Mexico

Boca Del Rio is the glitzy, upmarket beach district about 0.5 hours south of Veracruz. Those who don't mind parting with some serious pesos may choose to stay in one of the resorts down here; I, on the other hand, stayed in Veracruz, and caught the cheap and frequent bus service there and back.

My accommodation in Veracruz, Hotel Amparo, was a pretty basic, budget lodging. When I was first shown to my room, I noticed that there was no shower in the bathroom. I just assumed that in Mexico, if you stay somewhere dodgy enough, you shouldn't expect to have a shower available. But it turns out that I should have underestimated a bit less, and observed a bit more.

The Xalapa to Veracruz route is fairly short (about 2 hours), and there are buses servicing it very frequently. When I got the bus, at 2pm, they were running every 15 minutes. Not bad.

Tried charging my phone and my camera this morning. When I plugged them in, I got an error message on the screen saying "not charging". Huh? Clearly, the devices were getting some power, but only enough to realise that they weren't getting enough, and to tell me as much.

After dinner, Steve and I went out for a stroll, in search of some more good Xalapa bars. Apart from La Chiva, which we already visited last night, we couldn't find anywhere else to hang out and have a beer. And this is Friday night, for heaven's sake! Where are all the bars in Xalapa?

This chunky lady was on display in a special exhibition of modern ceramic artwork, at the Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa. Not only is this señora large and naked; she's also looking down over her shoulder, and examining her behind with a mirror!

Xalapa is home to one of Mexico's largest museums of anthropology. After a radioactive lunch, Mauricio and Lachlan took Steve and myself to this museum, and we thoroughly explored this amazing place.

Mauricio and Lachlan took Steve and myself out for lunch, to have some moles. The moles themselves weren't that spicy, but they came with something on the side that was, as Lachlan said, "bloody radioactive". It was some kind of chili, and although it looked like grated carrot, it felt like a weapon of mass destruction inside my mouth.

How I managed to meet Mauricio (and, in turn, Lachlan) was another case of fate being mi mejor amigo. A few days ago, a guy called Antonio Ognio, in Peru, emailed me with a Drupal support query. When I emailed him back and told him I was in Mexico, he said that I had to visit his FOSS friend Mauricio, if I was going to be in Xalapa. Well, it just so turns out that here I am in Xalapa!

This is a great little bar in the middle of Xalapa, just down the road from Hostal de la Niebla. It offers cheap beers, great music, and regular intense games of chess.