Cruising to Salina Cruz

Today we wandered around Catemaco, the town that hosts Mexico's shaman and witch convention. An interesting little place on a river bank not far from the location where Mel Gibson's Apocolypto was filmed. This is a location of lush jungle and a biosphere reserve.

We later drove to the pacific coast. On our way we came upon a military check point which wanted to search our car. This is the first time we have been searched by the military in over 1700 km of driving in Mexico. All was good.

We have landed in Selina Cruz on the pacific for the night. This is a bustling port town with a couple of alright hotels and an enjoyable little restaurant called Mi Pueblito. We don't much care for the town (it's much like Tuxpan which we disliked also) but we lucked out with food and lodgings. We're only here to eat and sleep tonight, then it's on to the beach towns!

During rush hour we walked Chloe while looking for a place to eat. The busy intersections had no traffic lights at all, although some of them had a policeman directing traffic. Everyone just drove through the intersection or crossed the street where ever they could and whenever the chance arose. It was unlike anything I've seen - cars and people going every which way....for them it's normal, but for us, YIKES!

On one busy street, a small dog jumped up and bared its teeth at Chloe. We hurried past, and ten seconds later, I turned around and there were about twenty dogs trying to catch up to us! We quickly saw an opportunity to cross the busy street before the dogs could reach us. I was happy for the insane traffic then! (Mexican street dogs are very street-wise, and they were smart enough not to follow us onto the road.)

At Mi Pueblito we sat outside and had another incredibly delicious meal with cervezas. We've been careful to drink only bottled water, weary of uncooked, undercooked or any food that has been sitting too long in the sun, and so far we haven't had any tummy trouble. I have read that if you are travelling in Mexico, it's not a matter of 'if' but 'when' you will encounter bad food. At Mi Pueblito I thought I was ordering a vegetarian panzarotti (it was the first time I had seen the word 'Vegetarian' on any menu here!); turns out it was a Panini sandwich with uncooked veggies in it. It was soo good! I'm hoping that the fancy restaurant is a little more careful about food prep than the roadside vendors. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to leave town for the drive to the pacific tomorrow.

p.s. I am posting smaller pictures for convenience...just click on them to view them better. I wish I could edit or crop them first, but I can't.

Chloe's Note: The skinny fleabags keep eyeing me suspiciously everywhere I go. Today a whole gang of them followed me down the street. They looked like a skeleton parade, all ribs and teeth. Maybe it was the "Day of the Dead" fiesta. Anyway, I had to risk life and limb crossing a busy street just to elude the beggers.