We’re in southern Mexico! Wohoo! We are sitting in a pleasant hostal in downtown Oaxaca – a city we have been looking forward to visiting since we entered Mexico. In the past week we left the striking pyramids of Teotihuacan and crossed into three new states. We saw the second-largest pyramid in the world in Cholula, got partially lost on some dirt back roads, camped in a soccer field, and climbed back into (yet) another mountain range.

To avoid the traffic in the Mexico City area, we decided to take some back roads on our way to Cholula. I (Jason) mapped out a path using Google, and we decided that two 5-mile sections of dirt roads would be an acceptable adventure. And what an adventure it was!

The day before we left Teotihuacan, I re-mapped the route so I could write down turn-by-turn directions. Little did I know at the time, but I did not have the same route I had so meticulously checked previously! We turned onto a dirt road much sooner than expected, and then bailed as it disintegrated into a steep path up a hill. Ha! (This is what we have come to call a Google Maps Fail.) We saw some power lines to our left, and decided to cross a couple fields in order to get over there. Next to the power lines was a paved(!) road and my spirits lifted. We were back on track. (More or less…)

The pyramid at Cholula is actually more of a pyramid complex that looks like a hill. When the Spanish arrived, they didn’t notice the peculiar dimensions of the hill and proceeded to build a cathedral on the top. This made for a church with a nice view!

The pyramid had been built and rebuilt several times over many years. To visit, you enter a tunnel that passes under and through the hill. The archeologists have cut out several side paths that show different stacked rock formations of the different pyramid stages. In total, there are over 8 km of tunnels! However, us tourists can only access about 800 m. Out back there are several exposed staircases, plazas, and altars. It is quite an impressive sight, although much, much different than Teotihuacan!

On our way out of Cholula, we had planned to skirt around Puebla and back out into the countryside. However, Puebla is the fourth-largest city in Mexico and the traffic combined with roadwork made for a very unpleasant highway experience! Luckily, we were rescued by two local cyclists who gave us directions on a better way to get through the city. We were directed to a very new raised bicycle path that was still being built!

That night we arrived at a small town and decided we weren’t willing to pay the (relatively) expensive price for one of the local hotels. After talking with a few locals, Daisy got permission from the police to camp at the sports field complex. We set up next to the baseball field and were treated to a nice sunset while cooking our dinner.

We were sleeping well, until about 11 PM. That was when 3 police cars showed up! They woke us up to say that we needed to move camp because they didn’t want drunk people to bother us when the town fiesta was over. I asked when that was, and they said 3 AM! We groggily moved camp onto the new turf soccer field which was surrounded by a fence. One police officer stayed in a car outside the gate all night to keep watch. A nice guesture, including the fact that he woke us up at 5 AM to let us know he was leaving to wash the car. Ha!

On the way to Oaxaca we descended and then climbed back up some mountains. There isn’t too much to say about this, other than that it was another beautiful climb. We took the toll road, which had many rock cut-outs and views of untouched valleys. The pictures say much more than words!

When last we updated we were in the charmingly named town of Tamazunchale, where we took the laziest rest day ever.  Mostly, we laid in bed and read novels, only venturing outside once to buy food supplies.  It was great!  Since then, we have climbed back up and over the beautiful Sierra Gorda mountains and into the arid Mexican highlands surrounding Mexico City.  We spent an amazing night in a tiny town church celebrating the villages patron’s saint day and learning their traditional dance.  Back in the highlands we stayed with another welcoming host and then did some fast riding to visit ancient ruins – including the third largest pyramid on the planet!

Now, some pictures and highlights.   

Climbing over the Sierra Gorda again took us three days of effort.  On the first day we enjoyed the climbing and felt good, but the clouds rolled in around 2pm and visibility was so bad that we decided to call it a day.  We got a hotel in a little hill town and I (Daisy) managed to sleep from 7pm until 7am the next day.  This was after I ate most of a large papaya and a big dinner of mole chicken with lentils.  I was stuffed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day we hoped to make a lot of miles (70?), but then reality hit us hard.  There was still about 5,000′ of climbing to do that day, and there was no way.  We did stop for ice cream in a little town after the one bit of downhill for the day.  After that it was up, up, up to about 8,000′.  We entered the high altitude pine forest, which was beautiful, but we were very tired well before our intended stop.

That is when something amazing happened!

The next little town we came to was called Nogales, and seemed to consist of a few houses, some unfinished, and a tiny little church with a nice flat yard.  We decided to try and get permission to stay in the yard of the church. We couldn’t find anyone, but a couple of teenagers told us that the whole town was at a party up the road. Following their directions, we took a little road a mile into the hills where sure enough, the whole town was having a party.  They had a big tent set up outside a church, with music playing, big pots of tea and punch, and steaming plates of food. Apparently, it is the day of the patron saint of the town, so there was a big fiesta!

As we rolled up, all the ladies in the food line looked at us curiously, and by the time we parked our bikes and walked over to say hi they had already dished up two plates and sent them over! We were made to sit down with the young folks crowding around us to eat. As we ate they kept bringing us more things to drink – soda, black tea, fruit tea. This whole time we chatted with a growing group of village kids. Eventually we finally got to asking about where we could camp. We got permission to camp “anywhere”, but the food ladies insisted that we sleep in the church kitchen, where it would be warmer.

At this point the party was winding down. Jason and I helped put the chairs away, and Jason helped carry a heavy table back to someone’s house. The matron of the house insisted I go along with him, and then she sat us down in her kitchen to share some spiced Mexican coffee and a crazy fruit that they like to eat with coffee. We spent a while there, and then returned with her and her family to the church. Once there, we were roped into dancing with a small group of the local folks. We learned the traditional dance of that area and had a fun time. Of course, we were really tired by the end of this! We laid down in the church kitchen and were asleep before the dancing was even over. What a night!

The next day we finally emerged from the lush mountains and re-entered the arid Mexican highlands.  Not too much to remark about this day except that we finally were able to do decent mileage again.  Also, it was my birthday!  Not that we really remembered or did much to celebrate except for getting a nice(r) hotel room in the next bustling town.  Oh!  We did each eat an entire bag of potato chips in celebration.

 

We entered the city of Pachuca on another festival day (aren’t we lucky?), and found the central plaza swarming with police and workers setting up stages for musicians.  Apparently it was exactly a month before Christmas and time to light the giant bizarre looking Christmas tree in the central square.  As we later saw, there were even fireworks.  We spent the night with Enrique and his family.  His mother really took us under her wing and insisted we eat, eat, eat.  She also spoke very slowly and clearly so that Jason could understand everything.  His Spanish skills are getting so much better.

Finally, our last highlight for this section was the ruins of Teotihuacan.   We spent the morning visiting the archaeological ruins, which were visually stunning. It was strange to realize, however, that the pyramids and other buildings were mostly just lumps in the field until the Mexican government got to rebuilding it with concrete. We weren’t sure how authentic the rebuild was, but it was still fun to imagine what the site was like a thousand years ago.

Also, the on-site museum was excellent. We particularly enjoyed watching the school field trip groups walking through. The little kids oohed and ahed at the human remains section.

Now, we are heading off into the countryside again to explore some backroads and head south towards Oaxaca.  This upcoming area promises more mountains (no surprise) and also more jungle.  Finally, there are few more random photos I would like to share that didn’t fit anywhere else:

 

This past week, we struck out eastward into the Sierra Gorda mountains. We saw a green spot on our map marking the Reserve, looked it up in our Lonely Planet guide, and learned that the area was “not to be missed.” And that was true! We had several days of stunning scenery as we climbed up to 9000 feet and back down to nearly sea level. This detour, of sorts, replaced our trip to see the butterfly reserve since it was not open yet.

The first night out of Guanajuato we stayed in a hostel in San Miguel de Allende. This town is extremely touristy, and was described to us as the Mexican version of Disneyland. It was bizarre to see so many English-specking tourists, we were disappointed that everything was so expensive, and we were happy to leave the next morning. However, I must admit that our hostel was one of the cleanest places that we’ve stayed at in Mexico.

From there we rode on less-busy roads through an agricultural area to the entrance to the Sierra Gorda Reserve. We entered the area by dropping off the edge of a plateau into a massive valley. Every few miles there would be little towns. Eventually we made it to the town of Santa Catarina where we planned to spend the night. We stayed in a barely-marked hotel which seemed almost new – for $12 US. The family running it lived in the front, and allowed us in their kitchen to use the big gas stove to cook. We ate our meal while the neighbor kids watched TV at the other end of the room. After dinner, the matron insisted on doing our dishes!

The Sierra Gorda Reserve has some 14 different ecosystems. It was amazing to pass through so many in just a couple days! We started in a desert with cactus, and as we gained elevation we entered a thick forest. We enjoyed looking back on the valley we left far, far below. On the descent we entered a forest so thick and teeming with life that we decided it was indeed a jungle. We spent two nights in the town of Jalpan, and celebrated our 1-yr anniversary with local fruit nieves. We also enjoyed the hospitality of Rodrigo from WarmShowers. (Thanks Rodrigo!)

After our rest day in Jalpan we climbed out of the park on a wet, chilly day that didn’t get over 45°F. brrr. As we descended to the town of Xilitla our hands and feet got quite cold. We were shocked at the size and haphazard (even for Mexico) building practices of this town! And also the high hotel prices! Luckily we found a campground. The next day we made it to Tamazunchale, which is nearly at sea level. We are definitely in a lush jungle, and have seen more banana and mandarin trees than dogs.