As we wind our way North, back up the Pacific coast, our first stop in Mexico is Puerto Chiapas, a “purpose built” port (according to the guest lecturer aboard). As we dock, it sure does seem purpose built – there isn’t anything around here at all – but the port boasts a large outdoor restaurant type facility with a pool. Oh the crew will be loving life here later today!
The second thing we notice is the heat. Oh my! It is brutally hot already at 8 in the morning. Phew. Today, we have planned a very easy day. There is a shuttle here in port to take us to Tapachula, which, by all accounts is a “real” Mexican town. And by “real,” we mean a true working, average, every day Mexican town – not a touristy type area. Ed has found a great restaurant for lunch, so we are going to wander around a bit, have lunch, then head back to the ship. Easy.
Once off the ship, we navigate through a little mall type area and find the shuttle ticket stand right out side. We buy our tickets and the girls tell us it will be about 30 or 45 minutes. Oh well, didn’t time this all that well, but again, we’ve got nothing really to do. A big bus arrives and fills up. We think we will make it, but nope. We’re 6 back in line. Bummer. But in only about 5 minutes, a small van shows up. But unfortunately, we are #11 and #12 for a 10 person van. Drats. However, one of the ladies in front of us refuses to get on the “little bus,” she only wants a “big bus.” Works for us – we don’t care – so she steps out of line – and on we go.
The drive into town takes about 45 minutes – and is fairly unremarkable. Farmland and little houses and stores along the road. Tapachula is – as advertised – a real Mexican town. We are dropped off in the middle of the town by the Parque Hidalgo, which is the central square. We make sure we find landmarks to assure we can get back to the bus drop off, then head into the square, where they are having an assembly of all the school children. Different groups are performing on stage, and they are adorable. We stand and watch a group of 5 or 6 year olds singing, before we meander over to the San Agustin Church and Cultural Center for pictures.
They are beautiful grand old neoclassical buildings. Very pretty across from the square. The rest of the city has a more traditional city feel, with the usual buildings – retail on the bottom, possible residential on the top. We stroll down a few streets, and then on a whim, wander through a little market where I actually find some clip-on sunglasses. I was devastated when my prescription sun glasses went flying off the balcony as we were leaving Puerto Quetzal. Such a dumb move. I was resigned to having to either put my regular sunglasses on over my glasses, or just keep taking them on and off. A pain, but what can you do? I was so relieved when we found these things – and only $4 (probably could have negotiated harder, but who cares? I needed them!) . Not the best look in the world, but a whole lot better than not being able to see.
So, that crisis handled, we walked further into town, aiming for our chosen restaurant. It was way too early to eat though, so after a few blocks we decided to just sit and have a beer. It was so brutally hot, that just walking a block or two was draining.
We chose a cute little restaurant called el Tiburon – The Shark. The interior was – as you’d expect – a nautical theme with a great fountain right in the middle of the dining area. Unfortunately – not air conditioned, but at least it was out of the direct sunlight. So we hung out for a bit and drank Modela and ate chips and this great little seafood soup they served us – for free! Bargain. Gotta love real local Mexican towns!
We wasted as much time there as we could, then continued our trek up to La Jefa (the boss) restaurant. We detoured to the Bicentenary Park where more children were performing. Then on to La Jefa. Unfortunately we were still too early, so we loitered about the street for about 10 minutes. It was so hot, I took out the umbrella and played “Japanese” using it to block the sun and mitigate some of the heat. The gate was pulled half down on the door, but they were busily prepping inside. We finally walked over and asked if they were open – and they waved us in.
It is a very cute little place. One large open room with lots of tables and chairs. Rustic with great signs and posters. We got the menu, which appeared to be all small bites. No one spoke any English though – so we were left to decipher everything ourselves. We ordered our beers and hung out for a bit, trying to translate the menu. A server came over and asked about a combo platter – but he said it was for 4 persons. Ok. We understood that. But that’s where it ended! When we ordered 2 different taco selections, he tried to tell us something, pointing to another section of the menu. But we couldn’t figure it out. So after long pauses and hiccups and misunderstandings, he finally just shook his head and placed our order.
The tacos were great – one was a carne asado and another a pork – both excellent. We hung out for a bit, then ordered another beer when the owner came over and started chatting with us. He grew up in the states, moved back here started this restaurant where you get a free plate of food with every beverage ordered. Ahhhhh…so now we know what the server was trying to tell us. That instead of ordering the big plate of tacos, we could have had free ones with our beer. Now we get it! So we laughed about it and ended up getting another couple of free plates of food with our 2nd beers. Too funny.
We were stuffed and relaxed, but knew we had to venture back out into the heat to get back to the shuttle. So we said our farewells and made the grueling walk (still not any cooler) back to the main square to stand in line for the shuttle. We, once again, didn’t get on the first shuttle, but we were the first in line for the next one and got the primo up front seats. With marvelous A/C blowing right at us. Phew.
The drive back took quite a while, navigating through the traffic in town, but we were finally deposited back onto the pier and we thankfully climbed aboard to remain in the A/C for the rest of the day.
Very fun and relaxing day – but we were definitely looking forward to moving further north and more comfortable temperatures.
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