DOWN, DOWN WE GO, TO THE GULF OF MEXICO

After leaving Puebla we climbed an additional thousand feet bringing us back up to about nine thousand.  By the time be got down the last mountain pass we were at about fifteen hundred feet.  It was a drop over about fifty kilometers and the only time we ever saw runaway lanes in Mexico.  We were so happy to finally be done with Mexicos mountain roads.  Finally we didn't have a weight on our chest and were able to take great big thick gulps of air.  Our skin seemed to rehydrate instantly and the land rover regained its brawn.

just before we started the long descent down

we were a little concerned, a runaway lane in mexico!

 As soon as we dropped out of the mountains the landscape and the density of the foliage changed dramatically.  It was lush and green and the bugs were bigger and stranger.  The humidity was intense and sticky and it never cooled off at night.  This was a huge change from the pacific coast, at night you needed to wear more clothes because of the temperature drop.  Not here, there seems to never be any relief, four months in Mexico never prepared us for this.

hot and steamy

Our first day driving was suppose to be a short day.  We had our sights set on another colonial town, Cordoba.  But the town was so densely populated, it had no parking and an intense feeling of claustrophobia drove us to the outskirts of town where we found the el Silencio auto hotel.  We drove up and did our usual thing to book a room but we were having a big problem communicating with the staff, which is strange because we feel we have this part of our Spanish vocabulary down.  Finally we pulled out some money and they wouldn't take it.  So confused we pulled out a pen and a piece of paper so they could write down the cost for us.  Instead she leaves and comes back with the words written down "no sleeping".  "No sleeping," we said confused.  Aaahhhh, no sleeping!  For those of you who might not know what an auto hotel is, its a room with a garage or a curtain to hide your vehicle.  They charge by the hour and is for persons in Mexico who need some privacy - wink wink!  Note, from what we can gather auto hotels are big down here because immediate and extended families often live in the same home so if you want to make some noise and you don't want grandma to hear, thats where you go.

busy streets of Cordoba

Cordoba

So we pushed on and our short driving day became a very long driving day and yet again we found ourselves camping at a Pemex station - a very loud Pemex station.

Pemex sleep stop number two

The next day we hit the road really early and had our first military vehicle search.  Up until this point they usually just ask us a couple of questions and wave us on.  This time we had to get out of the vehicle while they poked around inside and they got us to open up all of our stowage boxes.  They asked us a bunch of questions took a look at our passports and sent us on our way.  They were really pleasant though and the whole thing took only about fifteen minutes.

three days of driving roads like this

hey, a car is coming...

"hey you got air conditioning!"

Originally, we had never planned on taking this route.  Its been a tough road but the people and the scenery have been great.  We are so happy that we got to see this part of the country, although most of it has just rolled past the window.  It took three days and we passed through four more Mexican states and finally, early in the morning we got to see the the beautiful water of the Gulf of Mexico.