Tropical Storms, Tropical Drinks, Tropical Beaches. Or: Why Oaxaca is the best.

When we last left you, we had just checked into a hotel in Puebla. We spent our evening relaxing, enjoying internet access and a hot shower. The next morning we hopped on a local bus to the city center and spent the afternoon wandering around the zocalo (main plaza). [I naively thought I'd become a local Mexican driver over the last couple of weeks, acclimating myself to the nuances of driving here. I was sorely wrong; I realized this quickly as we rode on the public buses. In Puebla, they're essentially mini-buses, their front windshield awash in a variety of stickers announcing where they will head in a different fonts and colors.] Puebla is one of Mexico's colonial towns, so there are lots of beautiful churches, several ornate government buildings, and brightly painted storefronts/restaurants. We checked out a few of the local sites, but our timing was terrible. First we headed to the Puebla Cathedral, but mass was about to start, so we had to wait an hour and a half. Next we headed over to see the Biblioteca Palafoxiana, a library with some extremely old books. We were informed that it was currently closed for a private event, but we could come back later. We then headed to the other size of the zocalo to check out the Capilla del Rosario, a chapel completely covered with gold. It too was closed for mass and wasn't open to tourists until much later that afternoon. Nomadizens: 0, Puebla: 3.

By this time we were hungry and were excited to try Mole Poblano, Mexico's national dish, originating from Puebla. Mole sauce has a bit of cocoa, but is not sweet like chocolate. We had it served over chicken and it comes sprinkled with sesame seeds. We could see why it was famous – truly a delicious dish! We ordered horchata and our waiter succeeded in persuading us to order a pitcher. Pro tip: a pitcher of horchata is entirely too much for 2 people to drink! But we powered through what must have been about a liter of horchata each. (And it sloshed around our bellies the rest of the afternoon.) Street vendors are very persistent here in Mexico, and throughout our meal we were constantly interrupted by men, women, and even children selling everything from earrings to snacks to colored pencils. It was a rare for a vendor to approach you with a greeting and apologize up front for interrupting your meal. Usually the children appear out of nowhere and gently touch your arm before shoving their wares in your face. Most of the men and women would saunter towards our table, staring off into space, and mumble their schpeel. I would think this is not such a successful marketing strategy. [I think it's their embarrassment shining through]

We felt like taking a siesta after our decadent lunch, but soldered on to finally see some sights. We explored the beautiful cathedral. It was a huge space, very ornately decorated with statues, paintings, chapels, gold plating, etc. We were surprised to find the “choir loft” was a large section in the center of the sanctuary, lined with 40-some chairs, and then closed off with a gate. “They really lock them in there, eh?” Ike commented. [I also fail to understand how they were able to build the church so grandly, considering they're effectively removing 50% of the church space for parishioners and forcing another substantial percentage to have limited views of the sanctuary...On our way out, we also saw an amazing flier for an upcoming event, emblazoned with the several different vehicles up for sale and the smiling visages of two cardinals staring back at us.]

Modern and traditional art hanging out

Next up was to explore the library. By now it was open for visitors. With no signs stating otherwise, we assumed we could walk right in (the doors were open, after all) and take a look around. I paused in the doorway so Ike could snap a picture. And then the moment my foot crossed over the threshold, the man sitting inside the door yelled “TICKET!” and pointed to a small office around the corner. We paid the entrance fee and returned to the library. Every time someone would enter the library, he would go through the same process, yelling “TICKET!” and gesturing towards the office. Everyone was caught off guard like we were. You'd think they would put a small sign near the entrance, but maybe he enjoys scaring people. The library was beautiful, full of very old books and ornate woodwork. Most of the books are on shelves and so you can only see the spine of the book, and usually can't read the title or author. However, they had a special display while we were there, showcasing some famous ancient books on biology, astronomy, cartography, etc.

 Oh this? Just my copy of Copernicus, first edition. NBD.

So. Much. Vellum.

Pro-level photoshopping

By the time we were done browsing, our feet were tired from strolling around all day and our bellies were still very full. We decided to skip visiting the gold-plated chapel since we would have to wait nearly 2 more hours for it to reopen. Instead we walked over to a main street to catch a bus back to our hotel. As we were approaching the bus stop we saw our bus, the 72A, speed by the stop without stopping. Apparently someone has to flag the bus down for it to actually stop. It did stop at the next bus stop, about a block away. We took off running (horchata sloshing) to try to catch the bus, but the light changed from red to green as we were approaching, and off the bus went. A few short minutes later another 72A approached, so we hopped on, paid our fare, sat down, and held on for dear life. We ended up passing the first 72A before we arrived at our hotel. [The driver of this bus, incidentally, drove the bus like how I play racing games: foot and pedal on the floor, trying to max the speed at all times, and unclear where the button (or pedal) is for the clutch, instead opting to just ram the stick into the next gear, grinding be damned.]

The previous evening when we arrived at the hotel, we had taken our laundry to a nearby laundromat, which turned out to be in the middle of a shopping mall. It was pretty fun to see Ike carry our big bag of dirty laundry past all the stores, restaurants, and even a gym right in the middle of the mall. Self-serve laundromats are rare in Mexico (so we are told), so we left the laundry overnight. After returning from our day exploring downtown, we picked up the laundry and headed to the grocery store. Ike had the brilliant idea of putting the laundry bag in our cart while we shopped around, but the security guards told us that was not allowed. [Turns out they had a bag check at the front of the store (we came in the side) where we could have left it. Oh well.]

That night we stayed in a campground just outside of town. The drive from Puebla to Oaxaca, our next stop, was about 4 hours according to our GPS. While driving times were fairly accurate in Canada in the US, they have been way off in Mexico. We've learned to round up by 50-100%. We were the only ones in the RV park that night, so it was a quiet evening.

The next morning we hit the road after breaking camp. It was a very cloudy morning and we knew there was rain in the forecast. We made good time along the toll roads towards Oaxaca. As we approached the last toll, we saw a large crowd of people standing around the toll booths. “Uh oh.” As we approached we noticed there were no attendants in the booths, and the crowds of people held signs and were blocking the road. Their signs indicated they were from the student government of a university. Ike had read about some teachers and students burning a government building in the state of Guerrero (SW of Mexico City) in response to the disappearance of 45 students. We thought perhaps this protest was related to that conflict. They held out money jars and a few students climbed on our running boards. Ike continued to roll forward at a very slow pace and we decided not to roll our windows down. Best not to get involved in local politics, especially when we had very little information about the situation. The people blocking our path finally cleared as Ike continued to inch forward. One man slapped the side of our car as we made it past the crowd, then we were off. We've heard stories of roadblocks completely shutting off the road for hours at a time, so we definitely got off lucky.

The rain picked up as we approached Oaxaca. I pulled up the forecast to see how long the rain was expected. We were shocked to see rain forecast for the entire next week. Not a great situation. We pulled in to a gas station and filled up. I asked the attendant if it was supposed to rain all week, and she said yes, she had heard that. At this point we had to decide if we wanted to drive another 4 hours to the coast, where Google told us it would be hot and sunny all week, or if we wanted to stay in rainy Oaxaca and explore the city. Given that it was mid afternoon, we decided to stay in Oaxaca at least for the night. Tomorrow we would decide if we wanted to flee to the coast or stay in the city.

We planned to stay at a campground north of the city, run by an American, according to our guidebook. [who made his own Mezcal!] Our GPS tried to take us on a back road in which the pavement soon disintegrated into massive potholes, but after following it for nearly a mile we came upon a road closed sign. We headed back out to the main road and followed the directions provided in the guidebook. It was around 2:30pm, and we got stuck in traffic near an elementary school that was dismissing for the day. We inched our way along the streets and finally followed some narrow, winding roads that climbed north of the city. We were near the location of the campground, but did not see the sign. I called the phone number listed and we found out the campground no longer existed. What a shame! We were looking forward to the tranquilo campsite overlooking the city. The only other camping option we found in the city was a very run down RV park. We decided to give it a try. We pulled in and saw 2 other RVs parked there, so were hopeful. Soon we noticed all the windows were closed and someone had clearly left the rigs for the season. A man came out to talk to us and said yes, we could stay there, but the bathrooms no longer work, and it would still be 200 pesos ($15) to camp. It was definitely overpriced, but by this time it was late afternoon and still pouring down rain, and we really didn't have many other options. We pulled in and set in for a long, rainy night. We cooked up some fish and veggies in the back of our car, seeking shelter from the rain under our hatchback door. It's a glamorous life on the road, folks!

The next day we woke up and decided to walk into town to see the Oaxacan Regional Museum, despite the pouring down rain. We donned our rain jackets, but were soon drenched in the rain. [this was made up completely by the fact we saw a person walking downtown with a Hawkeye decal emblazoned upon their purse/satchel!] We arrived at the museum looking like a couple of drowned rats. We were happy to be under a solid roof and peeled off our soaked jackets. [Trying to find the museum was a bit of a pain, as it turned out it was connected to the church, another major tourist attraction. We hadn't noticed the museum at first because we'd arrived before it was open. The museum itself was beautiful; the building supposedly built by Hernan Cortez in the middle 1500's. The museum was fairly crap with it's attempt to be even-handed when discussing life for indigenous peoples after the Spanish arrived. That Knox education forever making the museum-going experience a critical one for me. I can't recall the exact wording, but the message was along the lines of, “people's lives changed greatly as they met the Spanish and more people became Catholic” or some garbage. Nevertheless, the museum had amazing exhibits of jewelry, some of the most incredible items included artwork carved into human bones.]

Hey Guys, could you, as a last request, bejewel my skull? Thanks.

We were both hungry and still chilled from the rain, so sought out a place with hot food. A traditional Oaxacan restaurant caught our eye. Ike had the mole amarillo and I ordered a chile relleno. Both were delicious, but more importantly, nice and warm. By this time our phone battery was nearly dead. We had searched for a hostel recommended online, but they were already full for the night. We decided to head back to our car, plug in the phone, and figure out our next move. One hostel mentioned free parking and a communal kitchen, but they didn't answer our phone calls. We decided to risk it and go ahead and drive into the city and see if they had space. Luckily, they did! And we are so glad, because we spent the next 3 nights enjoying dry beds and meeting new friends at Azul Cielo.

Rolling into the hostel, Pepe, the host, showed us around the open-air courtyard that we briskly ran past due to the rain. We made tentative eye-contact with the other guests, and he showed us to the dorm room we'd be staying in [half the price of the private room]. We thanked him, pulled our vehicle out front of the hostel, and began unloading. Staying in a hostel can always feel like the first day of college, but we found ourselves really enjoying it. We met lots of people staying there that we became fast friends with: Camilla and Heidi are two Brits hitchhiking through central America! Makes our trip look easy! T and Sean are a Kiwi and Aussie also making their way across Central America before heading up to the great white north. Angelina is visiting from Portugal and did a workshop on puppetry in Oaxaca with children. Aubrey, I was thinking of you!

“So....do we just toss the sauce in with chicken and that's it?” Bethany asked with furrowed brows. While we were in the grocery store near the hostel, we'd noticed they were selling local prepared Mole, the national dish of Mexico. It has cocoa in it, but isn't really sweet, but has a robust flavor to it. We picked some up and figured it wouldn't be that hard find a recipe later. The Mexican supermarket experience is like the US one, but on steroids. We were assaulted by sound as we arrived in the store; several stands throughout the building included people standing behind wares, with a tent and a microphone and loud dance music playing. As we passed it and found the mole, Bethany pulled me aside and whispered, “That woman is wearing an Iowa sweatshirt!” “Go talk to her!” I said. We made our way over and the woman informed us it was a gift, and that she had heard Iowa was beautiful. We encouraged her to visit some day. :)

 High School Spanish coming back to haunt us!

Decorations for Dia de los Muertos

“Oh, you just need to add chicken stock!” Lindsey informed us regarding our mole. She had extensive food service work and lent us a hand. The food was great! Heather and [forgive me guys!] were visiting from Montana.

“Could you move your vehicle quickly?” One of the hostel hosts asked me as we sat around the lounge the first night. I hopped up and walked towards the front as he explained to me that while it was totes safe to park out along the street, one of the hostel workers was going to pull her vehicle inside the main doors which made a little stall. Whatevs! That's fine. We get out, and the woman's car is right in front of mine. Since I'm in the hostel's 'No Parking' space where she'll need to pull in, the plan is to have her pull out, me pull forward. He's explaining this to me as the woman pulls out of the spot, and as I get ready to pull forward, a truck comes roaring up and starts to try and pull back into the spot. I had already started pulling forward though, and the host runs up to the man and frantically begins telling him that he cannot take the spot as I need to pull into it. The man listens to the host say this, and proceeds to keep backing up, eventually hitting our bull guard. Bethany and I looked at each other with flabbergasted faces and the host put his hands over his face, slowing dragging them down. I eventually backed up, let the man take the spot, and pulled out to let the woman inside, taking the original spot I had. I made sure to give the man who hit me an incredible death stare as he walked by. Frankly, I'm glad I didn't fly off the handle at him, as he lived next door to the hostel.

“Hey guys, if you like, you're welcome to cram into the back of our vehicle. It won't be comfortable, but it'll be free!” We told T and Sean. With the clearing weather [aka not actively raining] everyone was making plans to hit up the Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban in the mountains outside of Oaxaca. We made our way outside of town, with T and Sean being good sports about how uncomfortable the backseat was. :) Bethany and I've been using a free program called Maps.me that uses your phone's GPS. You download the maps on your own when you have internet and then you don't have to use data! We were using it to find our way up to Monte Alban, following the signs. We came to a Y and Bethany directed me off the paved road onto the dirt road. Seemed odd, but that's what the map said. We made our way along the rough road, but are eventually heading downhill, which seems totally wrong. We are in a little village, and realize that the town is called Monte Alban. We turn around, and Bethany zooms in on the map and goes, “Oh, right, there's the real place.” Scenic route!

Monte Alban is one of the most important MesoAmerican archaeological sites. Founded around 500 B.C., it was continually inhabited for over a thousand years. The civilizations ebbed and flowed through the centuries, with inhabitants often rebuilding over the existing habitations. Standing on top of the temples with a panoramic view of the surrounding valleys and hillsides, you quickly come to realize the value and strategic importance of the site, and why it was the center of power for the Zapotecs. Getting out early allowed us to beat the rush, and while no where near empty, we explored in relative peace. I was struck by how well you could hear voices across the central open plaza. While I imagine the plaza was full of merchants and people [it had over 40k at it's peak], it was hushed with fog while we walked around.

Note the valley in the background 

I hope you guys appreciate the polo look i have going on here

And I thought Japanese was hard...

Oaxaca is a cultural hotbed in southern Mexico, and we took full advantage of that the following day. We made our way to the pedestrian walk, near the markets, and began museum row, hitting up several art museums. The first we visited was dedicated to precolumbian art, filled entirely with a collection of art obtained by a famous Mexican artist from Oaxaca. The direction he took the museum was interesting: the focus for the pieces he'd obtained was to experience them solely as artistic designs, stripped of the cultural, religious, or social value attached to them as typically done in museums. It was staggering how vast his collection was, with hundreds of pieces, many of them in pristine condition. During the early 20^th century, when it was vogue for the rich to purchase pre-columbian artwork, he decided to build a collection and keep it where the art originated.

 Nightmare fuel

 Nothing creepy about carving a jawbone. Totally normal.

The central square of the old city, along the zocalo, is a large market. One section of the market is dedicated to food, and it was there that we enjoyed lunch. You just cram yourself in wherever there's room, and Bethany and I tried to do this, but the couple on the bench we were sitting at decided they weren't going to scoot over. So I spent the lunch with half my butt hanging off. Worth it for the $5 we paid for the full meal though.

We made our way to a modern art museum as well; modern art can be so hit or miss for me. On the one hand, it can be neat to see how people turn things into art, but on the other hand, it can sometimes be hard as hell to make sense of. This exhibit was in the former. Lots of cool juxtapositions of traditional Zapotec art covered with what's 'cool' in Modern Mexico: guns, cash, and scantily clad women.

'Somehow, when I heard 'Graphic Art Museum', I didn't picture this:”

Bethany and I made our way through the brief exhibit at the graphic art museum, which featured scientific drawings by a French naturalist who lived in Mexico during the late 19^th century. As you just saw, he also had a huge ass tarantula framed.

Another museum stop was the textile museum, housing a collection of native clothes and the stitch patterns collected by an American living in Oaxaca over 5 decades.  Naturally she went to UC Berkley.

Despite the fun we were having in Oaxaca, with the weather clearing up, we realized it was time to make our way to the coast, and our first beach that we could actually enjoy the water at! [Sorry Labrador, Newfoundland, British Columbia] The GPS said the drive down to the coast would be 3 ¼ hours, but Bethany and I knew better.  Zipolite, the beach we planed to head to, had a very simple review: "It's beautiful, but there's lots of nudists and people smoking weed as soon as they wake up. If you're cool with that, it's a great time.  We figured we could handle it.  We got on the road at 10, and hoped to be there before 5. Turned out to be the right call. While the weather had cleared up down in the valley, up in the mountains we encountered first mist, then rain, then a downpour. The road would abruptly switch from asphalt to dirt [mud], or bumpy gravel. Every car on the road had the same idea when approaching turns: “I sure as hell don't want to go off the edge! I'll take an inside track!” which meant you needed to be ready to jerk the wheel if you saw a car as you approached the apex that was halfway into your lane. We actually saw mud crumbling down a cliff side and pooling at the side of the road at one point, but thankfully no active mudslides. As we made our way through the 'downtown' of Puerto Angel [where the asphalt again just abruptly ended and we drove through massive potholes, which, when you see the little Nissan taxi's doing it, and you're in a big SUV, you can't just back away], we were ready to be to the beach. The GPS pointed us to a road as we got to our beach that just didn't exist. Turned out they were actively digging it up to lay plastic piping. Nevertheless, we made our way in, pulled up, and exhaled. We'd made it!
“How much per night?” Bethany asked the proprietor of the campground. “100 pesos per night” he responded. “Do we get a discount if we stay longer?” “Yes.” “So, do I need to pay you now? We're not sure how long we'll be here.” “Eh, whatever works. I don't care.” BEACH LIFE BABY! It should also be noted that the owner spent most of his time in long sleeve shirts, but pulled the front of it up and placed it firmly between his teeth, letting his stomach soak in the rays. Awesome. 



“That's a pretty sweet rig you have there!” I said, as I introduced myself to our neighbors. Turned out we were camping next to celebrities! Jason and Victoria have been traveling for over a year with their famous dog Neli [and new adoptee Maya] from Neli'sBig Adventure. [They pushed to 3k FB likes while we were there; few more than our paltry sub-200. ;) ] We got a tour of their truck camper and salivated at the idea of being able to stand up, particularly when it would be raining. Jason and Vic became fast friends, and we were pleasantly surprised later that evening to see Sean and T walk by on the beach, their travels down to the coast also working out. That night was spent under tarps as we enjoyed watching a thunderstorm roll in, drinking beers.

We seriously can't get away from storm fronts.

The most electric part of the evening was sitting underneath one of the cabanas; Bethany saw the tarp that covered our ceiling [the floor of the above cabana] was sagging with water. Bethany reached up and began pushing on it to force the water out, and felt her hands tingling. The electrical wiring left a little bit to be desired, for sure.

The following week was a beautiful whirlwind of fresh food, fruity cocktails, ocean swimming [the surf was not to be trifled with though], reading, playing with Neli, and lounging in the hammock.  And a less beautiful whirlwind of a bunch of people walking around naked who had no right to be. Oh, and watching the crabs scamper in and out of their holes on the beach. They were feisty little buggers, one of them started a turf war with me near the bathroom sink. All I want to do is spit out my toothpaste, man!

As we lounged, Victoria had a brilliant idea: "Tomorrow, every single person that comes by selling food, I'm buying."  Loving the idea, I wholeheartedly seconded.  The next day, the four of us proceeded to snack on pastries, fruit iced drinks, coco loco's [with spiced rum, num!], pizza, the works. All in all, we paid around $10 to be ecstatic for the entire day. One of the guys selling doughnuts, was also selling weed on the side.  One of the days when he came by, he proferred the weed after I said no to the doughnuts. Here was the convo, more or less:

Guy: doughnuts senor?
Ike: no gracias
G: no? Weed?
I: no gracias
G: marimba?
I: marimba?
G: marimba.
I: marijuana?
G: shh! No! Marimba!
I: ahh, marimba.
G: Si! Marimba, marimba, [whooshing inhale noise]
I: Ah. Si, claro. No gracias senor.

Busted....

Soccer, waves, sunsets, night after night.  Basically heaven. 

One of the 'Coco Loco' guys. Nothing says happiness like a wheelbarrow of coconuts and rum. 

This dog had murdereyes. 

NELI! We're basically besties.

Local fishing.  Victoria and Jason bought a pound of fresh tuna for 50 pesos [$3.50]

We'll leave you with this.  'COCO BONGO!' - Bethany

Fresh Fruit; Fresh Tequila

Even though our border crossing experience was very easy, we were both a little nervous about driving in Mexico. After all, we had spent the past 2 weeks spending time with our very concerned families, and getting looks from people like they would never see us again. We tried to stay positive through all of this – knowing that the US media sensationalizes the violence in Mexico and having heard from travelers currently in Mexico about the safety of various regions – but positive thinking can only go so far.

But once we got on the highway and started driving, we felt safe the entire time. In general the roads were in great shape. We saw police and military vehicles, but they were all doing their job – keeping the public safe. [It is a bit unnerving the first couple times you see guys carrying automatic weapons at their side, but that wears off pretty quickly.  With the history of violence against soldiers and policemen by drug cartels, you can see why they do it.  The military presence was strongest at the border, and decreased rapidly as we made our way south.] The biggest annoyance during our first day of driving was the speed limit. It seemed to change drastically every few minutes: 100, 110, 40, 80, 100, 40, 100, etc. They must have an anti-cruise control lobby here or something. Several times we encountered two seemingly contradictory speed limit signs right next to each other. On the left side of the road, 100 kph. On the right side, 80 kph. We later found out that the pair of signs indicates that the two lanes have different speed limits. Makes sense.

We took the cuota (toll road) from Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey. It cost about 200 pesos (less than $20 US) and was a great road. We took the road because cuotas are reportedly safer and we were trying to cover a lot of ground the first day. [Also have higher speed limits] However, there is a free highway that runs fairly close to the cuota and had it not been our first day in Mexico, and had we not been trying to travel so far in one day, we would probably have taken that highway.

Mexicans love their signs, especially along the highways. There are constantly signs along the road, informing travelers of everything from “Don't drive tired. Your family is waiting for you.” to “Keep the highways clean.” But sometimes the signage breaks down just where it matters most: in the cities! We planned to take the highway through Monterrey, as we had read it was an easy drive and our map indicated that the highway went right through the city and continued southward. We drove into the city without any problems, but all of a sudden we were faced with a Y in the road. And neither fork had the highway we were on. What?!? We took the left fork, saw that we were now on a different highway, and proceeded to make a U-turn (retorno) at the first opportunity. Coming back towards the intersection of doom, we were in the wrong lane and missed our turn. Now we were still going the wrong way, but the opposite direction. Again we used the retorno and were heading back towards the intersection, determined to get it right this time. This time the sign was way off on the side of the road,[As in, we ACTUALLY HAD A SIGN] so of course we missed the turn AGAIN. [I was swearing pretty heavily by this point] Now we were on the road where we had first gone the wrong way. Ok, at least we know where the retorno is and where our turn is. Easy peasy, right? Wrong! We took the turn for the highway, and it took us north instead of south. [We're now heading out of town the way we came in] Doh! We eventually found a retorno and finally were back where we had started. We came to the Y intersection again and took the right fork this time, confident in our direction. Except now it took us to the second road in the wrong direction. Having already driven this route, we again knew exactly where the retorno was and this time made our exit to catch the highway heading south. But then it went right through downtown and the signs disappeared! At this point Ike remembered that he had downloaded an offline maps app, so we broke it out and eventually made our way out of the city and back on to the highway. We were both ready for cervezas at this point, but were only a fourth of the way to our destination for the night. On the bright side, we did get to drive right through an arch that was a few centuries old, and clearly not made for cars.

Once we were out of downtown we decided to pull over and fill up with gas and buy a couple of tacos for lunch. We had read about some common scams at Mexican gas stations, but still weren't quite prepared for what happened when we pulled in. The pump attendant asked what fuel grade we wanted and how much, typical. But then three other men came up and started asking if we wanted service (fluids and oil check). We said no, but they insisted it was free, so we made the mistake of saying “sure.” They opened the hood and started checking every possible fluid. The attendant told us our windshield wiper fluid was “bone dry.” I turned to Ike to see what we should do. “I just filled it before we left Iowa, so it should be fine.” Hmmm, ok. We told the attendant that we were not interested, but he insisted that his wiper fluid would protect the eyes. Hah, ok buddy, no thanks. Next he tried to inform us that our brakes weren't working. (That's funny, because they certainly were!) He used a syringe to pull out some brake fluid. It was black. He said “It should be clear, like water!” Again, I turned to Ike. “That's not true. Brake fluid is dark blue. [We had added some back in Nevada] Anyway, our brakes are working fine.” I told the attendant “No gracias.” And he responded by saying that if we are in a wreck, we wouldn't be able to stop, so may God bless us. Then he made the sign of the cross in the air. What a salesman! Luckily for us, despite all of the “service” distractions, the gas attendant was honest with us. After paying we pulled away from the pump, parked Sweetcakes, and headed over to the taco stand. We purchased 4 tacos (a little less than $4) and got back on the highway. Those tacos were out of this world! Eaten on corn tortillas, because we couldn't remember the word for flour.  We asked after we ordered of course. 

A little later we turned onto highway 31, a beautiful mountain pass with huge outcrops of rock. We slowed down on the winding mountain road, and at that point made the call to stay at the Las Palmas campground in Matehuala, about half way to our destination in San Miguel de Allende. We did not want to drive in the dark and, after all, this was our first day in Mexico. We needed some time to enjoy it!  We took the mountain pass as it was more direct.  Our camping in Mexico guidebook [tailored to RV'ers] mentioned that big rigs shouldn't take it. "We'll be fine!" I said, and we actually were.  The pass was amazing, the roads were  fun to drive [even in Sweetcakes!] and we passed the time listening to Radiolab.  

We pulled into Las Palmas, which is actually a hotel with a gravel parking lot in the back, and were the only ones camping there for the night. It was very expensive, but we had hot showers and were able to relax that night. We headed to a local supermarket to buy some groceries and were shocked how cheap some of the food items were (limes for $0.60 per kilo, store-made tortilla chips for $0.50 per pound in 6 different flavors, including one that I swear had to be MSG it was so good). The beer was a bit expensive, but the young woman working the alcohol aisle was super friendly with us.

The next morning we headed to a gas station before getting on the highway. We now knew to say no to the service offer, but the gas attendant pulled a quick one on us. Ike asked for the regular octane gas, and then the attendant “accidentally” started running premium gas for a bit, then “caught his mistake” (and cleared the gas pump without us seeing the $ value), and switched to regular octane. We probably ended up paying a few extra bucks for our gas... not the end of the world, but we learned another lesson. Our plan from now on is to have one person deal directly with the gas attendant and the other person will deal with everyone else that comes up to distract us. And in particular try to find places where there is only one attendant so we can't get blindsided.  "Do you want the water cleaned off the car?" I was asked.  "Todo esta bien." I replied.  The old man starts wiping anyway.  Sweet! Now I have dirt smears all over from your dirty rags! Nice work bub!  We also were right next to municipal police having their truck filled with gas, so naturally I thought we'd be fine. Derp da derp. 

Have we mentioned all the topes (speedbumps) in Mexico? They put them in to prevent cars from exceeding the speed limit, and boy do they work. We've already gone over more topes than I can count. Sometimes they are marked with a sign, sometimes not. If you are lucky the tope itself is painted yellow and white. But sometimes they are both unmarked and without a sign, and we came upon a completely random unmarked tope on the road leading into San Miguel. “Shit!” Ike exclaimed as he saw the tope too late to slow down sufficiently. Boom, we flew over it. The bed platform gave a noisy thud as it landed back down on the frame of the car. We didn't think much of it, but later realized that we had lost the pin to our rear swingout. Oops! Good thing I asked Dad to make us a spare at the last minute. We've already placed an order for a few more spares, but hopefully we won't have any more surprise encounters with topes. As we go to press, we've already had one more. The topes also have a variety in their build.  Some are low and rounded, others are built like trapezoids.  It's a new experience every time you go over one! I'm just thankful we got new shocks before the trip.

We rolled into San Miguel de Allende and found the downtown campground without any problems. We met Dan & Heather from JFDI Overland, and Jakob & Nikki from Sprinter Van Diaries. Both of them are heading to Ushuaia, Argentina as well. After settling in and eating a quick lunch, we set out to buy our Mexican cell phone plan. We had read online that this was not a minor undertaking, but we had no problem. The woman that helped us spoke perfect English and we were in and out of the store in half an hour. The high point of this experience was watching all the American retirees try and have work done on their phones. "Yes, ah, I uh, I cannot send or receive text messages." said a woman in a sun hat, dark floral print shirt, and an incredible southern drawl.  After being helped, she proceeded to make her way back in line again for help with adding money to her balance.  We also enjoyed being cut in line by another patron. I was too stunned to start yelling at her.  We stocked up on more groceries, then relaxed in the shade for a bit before strolling through downtown. It was Friday night, so the whole town was out at the main plaza. Tons of people were milling around the large church on the plaza, with street vendors galore, and a handful of mariachi bands. We heard a lot of music and noise and then soon encountered what must have been a bachelor/bachelorette party procession. The bride and groom were dressed in all white and at the front. They and all their guests (there were probably 50 people following them) had little shot glasses tied around their necks and people were pouring shots of tequila. How do we join that party?! It started to get dark, so we meandered back to the campsite, made dinner, and then spent the rest of the evening trading stories with the other overlanders. A great way to kick off the southern leg of our journey.

The bride & groom with a decorated donkey!? All the people in this pic are with the party. Note the giant bride & groom puppets on the left.

The next morning we said goodbye to the other couples, then scoped out the organic farmers' market, which Hans (the campground owner) said was expensive because of all the foreigners that live in SMdA. We read online that nearly 10% of the population are foreigners, many are retirees. Boy was that a bougie farmers' market. Nearly all the customers were middle-aged white people. Lots of women sporting their yoga pants and carrying around their Starbucks. So cultured! We had fun people watching, then set out to explore the city a bit more. From there we found our way to the 'Art Walk' with local artists.  Naturally this must be where the people go after the organic farmer's market and a quick top-up at Starbucks. 

We found ourselves on a steep road that turned into a steep stairway that went up and up and up. At one point we were passed by a grandfather and 4 of his grandchildren, that were running up the stairs together and they even invited us to join them. We made it about 10 stairs and said adios. We decided to follow the stairs to the top and were rewarded with a beautiful view of the city below. Editor's Note: we actually beat their pace, and were gaining on a trio of teens doing a workout. Slow and steady wins the race.

We wandered into this garden, which we later decided was probably a private hotel garden. Sorry, not sorry. Gaijin smash

Curvy, super steep road that turned into stairs. 

View of San Miguel de Allende from the mirador (lookout) at the top of the steps.

This little guy was hanging out near our campsite.

That night we decided to go out for dinner and ended up at a nice Cuban restaurant. Ike ordered enchiladas and I the Veracruz-style fish. Both were delicious! We saw a sign for 2 for 1 mojitos and ordered some when our waiter brought out the food. Except he thought we ordered 4 mojitos in total. When in Rome.... They were some of the best mojitos we've had (and Ike is a mojito master), so we couldn't complain.

Adorable old couple dancing at dinner

Sunday morning we toyed around with the solar battery for a bit, with help from Joaquin, from the German couple who has lived in the SMdA campground for five years. We set off for a short drive to nearby Guanajuato.

Guide books warn about the steep, narrow streets of Guanajuato, but it was still a shock to encounter it first hand. We followed the directions in our guidebook and on our GPS to avoid going through the heart of downtown, instead aiming for the “panoramic” road which took us up around the city. This route still had several tunnels (the city is built in a valley but extends up the mountains on all sides, so there are quite a few tunnels built to get from one part of town to another without going over the mountains), and at one point we hit bad traffic. I decided we could take a small detour to get to the panoramic road. But then we missed a left turn and ended up taking a 15 minute tour through the narrowest streets I have ever driven through (well, “ridden” through, since Ike was driving, thankfully!). But Ike drove like a pro, and soon we were back on the panoramic road. Closest to true off-roading we've done in sweetcakes. Those streets were bonkers.  Sweetcakes quickly felt very large.

The guide book warned that to get to the small campground we had to enter by going the wrong way down a hill. We pulled over at the top of the hill and I got out and ran down the hill to try to stop traffic. Except the hill went around a curve, so I could not simultaneously see Ike and see traffic coming up the hill by the entrance to the campground. So I signaled for Ike to come partway down the hill and then pull over to the side of the road, while I went down a bit more. I then signaled for Ike to come the rest of the way down, and ran ahead to stop traffic up by the gate. One car came around the corner, but thankfully they stopped while Ike roared Sweetcakes down the hill and through the entrance to the campground. #puttingthebullguardtouse

Just pray someone isn't trying to come up

We parked the car in one of the open spaces (the campground also serves as a parking lot for locals) and got out to find someone who was in charge. There were a couple of teens working on a pickup truck so I asked if they knew where the office was. The young woman told me that her father was the owner and so we paid her the 160 pesos for the night. The campground is up on a hill overlooking downtown and it was a stunning view. After a slightly stressful drive through the city, Ike was ready for a beer. We set up our camp chairs, he cracked a beer, and we settled in to enjoy the view. “Shhh! Do you hear a hissing?” Ike asked suddenly. I didn't. He went to listen to the car and put his head down by the front passenger wheel, but thought perhaps the hissing was something in the engine while it was cooling down. A few minutes later I walked over and heard the hissing when I put my head by the tire. So I walked to the driver side to see if I still heard the hissing. I didn't. I walked back around to the passenger side and started looking around the tire to see if we had a hole. I found the culprit: a screw was sticking right into the tire. Immediately my mind registers the little kid about 10 minutes outside of town that I saw throw something into the road right before we drove past. I thought it was odd at the time, but didn't actually see anything in the road. While we were driving through town with our windows down we had heard a “click, click, click,” but we thought this was just another rock stuck in our tire tread, which happens sometimes. The kid's dad probably runs a tire repair store.

Our new attempt at studding our tires for winter?

Luckily we had everything we needed to repair the tire. We pulled out our tire repair kit and then re-inflated the tire. Ok, now time to relax! 

tranquilo

We spent the evening enjoying margaritas (yesss, cheap tequila and delicious limes!) and chinese food while watching the sun set over the town. We also met our neighbors, Jana & Adi, from Switzerland. They've been on the road for nearly 3 years and plan to stay in Mexico another 7 months. Respect!

We clearly weren't ready for the photo.

The next morning was tranquilo. We woke up, practiced yoga together, had some breakfast, then set out to explore the town a bit. We stumbled upon the Diego Rivera house/museum, located at DR's childhood home. The first floor contained a temporary exhibit displaying interviews of Japanese immigrants to Mexico, or Mexican citizens of Japanese decent. Ike and I had fun translating the Japanese and Spanish quotes and displays. Many of the Japanese quotes focused on morals and working hard. Very Japanese. It must be hard for them to adjust to the totally different culture in Mexico. We explored 4 stories of the museum, seeing many of Diego's works on display. We didn't realize he had such a wide range of styles in his pieces. It also helped reinforce my difficulty with remembering Spanish words and not Japanese.

This is me in crocodile form

We wandered a bit further down the street, found an empanada vendor (sooo delicious), and then wandered through the market. I was shocked how many people were out and about on a weekday mid-afternoon. The large, indoor market had everything you could possibly want to buy: souvenirs, clothes, home goods, snacks, produce, meat, etc.

We again fell asleep to the dogs howling throughout the valley, but were awoken in the middle of the night by the wind trying (thankfully unsuccessfully) to collapse our tent. Hooray for REI's Half Dome tent!

The next day was a fairly long drive over to the Grutas de Tolantongo, recommended by Jana & Adi, which are natural hot springs. The drive was a fairly simple one, but we ended up getting very lost in Ixmiquilpan. Both of our GPS showed only one road that connected the main highway we were on to the road out to the Grutas. Unfortunately, it brought us out to the road where it was a one-way coming into town, instead of heading out of town like we needed. Our GPS did not have any of the small side roads around this highway, so we were driving around blind. We bumped along a cobblestone road heading north, but eventually gave up because it did not appear to connect to the road we were looking for. After driving around the main plaza several times, we finally took an “invisible” side road and eventually met up with the road we were looking for.

After passing a million more topes we ended up in a beautiful agricultural plain and then came upon the mountains and valley where the Grutas were located. Our GPS showed a gnarly series of switchbacks to get down into the valley. It took us about 20 minutes to descend the mountain, but we didn't mind because we faced stunning views of the mountains and valley the entire time.

 dem springs

 Watching all the backed up traffic try and pass the thousand or so bikers was hilarious. But also kinda intense because they kept jumping into our lane to do it.

They made us pay 2 days' entrance fees to camp on-site, but luckily Jana & Adi had told us about a 2 for 1 coupon available on the website. We followed the signs through the hotel area to the camping area. The whole place was pretty empty. We only saw a handful of visitors, everyone else appeared to be a construction worker. They must have been preparing for the busy season (winter)? We found a nice spot by the river then walked around to explore the grounds. The caves closed at 5, and given that it was nearly 4, we decided to do the caves in the morning. Instead we donned our bathing suits and went for a dip in the river. It was fairly cool by this time and the water was only slightly warm, but it was still enjoyable.

We returned to our car and started cooking dinner. Shortly after, a security guard approached us on an ATV. I handed him our tickets and he informed me that we had to park our car in the parking lot above. We couldn't keep it by our tent. I asked when we needed to move it, and he said ahorita. Right now. I told Ike the bad news, and then the security guard said we could finish our meal, but needed to move the car in an hour. We ate and set up the tent, but by this time it was starting to get dark. I proposed that the security guard probably would not return for the night and that we would probably be OK to not move the car. A little later we heard the ATV buzzing around up above, so Ike hopped in the car and drove up to the parking lot. Except he couldn't, because it was blocked with a chain. So we ended up keeping the car by our tent for the night after all.

The next morning we woke up and headed over to check out the caves. We climbed the stairs to the first cave, stripped down to our swim suits (in front of the dozen or so construction workers standing nearby), and headed on into the cave. It was behind a small waterfall which cruelly dripped frigid water on us, but we were met with warm water as we entered the cave. The caves were big enough for us to stand in, but I could reach the ceiling and both walls with my arms. Warm/hot water was raining down in the cave, and mixing with cold water on the floor of the cave. Usually the water was only ankle deep, but occasionally there were pools up to nearly our shoulders. Oh, and by the way, there weren't any lights! So it was a bit scary at first, but we soon adjusted. We relaxed in one of the deeper pools for awhile, then headed back out of the cave. We pranced down the stairs in our swimsuits and over to the other cave. It was somewhere around 9am at this point and the air was very crisp. We gingerly walked across a river beneath a waterfall and into the second cave. It was much larger and the water was waste deep with a very strong current. Thankfully the cave had a couple of ropes along the walls to help guide you further into the cave. But again no lights. We fought the current into one of the back caverns, but the water was only lukewarm, so we headed back out into the main chamber. Here we followed another rope back on the other side of the cavern. We found a large smooth rock and sat down for awhile. Suddenly Ike jerked his hand up to his head and made a swatting motion. We both peered through the steamy dark air and could see something black, about the size of a quarter, on the rock near where Ike was sitting. He reached out to it with his hand and let out a small yelp. “I'm not totally sure, but I think whatever it was moved when I touched it. Let's get outta here!” At this point we were both remembering the giant spider from our caving adventure in Belize on our honeymoon a few years ago. We waded back out of the cave, back through the frigid waterfall, and sought the comfort of our dry towels.

After packing up camp and enjoying some breakfast, we hopped in Sweetcakes and climbed back up the switchbacks. We stopped at a fruit stand along the road, intending to buy a pineapple. (The fruit here is amazing!) The man and woman at the fruit stand offered us each a full slice of melon. Mmmm, we'll get one of those too! Then they offered us some strange kind of plum, some grapes, an orange, and kept offereing us things until my hands were literally full of fruit samples and I had to say that I couldn't take any more. All of the fruit was delicious, but we already had quite a bit of fruit in our car from the grocery store a couple of days ago, so we stuck with just the pineapple and melon.

We made it through Ixmiquilpan and back to the highway without getting lost this time. A couple of hours into our journey towards Puebla, on the east side of Mexico City, we were flagged over at one of the random checkpoints the police have along the road. The policeman saw that we were foreigners and asked for our documentation. The two other cops came over and stood by our window as well. We handed over our tourist visas and vehicle permit. He then asked for Ike's driver's license and both of our passports. All of our original documents were secured in our lockbox, so I handed over a high quality copy of Ike's driver's license and our passports. He then told me that he needed an original, that the copy didn't work for him. So I handed over the International Driver's Permit (in English, Spanish, and Portuguese) we obtained from AAA before leaving. He looked at the date, which said October 1, and tried to tell me the permit was expired. I explained that that was the start date. Then he told me he needed to see the expiration date. I showed where the permit said it was valid for one year. At this point I knew he was trying to get a bribe out of us. He then said he needed to see an actual date. I referred him back to the copy of Ike's US license. He then said that he needed an original document, otherwise it was an infraction in the state. I referred him back to the International Drivers Permit. We continued like this for about 5 minutes, both of us holding our ground. Then he and the 2 other cops asked for a soda when they saw our fridge in the back. We said we have no soda, only water. Then they asked for money. I feigned that I didn't understand, then they stood there and tried to remember the English word and eventually said cash. At this point I just started saying I don't understand (which I should have done from the beginning instead of conversing in Spanish). Ike takes over and points to our vehicle permit sticker, our documents, and says “Everything's good, ok? So we can go?” They insist with the soda/cash thing for another minute, then finally hand back the documents and say we can go. We sped off with smiles on our faces and called back “Gracias” as we pulled back onto the road. Phew, bribe avoided. Honestly, it is less about the monetary loss and more about letting cops know that tourists are not easy targets.

Tonight we decided to stay at a hotel in Puebla, since the camping options are a fair ways outside of town. We've enjoyed the internet and are looking forward to a night in a real bed! 

Bonus pic: The Mexican Green Angels. They patrol the highway and help people with car or other problems Also saw one pushing a car down the highway. That's how you do it.