Remember those times when you stayed at the bar till last call and beyond....the times when the lights came on to tell you it was time to go home? Well, morning in Villahermosa is kind of the same! Last night as we wandered around the Centro District...it was lovely, the buildings were lit and backlit, there were statues and people mingling amongst the vendors, it had a sense of vibrant culture and life BUT...by the light of day...it was another story! Looking out the hotel window this morning we had to laugh as all we could think of was that somehow overnight we'd been transported to a much less desireable location!
We persevered though and once we got rolling the dingy layer that seemed to hang over the District began to lift and over the course of a busy morning...it was all good again.
We started our morning with breakfast (included) at our hotel. From there we decided to head over to the Museo La Venta (or Parque La Venta) which is a combination museum of anthroplogy/zoo/park. While Dorothy followed the yellow brick road we stayed on the path of the little red footprints and wandered our way through the tropical jungle canopy that was dotted with archaological finds from 2500+ years ago. Most of the finds in this region were turned up by the Pemex workers (an oil company). I guess that says a lot about the fact that they're turning over a lot of earth! Villahermosa is the headquarters for Pemex and as we learned on our flight yesterday....there are a lot of guys employed in that industry!
But I digress....so back to the Museo La Venta. The indigenous people in this region were the Olmec and the carvings that were featured in the park were primitive but moving. The park was a wonderful venue to show the pieces to their best and having them located in these jungle surroundings added an air of mystique to the experience. The air was hot and humid, there were tropical birds calling from the trees, monkeys were plentiful and roaming freely, and even though we can't say we enjoyed seeing the jaguar and other animals locked in zoo "cages", we agreed that the $40 pesos we each paid to get into the Park was well worth it! One of the things that will stick with me from the visit to this site was the regular reference to life having started in a cave (often represented by a woman) and that caves were considered to be the connection to the underworld...an interesting angle.
After our tour around the Park we taxied back to our hotel ($35 pesos) to pick up our bags (we'd left them with reception while we went to visit the Park) and then had our cab take us to the ADO terminal (another $35 pesos). ADO is a bus line. There are multiple bus lines here and each of them fills a different need. ADO is one of the more expensive lines but even at that...our ticket to Ciudad del Carmen (3 hours away) was just $252 pesos each (about $25 CAD). That rate was for the ADO gl line...a service that is second only to the Platinum Line. They give you drinks and earphones as you board, there are movies playing, the bus is spotlessly clean and air conditioned, there is a little more room in the seats, and safety/security is paramount. Before climbing about our 2:00 pm bus we hit the local pizzaria (Dominos) for a quick lunch and we were off.
The scenery flew by (well as much as it can fly by when you're travelling just 60-80 km/hr) and the further we went the greener it got. Yards were filled with water, animals (including horses) stood knee deep in water eating the plants that floated on top, banana trees replaced the avocado trees of the west coast, and eventually the Gulf appeared out our windows.
I'm pretty sure Lynda and I were the only two people awake on the bus. There was snoring and a lot of heavy breathing going on from the dark recesses of the back of the bus so I'm sure hoping they were all sleeping! Actually, there weren't very many people on the bus at all...maybe 15 or 20 at most.
The final few minutes of our trip into Ciudad del Carmen was across a bridge that is the longest span in all of Mexico and an engineering feat they're very proud of. It was built about 30 years ago and is still something to marvel at!
Arrival at the ADO terminal here resulted in meeting our new friend Luis who has perfect English - 101% according to him. So we took advantage of his language proficiency and had a one hour tour of the town. It was great to get the lay of the land from a vehicle and to have someone who was able to explain what some things were, where the oldest part of the city is, which areas of town are best to stay in, etc. In the end, we located the Hotel Del Parque right on the waterfront and settled in. Great room BUT Gail and Darlene you will appreciate what we might have uttered when we were faced with more stairs! The good news is that we're on the first floor BUT the bad news is that there are 25 stairs to get there.
Our hotel is across the street from a park where there is entertainment beginning at dusk, it's around the corner from several coffee shops, its at the end of a pedestrian road that borders two more parks/zocalos where there are fountains, a cathedral, lots of people, music, and vendors wandering throughout the evening. We spent a couple of hours tonight being two of those people and were amazed at how many men there are here. On top of that...they were all taking photos of the fountains and themselves in front of the fountains! The water was lovely as there were lights and the spray was timed to coincide with the music that was playing over the speakers. (Bryan Adams, BeeGees, Michael Jackson, etc) but...it was odd to see so many men taking photos of something pretty like that. Our guess is that they're all workers missing their families and sending home a photo of the town where they work.
We also stumbled upon a free show in the Cultural Centre. As luck would have it we are here right in the middle of a cultural festival so all the performances are free and we plan to take advantage of the one tomorrow night too. Tonight's show featured a clown and the theatre is really modern and comfortable.
Tonight we also found a vendor selling chichorones on the street so we had that for dinner and also purchased some kind of brandied plums from her for dessert. Our second dessert was some icecream from another shop...yep...not gonna go hungry here!
Came back to the hotel in time to sign into a meeting via facetime back at home but alas...the wifi signal in our room was not strong enough and by the time we'd changed rooms it was too late for me to sign in to my meeting. On the upside...missing the meeting means that there is time for another margarita (in true Mexican fashion) LOL!
We're here in Ciudad del Carmen for two nights and then are off to somewhere smaller. Still wondering if we're going to see anything that resembles a beach you'd want to swim at along the Gulf. So far...nothing like that at all! Just ships and jungle and a lot of brown water.
Hasta luego,
L & L
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