Monday, July 9, 2012

What I've Been Up To Last Week


Trip
Day -1: Sunday, July 1, 2012
Gathered all my stuff and fled Hotel Isabella.  We (Madrastracita Joana, Abraham, y Abril) did some cruising, some shopping for necessary items, then crashed at Abraham’s.

Day 1: Monday, July 2, 2012
Up at 5!!!  Packed stuff, prepared some quesadillas, left at like 7.  There was a clocklike ticking under the hood…not a fan (as in I wasn’t a fan, not as in it wasn’t a fan—but it wasn’t a fan either).  Got some good views and shots of Popocapetl.  Through Puebla, Veracruz, into Tabasco.  Stopped at La Venta (original site—fake ruins) and, in between escaping/dying from the heat and mosquitos, enjoyed the history and views.  Arrived in Villahermosa and took in the sights (and HEAT!)—very pretty.  We rocked the kid’s pirate ship and walked around.  We even caught a sweet fountain and light show then cruised this little museum.  Tried to go to the mirador, but it was closed—stopped by some overzealous religious mujeres along the way.  We then hopped back in the car and looked for a hotel/hostel—la gente weren’t very helpful, to be honest.  We found the historic district, ate some hotdogs and Michoacana goodies, then took in the very new and fancy zocalo.  We found a hostel for 100 pesos per, and were set for the night. 

Day 2: Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Got up, stopped at a Pemex to inquire about our Captain Hook engine, then rocked La Venta zoo and museum (fake site, real ruins [real animals]).  This was right next to the main park and whatnot where we were yesterday, so we got a chance to rock the mirador, which was quite spectacular.  Hopped back in the car and made our way toward the Tabasco beach town of Paraiso!  First we specced the Comalcalco ruins.  Pretty cool, though the best part was rolling down a large hill--and the worst part was that I still have scars from the grass on my stomach and legs...  Arrived at Paraiso, had a quite delicious lunch (I had mango-marinated chicken and thought it was awesome), then made our way toward the beach.  According to everyone facing every direction, everything (including the beaches) is located todo derecho, aka no one was of any help.  But we finally found some beaches and disfrutamos.  We preguntad some beachside hotels that were trying to charge too much for their ramshackle abodes, it started raining, the car was stuck in the sand, yadda yadda yadda.  So we got the car out of the sand, piled in, and returned to Paraiso centro, found a hotel (that featured mattresses on concrete and no sink) and ya.  Cruised the centro for a short spell, then to sleep land.

Day 3: Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Happy Independence Day, gringos!!!  Oh right, the car didn’t want to start on a couple occasions yesterday…not good.  So we went back to Villahermosa (which is the capitol of Tabasco) and asked a mechanic for the lowdown.  And I bought swim trunks and a towel.  I don’t know what happened with the mechanic, but we left and made our way toward Chiapas.  Until!  We took an off-ramp and the car stalled.  So we pushed it to a mechanic shop very conveniently located 100 meters or so away.  And ya…  We waited around in the Tabascan heat—dying—and finally received the news that we had serious problems and it would take more than a day.  Luckily, there was a hotel very nearby, so we copped a room on the cheap and made our way into the centro to see what was up.  We are in Macuspana.  Well, turns out the great Mayan calendar that may or may not predict our impending doom was found here, so they decided to replicate the calendar with a digital countdown timer.  Two, in fact!  Only…one says impending doom is four days prior to the other clock…odd.  We got some mayonnaisy corn and the lady told us the tortuga something or other is pretty lame, just a hill, but that Agua Blanca is bomb diggity.  We ate, cruised to the hotel, and slept.

Day 4: Thursday, July 5, 2012
Car not ready.  Hopped a taxi to Agua Blanca.  Oowee, the vegetation out there is magnificent—total rainforest/jungle heaven.  Agua Blanca consisted of a gruta (cave with stalagmites and tites) and a river that had some little cascadas and some pools to enjoy.  The grutas were cool, though small, and afterward we were traipsing around the pools and I of course fell in.  So we swam around a bit, then made our way back down to the main palapa.  We had been chit chatting a bit with this group (who had a cooler full of beers) and they seemed to want to do something with us or something…who knows.  Anyway, they were nice and were telling us about what’s cool around here and in Quintana Roo/Yucatan, and one of the young ladies was very gung ho about the attractiveness of the young ladies somewhere…don’t really remember where.  Anyway, I got down to the main palapa and one of the couples was there with a kid (the kid was the property of the other couple).  I had seen the mom a little higher, so when this couple asked me if I had seen the others I replied that I had—just a little up the path.  They started saying stuff and telling me how chingon the pools were here, yadda yadda.  So I said alright cool, and continued searching for Joana.  I couldn’t find her, so I returned to meet up with Abra and Abril and we found Jo.  Also, the two mujeres of the crew that had been talking with us started getting a little feisty with each other…  Anyway, we cruised a bit, enjoying the river, cascadas, pools, and our own wetness.  Upon returning to the main palapa a short while later, shit was crackin’.  And by shit, I mean the two unladylike ladies.  And by crackin’, I mean one was missing a tooth, had blood on her face, and was yelling to the other “Eres fea, FEA!!!” etc. etc.  And the husbands were somewhat trying to hold them back.  Until one picked up half a fucking tree and started toward the opposing mujer, only for the other dude to somewhat tackle him.  All of these people were fat, so it was incredibly unagile and comical.  More “FEA!” yelling, and we bounced the fuck outta there.  We had caught a taxi up, but he had told us he didn’t want to return, so we were on our own to hike the few kilometers down to the bottom and then hunt for a microbus or taxi or something.  Luckily, after maybe a kilometer, a huge loading truck (there was major construction going on, and thus many trucks) threw us a bone and we loaded up in the back for a pretty sweet ride down.  He took us almost all the way down, then as we were walking to the road, a microbus was headed the opposite direction and picked us up—so we went back up (though a different road, not Agua Blanca) and then back down and into town.  Actually, I don’t remember what happened after this…whether we went into town or back to the room…I’m pretty sure we copped a few huge bottles of Corona and got faded.  Nah, I’m positive.  Oh right, we went to “Crazy Monkey” or something for pizza!  Then went “home” and got wasted.

Day 5: Friday, July 6, 2012
Eso dia=MIERDA!  Abraham and Jo went up to Villahermosa to get a part for the mechanics while Abril and I stayed in the hotel.  I went in to the centro for some internet, returned, and we did abso-fuckin’-lutely nothing.  Nothing nothing nothing.  Oh, in case anyone is planning on visiting Macuspana, know this: there are like four TV channels—three have typical Mexican payaso shit (and occasionally Maria La Del Barrio, which is awesome!) and the other has porno with no sound—24/7.  So that’s interesting.  Blah blah, Abra y Jo regresaron al final y ya.  I went for a cruise through the hustling and bustling city night that is Macuspana.  After all, it was Friday!  Well, there was obviously nothing.  At all.

Day 6: Saturday, July 7, 2012
Apparently I had a cara de puto and was grumpy and shit.  Well, we planned a little getaway into Chiapas (FIN-ALL-YYYYYYYY) to visit Palenque, which had way too much to offer.  We arrived and decided to go to the Cascadas de Misol-Ha.  Fucking awesome.  So we arrive in the bus station at Palenque, decide on cascadas, and start walking.  We ask a passing truck where it is and he happens to be a taxi type thing, so we hop a ride and cruise up a mountainside admiring the super gorgeous everything.  He drops us off at a little road and we make our way to Misol-Ha.  It starts raining super tropical style and it’s quite scrumptious.  We arrive and it’s on some super wow steez.  The cascadas are amazing and there’s a big ol’ pond to swim in, plus a path behind the waterfalls that leads to a tiny gruta which also had a cascadita.  So we took all this in, then took full advantage of the pool for quite a while.  It started raining quite hard, so we sought shelter in the little restaurant (when I say “in” I mean under their palapa—there was no indoors) and tried to waterproof our electronics.  We enjoyed a round of brews and bounced, trekking up the rainy, steamy road in search of a vehicle.  Almost to the main road, a truck passed us and we copped a ride down to Palenque proper—again: super freaking awesome.  They stopped to eat, but we needed to get to the bus station before 6:30 to catch the last bus to our temporary home of Macuspana, so we started walking and again caught a truck ride within minutes, which took us to within a couple blocks of the station.  Boom.

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