Once again we were travelling through another agricultural area filled with many farms and sugar cane operations. We were astounded by the multitude of colours are trees along the route as well. There were beautiful vibrant yellow blossoms on some while others were purple and some pink.
The meadows and farmlands gave way to an interesting area which was like driving through a green tunnel of trees before rising to some unbelievable mountain passes. Well, the secondary highways I was talking about in a previous post, I can truly say with first hand experience, that their reputation lives on. Although the scenery is unbelievable, it took both of our sets of eyes to make sure we did not drive into some of the potholes which could have swallowed a small European country.
And then the Topes (speed bumps)! At most of the Topes on this route there were young children and women trying to stop the cars to sell various fruits, tortillas, and other baked goods which are traditional Mayan foods. It was a little daunting when some of the children held vines across the road to force you to stop. It was very sad to see as it was obvious the area was extremely poor. I just hope those little ones are not hurt as a result of their aggressive behaviour. This is truly one of the saddest moments we have experienced so far on our travels.
We proceeded on the secondary highway and passed through a number of other small villages without any more incidents, yet the farther we went, the more Topes we passed over. Some of the Topes are legitimate ones, placed by the state to control speed, but others have been placed by residents who set up their stands of food and other items for sale beside them so there is a better chance you might buy something when slowing down for the speed bump.
After a long day of travel and what seemed to be 10,000 Topes according to Mic who did all the driving, we arrived at our next stopping point which was Camitan De Dominguez. We had booked a hotel which was advertised to be dog friendly. However, upon our arrival, we discovered it was on a central square in the town with no access from the road, or areas to walk the dogs. Which brings me to today's tip.
When travelling with dogs throughout Mexico and Central America, book your pet friendly hotels in advance, even if it is just the night before. There are not as many pet friendly facilities in Mexico and Central America as are available in North America, so it can be a bit of a challenge to find a suitable hotel as they book up quickly. We have been trying to find hotels on the outskirts of the bigger centres, and sometimes that works, but then other times there is nothing outside of the city centre.
After discovering the challenges with our hotel we had reserved, we immediately messaged them to cancel with no problem at all. With a little bit of searching we found a nice small hotel with a secured parking area and a beautiful little garden to walk Paige, Willy and Molly. Our host at Laurelis Hotel was Mario who was more than happy to see to our needs and even ordered some dinner for us since my Spanish is not quite good enough to order yet. He was also extremely excited as he had heard Canadians were nice and he had never met one before - two in one meeting.
We were settled in for the evening and Mario was back first thing in the morning to see us on our way. Anyone who says Mexicans are not hard working people, have not met the ones we have. Adios Mexico, it has been a slice!
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