Tampico and Madera

The journey by a night bus to Tampico was comfortable. There were only 3 other people and the bus did not have any stops. It was a very different experience than my last bus travels in Nepal and in India. The very luxury first class bus from Monterrey to Tampico cost 390 pesos and lasted 7 hours. Fromthe bus station I took a taxi to Playa Miramar and went looking for some cheap accommodation near the beach. Beach and hotels looked pretty deserted and I was hoping that prices will be lower. In the hotel Miramar they wanted 860 pesos for single room. Close to the beach I found cheap accommodation - room with shower for 150 pesos . Owner's son ran the next door Internet café, and therefor I had free wireless connection in my room The beach was almost empty and the sea warm and so I could finally rest. I became friend with the son of the owner. His name is Ivan, he is 23 years and operates two Internet cafes. During a week he is teaching English and mathematics at primary school. His girlfriend has recently left to Atlanta. He processed a U.S. visa so that he could go to see her. Unfortunately, despite the fact that he has a job and is well secured he did not get the visa. They told him he must be employed longer. Well this is the "American freedom". Ivan's wish is to be loved and he does not see a very good future of Mexico. Close to the hotel where I lived is the biggest Mexican oil refinery. Looking at the burning towers, I felt almost at my home in Kralupy, but the smell was a bit stronger. It surprised me that Mexico is the fourth largest oil producer in the world. This is probably the main reason why Mexico's ecological footprint is 3.8 global hectares per 1 inhabitant (1.5 planets), although nearly half of the population is still considered by UN standards very poor. In the Internet cafe I met two Hungarian brother who are walking around the world. The have been walking for 2 years and they are planing to walk four more years. They are sleeping in a tent and every day they walk about 30 km. They passed through Europe, West Africa, USA and now they are heading from Mexico to Chile. Their journey can be monitored at http://worldwalk-peacetour.info. Ivan wanted to make me happy so he took me to the only "vegetarian" restaurant " in Tampico called Carrots ensaladas. They had different kinds of salads, but as it turned out, in my pasta was hidden ham. Being a vegetarian in Mexico would not be so simple as I thought. On the way back we stopped at the lake where I could see many crocodiles, but apparently people do not get eat too often. On Sunday afternoon, Eliza came from Monterrey and I was glad to have my interpreter again. My communication in Spanish is still nearly zero, and not too many people speak English. Close to the hotel we found small restaurant, where they had good tortillas with cheese and rice. The next day they even made some cooked vegetables. On Monday Eliza went back to Monterrey, and I took the night bus to Verecruz to celebrate the 199 years, Mexico's independence.