A different kind of Mexico indeed. Veracruz is currently celebrating its 485 year. Despite being one of the oldest cities of the hemisphere and the place from which Cortés launched the conquest of Mexico, this city barely shows up on most touristic radar screens.

In fact, the place has a very rough and ready feel common to most port cities. There is no shortage of bars and I suspect a fair number of houses of ill-repute about. You defenitely get the sense that if there is any illicit substance or depravity you seek, you can find it here. The port, though no longer the largest of Mexico, handles enough cargo to ensure the downtown area is endowed with a robust population of colurful, if not shady, characters.

The first night we got here we went for a bite to eat at the Zocalo which gets pretty lively with music and revelers of all sorts streaming through the plaza at all hours. Afterwards we were making our way to the Malecon, the waterfront, when we heard what sounded like live Salsa coming from a bar in the corner. We peered in and decided to give it a shot. The place was one of those old Spanish buildings with impossibly high ceilings like the ones in New Orleans. It had very bright flurescent lighting (this was turned off whenever there was slow dancing), bare no-nonsense walls and floors, plastic tables and chairs that I'm convinced are now everywhere, and lots of cheap booze. Basically the kind of place you can hose down (or powerwash if needed) every once in a while. The band consisted of only three guys, one of whom was perched behind a stack of keyboards producing sounds of instruments that were nowhere to be seen. This is usually reason enough to walk out of a place, but we decided to stick around.

The Puerta del Sol was packed that night, and I imagine it's like that most of the time, with a crowd of people that looked like they knew what hard times are all about and also how to enjoy the now. Also, they looked like they had been drinking for a while! What made things a bit freaky is that there were invariable the loners. These are the guys that for some reason where all alone (no friends, no women, only rum) and circled the place like sharks lurking. From their shaky gait and empty look, they seem somewhat unstable physically and mentally. I've been in crowds like this before and know that it doesn't take much to throw some folks over the edge. When I started doing the math on the statistical probability of armed individuals in the joint we guzzled down our drinks and walked out slowly, smiling, without making eye contact or any sudden movements. It was great!

If you can picture that place, you have a pretty good idea of what's happened to Veracruz. From talking to the locals, it seems its been neglected by the local, state and fedaral governments for some decades. The place is packed with great old colonial buildings that have been allowed to deteriorate. Character is certainly abundant here. Fortunately, the current government has been putting some money into the city refurbishing the streets, the waterfront, and cleaning up the city in general. It'll take some time, but if this keeps up it won't be long before this is a world class city too.

We've had a great ime getting to know this corner of Mexico. Tomorrow we head south to Oaxaca where we'll spend some time in the cities of Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, and Puerto Angel before moving on to Chiapas, our last state.