Isla Aguada to Villahermosa

We got a late start from Isla Aguada this morning after having breakfast at the restaurant and saying goodbye to the excellent staff. It is a little confusing and frustrating to get through Cudad del Carmen and onto the highway west. The road takes you through downtown and, as usual lanes are not marked so it is left up to the drivers to decide if it is two, three or four lane traffic. No matter what, you will be beeped at as you take up part of what someone thinks is their lane.

A little later you go past an inland waterway and an area with the most topes I have ever seen. Some of them are separated by only a few feet and many are not marked. It is a very slow trip.

Coming up to Villahermosa we saw the sign saying there are no trailers allowed but this time I saw extra lettering that seems to indicate this might only in effect between 0700 and 0900. Still, we saw no other trailers, only cars and light trucks on the highway through town and a traffic jam where the periferico joined up with 180 on the north end of town. We may have broken the law again and gotten away with it. If this is the case, it will have been the third time. If I ever get caught I will deserve the fine.

Backtracking a little, when we entered Villahermosa the traffic was very heavy, as usual. We found ourselves in the wrong lane to turn right onto 180 and were being forced past the turnoff and into the centro. This is the one place in Villahermosa you do not want to be with fifty feet of motorhome and tow car!

I stopped for a light and while I was frantically searching for a way out, a Collectivo bus stopped beside Norma's window and motioned to her to wind down the window. He asked if we were lost and told us we could not go into town. I told him where we needed to be and he started giving directions in rapid Spanish that I could not follow. The light changed to green and he motioned for me to let him in front of me and to follow him. His bus was full of laughing Mexicans who thought it was a great time helping out the stupid Canadian. I followed him for a couple of blocks and he pointed out the road we had to be on. I pulled up and offered him some pesos but he would take none. With the bus driver and all his passengers laughing and waving we made it onto highway 180.

This is why I love Mexico! Would a bus driver in downtown Vancouver or Phoenix go off his route to help out a lost, confused RVer who did not speak the language? That question does not even need an answer. But if it did, the answer would be no.

We made it through town and pulled into the Recreativo El Gordo Y San Pancho RV Park and public swimming complex just north of Villahermosa. We are the only RV but the pools are full of kids enjoying a beautiful Saturday. We parked, paid our $260 pesos for the night and joined about a hundred kids in the pool.

Tomorrow we head for Puebla and the start of the Arco Norte. It is about 650 KM away so we will probably spend one night on the road somewhere in between. My Telcel 3G is working so I will be able to post as long as we have a cell signal. I love Mexico!