Thriller

Tuxpam – Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico

A dizzying day. 

Amazing mountain riding. Little villages overlooking green valleys. Not one, but two Day of the Dead festivals. VIP treatment and a promotional video for Papantla – the vibrant town we’re in now. Another fantástico airbnb – providing a whole new view of how Mexicans live. And, oh yeah, a Michael Jackson tribute concert that gave us yet another lens on Mexico and Mexican culture.

There was some serious humidity though. Probably something we’ll need to get used to for the next – oh, I don’t know – several thousand miles . . .

The morning started with a “shortcut” ride on a Mexican toll road. We had been avoiding these roads because (a) the driving-no-highways version of Google Maps that we use avoids them, and (b) we thought they might be pretty dangerous. But when faced with the choice between a much shorter “adventure” route over the mountains – on roads that would be, at best, a mix of pavement and dirt – and a much longer – almost double the distance – paved route that went way out of the way – we looked into the toll road idea. Turns out that you can ride on the toll roads – and while they are not necessarily as scenic, and they generally avoid towns and villages – they have a huge shoulder with good pavement and not much traffic. A good combination if you want to get someplace . . .

And good to know . . .

The next section of road was one of those top-ten-rides-ever type of routes. Big, but rideable, ascents, with incredible mountain views the whole way and a super cute mountain village carved into the hillside at the top. The humidity was a bit rough – but wow! Fun riding.

Side note. After a few thousand miles of riding we are finally in a place where you can at least occasionally pick fruit from the trees along the road. Thank goodness. One of my great joys in life . . .

From there we were on okay roads that you just had to get through. First stop: Poza Rica – a town that we had considered staying in because it is also pretty close to El Tajin – our destination today. Poza Rica had its big Day of the Dead festival going on and we walked around for a while – but this was still in the heat of the afternoon and our heart wasn’t in it. Plus, as it turns out, Poza Rica just doesn’t seem as nice as Tuxpam or, as we would discover later, Papantla.

Onward. 

Quite an effort to get to this mountain town and cultural center – with several big passes to negotiate in the drenching heat – but totally worth it. 

As we rode into the town we were greeted by a giant statue honoring the area’s Mayan past.

From there we headed past a series of impressive smaller statues. (Sorry, no pictures – we were to eager to arrive at the airbnb and a shower . . .) And then it was down into town.

The airbnb is amazing. Much different from the last place. It feels like a flat you might find in Spain. Completely finished. Completely indoors. Probably a 2,000 square foot apartment with three bedrooms, a beautiful living room (like your grandmother’s place – elegant, with covered furniture), a big dining room where you can imagine that big family gatherings took place over the years, and a nice little kitchen. Oh, and with a big communal garage space and some nice common space.  All for $55 per night. Which just seems so crazy. But demonstrates, I think, how cash strapped this economy is.

After collecting ourselves a bit post-ride we headed out for the festival. The town itself is kind of like San Francisco or Duluth – with steep hills to negotiate. So much vitality. Butcher’s shops. Bakeries (we’re not huge fans of Mexican baking – especially Diana – but then, she has high baking standards . . .). Tacquerias. Fruit and vegetable stands. Lots of cell phone stores (in today’s world, it seems that no matter your economic status you have a cell phone – it’s funny how quickly the world changes . . .).

Okay, so literally within two minutes of arriving at the main square where the festival was centered we were greeted by two young men who apparently had the job of finding people like us – who had come from out of town to enjoy the Day of the Dead. 

I guess we’re pretty obvious. Gringo guy with Chino girl (For some reason we pretty much have to tell everyone we meet that we’re married – “Mi esposa” I say, pointing at Diana. I guess they can’t believe that I landed such a hot wife . . .). I don’t think there are a lot of Gringo-Chino couples in Papantla . . . so we were an easy find.

The next thing we know we are introduced to Gaudencio, who seems to be the official town greeter. Gaudencio is very excited. He has us sign a big poster-thing that is only for VIP types. And then he asks if we would be willing to do a promotional video for the town. We’ve been in Papantla for an hour and we are already spokespeople for the place. Fun!

And then the evening. Several Mexican rappers, a Mexican heavy metal band that was every bit as harsh as your average American garage band, and then Joe Jackson – a top-notch entertainer who does an amazing tribute to Michael Jackson. 

The songs were great. The dancing was inspired – complete with the moonwalk and all Michael’s moves. But this was not just a paint-by-the-numbers show. Joe talked to and played to the audience in a big way. He sang a number of children’s songs that we didn’t know, but that everyone in the audience – especially those with little kids – clearly knew and sang along with. 

After a while I almost started to feel uncomfortable – like this was the town’s private event and we were interlopers taking up space that should more rightly go to a local family. But then again, we are spokespersons for the town now – so we are kind of honorary locals . . .

Once the show was done Joe, the entertainer, MCed a costume contest – with a thousand pesos at stake (the cool thing about having devalued currency like the peso is that you can give out a thousand – and it sounds like a lot). They brought about 20 young people out in their various costumes – and they did not rush it. Each kid had multiple opportunities to show off their get-up, dance, or do whatever they wanted to do to show why they should win. 

More evidence of how important kids and family are in Mexico. And, by the way, all this didn’t finish until well after 10:30 – with no signs of people rushing their kids off to bed. Clearly a different place from that perspective. My sense is that relates to how wonderful the evenings are compared to how oppressively hot the afternoons can be. Why not take a siesta by day and enjoy the perfect weather at night?

Well, Diana and I are not Mexican children – so we did rush off to bed. We were tired after such a thrilling day. 

One note I wanted to include . . . When our girls were young – like 3 and 5 – Diana decided it would be a good idea to share one of her favorite videos with them: Thriller. The girls were up all night crying about zombies. I have never stopped giving Diana a hard time about this . . . But maybe she was vindicated tonight. The tribute finished with a full-on zombie version of Michael’s great song. And no one in the audience seemed the least bit worried about the effects on their children . . .

Tomorrow (really today by the time I’m writing and sending this): El Tajin – a World Heritage archeological site.