MORE OF OUR TOUR THROUGH VERACRUZ

COATEPEC
After Veracruz we headed for the hills, to the cute and friendly town of Coatepec.  As soon as we started driving around town we recognized a familiar smell - coffee.  The town actually smelt like coffee.  We checked out a few roasting shops and purchased some beans and of course tried some of their fresh roasted brew.  So good, it may have been the best cup of coffee we have ever had.  One thing we found strange though, was that none of the coffee shops were open in the morning.  Justin wondered the streets for an hour looking for some coffee for us and never did find any.  While in town we also went to an orchid museum and took a tour completely in spanish and we actually understood a fair amount - we think.  Some of the orchids were so small we had to look at them through magnifying glasses.

Justin taking in the fresh roasted goodness

at the market

XALAPA
Xalapa is only about ten minutes away from Coatepec.  Originally we had come here first and just ended up driving in circles, we just couldn't find anything and ended up leaving.  We had really wanted to see the city so we came back with directions this time and we were finally able to find a hotel.  The traffic in this capital city is horrendous, finding parking took over an hour and the hotel we wanted had changed names.  More incredible coffee and an interesting anthropology museum made it worth the trouble.

Our main reason for coming here was for the anthropology museum.  There was no way we were going to try and navigate our way through the city again so we took a cab to get there.  We really thought that our spanish was improving until trying to have a conversation with our cab driver and he told us that our spanish was muy malo (very bad) and that we needed to go to school.

the massive Olmec head

COSTA ESMERALDA
It had been a long time since we've hung out on a beach so we were really looking forward to a few days of lounging in the sun.  Getting out of the hills and back to the heat was welcomed.  Costa Esmeralda is twenty kilometers of uninterrupted sand and ocean.  There are upscale resorts, cucaracha hotels and lots of camping.  We found a decent enough place and headed for the water.  The area is nice but it was so quiet - too quiet for us.  All the hotels along the beach seemed deserted.  When its tourist season, I guess these places fill right up.  We decided to move on.

the gulf of Mexico comes into view

view from our hotel

PAPANTLA
This was another town we had a really hard time navigating.  After driving all over and in circles we finally located a hotel up on a hill.  We could see the sign but we couldn't find it.  It seemed to disappear every time we got close to it.  We were baffled.  We eventually got a taxi and followed him to this mysterious hotel.  It ended up being at the top of a narrow staircase and on a one way road that was closed to automotive traffic.

view of this maze like town 

our very hard to find hotel

We came here to see the ruins of El Tajin but we both ended up sick in bed.  We did see a bit of the town and area though.  This is a vanilla growing region and they sell vanilla everything.  Liquers, cigars, rosaries, chipolte, jewellery and just plain old vanilla.  In one of the stores a lady put some vanilla perfume on my wrist.  It became apparent soon after that bees really like vanilla.

TECOLUTLA

We really wanted some beach time before leaving Mexico so we headed back to the coast to tourist town, Tecolutla.  As soon as we arrived we had about five kids on bikes rush the truck (just like border crossings) to try and take us to a hotel of their choosing.  We drove on and when we couldn't find a hotel with any parking, one of the kids made his move.  We gave him all our requirements and he found us exactly what we wanted.  He was just like accessing the internet.

We loved this little town, chalked full of hotels, seafood restaurants and trinket stores.  We gorged ourselves on delicious cheap seafood, swam in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and chatted with the friendly people of the town.

pina coladas with cinnamon - really good

gigantic shrimp

We absolutely loved Veracruz state, we hated that we were only able to spend a day or two in each spot.

If we had it our way we would still be back in the city of Veracruz drinking lecheros.

Soon we'll be making a run for the Texas border......we're going to be visiting Corpus Christi, Houston and San Antonio.

Anna exhausted after a long day of driving