Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Tuesday 18th of July
08.19 Christer and of course also myself have woken up at the Hotel Star Express (https://www.hotelesstarexpress.com) in Puebla, a hotel conveniently located right next to the CAPU bus terminal. This is a new departure day. Breakfast smells and sounds enter our room.
09.37 After another tasty breakfast, it is time for us to set off on the short walk to the bus terminal.
10.03 CAPU (Central de Autobuses de Puebla) is a large terminal with several different departments. We are now at the gates for ADO's buses. Even here at the bus station, Mentos have run out. It's a shame, they are good to have on the trip. It's always good to have something to chew on.
10.32 Today we travel as mentioned with the bus company ADO (https://www.ado.com.mx), Autobuses de Oriente. Today's seats are 29 and 30. Passengers and vendors wander back and forth through the bus before departure.
10.51 The bus has driven out of Puebla and we have seen the volcano Matlalcuéyetl, also called La Malinche. It is an inactive volcano that had its last eruption approximately 3100 years ago. Officially, the volcano reaches a height of 4461 meters above sea level. The latest James Bond film is playing on the bus TV.
11.51 James Bond is currently in London and we are getting further from Puebla. The trip is cool and calm. Our surrounding world is green and lush.
12.34 Paquetería Castores is written on two trucks on the other side of the road. We temporarily stand still.
16.21 Using the lift is easy. Using it correctly is sometimes difficult for us. I pressed the button labeled PB. In previous hotels, this has meant the reception floor. It went wrong. We tried with floor 1, wrong again. Christer read the note and pressed the button for floor 3, success. Now we get out of the hotel. It is a prerequisite if we want to see something more here in the city.
18.59 You actually have time to see a city in a few hours, at least the most important parts. Now we will start preparing for tonight's dinner. After two simple Vips dinners during the stay in Puebla and a lunch consisting of baguettes today, we want to treat ourselves to something nicer this evening.
Wednesday 19th of July
Christer gets ready in the room at Hotel Star Express.
Information about the bus we are waiting for.
Landscape northeast of Puebla.
Juice and tasty sandwiches from Ruta Café.
We will have a snack outdoors after arriving in Xalapa.
CAXA - Central de Autobuses de Xalapa.
Peter inside room 521.
Hotel Villa Las Margaritas, a beautiful hotel.
Avenida 20 de Noviembre, Xalapa.
Iglesia del Señor San José, Xalapa.
Café Don Justo, Xalapa.
Christer at Café Don Justo.
The Catedral Metropolitana de la Immaculada Concepción de Xalapa has only one tower.
Parque Juárez has many statues and monuments. Benito Juárez is celebrated right here.
The engineer Agustín Díaz and the god Quetzalcóatl.
Letras Turísticas Xalapa.
Three unknown women are walking in Xalapa.
Parque Juárez, Xalapa.
Peter visits Asadero Cien.
A taxi has stopped outside Hotel Villa Las Margaritas.
08.30 Now we have finally made it. On the trips, we have now slept in towns/cities on all the letters of the alphabet. In addition, we have slept very well here.
08.58 We hear music from downstairs in the restaurant. Right now, R.E.M and "Losing my religion" is playing. That's where we're going, to the restaurant. I wonder if it will be spicy today. After all, we are in the city that gave its name to the jalapeño. 09.46 My fears/hopes about spicy enchiladas did not come true. It was really tasty with enchiladas in tomato sauce. Now we will gather again to travel towards new goals. 10.38 A discreet search for one of the upcoming bus journeys suggests that there are only a few tickets left. It's just as well to book now instead of swearing about idiocy later. 11.08 Now Christer has booked and paid for two more bus trips. It feels good to have everything ready and organized. 11.39 Once back at the CAXA bus station, it was suggested that we set up a base camp and then go one at a time and buy arrival sandwiches from Ruta Café. It is always practical not to have to rush out in search of something to eat when you arrive at a new hotel. 12.14 We went out to the buses and to the one that said Veracruz, the next destination. However, it was not the right bus even though we are going to travel to Veracruz. Christer asked one of the staff and we were directed to another bus with a different final destination, Catemaco. However, this one also stops in Veracruz. 12.56 Our route is a bit bumpy. It's not like there are any big bumps with an even surface, isn't it.
Breakfast in a beautiful setting at Hotel Villa Las Margaritas.
We had enchiladas for breakfast.
A stone head from the Olmec culture is on display at the CAXA bus station.
Our bus passes through the city of Cardel (Ciudad José María Cardel).
We look out from the Hotel Central in Veracruz.
Outside the hotel there is heat and humidity.
13.32 After a short stop, we now leave the city of Cardel with the more official name of Ciudad José María Cardel. We should be about halfway there now. With concern we see tired panting dogs and people who look tired. It must be really hot out there.
13.58 The next hotel and also the sea are getting closer. It sure is really hot today. Lucky that we will be staying right next to the bus terminal when we arrive. 14.16 Our bus enters Veracruz from the east and we have been traveling slowly in slow traffic in a detour around the center. 15.09 We arrived at the ADO bus terminal in Veracruz and only managed to get into the departure lounge which meant we couldn't get out. Just to redo and make it right, go back to the buses and exit another way. Then we walked the short distance to Hotel Central (https://www.hotelcentralveracruz.com). This may be one of the shortest distances between station and accommodation that we have ever had. We were given the key to room 403 and a TV box. However, we can't find anything that starts the AC, something that is necessary to say the least in this heat. Christer has walked down to the reception to ask about this. 15.14 Christer is back without a remote to the AC but with a positive message. They have promised to find one and bring it to us. 15.23 Now we have a remote control that makes the AC beep but doesn't start. Beeping doesn't make it cool. 15.35 Both of us went down and complained. With us up, we got a handy man who, after changing the battery in the box, started the air conditioning. We haven't had any luck with batteries lately. 17.56 It has cooled down in the room and we are making plans for our stay here in Veracruz. We want to make it as varied as possible. The state we are in is called Veracruz and the port city we are in now is colloquially called just puerto, the port. The official name is Heroica Veracruz and the city has 955,226 inhabitants. The city was founded by Hernán Cortés in 1519 in connection with Spain's conquest of Mexico.
We are waiting for our food at Café Central in the hotel's entrance floor.
It is evening in Veracruz.
19.20 After enjoying a number of hotel breakfasts on the trip, we will now try a hotel dinner. We will simply have dinner at Café Central, the hotel's café/restaurant. We do this partly out of convenience and partly because there is a lack of other good restaurants in the immediate area.
21.02 It took some time to get the food, but when we got it, it was good. Before we went up to the room again, we were of course at an OXXO store and bought drinks and other things. While standing in line, an elderly man absolutely wanted my beer. He tried to take it from me, offer to exchange it for his water and nag. I got home with the beer without further incident. 21.36 The Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen report that there is a fire at the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. The fire is said to have occurred in connection with a crowd storming the embassy in protest against an impending Quran and flag burning in Stockholm. 21.58 Now Christer has smoothly booked two bus tickets each and rebooked an upcoming hotel. It is important to think a little ahead so that the journey flows as smoothly as possible.
Thursday 20th of July
08.34 Iraq bans business with Swedish companies and in Berlin a lioness is said to be roaming around. Here in Mexico or at least room 403 at the Hotel Central in Veracruz, not much has happened, not yet anyway.
09.28 Outside on the street, some men push their taxis. Here at Café Central, we have just ordered our breakfasts. 10.03 Another Mexican desayuno is consumed and finished. Closer details about content and taste are of little interest. 10.42 That's it! Now we will set off to see a city but also to see a bay that we have never seen before. However, it is a bay that we and others have heard about many times. We expect heat, sun and that we will sweat a lot. It's supposed to be +33°C today together with a real tropical humidity. 11.01 Calmly and quietly we walk along the street Avenida Salvador Díaz Mirón towards the center. We move calmly so as not to work up an unnecessary amount of sweat. Sometimes we pass shops where we can feel cool, pleasant air pouring out of premises with air conditioning. 11.18 We arrive at Parque Zamora. Here we had intended to take a bench break, but we can't find a good place to sit, partly because park workers are doing some kind of renovation of the park. 11.30 It is warm but not unbearably hot today. Our coffees at The Italian Coffee Company taste great. Here in their branch along the street Independencia, we have paused to cool off for a while.
A spirit materializes next to Christer during breakfast.
In 33-degrees heat, we begin our city walk.
Peter looks fresh before the worst of the heat hits.
The street Independencia leads to the city center.
Palacio Municipal de Veracruz.
Welcome water on a hot day.
12.27 There was a large delivery to the cafe and lots of boxes were brought in. When the delivery was over, we paid for what we had consumed and continued towards the center. Now we are at the small square of the big city, Zócalo de Veracruz. Next to us we have the white cathedral Catedral de Veracruz (Nuestra Señora de la Asunción). Above us, a bird of a species unknown to me is making sounds. Singing can be heard from the cathedral. There seems to be some activity going on in there, possibly a mass. It is quiet and pleasant in the square.
12.36 We have sat down on a bench by a fountain that sprays water in the middle of the street. Christer has made a video and we are seriously considering cooling off in the middle of the splashing water. 12.43 We left the frying pan heat in the square and went to another nearby square, Parque Álvaro Obregón. Here there is a bust of a man (General Álvaro Obregón) and also umbrellas as decoration. 12.52 We have now reached the Gran Plaza del Malecón, the open space that is the start of the promenade along the sea. Here, the city's name is in large letters at the water's edge. It is difficult to photograph because there are always new visitors who want to be photographed by the letters. 13.13 We have continued walking along the sea. The water and the wind is whispering. Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) who was a German geographer and explorer is standing here and I am sitting on an orange bollard. Everything happens with a view of the Gulf of Mexico. 13.29 There are people swimming at the small city beach Playa Regatas. We are on our way to lunch. It is assumed that we find where we intend to go. I'm sweating a lot now. The sea breeze has eased for a while but as soon as we leave contact with the sea the oppressive heat returns in full force.
It is hard to photograph the white cathedral.
Zócalo de Veracruz.
It is tempting to walk straight through the water.
Alvaro Obregón Park, Veracruz.
Faro Venustiano Carranza, Veracruz.
A very popular place to photograph.
13.35 The preconceived lunch restaurant cannot be found. There is a house at the address that may be the restaurant, but we don't see any activity there and we don't want to take a chance and accidentally walk into someone's private home. We are targeting another option later today.
14.05 After a longer walk during which we had sweated about the same amount of liquid as the Gulf of Mexico contains, we began to reach the quarters where our hotel is located. The search for a lunch restaurant continues. We found the perfect restaurant Burgers and Beers which is said to open at 2pm but unfortunately they seem to have closed. Now we're going home. We can sort out food later. 14.19 It is quiet, tidy and above all cool and comfortable in our room. Now I'm sweating in the journal. We really need to fill up on fluids. 16.05 After rest, shower and refilling with liquid, we feel ready to go out again. Are we going out to grab a late lunch or is it an early dinner? 16.48 We need to scan the QR code at the table to get the menu at the restaurant Wing'O (https://www.wingo.mx) a bit from the hotel. After that, we had to order from a waitress based on what we had found. Wouldn't it have been just as good to give us a physical menu right away? 17.45 It was good with hamburgers and above all a large cold beer. It was a challenge to eat big hot hamburgers with your hands. Now we're going to unwind in the room and take it easy.
The Port of Veracruz.
Conagua Veracruz - this is where the state water authority is located.
The Centinela De La Patria monument commemorates the resistance against the American occupation in 1914.
Peter writes in his journal at the Gulf of Mexico.
Alexander von Humboldt visited Veracruz in the early 19th century.
Beach life at Playa Regatas.
19.31 It's been a little more than a day since we arrived here in Veracruz, but it feels longer. We have managed a lot in the past 24 hours. Now we are going out to do wholesale shopping in a supermarket close to the hotel. There will be no more restaurant visits today. We buy something tasty from the supermarket instead.
20.34 The tradition is broken. We have certainly shopped, but not as usual at an OXXO store. Instead, we shopped at the Bodega Aurrera supermarket. We have bought wine and snacks for tonight and breakfast and food for tomorrow morning. In addition, we have invested in a new detergent can. This is plastic and should not break. 21.34 The wine we bought, Marques del Valle, is opened, which was difficult, and decanted, which was easier. What is purchased is grown, pressed and bottled in Baja California, the peninsula in western Mexico. 22.10 For the third trip and for the third country in a row, we have drunk balcony wine. This is the warmest occasion and also the best wine. We also drank wine on the balcony in Cannes, France in January and in Sinaia, Romania in April. Then it was too cold to be really comfortable. 23.08 The day here in Veracruz is coming to an end. Despite sun, heat and a lot of sweating, we have seen large parts of the city on foot and finished with good wine on the balcony. We can feel satisfied. Tomorrow the journey towards the interior begins again.
Peter writes journal notes on a bench at Plaza del Migrante.
Christer is eating a burger at Wing´O.
The restaurant Wing´O.
The purchased wine is prepared.
Time for balcony wine.
Friday 21st of July
07.30 I start the travel journal entries this day with some news from the animal world. The news of a lion on the run near Berlin was fake. It turned out to be a wild boar. Another piece of news is that Ericsson is allowed to continue its operations in Iraq. A bedside breakfast is imminent for us in the room here at Hotel Central.
08.18 Check-out time is getting closer for us. There are indications that it will be hot today as well. The bad news is that it will be even higher temperatures at the destination we will travel to. 08.33 It's good that we stayed so close to the bus terminal. It is far from cool today. The information about upcoming journeys replace each other in a current. Outside the station entrance was a mobile phone salesman who called my attention by saying "Hey you!" He sounded like Tony in Lady and the Tramp. 09.12 So I have done the good deed of the month, week, day or moment. The woman in the seat diagonally in front of me was helped to straighten it. Soon our ADO bus will start to take us from the coast here in Veracruz to the interior. Today we will get about halfway to Oaxaca, the city we hope to reach tomorrow Saturday. 10.46 A Bible verse, Luke 1:26, is painted, written in white on a red wall. We are in the town of Tierra Blanca and the trip is going well so far. 12.05 Our bus is kindly waiting for its turn to go over the Puente Caracol (Snail Bridge). The bridge crosses the Tonto River and is also the border between the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca. 12.29 It was a farewell to the fellow passengers when we got off the bus at ADO's small bus terminal in San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec, usually abbreviated to just Tuxtepec. Before the upcoming hotel check-in, we are at the small Café Chalalá to drink coffee.
We are waiting at the ADO Veracruz terminal.
Many ADO buses to choose from.
We travel through lush greenery.
We cross the Puente Caracol (Snail Bridge).
A rabbit welcomes us to Tuxtepec.
Google Maps helped us find this cafe.
12.49 This was a really wonderful little café in the center of the city. It was a nice place, good selection, fast service and good coffee. Also, the owner spoke English and welcomed us with a smile. Now we will find our future home here in the city.
13.11 Hotel Sacre is shy with its sign. Anyway, we found the hotel. You have to look inside the hotel building to see the name of the hotel. I don't know if the counter was high or if the check-in lady was sitting low. She was barely visible. At first we thought the reception was unmanned. After a remark, Christer had to pay in cash. Today we stay in room nineteen. 14.13 There is no panic to go out and see our latest hometown. We are not tired or in need of rest. Sometimes it's nice to mostly take it easy and besides, there's really nothing to see here. We stay here because it is halfway between Veracruz and Oaxaca and we want to avoid taking the night bus. 15.24 We are thinking about how to manage our time here in the city. There aren't many obvious sights, but we have to do something more than sit here in the room. It's +35°C out there so whatever we do we have to do it very slowly. 16.01 We have read online that a large dog, a Great Dane, will be here at the hotel. According to the reviews of the hotel, it barks non-stop and some have found it unpleasant. We haven't seen it but we think it's the one we're hearing barking at the moment. 16.12 Now we are out in the heat again. San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec (Tuxtepec) is the second largest city in the state of Oaxaca and has 159,452 inhabitants. Tuxtepec means "Rabbit Hill" in the local Nahuatl language. Therefore, we also saw a sculpture of a rabbit when we entered the city.
Christer at Café Chalalá.
The coffee we longed for.
We have targeted the Hotel Sacre.
We have moved into room 19 at Hotel Sacre.
View from our hotel room.
The city's name is found in Parque Benito Juárez.
16.25 In the afternoon heat, we first went north to investigate some possible places to eat. However, it was closed right now and it is questionable if we want to go here again to see if they open later today. Now we have just been to an OXXO store to cool off a bit. Christer has also bought a drink and an ice cream.
17.47 On uneven pavements, we have made our way more centrally in the city. Eventually we reached Parque Benito Juárez which is as central as you can get. At the square are the city's name in capital letters, a town hall and a cathedral. There is also a Café Bistro here. In this cozy little restaurant, it will be the house's hamburgers and beer in the form of Modelo Amber. 18.04 No big hamburgers or, for that matter, big beers were served. However, the main thing is that we were full and quenched the growing thirst. 19.05 In the glow of the sunset with the sun in our eyes, we went almost straight home to Hotel Sacre. There was of course a stop at one of the city's OXXO to have drinks and other things in the room. We have also purchased provisions for the bus journey tomorrow. Now we're going to cool off and unwind. 20.45 We have filled up with the necessary liquids. Tomorrow we should take better care of ourselves. We know we shouldn't be careless with our diet, but sometimes there are forces that fight against our common sense. Here in Tuxtepec, a contributing factor is the lack of restaurants, at least in the center. 22.30 We watch a bit of TV. As usual, CNN reports on a little bit of each without going into anything deeper about what is being covered. 23.25 Good night from Tuxtepec. It will be nice to travel to higher altitude again tomorrow and avoid this heat which is really wearing us down.
Benito Juárez is honoured in the square that bears his name.
Peter is having a simple dinner at Café Bistro.
The City Hall of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec.
You can see 44 photos from July 18 in this photoalbum.
You can see 16 photos from July 19 in this photoalbum.
You can see 54 photos from July 20 in this photoalbum.
You can see 20 photos from July 21 in this photoalbum.