chasingsummerp.014

Chasing Summer p.014

Report initially published in the Adventure Rider web site. For more interaction and comments check it out here

Nov. 2nd and Nov. 3rd - Zacatecas (Text by Teryk - Pics by Jean-Luc)

We've been in Zacatecas for three days now. I´m posting our second and 3rd days here using Jean-Luc´s awesome pictures. Traveling with JL and Turkish, it feels a little pointless to pull out my own camera. Most of our time here has been spent walking around soaking in the city, accomplishing errands and checking out the Dia De Los Muertos festivities.

Zacatecas is a cool colonial city built on hills with steep, narrow streets covered with paving stones.

The only way to access some of the homes in the older neighborhoods is on cobbled walkways that run between walled courtyards and apartments.

Seems every street has a mini mart that carries the basics such as ice cream, candy, and soda. Some are about size of a walk in closet. Some are smaller. Every other street has a ferreteria that carries lightbulbs, cleaning supplies and basic home repair items. This is in the old part of town where it seems every neighborhood is supplied by its own small shops; optica, ferreteria, farmacia, tortillaria. In the new part of town, there are Wallmarts, McDonalds and just about all the other big chain stores.

This shot is from outside one of the small local markets

The old part of town reminds me of Spain. You can't tell how nice a place is by its exterior. Most of the houses are a bit run down on the outside but a peek inside reveals a meticulously clean interior. It was the same way along the road on the way here. We would pass through towns built right up against the road. The walls next to the road often consisted of more repairs than wall and were painted with a patchwork of various colors. On the other side of the walls were relaxed courtyards with shade trees.

The Mexican mindset with regards to trash is intriguing. Homes, stores and public places are kept meticulously clean. I haven't seen people litter and festivals are cleaned up immediately after. Outside of the city, along the roads, people seem to litter at will. There are piles of trash at roadside pullouts. We passed multiple roadside brush fires that I assume were started by cigarette butts. Nobody seemed too concerned by the fires and I saw nobody working to put them out so I assume they don't get out of hand very often. The same mindset, perhaps, leads to cars and factories belching smoke into the air.

Somehow the threads on the front axle of JL's bike got munged which prevented him from tightening it appropriately. The plan was to get a new axle in Mexico City since we will have to go there to pick up his clutch line. While wandering the streets we found a machine shop that was able to repair the threads. The shop was very small and littered with all manner of machine tools. This man had a very kind and deeply creased face. He was listening to American big band music and carving intricate brass pinion gears for who knows what. He was obviously very skilled and knew what he was doing. He was able to clean up the threads perfectly and only asked for 25 pesos for the work ($2.50). JL gave him 50.

The celebration for Dia De Los Muertos here was incredible. The kids trick or treat for days, it seems. We went to the cemetery where families were painting and cleaning up the graves of their loved ones. Outside the cemetery there was a large market where you could buy all manner of flowers and grave decorations as well as food.

Quick. ¿Can you spot the Gringos?

I did my best to corner the market on churros.

Inside the cemetery there were mariachi bands, a mass being said, and just about every grave had flowers on it. The mood was definitely one of reflection as people remembered and contemplated those who had passed.

Some of the graves were very fancy

While others were very simple

Last night (Nov. 2nd) kids still trick or treated. They work a little harder than kids in the states. They have to sing a song to get their treats. We were in a cafe when band came by with a group of revelers in tow. We paid our tab and followed along. The band stopped in a courtyard and played for awhile. That was where we met our first friend with a bottle of tequila under one arm and a stack of cups under the other. We soon found that all we needed was a cup and tequila was easy to find.

Eventually that band stopped playing but we joined up with a much larger group. It seemed that at some point all the parades of revelers joined up near the cathedral and it was one giant party. It is very hard to describe the wonderful atmosphere on the streets. It seemed as if the whole town was out celebrating, most in costume and even a group of gringos felt at home. At one point three police officers with serious faces approached a group of kids goofing off and I thought they were going to give them a hard time. Pretty soon the cops were posing for pictures with the kids and everybody was laughing.

Unfortunately we don´t have any pictures of this as it was dark by then and Jean-Luc and I aren´t talented enough to drink tequila, speak ruinous Spanish and take pictures all at the same time, something had to give.

Night of the Dead in Zacatecas (by Andy)

The three of us were sipping margaritas in a bar when we heard brass band marching past outside.

Free tequila flowed into plastic cups and we joined the party as it wandered through narrow streets, stopping to dance at several plazas.

The locals were dressed to kill.

There were pretty girls...

... and scary girls.

Tough punks...

... and family men.

Ghostly brides...

... and big smiles.

We had originally planned to leave Zacatecas before the big celebration, but fate kept us there a little longer. It was a night to remember.

Nov 4th - Zacatecas to Guanajuato

Interactive maps: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1447

Since we ended up staying in Zacatecas last night we’re only departing with Andy this early morning. Maybe he’ll catch up with us in Costa Rica while I will be with my family and Teryk will be taking a Spanish class.

For the first time since we entered Mexico there are clouds in the sky and they are thick and grey.

To avoid freeway and big cities like Aguas Calientes and Leon we take a smaller remote road going SE. On our way we pass by Guadalupe, a medium size city close to Zacatecas that seems pretty nice too.

An hour or so later we stop in Villa Ortega to have breakfast. We start with a mix of fruits cut in front of us with salt and lime juice added at the end (we declined the chili). It’s delicious! I highly recommend the salt/lemon on water melon for example.

The church is really big for such a small town but is still too small for everyone to fit in so they have speakers on the outside.

That old 2-stroke bike is a model quite popular around here.

We wander a bit and if we’re looking at the locals they’re looking at us even more! In places like that we sometimes feel like Martians, but it’s true that dressed like we are we often got the same looks in our Alaskan trip

.

We’re still hungry and so order some of those very good gorditas.

They make everything right here, including the tortillas.

Although remote and narrow the road is hopelessly straight. That is until we reach the Town of Dolores Hidalgo. Then the route from there to Guanajuato becomes a fabulous motorcycle road, climbing the mountain until offering a great point of view on the city below.

“Guanajuato used to be a major silver mining town, and many of the mines are still active. The city is built on very hilly ground, so virtually every point in the city is on a slant. The city has a network of underground tunnels that serve as roads making this place really unique in the world.

In 1558 a big silver vein was discovered in Guanajuato and produced nearly a third of all silver in the world by the next 250 years. The city was granted its city status in 1741 by Spanish King Philip V.

Mining brought wealth to this town that spread towards its architecture and lifestyle. The historic town of Guanajuato and adjacent mines were granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1987 and has been ranked by several travel magazines as one of the top travel destinations in the world.”

After reading descriptions like that in our different travel guides, we really thought that Guanajuato would be the highlight of Mexico. As often in cases like that we were maybe expecting too much. Anyway, our arrival in Guanajuato was a strange feeling: it’s beautiful but oppressing in the same time since it’s difficult to stop anywhere in those narrow and crowded streets. There are also plenty of parking enforcement officers.

We finally find a spot and look at the guides for a place to stay. We locate one or two on the map and start to go there. Tough luck! Between the one-way streets, pedestrians only and obscure tunnels we never found the place we wanted. It was fun though! One of the many tunnels:

We finally end up in the main plaza of the historic center where we see what seems like a cheap hotel. After force discussions they finally agree to let us park the bikes inside the hall so we’ll stay there.

Soon after, we’re walking in the streets, visiting the different ‘highlights’. We just can’t believe how crowded it is!

I had to throw most of it away.

The crowd was even denser at the "Kiss Street".

The legend is that a lover who was forbidden to see his lady because he was poor, rented an apartment facing the one from his love and they were able to kiss each other from each side of the street

. So now, everyone is waiting their turn to exchange a kiss with his/her lover (not from the other side of the street though)

The other side of the street is even narrower...

Maybe because we just left Zacatecas that we loved, maybe because it’s so touristy, but we just don’t ‘connect’ with this city. That said the city is undeniably beautiful...

But most plazas are literally covered with vendors, all selling the same kind of sweets (handmade I presume)

We end up leaving the center and we climb narrow street after narrow street, stairs after stairs.

No tourists at all there! After a long climb, way up there, we have a beautiful view of the city.

It seems that the neighborhoods we’ve just been though represent the ‘real’ city and that the small center is just a nice display for tourists. What's amazing is how 'dense' the constructions are! Every square foot has been utilized, even though it must be really difficult to bring any material inside of 'blocks' like those ones:

We go back down to the center and stop on the way to check emails. Oh no! There is one email from Andy saying that his battery was flat this morning and that it seems that the alternator is not producing enough energy (only 10.8 volts). It means that he will miss the start of the class and he will have to find a way to solve this mechanical issue with his very limited Spanish.

We're going back for a walk...

We try different bars and tacos street vendors and although some were interesting...

... there is still something not entirely appealing to us here so we end up going back to the hotel relatively early.

Nov 5th - Guanajuato to Morelia

(map covers 2 days)

Interactive maps: http://www.gpsxchange.com/phpBB2/download2.php?id=1448

Another early start, with some interesting gymnastic to get the bikes out of the hotel . No tourists at this hour but between the students and the people getting to work, the town is still crowded. Guanajuato is just very densely populated and getting out of it meant again dealing with heavy traffic. And it’s almost impossible to split lanes in those narrow streets.

To go to San Miguel de Allende we were tempted to take the North route, the one that was so fun yesterday but finally opted for a more direct way east, just to see a different road. There was first a lot of traffic but the road got better afterward. However, maybe an hour before to get to SMA we entered a very thick fog, damn close to the one we’re used to in San Francisco. It might have come from this big lake, west of SMA. Luckily, just before arriving in town, the fog cleared and it was all sunny again.

SMA is possibly the most beautiful city we’ve seen so far with the whole town painted in various shades or ocher and yellow.

Most of the streets are covered with stones, some pretty rough. We had read in the guides that there is a large colony of expatriates and indeed, it feels a bit weird to see so many ‘white’ faces that don’t act like they’re just visiting the place. We have a good breakfast before to wander around.

It's funny to see that in many monuments (even 'famous' ones) cactus find a way to grow on top of them

It was funny too to see pigeons on the sword sharp edge of this apparently ferocious soldier...

Bat pic, but the architecture of that church was quite different from anything we've seen in Mexico...

Many houses are really beautiful

And we also like the several inside markets they have...

If you think you can escape parking tickets because they would not bother sending them to the states, think again! Do you notice anything special in this picture?

Yes, you on the right, good catch: our plates have disappeared

. SMA has installed a new parking system a month ago and may be now the only city in the word where the sign ‘car’ means 4-wheels vehicle only! So this space was in fact forbidden for motorcycles that can only park on a special motorcycle space

. Despite our protests we had to pay the fees to get our plates back. At least they said that they made us pay the cheapest ticket available (less than $10 US each).

We're now on our way to Morelia. A couple of hours later we notice something that's a first for us, maybe because it’s the first time that we ride on a road with shoulders. Oh nothing big, just like on any 2-lane road in the US. We see a car really riding on the shoulders to let us pass. Cool! Then we realize that most do it too and passing is a breeze.

Then we see an oncoming car passing ‘late’ so we just stay on the right of our lane and it works fine. Then other cars are doing it too. Then an oncoming 18-wheelers suddenly starting a pass right in front of you!

It’s your turn to swerve to the shoulder to avoid it. And quick! It’s certainly surprising at the beginning but it’s just a very good use of the space physically available on the road and we like it

The 'bridge' before to arrive Morelia from the North

Cool sight in the streets somewhere...

I can't wait to do that with my daughter

Morelia is an awesome city. If SMA is indeed beautiful I would not be tempted to stay there for an extended period of time while Morelia would be a great choice. Very few tourists, a large number of beautiful monuments, plazas and old buildings. Pictures would just be again a succession of bad shots of splendid cathedrals and churches so it’s not worth posting more than a few:

This one is only to show how tall it is

But the one I like is the inside of that same church:

Of course it was 1,000 times better in real, but what I like is that it shows how refined it is: no profusion of gold or excess of decoration. Pure elegance instead. And I think the word 'refined' suits Morelia pretty well.

Every region has different food specialties: in Zacatecas for example I eat plenty of ‘tunas’ (cactus fruits)...

...while here I try the ‘gazpacho’. In Spain it would be a cold tomato soup but here it’s a mix of fresh fruits cut in small cubes served in a glass. It’s similar to the one we had in that small village but much better here. They add a brown sauce that seems the same as the one used for tacos

, chile and of course lime. The only thing I declined was the grated cheese.

Other reasons to like the town: there is a KTM dealer and we see two cops riding official police painted 640 Adv

.

I think that Mexicans are really romantic! In almost every public bench you can see couples, talking, holding hands, sometimes kissing. They don't need a fancy bar or music to communicate, they don't need to drink to know each other better. Just the two of them and they seem really happy.

Morelia is of course no exception so, imagine the scene in the longuest 'bench' I've ever seen - 200 meters at least!

. The most surprising is that most bikes here are sold in appliances stores . Especially this 'Italika' brand.

Some are really old fashioned

But others look pretty good

Also, from the street, the first scooter I've ever seen with a motorcycle body

Jean-Luc Ride Reports Go to page: 5 - 10 - 15- 20 - 25 - 30 Previous / Next