Jan 31 arriving at Maya Bell

The From our Pemex gas station campsite near Veracruz, it was onward to Maya Bell and Palenque.

The day was gorgeous and driving at 24 degrees, very comfortable. 

When we neared Villa Hermosa, I could not help thinking of the 2007 ride I made with Charlie, en route to Brienne's wedding on the Mexican riviera. 

The major river through the area had breeched its banks. Charlie and I drove for several hours through flood lands that actually covered the highway. Over 1,000,000 people were affected in the state of Tabasco and more specifically the city of Villa Hermosa ( 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Tabasco_flood ) while we edged our way along a road covered with water and resembling a lake. Only telephone poles on the side of the road and the tail lights of the vehicle ahead of us kept us on the dark roadway. 

We eventually made it to the high point of an enormous bridge. 

Here, we spent hours pondering our fate in the cocoon of our little volkswagen van. It was also the place of last resort for many cars and hundreds of people who had lost nearly everything. 

That same bridge sure looked quiet and orderly on this day. 

Two hours beyond Villa Hermosa we arrived at the Maya Bella campsite ( https://www.google.ca/search?site=webhp&tbm=isch&source=hp&ei=SXCRWLJno8SPBIauvKgO&q=maya+bell&oq=maya+bell&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3..0l2j0i30k1j0i8i30k1l2.2484.10873.0.15076.12.12.0.0.0.0.2158.14786.2-2j0j1j0j2j2j2j3.12.0....0...1c.1.64.mobile-gws-img..1.9.9639.0..0i10k1.Hp4hqOo51w0 ) only a kilometre from the famous ruins of Palenque. 

Setting up the camp to the welcoming of howler monkeys in the jungle beside us was a real treat. 

After a dinner and evening of live entertainment at the bar in Maya Bell it was time to shut down another day on the road. 

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Jan 30. Bye bye ancient Teotihuacan

When we arrived from Mexico City last night we were surprised to see Petra , Lucy and their 2 kids had arrived from Teotihuacan, and Kelly & Liz (our Shuswap connection) was also there!!  It is surprising how the paths of travellers often find each other again. 

This morning we had to say good bye to them again. We hope that one day their travels will bring them to Kelowna so we can spend more time to get to know each other better. 

After a bit fancy manoeuvring with the help of Google Maps "on the fly" we were on our way to Villa Hermosa. In ancient towns like Teotihuacan it would be a nightmare navigating the old way with maps. Google had us navigating the narrow old roads with relative ease. However this is definitely a 2 person job as the driver cannot take an eye off the busy narrow street to check the gps screen. Taxi cabs, Cars, buses, bikes, motor bikes, dogs etc keep you "on your toes". 

It is not like Mexican drivers are crazy like in parts of Europe--they are for the most part quite courteous , but they come at you from all directions!

Pueblo was the first town we passed. It is known for having 365 churches with architecture, in some, that is better than that in cathedrals in Mexico City in the opinion of our camp host. 

Cholula,  literally on the opposite side of the road from Pueblo, is home of the worlds largest pyramid ( http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/08/30/the-worlds-largest-pyramid-is-hidden-under-a-mountain-in-mexico/ )

Prior to the Spanish conquest it had eroded so bad that the Spanish thought it was a small mountain and they built a beautiful church right on top of it. 

In the afternoon of our drive we dropped  from 7,000 ft to 200 feet in very short order. The road was so steep and windy that you rarely saw traffic going in the opposite direction

Temperatures at the top of the escarpment was 13 degrees. At the bottom it was well over 20 degrees. 

We are a little concerned with Dahlia's tire wear. There is no sign of the wheels being out of alignment but in only 7,000 km the Mexican roads have eaten half the tread off new tires. 

Climate and vegetation are now semi/tropical. Today was our first warm night in Mexico. We stopped at the nicest PEMEX gas station i have ever seen and they offered us free accommodation with the trucks out back. The spot is clean and fenced and as I write this at 7:30 it is 24 degrees outside--very nice. 

Tomorrow we will be camping at Maya Belle beside the famous ruins of Palenque, sitting by the pool. It does not get much better. 

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Bye bye Mexico City

After two wonderful days in Mexico City, we finally hit so-so weather in the morning (only 10 degrees!). The shakey weather matched my digestive track. I guess I had a few too many tacos and tamales.

Adrienne went to the pharmacy late in the morning, and I think I am on the road to recovery; also the sun is out again!

One of the unique things of Mexico City is they shut down several of the main roads downtown for a considerable distance. Sunday is the day that those roads are for the exclusive use of bicycles, skateboards, rollerblades, and runners.

At 8 o'clock in the morning the street was basically deserted. Later on

it was quite unusual to see that out in front of our hotel (Fontan Reforma) there are many many active people using the six Lane thorough fare. We are only a few hundred yards from the edge of the old city so there are many, many people riding into it from the numerous hotels in the area.

Even this back road was blocked off. 

I wish we had more time to spend in Mexico City. The hotel and location are fantastic. However, we feel that if we are ever going to get on our way down to Panama we better start moving. I do hope that we return in the next few years, but it will definitely be more than for just three days.

Because the whole of Mexico City is built on a former lake, the water table must be very high in the ground and there is evidence from time to time with little lakes within the city. Building these enormous structures that are everywhere throughout the city must have been quite in engineering feat, what with the very silty former lake bed. They had to overcome engineering challenges that they had never seen before--this must have been doubly tricky as the areas also prone to earthquakes.

The many millions of people that live in this town are packed in like sardines. Entire hillsides are covered with houses made out of brick and plaster, and there is absolutely no green space between them. They are all touching.

Pic...

Because they are stacked together on the hillsides, when the torrential rains hit, there are numerous bad situations. It is not uncommon for the water to move houses on their foundation.  It seems like The government is allowing developers to build these in enormous subdivisions, but not ensuring that drainage is adequate.

I guess problems are not unlike several other is supersized cities throughout the world. The real problem is so many Mexicans are poor and migrate to the city in hopes of a better life. Once there, they manage to find accommodation, and with their Catholic background, have lots of children.  It almost seems a status symbol for young girls under the age of 18 to have at least one child on her hip as she does her daily routine in the city. The lack of birth control only perpetuates the downward spiral into deeper poverty.

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Jan 28. Museum day

The The morning taxi took us to Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology (  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Anthropology_(Mexico)  )

The physical scale of the building is enormous as is the vast collection of art, information and exhibits. 

The first story of the building has a rectangular hallway, about 800 yards in length with an uncountable number of rooms and displays off its sides. 

The first floor collection starts in prehistoric times with "man's" beginnings in Africa and takes you up to the time the Spaniards conquered the several civilizations that existed in Mexico in the 1500's. 

The second floor is dedicated to Mexico after the conquest and its 4 distinct geographical regions. 

The collection is so extensive that to cover it would take at least a day for each floor. 

Ade and I did most of the first floor together in a rather rushed manner. She "hit the wall" by noon and I did a quick "look-see" through exhibits on the second floor. It was truly information overload but really worth seeing. 

After a relaxing lunch, and another taxi ride we were at the amazing private museum of Carlos Slim (currently one of the wealthiest persons on the planet!  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim   ). 

The museum is named Soumaya (  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Soumaya )   and is one of the most unique modern architectural structures that we have ever seen. It's curved mirror like walls glisten in the sunshine. 

The museums 66,000 works and over a million guests a year make it world class. The Asian ivory collection  numbers in the hundreds of works and the famous art works from Europe seem to go on for ever. 

Amazingly there is no charge to view this world famous exhibit in the heart of the more modern part of Mexico City. It is a MUST SEE!

archit

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Jan 28 arriving at Mexico City with pics

The one hour Uber ride from Teotihuacan to the doorstep of our hotel in downtown Mexico City was only $15. The driver spoken good English and was very knowledgeable. 

He gave us an interesting run-down on the economics of the city and was somewhat critical of the Mexican government in regards to its economic policies. 

He was telling us that a policeman or fireman make less than $5.00 US, whereas a bus driver makes $8.00 per day. The minimum wage in the country is $4.00 per day. 

One interesting thing he brought up was that public university was virtually free but since most Mexican families are so poor, most kids have to quit school between ages of 12 and 16 to help pay for family expenses and therefore do not even think about getting a higher education. He blamed the government and corruption for perpetuating this situation. It allows the gap between rich and poor to grow ever wider. 

The population of Mexico City is only 9,000,000 but when you add up adjacent metro areas it is 20,000,000. The population within a one 60 km radius of the city center jumps to 35,000,000 (as much as we have in our whole country)!! He said traffic art rush hour is usually at a jogging pace and that millions of residents take 2 hours to get to work. 

The hotel Adrienne found is called the Fontan Reforma and is in a great location--only a couple of hundred yards from where the action begins in the central old part of the city. 

2 massive public squares make up the center of the town. Apparently one of these squares (ZOCALO   https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zócalo )  is the second biggest in the world, only surpassed by Red Square in Russia. 

The 2 squares are surrounded by enormous ancient Cathedrals, international , and government structures made from sculptured rock and cement. Every direction you look makes you gasp in admiration at the architecture and effort that was made to complete these buildings. 

Many of the streets leading to the squares are pedestrian-only. This makes the whole area very people friendly, with many shops located in small street spaces within the old buildings. The concentration of retail shops is so great that many take residence on second floors and people actually take the effort to navigate the narrow old staircases. Many restaurants are especially popular several floors up overlooking Zacalo square. 

In my opinion even the cities of London, Paris and Rome did not show the vibrance for life and activity as does the centre of Mexico City. It will be a fun place to explore over the next few days--however, a challenging place to live one's life. Many Mexicans,on the other hand, think the opposite as the town continues to be a magnet for people throughout the country. 

Here are a few of our first day pictures. For better ones click here   https://www.google.com.mx/search?q=picture+of+zocalo+mexico&prmd=imnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjsjfPXoePRAhVY82MKHbrCA9wQ_AUIBygB&biw=768&bih=928

 

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Jan 27. Arriving in Mexico City

The one hour Uber ride from Teotihuacan to the doorstep of our hotel in downtown Mexico City was only $15. The driver spoken good English and was very knowledgeable.

He gave us an interesting run-down on the economics of the city and was somewhat critical of the Mexican government in regards to its economic policies.

He was telling us that a policeman or fireman make less than $5.00 US, whereas a bus driver makes $8.00 per day. The minimum wage in the country is $4.00 per day.

One interesting thing he brought up was that public university was virtually free but since most Mexican families are so poor, most kids have to quit school between ages of 12 and 16 to help pay for family expenses and therefore do not even think about getting a higher education. He blamed the government and corruption for perpetuating this situation. It allows the gap between rich and poor to grow ever wider.

The population of Mexico City is only 9,000,000 but when you add up adjacent metro areas it is 20,000,000. The population within a one 60 km radius of the city center jumps to 35,000,000 (as much as we have in our whole country)!! He said traffic art rush hour is usually at a jogging pace and that millions of residents take 2 hours to get to work.

The hotel Adrienne found is called the Fontan Reforma and is in a great location--only a couple of hundred yards from where the action begins in the central old part of the city.

2 massive public squares make up the center of the town. Apparently one of these squares (ZOCALO https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zócalo ) is the second biggest in the world, only surpassed by Red Square in Russia.

The 2 squares are surrounded by enormous ancient Cathedrals, international , and government structures made from sculptured rock and cement. Every direction you look makes you gasp in admiration at the architecture and effort that was made to complete these buildings.

Many of the streets leading to the squares are pedestrian-only. This makes the whole area very people friendly, with many shops located in small street spaces within the old buildings. The concentration of retail shops is so great that many take residence on second floors and people actually take the effort to navigate the narrow old staircases. Many restaurants are especially popular several floors up overlooking Zacalo square.

In my opinion even the cities of London, Paris and Rome did not show the vibrance for life and activity as does the centre of Mexico City. It will be a fun place to explore over the next few days--however, a challenging place to live one's life. Many Mexicans,on the other hand, think the opposite as the town continues to be a magnet for people throughout the country.


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...Jan 26

Once we left the site it was the usual game of hand signals and cell phone instructions-discussion to overcome the language issue and the it was back to our campsite. 

Once again we have great neighbours. Next to us is a Quebec couple on a 1.5 year journey to Argentina. He was a former member of our national slalom ski team--with over 30 broken bones to show for it! Across from us is a single lady (much older than us) who has been on the road for years visiting Africa, South America, and North America to Alaska!  

The Quebec couple have a very unique Volkswagen Westfalia type vehicle called a volkswagen Dehler Maxivan with a Diesel engine. It gets terrific gas Milage and has over 800,000 km on a vehicle that Adrienne though was almost new!!

It is delux in its camperized interior and even has a small bathroom. I could not believe he paid only $18,000 for it down east. 

After a few drinks with the Quebec neighbours, we got introduced to the use of Uber, the controversial cab business that is going viral around the world. In Mexico it is common with rates similar to the cheap Mexican cab fairs but with an "app" IN ENGLISH!!

... and oh I almost forgot. I got a screening of some of Mexico's prettier women as we were exiting the site and they were entering for a photo shoot!  Girls from each of the states in the country. 

Jan 26 Pyramid of the Sun

We We Like the city of San Miguel de Allende (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Miguel_de_Allende), Teotihuacan (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan ) is a UN World Heritage Site. 

The Egyptian pyramids might get all the press but 2 of the 3 biggest pyramids in the world are in Mexico near Mexico City. (Check https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_the_Sun ). Egypt's Giza is taller but not bigger in mass. 

Pyramid of the Sun is number 3 and our destination for today. ( Great Pyramid of Cholula which is 90 kilometers away is number 1). 

At well over 200 ft high and a mile and a half around, she is a big walk. 

It must have been quite a sight in its day, with brightly painted murals on the stones. 

The three temples at Teotihuacan were amazing. Dating back 2,000 years, they were located along a 2 mile stretch/road called the avenue of the dead. 

 

Over 100 rock structures ranging from homes for the i upper class priests and nobility to enormous temples and meeting squares occupy this enormous site. 

We spent 5 hours climbing and hiking the structures and roads. The more time we spent searching out the area, the more respect we gave the former inhabitants of this sacred area.  The frequent climbing  and steep ascents often tested our endurance. 

...More 

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Jan 25 Teotihuacan RV park

Another lucky find. An RV park right near the temple of the Sun Pyramid. Grassy lawns, palm trees evergreen pines and blue sky with a temperature of 28 degrees!

Home made German camper if you can believe it!!

Pyramid tomorrow. 

The 3 hour drive was definitely worth it

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Jan 23. Party Time

To wrap up the day we were invited to a birthday party almost at by one of the fellow campers. The 10 year old daughter was celebrating and we were invited. It was the first 10-year-old birthday party that I have ever been invited to in which the guests provided wine and beer for the adults. 

The party was a hit for both kids and adults starting at 5:30 the adults are still going strong at 10 o'clock.

Jan 23 The Gardin

Today we launched another walkabout around the town. However on second thought we chose a taxi. Taxis are very reasonable here. 15 minute taxi ride cost you $3.50.

Our first stop was El Charco. This is a large botanical gardens about 15 minutes from the downtown core. It's focus is hundreds of types of different cacti. There are numerous trails walking road hillside which are covered and every kind of cactus you can think of including suculants of every shade of the rainbow. Thanks The park overlooks the city and a small lake and is very picturesque. 

Today we launched another walkabout around the 

Jan 23. Art show

Next it was another 15 minute taxi ride to Fabrica L'Aurora. This is a massive ancient building at once house and enormous textile operation back in the 1600s. Because it was built in the Spanish rock style, even though it may have been abandoned for 100 years, it was still possible to renovate the structure. Now it is the location of many many dozens of local artists and they unique objects that they create. There's everything metal wood, fabric, painting and so on. The quality of work was extremely high end, but the prices also match the quality. However Adrienne did find one unique purchase a beautiful gold-copper bracelet that she fell in love with.

Final 10 minute taxi ride brought us back to our campsite at San Miguel RV and Tennis Club. 

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Jan 22. Just hanging out.

Interesting RV "neighbourhood" we are in. This group of about eight campers. We are located about 200 yards from downtown in an ancient hacienda grounds. 

One neighbour beside us is a mechanical engineer from the States. Him and his wife and their two-year-old son sold a property in Michigan. They are now on the road. For how long they do not know.

On the other side of us is that huge Unicat that I mentioned. he is a software multimillionaire who spends his time mainly here and other places around the world 

Beside them is a couple that was formally from Germany and 20 years ago moved to Colorado. He is a high-end builder and spends a large number of months each year travelling between south and north America.

Across from them is a widowed lady from Kansas. She is driving a super deluxe airstream Mercedes sprinter. She and her dog are on the road and visiting her sister who now resides here in San Miguel. 

 Beside her is a couple with a very unique Element Honda car. He owns a financial institution business and they too are on the road for a number of months every year. His Element is loaded with every contraption imaginable including a roof that pops up for a sleeping quarters. They are here for a couple of weeks leaving to a bed-and-breakfast for a couple weeks and coming back for an extended period of time.

Directly across from us is a software engineer originally from Bulgaria who spent 20 years in the USA. He learned his trade in Boston and New York and now along with his wife who is a PhD in physics and their two young daughters, spent the last two years and one more year travelling north and South America.  They are home schooling their two daughters while on there trip. After talking with me, he is seriously looking at kelowna as an eventual site to set up a base for his software business that focuses on the finical services industry.  

Beside them are a couple who are our age and have been doing three-month trips to Mexico for the past 20 are years. They have a totally converted Mercedes sprinter van that is 10 years old. Just recently he ordered a second one and plan to keep their lifestyle for the for seeable future. Back home in the USA he owns a small mattress company.

    Beside them is Kelly who is a professional diver and has worked a lot in the Cayman Islands. He would be in his late 40s and has taken a five year sabbatical from diving and is travelling throughout North America. S coincidence is that his father resides in  Sicimous, BC. He has spent much time in Canada and most of last summer at his parents place and Sicamous where he helped set up to a museum with his father. 

And finally there is us!  The Canadians who keep asking questions!😃

I have mentioned how friendly the people and camping areas are in this country before. This is definitely no exception within a day you meet everybody and within two days you start to really get to know them.

We found out why it was so busy on Saturday. That was the anniversary for the beginning of the Mexican Revolution for independence. Every year it is celebrated with parades and festivals. One of the huge parks in this town was a focal point for that event.

 

Sunday we walked the old town and spent the evening at a restaurant 

where we were able to watch the Steelers and New England Patriots play football. In the café we met a very interesting young couple of Mexicans. They were very educated. One was a geneticist retraining for a business degree. His girlfriend was a business graduate focussing on stock/share finance transactions for IBM in Guadalajara. They were multilingual and she was in the process of looking for transfer to Germany so she could get a better grip On international finance and learn the German language. There is definitely an educated group of people in this country in spite of the fact that the average traveller only sees and meets the group of Mexicans who have been less fortunate with their educational opportunities.

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Jan 21. San Miguel

Woke up this morning to find that we had parked right near a giant UNICAT.  This is one gigantic off roads, African style RV. It's 24 feet long 8 feet wide and about 12 feet tall. In talking to neighbours they indicated that it had been parked there for the past seven years. It was owned by a German couple who made a lot of money from selling an internet company. Now it is one of their residences around the world.

Our morning walk to town is a quick one from our central location. We are two blocks from the centre of San Miguel. By luck this morning we were entertained to a military parade. However Mexico is getting used to protests.consequently on the parade route was a decent size protest against the military. It's stalled the parade for at least a half an hour and after some negotiations the event continued with the protesters leading it throughout the town--Somewhat ironic.

After this we treat ourselves to a walk through the old part of town. Adrienne said it reminded her of Florence, with the streets and interesting city dwelling buildings with courtyard behind them. Also there are many small retailers spread along the walkway, with very interesting goods for sale ranging from silverware to pottery to clothing.

Next it was onto the market, or we tried some interesting foods and even some interesting clothes.

Our final highlight of the day was yet another protest. San Miguel was one of the 600 cities throughout the world that was hosting a women's rights march. I was amazed to see over 2000 women and men walking in support of women's rights in Mexico.

As another great day and soon we were sitting back in the sun enjoying a chat with a couple of fellow campers. This campground has people from the states, British Columbia and Germany. It is quite an interesting mix and the people are most friendly.

This town is also a very friendly spot. I cannot believe how easy it is conversing with the local people as there are so many Canadians and Americans who have chosen to live in this town for a significant part of each year. One teacher we met from Guelph Ontario has been living here for five months per year for the last 20 years.

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