Mexico East coast

We have entered Mexico by the city of Matamoros. Still there are fields and too much wind; unfortunately they disappear with the sun. The first night was a real ordeal, millions of mosquitos! It was so hot that we didn’t put up the tent but... we quickly remedied this. In the early morning we go without lunch because the mosqiutos already returned. Anyway, with the sun's heat it’s better to start early. Just before entering the city of San Fernando we were stopped by Nick Lopez. What happiness! We spent the day in the small village of LA JOYA to learn about the lifestyle of the Mexicans of this region and discover some new fruit and food (different lemons, brown beans and pirates – which are like a really big taco). We have to ride long days despite the sun because of the distances between towns. There are only very few villages up to Tampico. The desert region took the place of the fields. WHAT LANDSCAPES! The first really different in 2 months of travel and the first mountains in the distance. In fact not so far...

Between Tampico and Veracruz it is the orangeroots who take over the landscape. The road starts to be hilly and then a bit mountainous. Humidity took over and we sweat 24 hours a day. Stopping in a small village we have discovered the CECINA, a thin sliced beef then marinated in salty milk. Everything is simply delicious! We have even done our Catholic duty on Easter in the town of Tihuatlan. CRISTO himself went on our way, at the top of the mountain he waited for us. And what a climb, there Emilie recited the mass on the way up because the ride was so intense. Even cars had difficulty going up, imagine that. It was however worth the detour, the view was quite nice and a guide recommended us a typical dish of the area, amadrillo (we believed that this was rabbit).Once again very good. The next step, the El Tajin ruins. We watched a great performance and through this we learned a small part of their history. Not always easy to find a place to spend the night on the other hand luck was sometimes on our side. Generosity is part of all cultures, after an exhausting day we could take a shower even at a well at Tecolutla on the edge of the river. Direction Veracruz, everyone recommended to go there. We haven’t been very impressed, it is a port city of few beaches, very coarse sands and it is so windy that it is unpleasant. We still appreciated this small rest of 2-3 days at the hotel; we were unable to find camping!

Sometimes even if we want we can’t move forward! Then we stopped and put the hammocks up (caution it is not often possible don’t make illusions). We sleep throughout the afternoon and then back on the road but... sometimes not so far. A small river called and it's done, we stop for the night (in Tecolapan). We have discovered the mango flowers at the edge of Lake Catemaco letting through the usual hot.
In Villahermosa we experienced what is a true market. Fascinating to see fish, shelves of chicken, beef and much more happening in the heat of the day (not very FDA!). Even small disappointment in for the 4th biggest producer of chocolate, we are not even able to find it to make chocolate. The single chocolate we saw in large quantities is the Grijalva River which passes through the city, but bewares of its smell!
But where are the beaches here... The first are very turbid, others have no sands but cracked shell or they have simply concrete the water's edge. The only one we enjoy is Sabancy where we have found a little by chance. 20 km before this city a spoke of Max’s rear wheel has broken. Although clearly these things arrive always in the best conditions... noon, no water, no clouds or wind or trees. We have to use the women's thumb to hitchhike! Immediately a nice pick-up dealt with and brought us in this small village. Do not think of finding a bike shop! Fortunately that is close to Campeche a better chance of finding something. In addition, our friends Rafael and Caroline met us for a camping week on the beach. Surprise! Not beach in Campeche, concrete again! And as an extra surprise, famous swine flu (H1N1) made all the all tourist attractions close down and even the only public beach nearby. They have therefore visited one of places dearest to our hearts: Sabancy.
The old Mayan roads we cross are too long of distances and the people live on a different schedule. Everything closes at 1o’clock in the afternoon, a little crazy for us and unfortunately everything we could visit was still closed to prevent the spread of H1N1. The only thing we could see of this region is the women. Shy but very nice. Funny also. Almost half of our size and two times wider than us. Wearing their white flowered dresses. Just before Chetumal, our last mexican city, we made a stop at the edge of the Bacalar lagoon. The water here is wonderful, fresh and ultra clear, a dream to swim in.