Tuxpan, Veracruz

Laneway to the Hotel

We woke up at 7.30 AM knowing that the first bus to Tuxpan would leave at 9 AM.  We had no trouble finding a taxi and by 8.35 we had purchased our bus tickets and were sitting down having cups of coffee.

Tuxpan is at the northern side of the state of Veracruz.  Our bypass of Puebla a few days earlier had marked our southern most reach into Mexico and today we were headed firmly to the north along the east coast.  One hour into the journey Brenda got her first sight of the Gulf of Mexico.  The terrain became more verdant and lush, with prosperous looking farms with livestock such as turkeys that we had not seen before. As we travelled along the coast road I remarked that it had the feel of the Alabama and Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Brenda replied that the sugar cane fields and volcanic outcrops reminded her of Queensland in NE Australia.

Verdant hills and moisture in the air

We must have passed within 10 kilometers of El Tajin, one of the finest sites of ruins in Mexico.  To visit El Tajin would have required an overnight stay at Poza Rica, 16 miles from the site, but the description of the town was not very appealing to us and besides, we had two archaeological sites and a major archeological museum under our belts. As we passed through Poza Rica we saw two beam pumps among the houses steadily extracting oil.

We arrived in Tuxpan at 3.30 PM and soon discovered yet another method of providing taxi services.  The taxis would queue up and the head taxi would wait until it was full of people before taking off.   In effect they use taxis like minibuses.  Mexican taxis are on the small side of medium size and we saw three robust women get into the back of one then two more get into the front.  There was no way that Brenda and I would fit into that setup with our baggage.  Fortunately a driver offered to take us and for 35 pesos and a bit of searching dropped us off in front of the hotel Posada San Ignacio, our home for the next 2 days.

We have The Lonely Planet guide to thank for the find because the hotel, though near the center of town, does not present a conspicuous frontage and even the taxi driver had trouble finding it.  The frontage was unimpressive to say the least.  Access to the hotel is via a long alleyway painted in bright happy colors, with the hotel set into the middle of the block.  As we walked toward the hotel I old Brenda that all she had to do was to say the word and we would back out and find another place.

Fortunately the alleyway opened up to a very pleasant courtyard and the hotel and the room that we were offered were well painted and decorated.  The charge was 280 pesos per night and after viewing the room I told the lady that we would take it for 2 nights.  I put down a 500 peso bill and was fumbling around for the rest of the money when she said that for 2 nights the charge would be only 500 pesos (abut $21 per night).  Later I asked if there was a clothese line on the roof that we could use and were given the OK to use the hotel's clothes line.  That may not sound like a big deal but to us it means that we can hand wash clothes as we go and can depart on the next leg with at least 2 sets of clean underclothes.

We went for a walk past the central plaza and into the centro district where we purchased a few items in a grocery store.  At dusk we had dinner at a nearby restaurant and I enjoyed a plate of fried fish and salad with a side dish of enchiladas, along with two bottles of Sol beer.  Brenda had an ensalada con pollo (salad with chicken) which she enjoyed very much.

We both got a good first impression of this town.  We both feel better now that we are back at sea level, and enjoy the semitropical setting.  There is a large river that slices through the town, and it must have access to the sea because I saw a 10,000 ton ship at a wharf.  The food situation appears to be better.  We had not had fish for days and at Xalapa we were not able to find fresh fruit, particularly bananas.  All along the coast road to Tuxpan we saw lots of coconuts, pineapples, and other tropical fruit for sale.