Tlacotlalpan and Veracruz

On the road between Minatitlan and Veracruz, Lake Catemaco

A brief stop at the colorful town of Tlacotlalpan

And the reason for all the men on horseback...another festival, this one with a running of a bull...

The zocalo, we just made a quick trip around it while the bull was out of sight

On the higway, approaching Veracruz City

We arrived in Veracruz City on the first day of the weeklong Carnaval. This afternoon featured the kids parade.

We drove along the coast road in search of Omar's favorite food in the whole world, Arroz a la Tumbada (a seafood and rice soup) and found it here, at the only open restuarant near the beach. It was good, but sadly not quite as it was remembered :)

Coffee before hitting the road at the Veracruz institution, Gran Cafe de la Parroquia, delicious!

La Venta

La Venta was the site of an Olmec civilization from 900 to 400 BC. The Olmecs are known for their artwork, particularly their colossal heads. All the heads on the site are replicas, placed in the location where they were found. The originals are in several musuems in Mexico. The pyramid here is covered with grass and after 2500 years of erosion still is 34 meters above the flat land.

Omar on top of the pyramid

Tulum

The Mayan ruins of Tulum, less than an hour south of Playa del Carmen

Showing off our hats---it was hot & sunny

Our cabaña in Tulum, right on the sand and we could hear the waves crashing all night.

Omar's view standing in the doorway of our cabaña

The beach was rocky in front our place ...

...but just a short walk down the beach we found a nice sandy spot for sunning and swimming.

Playa del Carmen & Cozumel

An hour and a half south of Cancun is the beautiful Playa del Carmen. More fabulous beach! Several nice pedestrian only streets just off the beach and plenty of cute small restuarants and cafes.

Delicious fish for dinner with the sand under our feet

We took this ferry to Cozumel for the day to go snorkeling.

Cozumel

Cancun

The beach in front our hotel in Cancun (thank you again Hector and Aby!!!). The red flag means its dangerous to swim (and turns out the flag was red the entire four days we were there) so we enjoyed the beach and the views.......and the pool.

It rained for the next few days. This is a flooded street we parked on in the town. Amy (red skirt down the block on the right) is waiting for Omar who waded through the flood to get the car.

And when the sun came out we went swimming at this beach, near our hotel but in a calmer stretch of water.

Isla Mujeres

Beautiful Isla Mujures is a 45 ferry ride from Cancun. Here we stayed in Omar's brother's fabulous timeshare hotel, thank you Hector & Aby! The hotel had to upgrade us from a room to a villa. This is the view from our villa out onto the pool.

It was a 30 minute walk to the beach, here's Amy walking while an iguana watches from the fence.

Gorgeous Playa Norte

This is Garrafon Park at the south end of the island

A small Mayan ruin at the Southern end of the island

The cute little town

Omar bought some fresh fish here for 35 pesos a piece...

...and made us a delicious dinner (with the recipe the woman selling the fish gave him :)