(well, almost, as I haven't actually made it all the way to Xalapa) We're LOVING the balneario (it is an old hacienda) here in El Carrizal. You won't find much about this place on the internet, but this link and a blurb on the Heart's website (don't have the exact link). I wouldn't reccomend the place for those who can't boondock or are nervous drivers.
Leaving the Emerald Coast, head down MX180 towards Veracruz. Do not take MX129 towards Martinez de la Torre. If it is late in the day, this restaurant outside El Morro (I think) has a LARGE parking lot, also there are two ENORMOUS Pemex stations after Nautla on MX180 (heading south)
You won't hit the town of Cardel but before it you will take MX140 towards Xalapa.
Not too long after getting onto MX140 and the second exit after Rinconada you'll see a split of MX140 into cuota and libre. You want the libre, so take this exit
At around KM36ish you'll see a sign for Carrizal (the town is now known as Emiliano Zapata. Take this turn.
This is the entrance to town, you need to traverse town to get to the balneario. Going under the arch isn't even a question. Easy peasy.
Follow the road through town and over the RR tracks
and take the VERY FIRST right after you've crossed the RR tracks. We missed it and went around the corner, but if there had been any traffic it would have been sticky.
If we had made that first right, this is the road we would have been going down.
Continue straight at this sign
This is the entrance to the balneario
And you're now on cobblestone. It was scary for me, but the car and trailer did just fine. This is the scary cobblestone hill you have to go down and will have to come back up on the return.
But it is amazingly quiet here and about every edible fruit on a tree you can imagine. No power unless you park close to the bathroom and string a cord. Water and washing area next to the bathroom so you don't need to fill up your grey washing dishes. Pictures of the balneario in another post.
* This post was
edited 02/23/07 07:27am by harvestmoon *
- Kathy
2002 Ford Econoline E350 PSD 7.3L TV.
2005 Ameri-Camp T315QBS.
Well, we spent almost the entire day today looking for places to stay in and around Xalapa. There is one hotel that may fit the bill between Coatepec and Xalapa but honestly, we got so freaking lost that I don't even know where it is. There are so many roads in Xalapa and so many diversions and so much road construction that we left the balneario at 10am and got back here at 8pm. Ugh. Long day. So, long story short, the only place we found secure was Costco. Coming from the east, however, you need to take a retorno and DO NOT FOLLOW THE SIGNS TO COSTCO if you're driving anything larger than a van. With all the road construction, I don't think giving directions will help, just try to take the next retorno you can after the Costco exit; there are doble semi-remolques on the road so you needed fret too much and then take the Costco exit coming from the West and you'll be fine. Costco has lots of security (for leaving your rig during the day) and you can park well back from the road. Sam's has a LOT of construction going on and people coming and going constantly. It is an easier exit from the East, but if you're going back to Veracruz instead of DF then you're back in the postion of having to turn around anyway; I'd do the turn first and boondock at Costco.
If you email Alberto at Veraventuras, he can try to arrange a discount for more days. We've been here a week and it is truly a splendid place to base your explorations of Xico, Xalapa and Coatepec. VeraVenturas email is veraventuras@yahoo.com. I think he speaks some English. This is one of the few places in Mexico that to get your discount, you must negotiate it ahead of time. Veraventuras has an office in Xalapa and I'll try to get that number.
I have pictures to post when we get to Catemaco but since I'm trying to get the kids motivated to leave, I'll wait til then. This is a very good base to explore Xalapa; about 30min to the outskirts and 1 hour to the Anthro museum in Xalapa. Coatepec and Xico take 30min to an hour longer, depending on traffic.
Alright, I hate to spill the beans but have you guys checked out the universities? Tecnologico de Monterrey has a high school campus outside Fortin. It is a wonderful place and if you asked permission from the director of the English department you might get very, very lucky. There is a security guard on duty 24hrs a day.
I have had a terrible feeling about dragging the trailer into Xalapa and the balneario was simply amazing. We really really liked it; enough to swallow the 500 peso/night fee. For boondocking. We negotiated down from 660/night to 500 but honestly, we'd planned on paying the normal $13/night at Quinta Alicia plus $50/night for a hotel but Pike wouldn't consider a hotel, so we actually got off cheaper.
Anyway, the university would be a good idea also. I've never thought of those! We're at Catemaco now and it is gorgeous.
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We negotiated down from 660/night to 500 but honestly, we'd planned on paying the normal $13/night at Quinta Alicia plus $50/night for a hotel but Pike wouldn't consider a hotel, so we actually got off cheaper. 
