Mexico's Armpit

Greetings from Tapachula, the southern-most city in Mexico, and one which could quite possibly be the armpit of the country. I had no desire to spend any time in this border town but due to the way the bus schedules are arranged I missed my bus for Guatemala by an half hour and now I’m forced to spend an entire day here.

I went for a walk around this big, dirty border town and saw everything it has to offer in about two hours. Just my luck, the main attraction, which is an archaeological museum was closed for renovations. Other than that the town has nothing to really offer except its services as a transportation hub. One cool site to see, which is not actually accessed from the city, is the big volcano which overlooks the entire town. Volcan Tacana is the first of a series of volcanoes found throughout Central America, a geographic feature which I’d like to explore further south.

What a change from the past week spent on the beach and in a fabulous resort town. For the first time in a long while I have caught myself trying to kill time. I know it sounds bad but I want out of this city fast. At least my hotel room is nice. I’ve spent the better part of the day there planning what sites I’m going to see when I get to Guatemala City early tomorrow afternoon. If all goes as planned with Maya Expeditions I’ll get to paddle a new river in a new country on Saturday – that being the Cahabon River in the Guatemalan Highlands. I’m really excited to be moving on but I have already caught myself feeling very lonesome. It’s a huge change going from three months of constant camaraderie with two dozen others to travelling alone.