Eyipantla Falls

Waterfall
October 16th, 1:00 PM
North: 18.384960
West: 95.207756

by FERENC IVANICS
We have one goal only: to get home! In the meantime we try to complement each other, to hold ourselves together. This is what serenity means to us. Our economic possibilities are limited. Serenity and moderation. Spectacles are irrelevant in this mission. We pass by them when they are on, or near the way. Sometimes I just feel it wasn’t worth it... we lost a day or we ended up dog tired, it had been too much of a hassle.


To see the Eyipantla waterfall we had to take a five mile detour, that was O.K. This is the first major waterfall we’ve been able to set our eyes on. A pretty strong one, it wasn’t easy to take pictures due to the drifting and flying water drops. It was a real camera killer.


Seen in the movie called Apocalypto, it is a real spectacle. The entry is half a buck a piece. We enjoyed the perspective, but not the sight of the nearby cornfield and the garbage that builds up at the bottom of the falls. Anyways, as you can see, it was nice.

Record Setting Cigars

Puros Santa Clara
October 15th, 5:45 PM
North: 18.453252
West: 95.217583

by FERENC IVANICS
Smoking with moderation is a habit of ours, not a frequent one, though. But this tropical climate is perfect for tobacco cultivation. That means, there are some internationally known cigars made here in Mexico as well. In San Andrés de Tuxtla we found an open cigar factory. We were allowed to wonder around and take pictures.


They are mentioned in the Book of Guinness World Records, they make the longest commercially available cigar. We thought about smoking one that was smaller, but they don’t sell smaller cigars by piece, and the larger ones cost some 6-7 bucks. Out of our reach, 6-7 bucks cover a lunch for both of us. No cigars today.

Poorness

Casa de Manuel
October 13th, 8:20 PM
North: 18.625796
West: 95.510191

by FERENC IVANICS
Manuel was a simple, poor and kind host for us. He’s unemployed and lives in really humble conditions. He shared his humble food and let us camp in his yard and use his simple bathroom; and had a chat with us...

“Hey, Manuel. How’s this thing with the poorness in Mexico. We’ve heard people complaining about how poor they were so many times here. But three-third of the population looks pretty overweight.”

“Well, the problem is that most of us cannot really appreciate what we have. Nothing is enough, though we have almost everything here.”

I’ve been expecting that answer for a while now. And a Mexican fellow answered me: he’s poor, but he always has food on the table. (And he cultivates some extremely hot chillies in his garden, dammit.)


We came to realize how rich we were at home in the Sahara Desert. In black Africa people are really poor. Here, in Mexico poor means another stuff: “Don’t have means to buy the latest smartphone, LED-TV, game console or fashion.” It’s really grotesque to hear obese locals complain about how poor they are. (Just on a side note: Manuel’s neighbor breeds fighting roosters. Who knows, a proud death might be better than living in an industrialized farm...)

Walk-a-ton

by FERENC IVANICS
István “eats” the heel of his shoes in a relatively short time. The black rubber cover has been almost worn off of his pair. We don’t have enough money to buy new shoes, and it’s been too little time for a new pair. We bought them a month or two ago. We had to fix them. We found a thrown-away slippers-tread on the path; and bought some screws. You see the result on these photos. It’s been working, so far.

Tooth Fairy, Away!

by FERENC IVANICS
My tooth broke off. The false tooth, the one I managed to get replaced in Spain (and had lost in the Sahara).


What can you do... the life-span of these acrylic teeth is short. It’s pretty uncomfortable, not only because I look scary, but it’s hard to eat without it. So, I had no other option, in the small town of Cardel I bought a new replacement. Since we’re on a low budget mission here, there was no money to buy a ceramic tooth, I’m wearing an acrylic one again, valued 40 bucks here. As we’re almost broke again, I wasn’t really happy about it. I guess it’s hard to deny, our smile on the picture is not wholehearted.