Puebla and Pachuca

May 27 - 29

The road from Oaxaca to Puebla was not particularly interesting:  mostly cactus (which I was getting used to).   But it was beautiful in its own way.  By the way, a lot of this cactus is grown for food.  The "leaves" are really tasty when cooked. Best to leave off the pointy things, however.



The town of Puebla itself is not particularly interesting.  It is large and commercial, but for just this reason I thought I might be able to find the motorcycle parts that I needed to fix the cooling system.  No such luck, but I did manage to get on line and order them shipped to my sister's house in LA so that I could do a more permanent fix there.

My first hotel is Puebla was one of the more bizarre places I have stayed.  First, it looks like it was built out of rejects from Tiles 'R' Us.  Every square inch of the place is tiled. Unfortunately, there are large opaque glass windows onto the hallway so you can hear every sound in the hall... or in the other rooms!  One night in this place was enough.  I moved to a much quieter hostel the next morning.

However, Puebla does have one of the nicest and liveliest zocalos (main plaza) that I have seen.  Both nights in town I went to one of the many restaurants lining the square for a drink, a cigar, and dinner.

I also liked watching all the activities around the square.  It's particularly popular with families.







From Puebla I headed for Pachuca.  This was one of the few times that I took the Mexican toll road.  In general, I avoid them because while they are faster and often better paved, they also avoid all the villages and so are boring!  However, they also avoid a lot of the speed bumps, which is a good thing. 





On the way I encountered the Division Bikers motorcycle club from Mexico City, who thought I was loco for doing this trip, although every one of them said they wanted to do the same thing.





My next stop was Pachuca.  There was no particular reason for picking this town, just that it was on the way.

My hotel was the 100 year old Hotel de los Banos.  While it would have been nice if it was named this for the thermal baths that it was famous for, this was not the case.  It got its name because it was the first hotel in the area that had indoor plumbing!  Oh well, they were nice enough to let me park El Pinguino in the lobby.

The center of the city, and what it is known for, is the clock tower in the central plaza.  This was built in 1910 to commemorate the centennial of Mexico's independence.

The other thing that enjoyed walking around the city was the area of florists.  Dozens of them.  Beautiful, but not an ideal place for someone suffering from hay fever!

Oaxaca... Finally !

May 22 - 27

Oaxaca is a place I have wanted to visit for a long time. Unfortunately, the last time I drove through the area on our way to Panama in 2006 it was not advisable... the teachers were on strike, occupying the city, and violent. This time things had changed: The teachers were on strike again, they were occupying the city again (with tents covering just about every inch of downtown), but there was no violence. So while I couldn't see some of the city because of the tents, I could still enjoy it.

My hostel in Oaxaca, Hostel Don Nino, was great.  The room was nice, the location (across the street from a park) excellent, and the owner, Fardi, was a biker.  He had his Harley parked in the lobby, so I figured I would fit right in.

Oaxaca is know as one of the best places for food in Mexico.  A couple of women I had met in Tulum told me about a cooking class and this was the first thing I signed up for.  There were two of us in the class: me and a young Dutch girl named Mieka.  Unfortunately, the restaurant owner -- Oscar -- was a bit of a pill.  Fortunately Mieka and I decided we were going to have a good time despite his sour mood.

We started off deciding on the menu: Pumpkin soup, mole, quesadillas, and homemade chocolate ice cream with chile.  Then it was off to the market to buy the ingredients.  This was one of the most interesting parts of the class.

Mieka and I shared the chores of shredding, chopping, blending, and cooking.

Three hours later it was time to sample our wares, and we discovered we had done a hell of a job!

The next day I borrowed a helmet from Fardi at the hotel and Mieka and I went to explore the ruins at Mitla, about 20 miles away.  These ruins are famous for the intricate mosaics and stonework.  Mieka put an interesting perspective on the 700 - 900 year old ruins by pointing out that at the time these were being built there were already great cathedrals all over Europe.  

We stopped for lunch at a great restaurant that was also a mezcal factory and did a little tasting of the local product.  While Mieka drank all the mezcal, I got to sample the worms from the bottom of the bottles.  Yum !





Unfortunately, at this point I began having a bit of bike trouble.  We had been intending to go to some hot springs, but El Pinguino decided to catch a fever; in other words, an overheating problem.  So back it was (slowly) to Oaxaca to sort it out.  The Kawasaki dealer (like most of them) was useless.  This was on a Friday and they told me they couldn't look at the bike until [maybe] Tuesday!  Thanks guys... I'll certainly let all my biker friends know how helpful you are.

They did, however, suggest another shop down the road.  It turned out that the owner, Ricardo Leyva, is a friend of the hotel owner and he was super.  I needed a new thermostat, fan relay, and fan switch.  Unfortunately only the relay was available.  Fortunately, in warm weather the bike runs fine without a thermostat and Ricardo was able to wire in a manual fan switch that I just needed to turn on when riding in the city.

I have to give this guy credit:  He really did a first-rate job of wiring, soldering, and everything else.  He spent most of the day on Saturday on the bike and in the end charged me about $65. 

What a guy!

The following day I visited the cultural museum in Oaxaca, built in an old monastery.  It was very well done, with a great history of the area.  And some interesting artifacts left by the original inhabitants.

Juchitan to Oaxaca

After leaving San Cristobal, on the way to Oaxaca, I spent the night in Juchitan.  The town is known for having more festivals than just about any other place in Mexico.  The night I arrived was no different... there was a parade going on to celebrate something, but nobody could tell me what ("Es una fiesta.  No se de que).  Oh well, everybody enjoyed it whatever it was.


I also enjoyed dinner in Juchitan.  Now, there aren't many meals that I find really memorable, but this was... in part because it was so unexpected.  Juchitan is not a memorable city, nor was the neighborhood that I stayed in anything to write home about.  But there was a little Italian restaurant down the block that called itself a "fusion" restaurant (I'm never quite sure what that means), but it served a saltimbocca that was among the best I've every had.  A real unexpected treat.

The road to Oaxaca was beautiful.  Despite the wind, much of it was perfect biking road:  Mountains (without steep drop offs), beautiful scenery, and well paved roads.  All-in-all, a nice riding day.



This part of Mexico is the mezcal producing area.  Mezcal is kind of like Tequila, but made from a different maguey plant.  Now, I have always had a problem with mezcal... ever since I worked as a bartender and some distributor had a free mezcal night in our bar.  I (how shall I put this) overindulged and had a hangover that took 4 weeks to recover from.  But this was 30 years ago, so I figured it was worth another try.

Maguey is grown all over the region, with is otherwise quite dry and barren.







I stopped at one family mezcal factory near the village of Coyul.  They make mezcal in the traditional way, using what look like brick kilns to cook the plant before crushing and distilling.








I spent about an hour here, talking with the owner Juana Hernandez.  When I took a picture with her I told her I thought that we made a cute couple, which she found quite scandalous!




A bit further up the road I saw in the distance two teepees.  "What are these?" I asked myself.  Perhaps the homes of some giant breed of Navaho?  Pyramids set down by aliens from Area 51?  So off I went to discover who or what had erected these strange abodes.

The answer:  Storage bins for corn!  Que aburrido! (boring).  Damn, I really liked my giant Navaho theory better. 

Oh well, on to Oaxaca....

Mayan Heartland: Zinacantan and San Juan Chamula

May 20

The state of Chiapas seems to be the center of Mayan culture in Mexico.  From San Cristobal de las Casas I took a one day tour to Zinacantan and San Juan Chamula.

The town of Zinacantan not particularly facinating, but it does have a few things that make it interesting.  The people of the town speak Tzotzil, one of the many Mayan dialects.  Also, each village in this area seems to dress in a particular color theme.  In this town everyone is dressed in shades of purple.  In other towns we saw people dressed in blues, reds, yellows, and browns.






The main industry here is textile weaving, still done by hand.  

Our guide, Charlie, also fancied himself to be a Mayan priest and offered to marry any couples (or non-couples) who were desirous of such a ceremony.   Charlie also explained to us why we saw so many Coca Cola bottles and drinks in this region.  Seems that the Mayans here consider burping a form of communicating with the gods.  Coke (or Fanta for that matter) helps facilitate this.  While the story sounded like a bit of BS at the time, we later saw a lot of evidence of this in the local churhes.  More on that later.

As part of the tour we also got a bit of a taste treat:  Fresh-made tortillas with cheese, avocado, and other un-identifiable ingredients.  Normally I would have been the first to dive right in, but since I was suffering from a bit of gastro-distress I felt that discretion was the better part of valor and abstained.  Better to stick to Maalox on that particular day!




From Zinacantan we went to San Juan Chamula.  This is one of the most traditional Mayan villages in the Chiapas, and they want to keep it that way.  While tourists are allowed in the town during the day, foreigners cannot stay overnight, or even past 6 pm.  They basically only allow tourism at all because they need the money.

We were there on a market day.  Like most towns, the best day to be there.

For the most part, the people dress in traditional dress.  Just to show that there are some commonalities throughout Latin America, the pig-tails with the ribbons in them on these women actually look exactly like a tapestry that we bought in Peru.

Our guide also introduced us to this woman. She is deaf and mute, obviously very poor, but was absolutely charming and very happy to spend some time with us.  The instrument in her hands is for cleaning wool before spinning it into yarn.

The officials in this town also dress in traditional dress.  The high officials are the ones in the back, with the multi-colored ribbons and staffs.  The group in front of them is their escorts / guards.

We were told not to take pictures, but since I have a very long lens on my camera I was able to get this from about a half a block away with nobody noticing.  Just couldn't resist !

The most interesting thing in town was the church.  While it appears from the outside to be a Catholic church, on the inside it is anything but.  Yes, there are some statues of saints, but the ceremonies arereally Mayan.  Everywhere you look there are shamans performing healing (either physical or spiritual) ceremonies.  There are candles everywhere.  There are also sacrifices of live chickens.  The shamans chant, brush the "patient" with herbs, and pass eggs over them to absorb the evil spirits.  In many ways it reminded me of the practice of Santeria in Cuba, a blend of Catholicism and voodoo.

We also saw many Coke bottles being consumed in the church (along with some local liquors), all the better to communicate with the deities.

Unfortunately it was absolutely forbidden -- and enforced -- to take pictures inside the church.  The gentlemen in tribal uniform seen here entering the church are tribal police, and they were adamant about enforcing the no-photo rule... as were most of the participants.  I had put my camera underneath my shirt so that they wouldn't think I was taking pictures, and someone even questioned if my camera would work through the cloth.  Wow, if I could take pictures through clothes I sure as hell wouldn't be wasting the technology by doing it in a church!

San Juan de las Casas... the Heart of Chiapas

May 18 - 21

My next stop was San Cristobal de las Casas, a town high in the mountains of Chiapas state.

The ride here from Palenque was interesting:  It was the first time in a long time that I have been COLD!  San Cristobal is located at about 7200 feet above sea level, and I really felt it.  Both in terms of difficulty breathing with any exertion and with the cold.



The town itself is another pretty colonial town, but its setting in the mountains makes it really beautiful, although cold (I did mention the cold, right?). 










Fortunately for me my room in the hostal had a wood burning fireplace.  Unfortunately, they only gave me enough room for about 12 minutes of warmth.

The hostal itself was one of the nicest I've stayed in. My room was large, with a sitting area and fireplace (with minimal fire). Fortunately I got very good at staying warm by sitting and staring at an empty fireplace. A bottle of mezcal was extremely helpful.


Random Thought: People often ask me where I put my bike at night.  The answer is, anywhere I can that's not outside on the street at night.  I've had it in hotel lobbies, entryways, and hallways.  I've had to lift it up stairs and hidden it in closets.  Anywhere safe. 











In San Cristobal we put it in the courtyard of the hostal.  It makes a very interesting conversation piece.

Chiapas is one of the major areas for the indigenous Mayan people.  There are many different communities, and a multitude of Mayan languages.  Unlike the Aztecs or Incas, the Mayans never died out.  However, in Mexico they are among the poorest of the population and this has -- especially in Chiapas -- let to the occasional uprising.

Here are some random photos of the people of San Cristobal de las Casas:

Palenque... More ruined Mayans (or Mayan ruins... you choose)

May 17

After Merida I had a LONG day of riding to arrive at Palenque (about 8 hours).  The town of Palenque itself is nothing special.  My hotel had all the appeal of a run-down, perhaps abandoned, motel on Route 66.  But the purpose here was twofold:  To break up the trip to San Cristobal de las Casas, and to see what are supposed to be the second best Mayan ruins in Mexico.  Since I hadn't stopped at Chichen Itza to see the ruins there (because it was just too damned hot in the middle of the afternoon), Palenque seemed like a reasonable alternative.

As you can see, they are some impressive ruins in their own right:

While they might not quite measure up to Machu Pichu (Incan), Tikal (Mayan), or Teotihuacan (Aztec), Palenque is certainly worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood.

Random Thoughts:  How far do I travel in a day?

People often ask me how far I travel per day, or how many hours a day I travel.  The only answer I can give is: It really varies.  There are a lot of factors: Road conditions, weather, the type of road, and (mainly) my mood.  There are days when I'm on a nice, curvy, interesting road and I just want to keep going all day.  I might ride 6 or 8 hours and it's just not enough.  Other days I might be on a miserable road in  bad weather and I just want to quit, take a shower, and go to bed.  Then there are the days that I just have to get somewhere and there is nowhere to stop in between.  Then I might travel from sun-up to sun down (I ALWAYS try to be off the road before dark).

Keeping in mind that every few days I tend to stop someplace for a few days, I would say that a typical travel day will be a ride of 4 to six hours of actual seat-in-the-saddle time.  Then again, there is seldom a typical day.  And the seat-in-the-saddle can get awfully sore.  That's why there are maseusses!

Merida... Another Pretty Colonial City

May 12 – 15

From Tulum my next stop was Merida, which is the capital of Yucatan State and an old colonial city.  Those of you who followed my South America exploits know that I got a little tired of “another pretty colonial city”, but what the hell… it’s been a while. I had planned on spending another day in Tulum, but some people I met told me that Merida closes off part of the downtown on the weekends and there is lots of music and dancing going on, so I figured I would get there on Saturday and check it out.

The drive was fine in terms of roads, but this part of the country is HOT this time of year. The last part of the road is freeway, nowhere to stop, no shade, and 104 degrees.  By the time I got to Merida all I wanted was a swimming pool.  

The first night I stayed at the Nomadas Youth Hostel.  Yes, they even let in the “super-annuated” like me.  I like the hostels; many are very nice and you meet a lot of people.  This one had a nice pool, but no air conditioning.  After a sweat-soaked night I figured that one night was quite enough.

The next day I checked into the Trinidad Galerias Hotel.  The Lonely Planet guide said you would either love it or hate it.  It is, in a word, Funky.  Kind of a combination hotel, art gallery, and junk yard.  A strange eclectic mix of “stuff” in every corner.   

My favorite piece of decoration is the beer tree, although I have been singularly unsuccessful at harvesting it. Needless to say, I am more inclined towards the "love it" side of the spectrum.

As promised, there was a good mix of music, dancing, and good food in Merida.  Also some interesting faces. Here are some random pictures of the local scenery:

 

 

 

Merida was, at the beginning of the 20^th century, quite rich.  The main crop, often referred to as “green gold” (no, not the smokable kind), was the agave plant.  One type is used for producing tequila, but not here.  The type in Yucatan was used for its fibers in making sisal for making rope.  This worked out fine until after World War 1, when sisal was replaced by plastics and synthetics for rope making.

However, in the meantime there were some very rich people here, and there are some incredible mansions along the broad avenues.  Many are still private residences.

One mansion is now the Anthropology Museum.  The house itself is a great example of French style architecture that was popular here a hundred years ago (the house was finished in 1911).

The museum exhibits are also interesting, and tell a lot about the Mayan culture.

Other than that, Merida has been a place to catch up on business and on this blog, which was a good thing to do since the temperature in the afternoons has been over 100 degrees F.  Tomorrow, May 16, I’m off to the state of Chiapas.  I’m still in the very south part of Mexico and realize that I only have 5 more weeks in the country.  It sounds like a lot, but it’s amazing how much time I’m really capable of taking.

One final thought:  It's the only place that I've been that has an actual organization dedicated to me, my family and most of my friends: Neurotics Anonymous.  Anonymous, perhaps, but we know who we are, don't we?