Following the hwy #15 from hills behind Carapan to village El Pueblito some 15 km uphill and from there some 15 km downhill to Zacapú. The road was of good quality, not much traffic and hills were not very steep.
Learning:
20th December - Carapan to Zacapú, 29,85 km
Cycling:
Following the hwy #15 from hills behind Carapan to village El Pueblito some 15 km uphill and from there some 15 km downhill to Zacapú. The road was of good quality, not much traffic and hills were not very steep.
Learning:
Following the hwy #15 from hills behind Carapan to village El Pueblito some 15 km uphill and from there some 15 km downhill to Zacapú. The road was of good quality, not much traffic and hills were not very steep.
Learning:
19th December - Chilchota to Ichán, 7,99 km
Cycling:
Today was “charging” day, so we pedal only to the nearest village which was Ichán, and then a little bit further to find a place to sleep. All the pedalling was uphill today. Nice oak forests are welcoming us after we left “civilization”.
Learning:
– that even very small village has a main square with some electric socket which we can use for charging our laptop and cell phone
– that people in Ichán aren't Mexicans but descendants of some aboriginal tribe and their women still wear beautiful colorful scarfs and skirts
– that adults in Ichán didn't pay much attention to us, but we were very interesting for local kids
– that the food markets in small places like this close around noon
Living:
~ we woke up when locals started walking around our tent (we hadn't found better place last night, so we put it almost in the middle of footpath, but nobody seemed to by annoyed by that)
~ we had a little argument about time for packing and time for writing the diary, but we solved it in peace
~ our goal for today was to charge batteries in our laptop and cell phone, so we stopped in the closest village Ichán; it was small but nice and we found there everything we needed - an electric socked on the main square, small market with fruit and vegetable, water in local purificadora (it was closed already but they were so nice and opened it only for us, but it also cost us something … 10 pesos :-))
~ around the noon small tornado came, covered everything in dust and twisted banners
~ while Baška was shopping and looking for water, I was writing the blog until kids came from school or church - some of them were interested in what I was doing on computer, I showed them our presentation about Slovakia; very soon I was surrounded by at least 20 kids, so this was my first presentation on public in “very-bad” Spanish. Kids were very interested in our bicycles too, but we felt we didn't have to be afraid of them stealing anything from us (it seems that this kind of behavior hasn't arrived here yet)
~ after we left this village, we found nice place to camp in oak forest on the top of the hill (at least we thought we were on the top, later we found out how big our mistake was...)
Today was “charging” day, so we pedal only to the nearest village which was Ichán, and then a little bit further to find a place to sleep. All the pedalling was uphill today. Nice oak forests are welcoming us after we left “civilization”.
Learning:
– that even very small village has a main square with some electric socket which we can use for charging our laptop and cell phone
– that people in Ichán aren't Mexicans but descendants of some aboriginal tribe and their women still wear beautiful colorful scarfs and skirts
– that adults in Ichán didn't pay much attention to us, but we were very interesting for local kids
– that the food markets in small places like this close around noon
Living:
~ we woke up when locals started walking around our tent (we hadn't found better place last night, so we put it almost in the middle of footpath, but nobody seemed to by annoyed by that)
~ we had a little argument about time for packing and time for writing the diary, but we solved it in peace
~ our goal for today was to charge batteries in our laptop and cell phone, so we stopped in the closest village Ichán; it was small but nice and we found there everything we needed - an electric socked on the main square, small market with fruit and vegetable, water in local purificadora (it was closed already but they were so nice and opened it only for us, but it also cost us something … 10 pesos :-))
~ around the noon small tornado came, covered everything in dust and twisted banners
~ while Baška was shopping and looking for water, I was writing the blog until kids came from school or church - some of them were interested in what I was doing on computer, I showed them our presentation about Slovakia; very soon I was surrounded by at least 20 kids, so this was my first presentation on public in “very-bad” Spanish. Kids were very interested in our bicycles too, but we felt we didn't have to be afraid of them stealing anything from us (it seems that this kind of behavior hasn't arrived here yet)
~ after we left this village, we found nice place to camp in oak forest on the top of the hill (at least we thought we were on the top, later we found out how big our mistake was...)
18th December - Zamora to Chilchota, 60,41 km
Cycling:
From Zamora we took wrong turn and went to Jacona, therefore we did small detour and had to return back to Zamora. Finally we continued on the road #15 to Chilchota. The road was without shoulder and traffic was quite high but it wasn't very hilly.
Learning:
- that an intuition isn't always enough and you have to check the map too
- that the only and the biggest gothic cathedral in Latin America is in Zamora (information from locals :-))
- that some kind of Swifts live around Zamora's cathedral (and peregrine falcon too)
- that we can go with our bicycles also downstairs
- that it is hard to pedal when your brakes are too tight
- that this region is good for planting strawberries and cabbage and for making the bricks
- that sometimes is very hard to find purificadora
- that Mexicans are obsessed with their speed bumps (called topes here), today we had to cross more-less 200 topes
- one pick up car can carry about 20 to 30 workers + tools or material
Living:
~ in the morning we find out, how people here water their strawberries fields - they just flood them
~ morning atmosphere on the streets of Zamora
~ gothic cathedral in Zamora was the highlight of the day; it had been abandoned for very long time, but after ten years of reconstructions it is opened forth year already, and it's vitrages are amazing
~ we stopped for lunch in some street stand which sells tortas (different kind of burgers, here it costs 25 pesos and 10 pesos for drink), people here were very friendly and they told us about history of Zamora's cathedral
~ our detour to Jacona was a little fiasco, but we found out that we can go downstairs with our bicycles (but not sitting on them :-))
~ Baška needed to tight her rear brakes, I did too good job, because after a few kilometers when Baška was complaining about hard pedaling, we found out that her brakes had been on all the time
~ this land is land of strawberries and cabbage fields and bricks - they are made with only as sophisticated tools as shovels and sun dried
~ to find purificadora in small town of Chilchota was impossible; but why do we need purificadora if they have this amazing, strong and probably clean spring which supply whole town with water? (But we filter it anyway).
~ little bit of night riding in the dark again; fortunately cars couldn't go very fast, because there were one village after another and many, many topes (this time we were glad)
From Zamora we took wrong turn and went to Jacona, therefore we did small detour and had to return back to Zamora. Finally we continued on the road #15 to Chilchota. The road was without shoulder and traffic was quite high but it wasn't very hilly.
Learning:
- that an intuition isn't always enough and you have to check the map too
- that the only and the biggest gothic cathedral in Latin America is in Zamora (information from locals :-))
- that some kind of Swifts live around Zamora's cathedral (and peregrine falcon too)
- that we can go with our bicycles also downstairs
- that it is hard to pedal when your brakes are too tight
- that this region is good for planting strawberries and cabbage and for making the bricks
- that sometimes is very hard to find purificadora
- that Mexicans are obsessed with their speed bumps (called topes here), today we had to cross more-less 200 topes
- one pick up car can carry about 20 to 30 workers + tools or material
Living:
~ in the morning we find out, how people here water their strawberries fields - they just flood them
~ morning atmosphere on the streets of Zamora
~ gothic cathedral in Zamora was the highlight of the day; it had been abandoned for very long time, but after ten years of reconstructions it is opened forth year already, and it's vitrages are amazing
~ we stopped for lunch in some street stand which sells tortas (different kind of burgers, here it costs 25 pesos and 10 pesos for drink), people here were very friendly and they told us about history of Zamora's cathedral
~ our detour to Jacona was a little fiasco, but we found out that we can go downstairs with our bicycles (but not sitting on them :-))
~ Baška needed to tight her rear brakes, I did too good job, because after a few kilometers when Baška was complaining about hard pedaling, we found out that her brakes had been on all the time
~ this land is land of strawberries and cabbage fields and bricks - they are made with only as sophisticated tools as shovels and sun dried
~ to find purificadora in small town of Chilchota was impossible; but why do we need purificadora if they have this amazing, strong and probably clean spring which supply whole town with water? (But we filter it anyway).
~ little bit of night riding in the dark again; fortunately cars couldn't go very fast, because there were one village after another and many, many topes (this time we were glad)
17th December - Jamay to Zamora, 81,23 km
Cycling:
From Jamay to La Barca was straight and flat road, unfortunately we had strong head wind. From La Barca we took old road to Zamora, quite hilly, no shoulder and not in the best condition, but not too much traffic and the hills were not very steep. Mostly agricultural countryside, for a while we went through valley with a small river. We are almost in 1600 m above the sea level.
Learning:
- that when I am first, Baška is always far behind me, no matter how fast or slow I am cycling
- that crushed pumice can be used in cement, instead of sand
- that landscape in this height looks almost like in Slovakia
- that there are idiots on the roads everywhere
- that to rely on students during the time of final exams is not the best idea
- that just to know location coordinates is not enough
Living:
~ cleaning the tent after night "shower"
~ we had to pay for water in La Barca - it's for the second time on the mainland of Mexico
~ many times we'd heard that it wasn'tgood to stick on the side of narrow roads, because then drivers are trying to pass us even with cars passing in opposite lane, and there isn't much space, which is very dangerous for us. It is better to take the whole lane instead, so the cars have to slow down and wait until there is enough space on the road to pass us. Anyway, usually we ride as close to the side of a road as possible. So Piatok tried to take the whole lane this time. It worked very well until one car almost hit him; after that we decided it was better to stick on the side of the road :-). Later that day some crazy driver in opposite direction was passing the truck and didn't bother to think about us - he missed us only about centimeters. Well, another day on the road...
~ our warmshowers host in Zamora didn't send us directions to her house; when we came to Zamora, even though we had her location on GPS, we couldn't find her, GPS just lead us into a part of the town with many houses, all looking absolutely the same, and there were nor door bells, either name tags. So we rode out of Zamora and camped in a strawberry field :-)
16th December - San Pedro Itzicán to Jamay, 44,92 km
Cycling:
After we climbed the hill from San Pedro and left the bad rocky road behind, there was a perfect downhill ride to Poncitlan. From Poncitlan we were on the road # 35 to Ocotlan. This road was almost like the freeway, with good shoulder but also with high traffic. From Ocotlan to Jamay is good bike path.
Learning:
- that Ocotlan is the town of furniture and Jamay is town of liquors
- that people in Ocotlan are friendly - that our national flag is really useful
- that even we can get full
- that cell phones are more powerful than religion
- that sleeping under the trees can have some disadvantages
Living:
~ in the morning we had 800 more metres on local horrible road from rocks to go, until we got on asphalt - what a relief...
~ downhill ride to Poncitlan was like a reward and dream after all that suffering, but when we got onto the road to Ocotlan, reality hit us again – busy traffic and a lot of trucks
~ We just passed Ocotlan, our only stop was in local supermarket (Bodega Aurrera) to buy some food for lunch and dinner, it is still quite expensive here, it is almost impossible to spend less than 100 pesos per day.
~ when we were finishing our lunch in front of supermarket, some guy came and gave us two bottles of water, saying “you are traveling far, you gonna need it” and then he left without another word :-)
~ another surprise waited for us on our way from Ocotlan, some driver showed me to stop - he wanted to tell us that he was owner of a restaurant and would like to invite us for lunch. We didn't take it very seriously and even didn't bother to remember name of his restaurant (and there were many of them anyway). But when we passed the right one, he came again and took us back, even though we were just after the lunch and full and we told him about it, but he insisted we should have a drink at least. So we followed him to his beautiful restaurant (quite noble one, but still family owned), it was on the lake shore with nice views and with many water birds in front of it. We ordered juice and he brought us also pineapple filled with shrimps (camarones) in coconut covered with coconut sauce for Barbora, and roasted beef (carne asados de rancheros) for Martin. It looked so good and tasted so delicious that we couldn't refuse. But to finish it, was hard, we were so full. We asked that guy why he had invited us and he told us that he had seen our flag (actually he had thought it was British, so we corrected his mistake), and he had never had guests from Slovakia. As the surprise at the end, he packed us two cakes for dessert and didn't want any money. So the least we can do to pay him back is to make a advertisement about his restaurant, so, please, if you ever go through Ocotlan, stop there, its name is Luminarias and you can find it on 7th km between Ocotlan and Jamay. We really recommend it :-). ~ to get to Jamay on paved bike path would be easy if we weren't so full
~ main road in Jamay was full of shops selling different liquors from fruit or sugar cane and people on the streets were selling a lot of food too, especially coconuts and roasted vegetable which looks and tastes a little bit like peas (but we don't know its name)
~ on the top of a small volcano above Jamay is nice church with huge statue of Christ, in the evening sun it could be nice picture, but cell phone antennas would spoil the picture anyway, as they are built right behind that church and are twice as high
~ huge flocks of some small birds were seen on the horizon, they looked like dark clouds, (we have something similar in Europe - Starlings, but we don't know the name of these birds here)
~ Piatok found a perfect camping spot in a corn field on the way to La Barca – dry, flat and under big fig trees; only disadvantage was, as we found later, that these trees were roosting place for birds who spent entire night eating the figs and shitting on our tent
15th December - Chapala – San Pedro Itzicán, 36,54 km
Cycling:
From Chapala to San Pedro on the road along the Chapala lake. To the village Mescala it was good asphalt road even with shoulder, not very hilly (about two steep but not very long hills). Almost no traffic. From Mescala to San Pedro is road made from rocks but with two concrete stripes for cars so it is still very good for biking and it is built on a steep slope with “Chayote-yards” on the right and rocks with Cardons on the left, and with nice San Pedro village at the end. This road was a little bit more hilly (small but very steep hills). From San Pedro to interception to Poncitlan was awful, horrible, nasty, ugly, bad, very, very bad and very steep road made from rocks and holes – not really suitable for any mean of transportation we know of :-). Luckily it was so bad only for 3 - 4 km.
Learning:
- that a plant which grows on the branches of trees or eletric wires (locals call it “eno”) is used for Christmas decorations and it grows only during this season.
- that Chapala lake is much nicer from this side than from Jocotepec side
- that Chayote plants look a little bit like grape vine
- that cycling is sometimes difficult and tiring not only for legs but also for arms (pushing our bikes up that horrible road from San Pedro Itzicán)
Living:
~ Piatok cooked scrambled eggs on the water (we didn't have oil)
~ at Valentin's house we updated our blog and pictures on Picasa
~ one more stop in Chapala was in the ice cream shop :-)
~ we saw a huge water plant which pumps water from Chapala lake for Guadalajara
~ there were nice views of Chapala's islands and the road lead us bellow some nice rock walls with Cardons
~ we went to Mezcala for water, which was a mistake, firstly it was far off the road, secondly local purificadora was closed and thirdly we found purificadora right next to the road in San Pedro Itzicán
~ to San Pedro we arrived in the evening during the “golden hour” and it was really golden
~ we didn't stop in San Pedro because the night was getting close and there was still this big hill to climb, but it would be probably worthy because they have some hot springs here
~ our last climb was hard not only for our legs and arms (we had to push our bikes, that horrible road was absolutely not possible to bike on) but for our nerves too, that road seemed to be climbing that hill forever
13-14th December - Chapala, 7,6 km
On Saturday Valentin invited us to a Christmas party with his friends. (About two weeks before Christmas "Posadas" start in Mexico - Christmas parties with friends, families... which means party almost every day - not a problem for a Mexican... :-)). Because it was in the evening, we had some extra time, so we went to town for lunch. Valentino showed us local marketplace, tiny one but nice. We had very good lunch - quite expensive, well, maybe it wasn't too much for that amount of food, for 70 pesos each of us had fried fish with rise, beans, salad, tortillas and salsa); for drink we had fresh juice from carrots and oranges, prepared right in front of us, a full glass costs 12 pesos. Then we were looking for some ingredients because Baška wanted to make yogees (our famous spread made from yoghurt, garlic and cheese) for the party. The rest of the day we spent writing blog and emails. It was raining almost whole afternoon.
The Christmas party was in Valentin's friend house (probably very rich friend, his house was very modern and completely not-Mexican), everybody brought something so there was plenty of food and drinks. In the beginning we were singing a carol. One group was singing outside and the second inside (playing Maria and Joseph looking for a place to stay and give a birth to baby Jesus). For us it was fun to sing carol and not knowing the melody (carols here are something different than in USA) and lyrics(well, we had paper with text but anyway...), but the others were singing so much out of tune that it was absolutely ok. Then was a feast (they liked our yogees) and then they were giving presents to each other but it wasn't just that easy. Before this party they drew papers with names so they knew for which one their present should be. The others had to guess the name of person (there was always some clue given by the giver) who the present is for. This year the theme for presents was something edible and everyone got something sweet or from chocolate, wrapped usually in very sophisticated wrappers. At the end everybody said a wish for everyone for the next year. It was nice celebration with a group of very friendly people (they've known each other since childhood and we could say they were really good friends) and we came home very late, about tree o' clock in the morning.
"Surprisingly" we woke up very late the next morning, so we decided to stay here one more day. We didn't do much, except writing the blog and emails.
The Christmas party was in Valentin's friend house (probably very rich friend, his house was very modern and completely not-Mexican), everybody brought something so there was plenty of food and drinks. In the beginning we were singing a carol. One group was singing outside and the second inside (playing Maria and Joseph looking for a place to stay and give a birth to baby Jesus). For us it was fun to sing carol and not knowing the melody (carols here are something different than in USA) and lyrics(well, we had paper with text but anyway...), but the others were singing so much out of tune that it was absolutely ok. Then was a feast (they liked our yogees) and then they were giving presents to each other but it wasn't just that easy. Before this party they drew papers with names so they knew for which one their present should be. The others had to guess the name of person (there was always some clue given by the giver) who the present is for. This year the theme for presents was something edible and everyone got something sweet or from chocolate, wrapped usually in very sophisticated wrappers. At the end everybody said a wish for everyone for the next year. It was nice celebration with a group of very friendly people (they've known each other since childhood and we could say they were really good friends) and we came home very late, about tree o' clock in the morning.
"Surprisingly" we woke up very late the next morning, so we decided to stay here one more day. We didn't do much, except writing the blog and emails.
12th December - San Juan Cosalá to Chapala, 27, 79 km
Cycling:
From San Juan Cosalá to Chapala, following the lake shore. Easy ride, just some small hills, the biggest problem was traffic.
Learning:
- that when I think that Baška thinks something which she doesn't think, and she thinks that I think something which I don't think, then we both get hungry
- that the best and the cheapest food is in small streets in small family owned restaurants
- that water in laguna Chapala, the biggest lake in Mexico, is disappearing because Guadalajara is sucking it up, and nowadays the water is so polluted that you really don't want to eat any fish from it
Living:
~ we were lazy today, our host Valentino in Chapala will be home at 7 pm so we had a lot of time
~ riding to Chapala we realised how lucky we actually were to find that nice camping spot, the rest of the lake shore seemed to be built up
~ I was waiting for Baška to decide where to go eat (we wanted to try the famous "tortas ahogadas") but she awaited the same from me, and we came to Chapala quite hungry
~ we did the mistake of looking for food on the main street. We found it and torta ahogada was good (but we had expected a little bit more, this one was just bun with meat, onion and salsa and it cost about 30 pesos); if we looked on the small back streets, we could find nice small restaurants with better options and prices (as we found out later with Valentino)
~ the celebration of Saint Mary of Guadalupe was today, the parade was just a small one, but pretty noisy
~ until we met with Valentino's brother who took us to Valentino's house (Valentino got stuck in traffic from Guadalajara), we were on the malecon and wondering why the water level in the lake is so low. Later Valentino told us the reason - Guadalajara used too much water from it. Who knows how long this third biggest lake in Latin America will be the third biggest...
From San Juan Cosalá to Chapala, following the lake shore. Easy ride, just some small hills, the biggest problem was traffic.
Learning:
- that when I think that Baška thinks something which she doesn't think, and she thinks that I think something which I don't think, then we both get hungry
- that the best and the cheapest food is in small streets in small family owned restaurants
- that water in laguna Chapala, the biggest lake in Mexico, is disappearing because Guadalajara is sucking it up, and nowadays the water is so polluted that you really don't want to eat any fish from it
Living:
~ we were lazy today, our host Valentino in Chapala will be home at 7 pm so we had a lot of time
~ riding to Chapala we realised how lucky we actually were to find that nice camping spot, the rest of the lake shore seemed to be built up
~ I was waiting for Baška to decide where to go eat (we wanted to try the famous "tortas ahogadas") but she awaited the same from me, and we came to Chapala quite hungry
~ we did the mistake of looking for food on the main street. We found it and torta ahogada was good (but we had expected a little bit more, this one was just bun with meat, onion and salsa and it cost about 30 pesos); if we looked on the small back streets, we could find nice small restaurants with better options and prices (as we found out later with Valentino)
~ the celebration of Saint Mary of Guadalupe was today, the parade was just a small one, but pretty noisy
~ until we met with Valentino's brother who took us to Valentino's house (Valentino got stuck in traffic from Guadalajara), we were on the malecon and wondering why the water level in the lake is so low. Later Valentino told us the reason - Guadalajara used too much water from it. Who knows how long this third biggest lake in Latin America will be the third biggest...
11th December - San Isidro Mazatepec to San Juan Cosalá, 55,64 km
Cycling:
From San Isidro to hwy 80 heading to Colima. The road is pretty much down hill untill village Buenavista where is one hill. Then continuing on hwy 15 till the town Jocotepec where we turn left to laguna Chapala heading to the town with the same name. There were just small hills.
Learning:
- that the best and easiest cycling is early in the morning
- that you cannot buy lighter on the gas station
- that even I can speak some Spanish
- that laguna Chapala is surrounded by residences for retired Americans and Canadians
Living:
~ started very early because we didn't want to pay for another day in aqua park, but it was cool because then we rode the first 30 km without even noticing that we were cycling and should be tired
~ cooking breakfast at the corner of a street - we are attraction for the locals again
~ we stopped on a gas station to use their toilets and I found out two things, they don't sell lighters and I can quite speak Spanish too :-)
~ to get to laguna Chapala we had to bike up only one steep hill, otherwise we were biking mostly downhills
~ on the way to Jocotepec it looked like local volcano was smoking but it was just one cloud, the closest active volcano is about 200 km south-west, near Colima city
~ from San Juan Cosalá we felt like back in USA, so many residences and houses for rich people and almost no access to the water
~ but finally we were lucky and found nice place hidden from sights and right next to the lake, for the rest of the day we were accompanied only by pelicans (which are white with pink beaks and yellow legs), herons (also white and tiny with black beaks and legs), cormorants, gulls, ibises and sterns
~ in the evening we heard fireworks and music from the town across the lake, it's time to celebrate Saint Mary Guadalupe. But why were they cracking fireworks till the midnight and then since six o'clock in the morning?
From San Isidro to hwy 80 heading to Colima. The road is pretty much down hill untill village Buenavista where is one hill. Then continuing on hwy 15 till the town Jocotepec where we turn left to laguna Chapala heading to the town with the same name. There were just small hills.
Learning:
- that the best and easiest cycling is early in the morning
- that you cannot buy lighter on the gas station
- that even I can speak some Spanish
- that laguna Chapala is surrounded by residences for retired Americans and Canadians
Living:
~ started very early because we didn't want to pay for another day in aqua park, but it was cool because then we rode the first 30 km without even noticing that we were cycling and should be tired
~ cooking breakfast at the corner of a street - we are attraction for the locals again
~ we stopped on a gas station to use their toilets and I found out two things, they don't sell lighters and I can quite speak Spanish too :-)
~ to get to laguna Chapala we had to bike up only one steep hill, otherwise we were biking mostly downhills
~ on the way to Jocotepec it looked like local volcano was smoking but it was just one cloud, the closest active volcano is about 200 km south-west, near Colima city
~ from San Juan Cosalá we felt like back in USA, so many residences and houses for rich people and almost no access to the water
~ but finally we were lucky and found nice place hidden from sights and right next to the lake, for the rest of the day we were accompanied only by pelicans (which are white with pink beaks and yellow legs), herons (also white and tiny with black beaks and legs), cormorants, gulls, ibises and sterns
~ in the evening we heard fireworks and music from the town across the lake, it's time to celebrate Saint Mary Guadalupe. But why were they cracking fireworks till the midnight and then since six o'clock in the morning?
10th December - Guadalajara to San Isidro Mazatepec
Today we were ready to go
and Jenaro offered he'd take us with bicycles out of Guadalajara so
we won't have to ride through the city. Finally Jenaro and Griselda
suggested they would take us to village San Isidro Mazatepec where
hot springs are, now changed into small aqua park, and we agreed,
bath in thermal pool sounded good :-). For 40 pesos / person we could
even camp here. It was in the middle of the week and out of season,
so we were here almost by ourselves, only a few people and families
came to swim during the day, but in the evening and night we had the
whole place just for ourselves. So we were working on our blog again,
swimming and relaxing. We really enjoyed the night swimming in hot
water, when the air was cold already. A small problem was to get out
of the of water :-).
Even though we'd known
Jenaro and Griselda and their two sons only for three days, saying
good bye was difficult. Such great people, ready to share everything,
including their hearth, who taught us so much, not only about
Guadalajara and Mexico...
7th - 9th December - Guadalajara
On our first day in Gudalajara we
visited historical downtown with Jenaro and his family. After we got
through busy Sunday traffic (it seemed that traffic in Guadalajara
was always crazy and too busy) and got some refreshment in the
chocolate shop, our first stop was in cathedral. The highlight of
this church was mummy of small girl which was brought here from
Vatican in 18th century and even though it looked pretty
dead and plastic to us, it's hair were still growing (at least that's
what they told us).
Another attraction was quite
unexpected, we came to the main street just in the time when huge
parade of motorcyclists was getting ready to go. In front were some
crazy custom motorbikes (for example: in shape of a dragon which
belched out real fire and smoke) and then hundreds of other
motorbikes of all different shapes and types and drivers came. The
parade seemed to be endless and so noisy that we left before the end.
Then we passed through main plaza and from Spanish part of town to
natives' part (in the time of Spanish colonization
these two parts were strictly separated with something like Berlin
wall). Small difference in architecture and much more stands
with Huicholes' crafts and cheep plastic stuff from China. One guy
stopped us and asked what was more important for us, technology or
nature? Than he gave us small pack of sunflower seeds and told us
that we should plant it somewhere. And then he showed us his palm,
awaiting some “donation”. :-)
We also visited one
of Guadalajara's main cultural attractions
- “Hospicio Cabanas” - former hospital, now gallery. We
liked how locals can use their old buildings. In Tepic they changed
old prison to residence of local government. Here in Guadalajara they
changed old hospital to gallery (and quite expensive to visit, the
ticket costs 70 pesos if you are not resident). The main attraction
is big hall, with walls and ceiling painted by some famous (and
probably deeply depressed) artist Jose Clemente Orozco. The guide
told us that this painting represented
history and reality of Mexicans. Dark, but
very interesting and quite true, and the optical illusions were
amazing (which is another reason what makes this piece of art so
important and valuable).
Our last stop was
on the local market place called San Juan
de Dios. It was already late, but various
stands were still open. It's incredible how many different kinds of
fruit are here that we've had no idea they existed. Jenaro patiently
answered all of our questions like “what is this?”, “how do you
eat this?”, we tried some exotic fruits and fruit candy, of which
they offer huge diversity. We also
tried “Tepache” - local drink, served in plastic bag with straw.
Local markets are amazing, you can buy there literally everything.
Christmas is coming, in some parts of the markets you must turn crazy
if spending there longer period of time – all that blinking,
flashing, 'jingle bells' and 'Rudolf the reindeer' melodies played by
cheep plastic Chinese stuff all over again and again... We liked a
stand where old woman was selling dried herbs of all different kinds,
it was like medieval pharmacy :-). The sad and quite noisy part of
the market was where small cages with almost all kinds of singing and
/ or colorful birds of Mexico were. Kids running, screaming and
jumping over the piles of garbage in front of closed stands etched in
the atmosphere of the place.
On the way home we
stopped to eat dinner in restaurant which sells specialty of Ciudad
Guzman - tostada as big as plate (and the plate was much bigger than
an ordinary plate) with mountain of meat, cheese and vegetable on it.
Our choice was mix of all ingredients, so we had a lot of meat and
cheese and also some more exotic stuff like pork legs and skin, which
was a surprise for us (but with a lot of salt and lime it wasn't too
bad). For 60 pesos it was very rich meal and we had some troubles to
finish it :-).
The evening we spent
talking about Mexico and Slovakia. Jenaro and Griselda were very
interested in hearing about history and life in Slovakia, so we told
them everything we could in Barbora's Spanish :-).
The next day (Monday) we
went to the town with Griselda to do some shopping. We needed to buy
brake pads, spokes and pump. So our first steps led to the bike shop
and then to a local marketplace. This marketplace was something
spectacular. So big and full of fresh products of all kinds. We came
there to buy some fruits and vegetables and found a huge hall only
for that. Life in the marketplace was fascinating, so many people,
but we felt safe and it was really interesting just to observe what
was going on. There was a lot of wisdom in it. I think, you can learn
more about country and people from marketplaces than from any museum
or gallery. This place showed art of living right here and right now
:-).
Another amazing
experience was local shop selling everything in bulks, from dried
fruit, vegetables, grains, seeds, spices, nuts, candy,
chocolates or pasta to dog and bird food.
We bought so many things that I was really worried if we were going
to be able to fit it in our panniers and if we had enough money. But
it was very cheap, comparing to similar stores in US, we paid about
ten times less (just my opinion), for full shopping bag of dried
fruit and seeds (we also got cocoa beans which taste like 100% dark
chocolate) we paid 200 pesos. We really fell in love with this shop,
it was good example how unnecessary all those products sold in
supermarkets and wrapped in several plastic packages are. If they can
sell everything in bulks here, then it must be possible everywhere.
And you pay only for what you really want to buy, no hidden surprises
behind colorful wrapper.
In the evening we
showed to Jenaro and his family some pictures of Slovakia. They were
impressed and said they would like to visit it one day :-). We
continued with inspiring eye-
and hearth-opening conversation until late night (or early morning?
:-)) hours.
The last day with
Jenaro and his family we were mostly working on internet and on
bikes. Martin had to repair our flat tires and clean the chains. We
also got the tube protectors so maybe it will help to prevent
punctures. Griselda cooked amazing Aztec soup for lunch. In the
evening Baška
went with Jenaro and Griselda to the town to visit another
interesting part of the city, called Tlaquepaque. The street with
colorful art shops and coffee shops reminded me of some streets in
Europe. This clean rich part of Guadalajara is quite in contrary with
typical Mexican streets. Jenaro explained us all the important
aspects of Mexicans and Mexican history on the Mosaic with painting
by Diego Rivera (it's copy, the original is in Mexico city). And we
had a chance to see a local traditional dance, in which the dancers
dance around a high wooden column, then they climb it, tide their
legs to the top part, which spins around and then they slowly “fly”
down head down, while still spinning around the column. The first
bungee jumping :-).
6th December - El Arenal to Guadalajara, 41,97 km
Cycling:
From El Arenal on the old hwy 15 to Guadalajara, and then to South-western part of the city.
Learning:
- that the worst think of the big cities is to get in and out
- that Guadalajara is quite unique city with vibrant life
Living:
~ to get to Guadalajara was really an experience; the beginning was good, the old hwy had shoulder and the traffic was low, but as we got closer to the city and joined the new hwy, the traffic became terrible.
~ Baška got flat tire too, from wire from old broken truck tire; locals very often drive even when one tire on their vehicle is broken, literally until it is not possible to drive it anymore. Why do we need so many trucks on the roads, anyway?
~ luckily we didn't have to go through the city, Martin found good alternative, we got off the main street just at the beginning of Guadalajara
~ after some zigzagging and passing big modern round-shaped soccer stadium, we somehow ended up at probably the highest point of the city (with nice view of Guadalajara hidden in smog); and then found the house (Casa de Cyclista) of our warmshowers host Jenaro.
~ evening visit of Guadalajara, with Jenaro, his wife Griselda and one of the students, they host too. Every Saturday night this one street changes into an art gallery, local artists sell their products, like Huichol bracelets and necklaces, toys, clothes, paintings, books, statutes and more. There were also some musicians playing - our favourites were drummers playing on pans, old buckets and water bottles
From El Arenal on the old hwy 15 to Guadalajara, and then to South-western part of the city.
Learning:
- that the worst think of the big cities is to get in and out
- that Guadalajara is quite unique city with vibrant life
Living:
~ to get to Guadalajara was really an experience; the beginning was good, the old hwy had shoulder and the traffic was low, but as we got closer to the city and joined the new hwy, the traffic became terrible.
~ Baška got flat tire too, from wire from old broken truck tire; locals very often drive even when one tire on their vehicle is broken, literally until it is not possible to drive it anymore. Why do we need so many trucks on the roads, anyway?
~ luckily we didn't have to go through the city, Martin found good alternative, we got off the main street just at the beginning of Guadalajara
~ after some zigzagging and passing big modern round-shaped soccer stadium, we somehow ended up at probably the highest point of the city (with nice view of Guadalajara hidden in smog); and then found the house (Casa de Cyclista) of our warmshowers host Jenaro.
~ evening visit of Guadalajara, with Jenaro, his wife Griselda and one of the students, they host too. Every Saturday night this one street changes into an art gallery, local artists sell their products, like Huichol bracelets and necklaces, toys, clothes, paintings, books, statutes and more. There were also some musicians playing - our favourites were drummers playing on pans, old buckets and water bottles
5th December - Ixtlán del Rio to El Arenal, 70,52 km
Cycling:
Down to the plains nearby Magdalena, then around volcano Tequila and town with the same name, to the village El Arenal where hwy 15D played dirty trick on us.
Learning:
- that Mexico isn't only hills but also some plains, like this one near Magdalena
- that Tequila is also name of a volcano, and where origin of this alcohol is
- that there are no more turkey vultures
- that volcanic glass is very common here and locals sell it as opal
- that to change broken spoke on the rear wheel took me almost an one hour (together with unloading and loading up the bike and truing the wheel)
- that the biggest danger can come at the end of the day
Living:
~ two old ranchers passed by on mules while we where doing our morning Tai chi exercise
~ some crazy birds were yelling at each other from one side of the valley to the other
~ our first flat tire since Mazatlán
~ Magdalena is small but long town with central plaza surrounded by crazy semi-trucks traffic, and stands selling polished volcanic glass
~ agave fields as far as you can see are found around Magdalena - we are close to Tequila, the place where tequila origins
~ after Tequila the hwy played dirty trick on us, one side of it was under the construction and all the traffic was in our lane. So with no shoulder and trucks passing us just by centimeters (although only in slow speed) this was very stressful end of the day
Down to the plains nearby Magdalena, then around volcano Tequila and town with the same name, to the village El Arenal where hwy 15D played dirty trick on us.
Learning:
- that Mexico isn't only hills but also some plains, like this one near Magdalena
- that Tequila is also name of a volcano, and where origin of this alcohol is
- that there are no more turkey vultures
- that volcanic glass is very common here and locals sell it as opal
- that to change broken spoke on the rear wheel took me almost an one hour (together with unloading and loading up the bike and truing the wheel)
- that the biggest danger can come at the end of the day
Living:
~ two old ranchers passed by on mules while we where doing our morning Tai chi exercise
~ some crazy birds were yelling at each other from one side of the valley to the other
~ our first flat tire since Mazatlán
~ Magdalena is small but long town with central plaza surrounded by crazy semi-trucks traffic, and stands selling polished volcanic glass
~ agave fields as far as you can see are found around Magdalena - we are close to Tequila, the place where tequila origins
~ after Tequila the hwy played dirty trick on us, one side of it was under the construction and all the traffic was in our lane. So with no shoulder and trucks passing us just by centimeters (although only in slow speed) this was very stressful end of the day
4th December - Jala to curvas peligrosas approx 24 km after Ixtlán del Rio, 59,65 km
Cycling:
From our sugar cane crater, through lava fields from volcano Ceboruco on hwy 15D, nice downhill ride to Jala (almost 10 km) and then uphill again to Ixtlán del Rio. More uphills until we reached another volcano, which the road is winding around in sharp curves.Steep downhill ride (in our direction).
Learning:
- that what goes up must go down
- that it is hard to find purificadora in Ixtlán del Rio, as well as some marketplace; but when you need water, people just give it to you for free
- that when you are not sure if you have enough water till the next day, you find a full bottle of water on the next rest stop
- that sugar cane can be good even after whole day in pannier facing the sun
Living:
~ we left our campsite with our stomachs full of sugar from sugar cane (and with full box of cut cane)
~ after we got through lava fields and some small hills, there was amazing downhill, but slalom between broken truck tires
~ Ixtlán del Rio was one big chaos and confusion for us, we couldn't find any marketplace and finally had to go far from centre to find one supermarket; then we wanted to get some water from purificadora, which we found your was on the other side of the town, but when we got there, it was closed. Luckily there were guys who sell bottles with water and they were so nice and gave us water for free (by the way, guys working in purificadora almost never asked for money for water which they gave us)
~ from Ixtlán we were sweating through more uphills until we got to "curvas peligrosas" ("dangerous curves" but translated in Slovak it means "dangerous whores" :-)), where another amazing downhill ride with beautiful views started(if you are suicidal enough to look around instead of on the road in front of you)
~ for tonight we found small valley with gravel dumping site, but otherwise it was beautiful, with small clear stream, and completely for us. What more could we wish more after the hot day, than bath in fresh stream, and then cooking dinner (rise with nopal - cactus opuntia found here, great ingredient for the meals, we'd learned how to use it in Cabo Pulmo) on a camp fire, accompanied by scorpions and bats, flying in the light of full moon?
From our sugar cane crater, through lava fields from volcano Ceboruco on hwy 15D, nice downhill ride to Jala (almost 10 km) and then uphill again to Ixtlán del Rio. More uphills until we reached another volcano, which the road is winding around in sharp curves.Steep downhill ride (in our direction).
Learning:
- that what goes up must go down
- that it is hard to find purificadora in Ixtlán del Rio, as well as some marketplace; but when you need water, people just give it to you for free
- that when you are not sure if you have enough water till the next day, you find a full bottle of water on the next rest stop
- that sugar cane can be good even after whole day in pannier facing the sun
Living:
~ we left our campsite with our stomachs full of sugar from sugar cane (and with full box of cut cane)
~ after we got through lava fields and some small hills, there was amazing downhill, but slalom between broken truck tires
~ Ixtlán del Rio was one big chaos and confusion for us, we couldn't find any marketplace and finally had to go far from centre to find one supermarket; then we wanted to get some water from purificadora, which we found your was on the other side of the town, but when we got there, it was closed. Luckily there were guys who sell bottles with water and they were so nice and gave us water for free (by the way, guys working in purificadora almost never asked for money for water which they gave us)
~ from Ixtlán we were sweating through more uphills until we got to "curvas peligrosas" ("dangerous curves" but translated in Slovak it means "dangerous whores" :-)), where another amazing downhill ride with beautiful views started(if you are suicidal enough to look around instead of on the road in front of you)
~ for tonight we found small valley with gravel dumping site, but otherwise it was beautiful, with small clear stream, and completely for us. What more could we wish more after the hot day, than bath in fresh stream, and then cooking dinner (rise with nopal - cactus opuntia found here, great ingredient for the meals, we'd learned how to use it in Cabo Pulmo) on a camp fire, accompanied by scorpions and bats, flying in the light of full moon?
3rd December - Santa Maria del Oro to approx 15m before Jala, 44,31 km
Cycling:
From La Laguna on the bottom of the volcano to Santa Maria del Oro it was 7 km uphill. From Santa Maria del Oro to hwy 15D it was another uphill ride (with one nice downhill) and the rest of the day was almost all the time uphill too.
Learning:
- that fear from 7 km steep uphill ride is worse than to actually climb up that hill (actually it was quite easy)
- that our water filter (Katydin) works very well even after all those kilometres (about 12 500 km so far)
- that you are never alone
- that coral snakes live here
- that sugar cane is the best candy
Living:
~ woke up early just to start late (as often happens to us)
~ found dead coral snake on the road, some locals passing by in a car stopped and said in terrified voice: "coralillo" (they thought it was still alive)
~ from Huichol Indians we bought massage oil made from peyote & cannabis, maybe it will help to our sore legs muscles :-)
~ after we left Santa Maria del Oro (where we had lunch break) and got on hwy, we just rode uphill till the evening ~ met two other cyclists (from Spain and Singapore), they met at Gabino's place in San Quintín in Baja California and since that they travel together - destination South America, same as ours :-). It was funny that they had already known about us from Gabino - people on warmshowers are like one family...
~ nice evening ride with even a few downhill moments
~ our campsite was under a small volcano and beautiful crater, in the field of sugar cane, we had sweet dreams :-)
From La Laguna on the bottom of the volcano to Santa Maria del Oro it was 7 km uphill. From Santa Maria del Oro to hwy 15D it was another uphill ride (with one nice downhill) and the rest of the day was almost all the time uphill too.
Learning:
- that fear from 7 km steep uphill ride is worse than to actually climb up that hill (actually it was quite easy)
- that our water filter (Katydin) works very well even after all those kilometres (about 12 500 km so far)
- that you are never alone
- that coral snakes live here
- that sugar cane is the best candy
Living:
~ woke up early just to start late (as often happens to us)
~ found dead coral snake on the road, some locals passing by in a car stopped and said in terrified voice: "coralillo" (they thought it was still alive)
~ from Huichol Indians we bought massage oil made from peyote & cannabis, maybe it will help to our sore legs muscles :-)
~ after we left Santa Maria del Oro (where we had lunch break) and got on hwy, we just rode uphill till the evening ~ met two other cyclists (from Spain and Singapore), they met at Gabino's place in San Quintín in Baja California and since that they travel together - destination South America, same as ours :-). It was funny that they had already known about us from Gabino - people on warmshowers are like one family...
~ nice evening ride with even a few downhill moments
~ our campsite was under a small volcano and beautiful crater, in the field of sugar cane, we had sweet dreams :-)
1st December - Tepic to Santa Maria del Oro, 52,87 Km
Cycling:
From Tepic to the exit to Santa Maria del Oro on hwy 15D (even though bicycles are prohibited here), then on the asphalt road through village Santa Maria del Oro, down into the crater with lake. Easy to find, just follow the signs. You need to have very good brakes to get down to the lake, the road is very crooked, goes down steeply and it's 7 km long.
Learning:
- that there are more steep hills in Mexico than we have imagined
- that the tomatoe farm located near Santa Maria del Oro, belonging to Nature Sweet company, looks like chemical factory
- that even a tourist trap like Santa Maria del Oro can provide small, calm and beautiful place to camp for free, with amazing skin dipping swimming in clear water :-)
Living:
Another day on the road. Jose has this tradition that if he can, he rides a little on his hosts' bikes, so I let him ride my bike. They both survived :-). To get out from Tepic wasn't much easier than to get in. Steep hills which didn't look steep and strong head wind. But we didn't go too far, only to Santa Maria del Oro and then down to La Laguna, which is small village on the shore of crater lake. To get down was amazing 7 km long downhill ride. First impression of the lake wasn't the best one, there were houses all around and horrible road paved by boulders. But after a while of searching we got lucky and found perfect camping place for us. It was on the flat rock right above the water and far from all houses and noise (well, we could still hear banda music from the restaurants, sound travels far on the water). We had whole lake just for us :-).
From Tepic to the exit to Santa Maria del Oro on hwy 15D (even though bicycles are prohibited here), then on the asphalt road through village Santa Maria del Oro, down into the crater with lake. Easy to find, just follow the signs. You need to have very good brakes to get down to the lake, the road is very crooked, goes down steeply and it's 7 km long.
Learning:
- that there are more steep hills in Mexico than we have imagined
- that the tomatoe farm located near Santa Maria del Oro, belonging to Nature Sweet company, looks like chemical factory
- that even a tourist trap like Santa Maria del Oro can provide small, calm and beautiful place to camp for free, with amazing skin dipping swimming in clear water :-)
Living:
Another day on the road. Jose has this tradition that if he can, he rides a little on his hosts' bikes, so I let him ride my bike. They both survived :-). To get out from Tepic wasn't much easier than to get in. Steep hills which didn't look steep and strong head wind. But we didn't go too far, only to Santa Maria del Oro and then down to La Laguna, which is small village on the shore of crater lake. To get down was amazing 7 km long downhill ride. First impression of the lake wasn't the best one, there were houses all around and horrible road paved by boulders. But after a while of searching we got lucky and found perfect camping place for us. It was on the flat rock right above the water and far from all houses and noise (well, we could still hear banda music from the restaurants, sound travels far on the water). We had whole lake just for us :-).
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