by a large drum and brass group and followed by the city officials, the first and second princess and the “Ladies in waiting” , matronly seniors, one from each of the surrounding districts of the city (from what I could decipher), and finally, the new king and queen awaiting coronation.
The farewell to the past king and queen and the coronation of the new was attended to with much enthusiasm and respect, and all of it done in a light hearted yet dignified quasi carnival atmosphere.
The new monarchy was serenaded by local music students organized by Carlos, and followed by a female singer of local repute, accompanied by a senior’s salsa group who were very good, then several solos by a baritone singer of great Mexican renown. Free coke was passed out to all in attendance, and much appreciated!
Dancing in the street with my Susie to a salsa beat!
Next off to a late supper (Mexicans tend to have supper after nine in the evening) beside the square at outside tables below our hotel room’s balcony… the Torte Loca I highly recommend, accompanied with a really good ice cold “Sol” (a good beer)…..actually I had four……..
By the time we were finishing our meal I could hear a Son group starting up on the other side of the Zocallo, went to check it out, and sure enough a group of seven or eight local musicians from teens to seniors were striking up a strong Son beat accompanied with a staccato tap dancing in a quasi-flamenco/Son fusion, with the occasional Passa Doblé danced by couples taking turns and including three very little girls around the age of four or five who were terminally cute (and good!).
The instruments were all acoustic, all locally made by the renown luthier, Rafael Figueroa Alavés ; five string guitarras, five string Requintos, eight string Jaranas, a contra-bass, and a donkey jaw-bone played in the style of a Cuban maréquino! What an incredible mix of very accomplished musicians. Oh, and did I mention “no cover charge!” Feel free to jump right in and participate! People stepping in from the square to join the dancers and tap out an accompaniment to the music – no drums required.
Partick, you should have been with us !! we miss you...
Hung out with some of the guys in the band later and checked out the instruments. They are all fully carved out of one piece of large mahogany, sides, curved back and neck are all one piece! The top, or sound board is the only piece that is made separate and attached! Amazing work!
We’re planning to go to Catemaco tomorrow.
Day 16 Friday April 25
Left Monte
Temp: 34 degrees C
Hazy & Hot
Stopped at army checkpoint, sergeant was really interested in
What a great morning cruising down the gulf coast towards
Stopped outside Nautla at a small roadside restaurant for delicious espresso coffee and cheese quesadillas. Best coffee yet!! So good that we bought a half kilo, had it fresh ground there for the next week; and the quesadillas were quite good too.
Heading for Tlacotalpan we had to go through
I had been talking to some Mexicans along the way who suggested that I visit Tlacotalpan, an old historic Spanish city that is supposed to be quite beautiful. It was quite a ways out of the way but was definitely worth the effort. It is the most beautiful city that we have been in so far and is very friendly and clean. We walked around the Zocallo and old city for at least an hour well out of sight of the bike which we parked on the edge of the old town; all our gear was not even secured and nothing was disturbed when we returned.
The local cop was very friendly and helpful, and at least three people came to personally welcome us to Tlacatalpan!
We had originally planned to tour for an hour or so and then head back for the coast and Catemaco but were so taken with the place that I started looking for a place to stay; found a great old hotel in the Spanish style right on the Zocallo and checked us in for the night.
It so happens that the city celebrates “El Festivo de los Ninos” today and there was a stage set up in the middle of the town square and chairs for the populace set out. What an amazing family affair! Musicians, School children staging plays, magicians entertaining and engaging the kids in the audience which numbered in the hundreds, and a whole cast of Disney characters on stage, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto……What a wondrous commotion of excited kids! A lot of the children were dressed up in fantastic lavish outfits with gold and silver lames, chiffon, feathered hats, long fairy princess dresses, some not, all so cute….
And to top it all off, the children were all given a ticket for attending and at the end of the spectacle they presented the ticket for a bag of free treats and a free toy, which, depending on the luck of the draw ranged from new bikes to soccer balls and dolls.
We headed to the malecon for a cooling walk along the water and in search of a waterside restaurant and bar but spotted a street vender along the way, and when we saw the malecon was closing down, went back to the vendor for pork tacos that were delicious, nine tacos for $3.50, what a deal and sooo good. ( soft tacos grilled and garnished with roast diced pork, fried onions, fresh diced onion and cilantro, pineapple, and fresh squeezed lime, with two salsas, one piquant and one mild)….YUM!
Then, back to the hotel with cold Tecates (a good beer) to kick back.
A day with a great start, a nasty middle and a fantastic end!
Kilometers - Daytrip: 400? total: 6???
Gas: $19.00
Lodging: Hotel Reformo $40
Day 15 Thursday April 24
No Travel day
Camping on the
Temp: 34 degrees C
Sunny & Hot
Breakfast, beach, lunch, beer………
Body surfing in the breakers
Spent some time with the camera.
Lizards, geckos, iguanas…..Peacocks…..
Supper was raost chicken, fajitas, rice, salsa, and Modelo Beer!(I think no-one who can afford better will go near that sh*t
Stupid gringos…we pitched our tent under a coconut tree because there were no ants there! More people are killed by coconuts in the tropics every year than anything else, none dead so far from ants…..???
There’s a nice cool breeze from the surf tonight!
Day 14 Wednesday April 23
Left Tajin, near
Temp: 34 degrees C
Sunny & Hot
Nice relaxing stay at the a gorgeous hotel several kilometres from El Tajin.
We stopped in papantla for pineapple and mangos then went to a small taqueria for breakfast. Wonderful eggs mexicana, and Spanish omelette with refried beans, tortillas, ensalada, two kinds of salsa, croissants, pan dulce, and a sort of pound cake and coffee for three……total: $8.50
Then off towards
the nice cool breeze of the ocean was a really welcome relief from the heat.
Kilometers - Daytrip: 100 total: 6035
Gas: $6.00
Lodging: Tent camping at Estrella del Mar $20
Day 13 Tuesday April 22
Left
Temp: 34 degrees C
Sunny, Hot! Humid!
Today we actually got to see Totonac pyramids and ruins of a large city (El Tajin) dating to 750 AD that boasted a population of 30,000. There are 20 structures excavated and restored but there remain at least another 130 identified but unexcavated. The carving is stylistically similar to the ballcourt carvings of the Toltec section of
The theory is that the area could not sustain such a high density population and by 1200 AD it was pretty much abandoned and reclaimed by the jungle.
Today’s short trip was full of lush greenery and a riot of flowering plants, bushes and trees. It w
as also the hottest most humid day yet. I suspect that the proximity to the
On site at El Tajin we watched a totonac ceremony re-enactment which is a ritual dance around a pole that I would estimate at over 50 meters. The dancers (5) then proceed to climb up the pole to a rotating frame at the top. Four of the climbers bringing ropes up with them that descend to about three feet of the ground. They proceed to wind the ropes around a sort of capstan at the top by spinning the frame like a merry-go-round while the 5th climber stands atop the thing and plays music on a hand-drum and flute while dancing. Once the ropes are all wound on the capstan, they, having attached the ends of the ropes to themselves around the middle, simultaneously “swan dive” out into the air and gradually descend upside down in a long spin to the ground! All the while the fifth climber is stil dancing and playing the drum and flute at the top. Once the “flyers” have landed on their feet, the dancer up top descends by sliding down one of the ropes held taut at the bottom
. VERY IMPRESSIVE.
We decided it was to late to head for the coast and camp so we took a chance on a local hotel we could see up a hill from the road. What a gorgeous, lucky find. Twenty minutes later we were cooling off in an amazing courtyard tiled pool! What a treat!
So we’ll go camping tomorrow…..
Kilometers - Daytrip: 40 total: 5935
Gas: $7.00
Lodging: Campestra tajin $60
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