Tlacotalpan

Cascade " Eyiplan

Road to the border

There is no more site to visit on our journey to the border of Guatemala.

We take the highways to avoid the famous "Tope" or "Dos d'ane" but the quality of the asphalt is not there.

We cross a mountainous region where drought is dominant, the result of numerous fires.

We reach the border town of "Tapachula" in three days.

We thought we would rest by the sea before going to Guatemala, but the site we had chosen turned out to be unsanitary and inaccessible.

We take refuge on the more welcoming nearby beach and meet a couple from Quebec with their two daughters on their way back.. Very pleasant exchange.

We wanted to the oil changing at "Midas" which unfortunately cannot accommodate us.

Finally we make an appointment at "fiat" for the next day, in the meantime we stock up on supplies and accessories that we will not find before Costa Rica.

We leave the city to spend the evening in the countryside.

Catemaco

We extend our detour to reach the "Eyplanta" waterfall.

We drive through very green landscapes and in a hilly region. It makes a change from the last days.

The vegetation is tropical and abundant.

To visit the waterfall : two levels: one above and one below which is reached by a staircase of 254 steps.

We do both sites and end with the descent ...

It is 3:30 p.m. and the temperature is 40° .... the ascent was hard .... but we made it.

For the evening we land on the edge of the lake of "Catemaco" on the malecon.

A little breeze awaits us there and it is very pleasant. A large part of the evening, the inhabitants walk on this "paseo" enjoy the coolness of the evening.

Night sarts with music ... we are in Mexico

Tlacotalpan

We make a detour to reach this city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

At the exit of the highway, the road skirts fields of sugar cane encumbered by tractors pulling 5 to 6 carts filled with canes.

On our arrival we fill up with water and we settle in a camping hotel which is in fact a place of leisure for families.

It is very hot 39° degree and we wait for the end of the afternoon to discover this small city.

Tlacotalpan was founded in 1850, it is located one hour from "Veracruz" and perfectly reflects the colonial architecture through some buildings.

All its character appears in its wide streets with colonnaded houses built in an exuberant diversity of styles and colors presenting a mixture of Spanish and Caribbean traditions.

We stay there for two days and have lunch by the river.

The two nights are abominable; within this campsite nestles a large chicken farm and the barnyard is on the job every night

Córdoba

Before leaving Morelia, we stop at "Midas" to check the rear brakes, last changed in Palms Spring in December 2018.

The camper is raised and after checking, the mechanic tells us that everything is OK. He announces a ration of 30/40% that we did not understand despite our requests.

We are convinced that he did not want to take care of us thinking that the work seemed too complicated to him. It doesn't matter, we'll go to San José in Costa Rica where we had the front brakes repaired.

The road is long and monotonous.

We arrive in this city in two days.

Not famous in tourist guides, it is described as a small colonial town....indeed it’s unattractive.

After an hour of visit we return to the camper.

Evening in a "Pemex" car park at the edge of the double track ... a night lulled to the sound of trucks.

It should be noted that this is the main axis linking Veracruz (main commercial port of Mexico) and Mexico City ... traffic day and night !!!

Cordoba

Morelia

We cross our fingers hoping that the repair is effective.

We head towards Morelia by taking the highway which allows us to check if the turbo works and holds well.

Everything seems to be working again. Phew!

In Morelia we park in our usual location for the third time. A policeman comes to meet us and after registering us, he takes our temperature... (we are in a parking lot of a very large park!!!)

We do some shopping without forgetting the famous "Tarte à l'ananas" .... We also find "Cointreau" to prepare the "Margarita".

We haven’t been able to find any cointreau for 2 weeks. (poor Christophe who had to settle for corn sugar, not as good). So we buy two bottles... Prevention is better than cure!!!

We are disappointed with the pie, the dough is not cooked.

We spend the evening preparing for the rest of the trip. We don't want to join Panama directly.

We look for sites that we do not know ... there are not many and without a guide (left in Aigues Mortes) it is not easy.

ROAD BOOK 106

MAVROS ODYSSEE