Yesterday we drove and I did not write and today I am making up for my laziness. It’s hard though as this spot on the edge of the Western Caribbean is sucking the ambition out of all of us.
So let’s recap yesterday first. I got a rather sharp note from Webb Chiles telling me I wrote “Sunday” when obviously I don’t have second sight and I was writing about “Saturday” but I ignored him and quietly followed his sensible instruction and changed it without even thanking him! Wow! Travel in Mexico can be deleterious to your good manners…We have landed south of Veracruz at Coco’s Campground which as usual houses only us.
It’s the only place to park your RV around Veracruz and this place is apparently well known to travelers shipping their vehicles to and from Europe and South America. We thought about it but flights from Veracruz don’t go direct to Colombia so Rusty couldn’t fly from here. End of that idea!
We started in Orizaba with a bright sunny Sunday morning. I’m pretty sure it was Sunday yesterday not least because there were huge crowds at the funicular to the top of the Cerro Del Borrego.
It took us an hour standing in line to take our place in the cabin. The views obviously were remarkable but honestly when you don’t know the city below it makes the sight rather amorphous.
We took a tour of the little museum at the top and wouldn’t you know it we learned something. The French take over if Mexico was fought in these mountains after Mexico declared independence from Spain in 1821. The British and Spanish left the French to it but Abraham Lincoln of all people sent military hardware to Mexico in the midst of his preoccupations with the troubles between the states.
Somehow the Mexican Army dragged a US built cannon up the mountain where a battle took place in 1862 forcing the Mexicans back to Puebla where they thrashed the French on the 5th of May. Hence the holiday. Five years later the French returned the favor cementing their rule in Mexico until the Franco Prussian war of 1870 ended the Empire and their role in Mexico. And here we were up a mountain so steep we wouldn’t dare walk it and they dragged their armies here to kill each other. Amazing.
Even more amazing was how parents encouraged their kids to climb these steps for fun and photography. Live in the US long enough and you forget how kids used to have fun. Imagine this happening in your neighborhood!
After all the fun and games we skipped the café and the chapel and managed to get in line just as a massive tour group got the same idea. It was easy and orderly and gave me time to catch up with my crosswords. Back on the ground we walked the river back to the hotel and looked at some of the rescued wild animals along the way.
I’m not fond of caged animals in zoos but there it is. Rusty leapt out of the van when we got back to the hotel parking lot and kissed me rather than yelling at me for locking him up. We got on the road to Córdoba 20 minutes away. Or it would have been if an 18 wheeler hadn’t tipped over on the on ramp to the 150D freeway…Traffic took the diversion under advisement and cars simply melted away unlike the US where lines form and tempers rise. We pulled over and I worked out an alternative route to the next exit and quickly pulled a u-turn in the break in the traffic flow. Easy! Orizaba is a big city! (Seen from the cable car obviously).
Lonely Planet describes Orizaba as the prettier of the two cities but we found they own rather cold in the manner of tourist towns where locals find tourists gone a needed irritation. Córdoba is not ugly at all and on a Sunday afternoon the sidewalks were too crowded for comfort. We found a spot, parked, walked, ate a mediocre lunch and moved on. Some pictures from the city of Córdoba in Veracruz State:
We don’t usually eat breakfast so we were ready for lunch. We tried to find a sidewalk restaurant that wasn’t too fancy where Rusty could curl up alongside us. The one we ended up at was mediocre I’m afraid to say. We tried local dishes in green sauce and not seafood as we were well inland.
Layne wandered the market and declared the art uninteresting, meanwhile Rusty and I walked the streets but it was crowded. Everyone was out and no wonder as it was a lovely day and the stores that were open in the historic district attracted shoppers. I found it hard to navigate the ever patient Rusty on his leash.
The highway was smooth and four lane all the way to the coast. We droned along at 65 miles per hour minding the fast cars and slow trucks.
You never know what you will see by the side of the road. Apparently we were in watermelon country! We also bought some coffee bonbons from a street seller hanging out at the toll booth. We got one bag for $1:50 and wished we’d got two!
The bonbons were like nothing we’d ever eaten. They were marshmallows split into a traditional flavored half attached to café-au-lait light tan colored half. They were amazingly delicious as they melted in our mouths. And I don’t like coffee flavored foods! I hope we see them again but you never know who sells what at the topes and toll booths ahead.
Layne and I read the iOverlander entry differently for Coco’s campground. She argued it wasn’t worth $20 a night and I said it’s 45 minutes from Veracruz so it will be a good base. So far she says she wants to stay two maybe three nights. Hmm, I think I won that one.
It’s not clean tidy and modern but by the same token we get to live as though boondocking on our own. Rusty lives outside as he wishes and we spread out as suits us.
The parking area is separated from the coast road by a quarter miles of thick jungle, palms, gumbo limbo and spiky ceiba trees. It’s a lovely walk for young Rusty who gets to choose between walking the woods or running the beach with me. 
There are horses grazing the upper field and Rusty isn’t too sure about that but we sleep with the side door open and he can hop in and out of the van at will from his bed on the floor.
We have 15 amp electrical plugs if we want them but the solar panels are making 15 amps all day in this sun. There are water faucets and a nearby toilet and shower block which we have yet to inspect. It’s the usual including a huge pool and unfortunately no WiFi but the cell phone signal works. We’re in no hurry to hit the city!
Veracruz is described as an industrial port with not much tourism. Layne has found a fort and a naval museum to visit. We plan to spend a day there and then head south to Chiapas, the last state before Guatemala. We can’t go south right now so we will be obliged to turn north before we cross the border! Next fall though…
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