04-14-2007
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#221 (permalink) |
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añejo
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Playa...now Iowa
Posts: 2,888
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Day 5 Rayon-Cuidad del Carmen: Our American Day
I don't think any of us minded getting up super early. We were on the road before 7am. We wanted to get out of the mountains and out of the hotel! Actually, the hotel was fine and I think we all slept okay (I think we might be getting used to the roosters, dogs, pigs, and other strange noises by now!). I know that it's only day 5, but we have covered a lot of miles, seen so many interesting things, and packed our days and nights full. It seems like we have been gone for a couple of weeks!
A couple of sightings along the road:   We drove through zillions of small towns (although I doubt most of them are large enough to be classified as towns). Some have a church, school, zocolo, and a few stores and/or restaurants. Many are just a few small houses. Maybe Susie mentioned it, but in many of these areas the people wear a certain color. I can't find a picture to show it, but the women wore their normal black wool skirts and white tops and then had a sash or wrap or something in a certain color. I guess it symbolizes which village they are from. It was pretty interesting to see the different colors as we passed through. We continue on the twisty, turny roads. There isn't much to see for awhile and we are hungry! Finally we reach Teapa which is marked on the map, so we assume it must have some breakfast. We drive through town, passing numerous taco stands, carts, and chickens being grilled on the side of the road. Never before in my life have I been tired of tacos, but today we all are! We park at the zocolo and a lady directs us to a restaurant across the street. Wow! They have a menu and things other than eggs for breakfast! I have pancakes and Susie and Rick have molettes again. These were much better than what we had in San Cristobal. Oh, Susie and I share plantains with cream and cheese. Yummy!!    After eating our breakfast we check out the church and the zocolo.     We are finally out of the mountains!! I've never been more excited to see straight roads. I'm sure Rick feels the same. More sites along the road as we drive up the gulf: (banana trees)          We decide to check out Cuidad del Carmen since it's a pretty big spot on the map. I guess we drove 7-8 hours and we were ready for a break. At some point (maybe when we checked into the last hotel) Susie had the great idea of splurging for the next hotel. While I'm not normally a huge fan of big chain hotels or restaurants, we couldn't get to the Holiday Inn fast enough when we saw the sign! We were like kids in a candy store! The room was really nice and we quickly made our way to the pool and ordered a pretty typical American meal and rum and cokes. I had a club sandwich, Susie some kind of sub, and Rick a BLT. Yummy! We continued the pampering and "American day" by eating at Bennigans (not very good though). We we thrilled to sleep in clean, comfy beds. I didn't hear one rooster or dog and we did not get out of bed at 6am again!      
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04-14-2007
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#222 (permalink) |
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añejo
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Playa...now Iowa
Posts: 2,888
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Oh, I forgot something. In Villahermosa a drink called pazole is very popular (I think that's how it's spelled). Someone told us we had to try it. While Susie and Rick looked at a map, I jumped out at a pazole stand. I asked about it and found out if was a chocolate masa drink. I guess I looked concerned, so the lady stuck a straw in her cup for me to try. Ugh! I apologized, but changed my order! They laughed at my face...I guess it was obvious that I didn't like it. It was very gritty (the masa). I'm sure it would've been better with more sugar (the lady said she prefers hers without sugar). They were very nice and I left with my normal agua de melon.
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04-14-2007
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#224 (permalink) |
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añejo
 Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Playa del Carmen
Posts: 22,454
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We had a choice once we hit Villahermosa - head east towards Chetumal (the way we came) or go north towards Merida and kick over to Cancun on the cuota. We chose the former, only because it was another adventure (and the cuota, tho boring, is a much nicer road with no topes)
Speaking of topes....They were everywhere. Big ones. Small ones. Concrete ones. Asphalt ones. Rope ones. Dirt ones. I hate topes. The Big Red Hump hates topes. My back hates topes. It was so great to have a nice room and different food. BLT...mmmmm. And yeah...the Bennigans was a dissapointment - but it wasn't tacos  Ciudad del Carmen doesn't have a whole lot going for it. It's a petroleum town and caters a good bit to the offshore oil workers and Pemex has a huge operation there. But it had a sweet Holiday Inn and for that I will be eternally grateful.  Most definitely our least eventful day but it was good to hit nice roads and relax a bit. |
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04-14-2007
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#225 (permalink) | |
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añejo
 Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 30,889
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Quote:
  Pozole (from Spanish pozole, from Nahuatl potzolli; variant spellings: posole, posolé, pozolé, pozolli, posol) is a traditional pre-Columbian soup or stew made from hominy, with pork (or other meat), chile, and other seasonings and garnish, such as cabbage, lettuce, oregano, cilantro, avocado, radish, lime juice, etc. There are a number of variations on pozole, including blanco (white or clear), verde (green), de frijol (with beans), and elopozole. The story of pozole is obscure, but some believe that the stew originated with the natives of Tonalá, Jalisco. After the arrival of the conquistadores, Tonalá’s legendary queen Cihualpilli threw a banquet in their honor and pozole was served. After the priests found out the secret behind the recipe (human flesh), a decision was made to change the human flesh for pig's. Pozole spread throughout New Spain with variations in different regions according to local tastes. |
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