Bumming It

We wanted to be beach bums for a while, so we hopped on the bus from Orizaba to Veracruz – a 2 ½ hour ride that only cost about 10 bucks. The state of Veracruz is gorgeous with its tropical green, especially vibrant during the summer rainy season. The view was wonderful, when I wasn’t distracted by the in-ride feature, “Sahara” (dubbed in Spanish, of course). Our arrival put us five blocks from Hostel Zion, the cheapest rooms I could find on the internet at $15 per night. When we arrived, the Argentinean owner was kind enough to give us the choice of an unfinished room (no air conditioning and a broken window) for $10 a night. We’re cheap, so we took it. Let me tell ya, you get what you pay for – more on that later.

A 20-minute walk from the hostel took us to our bumming paradise. Nothing balmy and tropic like the pictures of Cancun; it was brown and bordered by a main city road, but the sea breeze was a great relief from the July humidity, the beaches had barely any people and the ocean was like bath water. We swam until dusk and then sat on the beach and watched the reflection of the city lights grow bright in the surf. I watched a couple of crabs battle it out for realty on one of the many rock jetties breaking up the long beach. Warm breezes kept us comfortable until 9 when we started looking for dinner and headed back. There were plenty of options on the coast, from McD’s to local seafood. We opted for hamburgers.

As soon as we walked inland, the sea breeze was gone and we were reminded that July is the hottest time of year to be in Veracruz. By the time we got to the hostel, the water in our room wasn’t working (a temporary malfunction common in Mexico) so we took our toiletries and showered in the neighboring room. Only cold water, but no one was complaining. The heat made it impossible to sleep until early morning (despite the provided fan). About 4 a.m. it began to rain on our sorry parade, right through the window and all over Brandon. The whole situation was so pathetic we couldn’t help but laugh. Sleep must have come, because I woke up refreshed around 9:30, just in time to catch the provided breakfast of coffee, juice and cookies. I went to find the free Wi-Fi available in the house (it worked well downstairs) and was thankful for a cheap, albeit adventurous place to keep my head dry at night.