12/21, Tuesday. Arrived at San Andres Tuxtla at 2:45am. Even at this hour, the luggage guy checked every ticket. Wifi didn't work at the bus terminal. When the day broke, I walked to the city center. A small creek runs through the town. Market is nearby. Nice central square.
Walked in the cigar factory Puros Sana Clara. I thought there would be a tour. The security guy let me wander around dragging a suitcase. It was still early. Half of the stations were still empty.
Took the first bus (AU) to Catemaco at 10:20am. Only 5 on board. 14 peso. Later I would know how to get here via shared taxis. It's a nice bus. AC, curtains, usb plugs above seats. On ADO website, tickers are 45 or 55. Not sure why such a large difference.
Arrived Catemaco. The bus station is on the east end of the downtown. It is a nice 15 min walk along the lake. I checked in Hotel del Largo at the west end, by the lake. The hotel looks much better online. At least it has decent WiFi, coffee and sweet rolls in the morning. Drizzle. Started my work day.
12/22, Wednesday. Overcast.
Walked along the water, hoping to get a boat tour. There were more tour operators than tourists. 
Went to the market nearby, bought a papaya. Worked a bit on the large shared balcony of the hotel. Wifi is weak. Temperature is more tolerable here. After an early lunch, moved to an AirBnb for 2 nights. Walked around the town in the evening. A lot of lights, loud music. There's an ice-ring, the center of the attraction here.
12/23, Thursday.
Sunny. 
Equally deserted tour boats. Finally, a tour bus arrived. I joined one of their boats. 200 pesos.
The tour of the lake has established stops. The captain announces every stop, and can easy sway the tourist where to stop longer or skip entirely. At Playa Azue, an unattractive hotel and terrible small beach, we got on shore to purchase some cleasing treatment. It's a set of 3 different ones, and the price dropped to half if we have 10+ persons sign up.
One lady on the boat rallied the group, got ~15 signing up. However, this takes time. They have only about 3-4 huts, so can only parallel process this much. When this lady was finished, she got impatient waiting for others. At the same time, one sales lady tried to sell some clay product to put on your face. Half of the boat got their face painted white.Then we drove to a spring to wash the clay off. This spot is not bad.
The main attraction for me is the islands of monkeys. There were 2 islands, each with a different specie. They were lab animals donated by University of Veracruz. Because of all the feeding by the tourists, they are obese, especially the macaque we saw. They would come down to the shore so you can see them, because they know that's where the food is.
After a late lunch, I decided to visit Eyipantla Falls, marked on Google Map as Cascada Salto de Eyipantla. The locals just call it El Salto. I took a bus for San Adnres, and got off at Sihuapan, 11 pesos, only 2 on board.
At the road turn to "El Salto", I waited for shared taxi with 2 guys. They told me it's 13 peso. On the way, a mute boy got on the taxi and off early. Me and the 2 guys got off at the turn of taxis. They told me where to go. Walked along between 2 lines of stalls selling stuff. At the end is the entrance. Paid 20 peso. First, I walked down the stairs to the river. The waterfall is very powerful. Very pretty. Multiple restaurants lined the river.
After going back up the stairs, I walked to the viewpoint, where the river tumbles down. There's a suspension bridge to walk on.
On the way back, I know what to do. Waited at the area where I was dropped last for a taxi. There were many who went by empty. Finally one taxi picked me up. He drove side roads hoping to pick up more passengers. Finally had one more lady. Still same price. Saw a quinceñera preparation on the way. At Siuapan, I got on a shared taxi with another lady. 15 peso to Cartemaco.
Back to my Airbnb to resume my disrupted work. Packed to leave for tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and our office would be closed. Left my Lonely Planet book for Yucatan behind.
