Saturday, March 17, 2012

Howling Good Time

The Howler Monkeys were really having a great time at Palenque! They start up at dusk and have great conversations across the treetops. Individually they sound like a hoarse dog bark but add them all together and it is something between a lion’s roar and the sound of heavy traffic. Very hard to describe, you have to hear it. Now there is an idea! All of you come to the Mayabell in Palenque and listen to the monkeys!


We got away fairly early this morning. We were supposed to leave yesterday but we got tangled up with a great couple of real estate salesmen from Chico, CA and some beer and tequila and etc., etc.. We did not feel like driving the next morning!


The road to Villahermosa was not very good. Lots of construction, dirt and gravel.  Once again we drove straight down the highway through Villahermosa. We have been told this is illegal for dual wheel vehicles. We are supposed to use the periferico which is in really bad shape and would take at least an hour instead of the fifteen minutes on the highway.
About an hour out of Villahermosa, traffic ground to a halt, moving slowly in a single lane. We soon saw the problem. A tractor pulling two huge trailers of Tecate beer had overturned in the median! Thousands of cases of bottled beer had dumped and were being picked up and stacked while two wreckers were trying to pull the truck and trailers out of the ditch. They stopped traffic for this and we were at the front of the line to watch the show.
This set us back a good hour so we did not make it as far as we had hoped. This is the stretch where our Alaskan friends were hijacked a couple of weeks ago but this being yet another holiday in Mexico, the road is very busy, not a good time for pistol packing banditos.


We are stopped in a busy Pemex station that is open all night. It is well lit and well used so we will be safe here. It is 99F so the generator is running and the A/C is trying to cool us down. There is a restaurant here that we will try soon. We will tip the guard when he shows up. Life is good!

Map picture

2 comments:

  1. We overnighted in Durango RV Resort - Red Bluff, CA - very near Chico. Your happy hour friends likely appreciated the much warmer temperatures where you are than the early morning 34 degrees when I woke up today.

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  2. Croft -- At least you got something for your hangover troubles, i.e., a good night out. I was reading MexicoKid's (Les) blog and, at first blush, it seems that he may have gotten food poisoning. He's having a terrible time and wants to get back on the road Monday. Hope he stays put awhile so that he can get re-hydrated and, if necessary, get some medical assistance. When you get older, it's hard to take the hangovers, stomach problems, and dehydration. Take care and enjoy your trip back.

    Dee from South Carolina

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