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Unbelievably after several rainy days, it was dry and fairly bright as we left home at 7:30 am. No line-up at the US border, and no questions other than "Do you have anything to declare?" The immigration officer never even noticed Kaya lying there, and we were denied the pleasure of watching his reaction when we answered "Mexico" to the usual "Where are you folks headed today?" As we headed south the sky got darker but we didn't get serious rain until late afternoon. Pretty soon after that one of the windshield wipers popped a rivet but Denys managed to fix it by wiring it on. I hoped this wasn't going to be the beginning of things starting to go wrong with the van.
We stopped to cook dinner in a rest area just before Eugene and decided this would be a good place to stop for the night. Lots of campers and motor homes had the same idea and I felt safe enough, despite warnings from our next door neighbour at home to be wary of Rest Areas because of attacks on tourists. Denys reminded me that this whole trip is based on camping in free spots as much as possible, mostly wilderness sites and that I would have to get used to it. There were some benefits to stopping here . With the weather forecast warning of the possibility of snow on higher ground we are better off stopping at this lower elevation than where we originally planned.
We had a surprisingly good night. We were warm and cozy enough (sweatsuit over my flannelette nightie!) as he temperature only went down to 56º. The weather was much better, dry and some clearing sky, although we ran into fog around Eugene. The road climbed steadily from Eugene to the ski area at Willamette Pass at 5050 feet. Once we crossed the divide the weather was even better with blue skies and views of snow covered peaks, but it was still pretty cold with a stiff breeze. We found that the heater in the van doesn't work too well. We stopped just before the Crater Lake turnoff for our morning snack in an area of open pines. Kaya had a ball running about everywhere like a puppy. We stopped in Klamath Falls to stock up on groceries for a total of only $13! It seemed really cheap compared with home. We noticed lots of second hand stores around and decided it was obviously a town that had seen better days. Shortly after we crossed into California we stopped in a wooded area where we saw a deer and had lunch, our main meal for today. For most of the afternoon we travelled through almost barren, sparsely populated country, and by the time we were ready to stop it wasn't very suitable for camping - a lake on one side of the road and ranches etc. on the other. We did consider driving on until later, getting through Reno, but the road was quite busy and the oncoming headlights were glaring. We stopped at a gas station/convenience store in the small settlement of Doyle and were told it was OK to park for the night on a vacant lot just at the side of them, which we did.
It was so cold when we woke up that there was ice on the puddles and we had to scrape the inside of the windshield before we set off. We had a quiet night and were quite warm in our sleeping bags. It was about an hour's drive to Reno where we did a quick drive through the city centre to find the road out. It has grown a lot since we were last there, but still retains the slogan, "The Biggest Little City in the World".
Today is Election Day in the U.S. but you would never know it apart from a few posters. We heard the results in the evening as Clinton romped home to an easy victory.
The driving all day was through the Nevada desert - broad, flat valleys with mountains beyond. Vegetation is sparse, mainly tumbleweed, although in the afternoon we started to see a few Joshua trees. We stopped briefly at Walker Lake, a beautiful spot, blue water, deep blue sky and mountains all around. Most of the towns we passed through were very small and junky, apart from two obviously old places - Tonopah and Goldfields - with buildings dating back to the turn of the century and hardly anything changed since. The mines at Goldfields are still being worked. Almost all day we were travelling at around 5000 feet, and although it was bright and sunny it was never very warm. We heard the weather forecast when we were near Tonopah - a low of 24º forecast - which encouraged us to head south as fast as we could. There was quite a spectacular sunset and the moon rose in mid-afternoon. Just after dark we stopped for the night in the ghost town of Rhyolite, near Beatty, all by ourselves. It was already very cold.
A beautiful clear morning. We were up bright and early and watched the sun coming up over the mountains, as the shadow gradually moved down the mountains behind us until we were in the sun. We cooked porridge for breakfast to warm us up, but it was chilly enough that the porridge was stone cold before we were half way through. We thought we'd save time by soaking the oats in water the night before and then adding the milk before cooking but all that did was make a gummy mess. Then we had to do a thorough job of scraping out the porridge from the pan before washing up. At least that provided the dog with a welcome addition to her boring dry dog food. Kaya always likes to have some liquid added even if it's only the water that was used to rinse out the frying pan. This nice sunny morning made me feel like tidying up. I shook out the mats and swept the carpet but it was impossible to get rid of all the dog hair. I rearranged a few belongings to get rid of clutter. No doubt there will be more rearranging as time goes on.
Before setting off we explored what there was to see of Rhyolite which had a population of 12,000 in the 1880s. We were surprised to see three storey concrete buildings, mainly collapsed. Kaya had a great time rushing around sniffing everywhere. I guess everywhere must smell better when it's cool.
LIFE IN A VANThis is our third day of living in our VW van. I must say I am shocked at the amount of mess we have around us. Before we set off it looked as though we'd have a place for everything and everything in its place. I was impressed straight off with the amount of storage space there is. The cubby holes are fine - underwear, socks, bits and pieces of clothing, and there are two larger storage spaces, one each, for other stuff - even a hanging closet and mirror - but it's the food that proliferates. Boxes and boxes of it. Pans and dishpan and some food fit under the sink, and several pounds of pasta tucks into a space behind the driver's seat. Still there are these boxes that have to sit on top of the bed at the back. That wouldn't be so bad if we were using the top bed for sleeping but so far it's much too cold to think about having the pop top up. |
We have fallen into the routine of having two breakfasts. (This will have to stop when the weather gets warmer!) A couple of bran muffins and tea before we set off, then toast and tea or coffee a couple of hours later. We have our main meal at midday to take advantage of the weather/scenery, do the dishes and wash/shave. In the "evening" which starts very early for us, we have a glass of wine with our crackers, hummous (brought frozen from home). We are learning to ignore the "real" time on our watches - in fact, Denys has already advanced his watch by one hour prior to crossing the time zone tomorrow so psychologically it doesn't seem so ridiculous settling down to bed at 8 o'clock. This reminds me of New Guinea when we had to go to bed when the (one) candle burned down. I do my knitting when the scenery gets boring. I am getting a lot more done than I expected. I didn't expect there would be so much of the same - dead straight roads, flat desert scrub and mountains on both sides in the distance. We have covered 1212 miles in three days - Denys has done it all - and filled up with gas two or three times a day. I am having a hard time getting used to all this expenditure on gas even though Denys reminds me that we have $700 budgeted for gas.
It was a short climb to Daylight Pass (4313 ft) where the whole vista of Death Valley opened up to us - quite a spectacular panorama - rolling sand dunes, white salt flats, lakes (very saline), and bare, rocky multicoloured mountains. The road dropped down from 4313 ft to 180 ft below sea level in 13 miles. We felt and looked like we had come from another planet in our winter track suits and boots while everyone else was in light summer clothes. We had considered spending a night here, but the campsites were full even at 9:00 a.m. And we would have hated to be crammed in the way they were. One campsite with 1,000 sites, had RVs so close together there was barely room to walk between. Other strange sightings - two women sightseeing in pink hair rollers, accompanied by their husbands who didn't seem to mind. Wondered where they came from.
At the visitor centre we filled up some water jugs for drinking. (Coming down from Daylight Pass we had noticed several water tanks for filling up radiators.) We visited some of the sights - the Harmony Borax mine and the Zabriskie Point lookout. At both places no pets were allowed and we had to tie Kaya up on the shady side of the van. The Harmony Borax mine showed how borax was dug by Chinese labourers, purified by dissolving and crystallising, and then shipped out in 20-mule trains.
We climbed out of Death Valley over a 3000 ft pass and then it was back to normal Nevada desert through to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is undergoing an orgy of land development, with dozens of new housing developments. Residential suburbs stretch out as far as the eye can see in every direction. Saw signs for really cheap accommodation and meals - buffet dinners for $3.49! We went straight through on the freeway and on to Boulder City where we stopped at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. After having a look at the visitor centre we decided to splurge and stay at our first pay campsites ($6) by the lake for the night. There were plenty of spots left and we got a nice one with plenty of privacy. All the other occupants were in large motorhomes or trailers, their generators humming. We went a walk down by the water before settling down to dinner. It is going dark really early now we are at the extreme eastern end of the time zone. We turned in at our usual 8 o'clock or so, looking forward to crossing into Arizona in the morning where we put our clocks forward an hour. Not that it really makes a lot of difference with our lifestyle. It is still cool enough after dark that we settle down for the evening with the van all closed up.
Awoke to a cloudless morning. We filled up all our water containers at the campsite as we headed towards drier country. We drove the short distance to the impressive Hoover Dam, parked and walked across. Today has seemed like a long day on a long, straight road with relatively uninteresting desert. We had trouble finding a suitable spot for lunch. The designated rest stops are only a couple of sheltered picnic tables by the roadside. Where we eventually settled on was typical desert terrain with lots of prickly plants and shrubs, not ideal for dogs. Sure enough, within minutes Kaya was limping and she spent the rest of her waking hours chewing on her paws. After that she wasn't too keen on setting foot outside the van, which makes it difficult to get anything done inside. After Kingman the road was more interesting with rolling hills, rocky outcrops and all sorts of cactus, including tall saguaro cactus. We took a side road to the site of a new dam, just completed in September and not yet filled, where people have been allowed to remove cacti that will be flooded.
We stopped at a mall in Phoenix to look at propane stoves and lamps but ended up not getting either. I hope we don't end up regretting it (not being able to cook outside when it's hot) but right now I really don't feel like adding to the amount of stuff we have lying around already. It was rush hour when we left Phoenix and it was slow driving to get out of the city. We stopped just after dark at Picacho Peak State Park, just of the interstate. It was difficult to find a suitable campsite in the dark. It's getting warmer now - almost warm enough to sit outside.
In the morning we looked out of van window at a huge saguaro cactus. Cloudless but chilly. We drove into Tucson which seems like a pleasant city, just the right size, and bought groceries, also a solar heated shower. We didn't buy one in Vancouver, expecting to find one cheaper here. It was more expensive! On the way out of Tucson we passed an "air park" where thousands of military planes are stored. We took the interstate for an hour or so then a side road towards the border. We stopped and walked around Tombstone, originally a mining town in the 1870s and the location of the original Boothill Cemetery and the Gunfight at the OK Corral between Wyatt Earp and William Clanton. It was very commercialized with little atmosphere, spoiled by cars parked all the way along the historic street blocking views of the buildings. Further on was the town of Bisbee, also dating from the 1870s, a much bigger place with larger brick buildings, many reminiscent of the buildings of the same vintage in Victoria, B.C.
It was late afternoon when we reached the border town of Douglas which already seems Mexican. We didn't want to cross so late in the day as it's too far to drive to Casas Grandes for the night and there's nowhere in-between. It's a good thing we decided to get our Mexican insurance today (Friday) - we found out it is closed Saturdays and Sundays. There were already several clients waiting and only one clerk. I was a bit taken aback to see the outfit the young Mexican woman was wearing - a flounced bare midriff top, black (silk?) shorts over black lace edged leggings and gold high heels (just right for Davie Street!) She was pleasant and quite efficient and we left the office well pleased with a one year "Mexico Club" policy which cost less than we had expected to pay for three months. We scouted around the town for a likely parking spot for the night and then agreed we'd feel better and safer in a trailer park. We found a small run-down looking one with a few permanent trailers and managed to bargain the rate down from $8 to $5. The washroom facilities, which we had to ourselves, were a pleasant surprise although there was cold water only. I was desperate enough after a week to take a shower.
It froze last night! Surely it ought to be warmer than this. All immigration and border police are wearing big parkas. We crossed into Mexico (Douglas/Agua Prieta) with little fuss. They never asked what we had, didn't bother with the dog. Getting the papers for the van took some time but it was fairly straightforward and we were through by 8:15 a.m. The trouble was the money changing places don't open until 9 o'clock. Driving around the town a bit there is no doubt that we are now in Mexico. Buildings are more primitive, there's more garbage around, and it is generally a lot more tatty. Rather than wait around to change travellers' cheques we settled for changing US$50 cash at a not very good rate. We drove the next hundred kilometres on Mexico Highway 2 to Janos, the worst road ever! It took us 3.5 hours even though there was almost no traffic. Much of the time we were travelling at around 15 mph in second gear in and around 6 inch deep potholes. We were amazed to see big trucks on such a road. I needed reassuring that they do indeed drive on the same side of the road as in Canada! This road crossed the Sierra Madre mountains, the continental divide (1280 m). At Janos we saw several places selling Queso de Mennonita. The road from Janos to Casas Grandes was much better although only a secondary road. We went straight through the big town of Nuevas Casas Grandes to the village of Casas Grandes and on to the archaeological ruins of Paquime. We were shocked at the entrance fee of $8000. We spent an hour or so walking around the ruins, at first with Kaya but she didn't like it one bit; it was hot and there were too many steps up and down. I wonder if she is developing arthritis, perhaps because of these subfreezing nights cramped up on the floor by the front seat. She does have her blanket though. (To keep warm we have been sleeping in all our clothes, socks and hats plus two blankets on top of our sleeping bags.) So we took her back to the van, tied her up with a long rope in the shade of the van with her water bowl, and went round the ruins again. We weren't in a hurry to leave because we were hoping to spend the night there and were surprised when the ticket man started making a move to lock up at only 4 o'clock, an hour early. It was only later in the evening that we discovered we'd crossed into another time zone and lost an hour. We asked about staying overnight but he said the gate would be locked for the night and not opened until 7:00 a.m. but we understood from that that there would be no problem parking just outside the gate. We climbed over the gate several times to use the bano - a new type to add to the list: usual wooden bench seat over the hole and a notice nearby telling you to please throw one can of lime (provided) after your deposit. The sunset was spectacular. I have already broken my wineglass and will have to make do with tin or plastic mug until I find a replacement. A night watchman showed up later and after that we heard nothing more and slept soundly.
Another frosty night. Thermometer registered 30º outside when we got up. We enjoyed a great breakfast of buttermilk pancakes (Save-0n mix) and syrup. I joked that we should set up a little business selling these from the van right here! We had a thoroughly enjoyable day in and around Colonia Juarez, a Mormon colony a few miles away - so neat and tidy, most un-Mexican-like. We bought milk and apples, grown right here, and got talking to one of the locals, Herman Hatch. He recommended a few of the sights, including the local high school which is quite renowned it seems. He told us the President of Mexico had visited a few months previously and he had been so impressed by the fact that the people hadn't pestered him for anything (which meant his usual prepared speech full of excuses was useless) that he invited a group to come and see him in Mexico City. We drove just outside the town and parked on top of a hill in a field with a good panoramic view. We both washed our hair and I did laundry using the hair rinsing water, and draped the clean clothes over a bush to dry. I'd only just finished when Herman drove up in his pickup accompanied by his hired hand. Turns out we are on his land, but he didn't mind, asked if we needed anything and offered us water from his well (over 700 ft deep). We talked for over two hours, Herman doing most of it. He told us a lot about the area, his illnesses, the comparative merits of the U.S. and Mexican medical systems, and all the people, mainly academics, he has guided into the mountains. He didn't have a lot of time for any of them - botanists he called "posy gatherers", archaeologists never agree on anything, and most of them are only interested in making a name for themselves. He looked relieved to hear we weren't archaeologists. One of the people he guided asked him where he got his degree, and he answered that all his education had come from the people he took out. Colonia Juarez was founded in 1885 when the Mormon church bought a piece of land. There are other Mormon communities in the region as well as Mennonites. There is a lot of fruit (apples and peaches) grown in the area and the Mormons have a big packing house.
We did some more tidying up and reorganising and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting and enjoying some live music playing down below in the town, very reminiscent of Haitian music, and we left reluctantly as the sun started to go down. On the way back to our archaeological site we took a walk around the square in Casas Grandes. The Sunday evening paseo was in progress, with the young males all sitting in their parked beat-up old cars and pick-ups, while the girls paraded around or sat on the wrought iron benches, both rather hazardous in view of the large numbers of birds (grackles) settling down to roost in the trees.
We went into Nuevas Casas Grandes this morning to change money, which turned out to be incredibly easy. The first bank we went into, no special hours, no forms to fill out. We also found a tortilleria and bought our first batch of the trip which we made into quesadillas for lunch then left the town, heading south. After Buenaventura the road climbed steeply over a high pass with fresh snow in the trees by the side of the road. The road was now in excellent condition, none of the heavy trucks to break it up. After the pass we dropped down into another wide, flat valley, but much higher than the Casas Grandes valley. There must be a glut of apples in this area; apples were being dumped in big piles before being loaded into big trucks, probably for juicing. Near La Junta a big beat-up American car almost ran us off the road as he passed us. Don't know whether it was deliberate, incompetent driving or just a car load of drunks, but Denys had to slam on the brakes, causing the cooler to tip on the dog, and two water bladders to go flying, one of them bursting in the process.
The number of dead animals by the roadside is amazing. Today we saw cats, dogs, pigs, rabbits, coyotes, cows and horses. We have to keep a close eye out for buzzards or vultures which can go through your windshield (our guidebook warns: Watch out for low-flying buzzards!) We found a nice camping spot, well off the road in a grove of pine trees, but we'd only been there a few minutes when a pick-up truck came and parked at the other side of the grove. It made us a bit nervous, but he left sometime during the evening.
We drove the rest of the way to Creel, about an hour and a half, through pine and oak forests. The landscape was very reminiscent of home with log cabins. We could have been driving the Yellowhead Highway. At San Juanito, halfway to Creel, the road was made of pieces of rock, carefully fitted into a road bed, rough enough to jar your fillings loose. The road climbed somewhat more but was very winding with up and down stretches. Overall though, Creel at 7200 ft was probably not a great deal higher than we were last night. We discovered the town was really in two parts; what we'd come to first on the highway, where we bought some groceries, and then parallel and lower down was the main part. The main street was quite pleasant, distinctly higher standard than all the other places we had passed through. We had a walk around, taking the dog with us on the leash. I carefully avoided dogs lying on the sidewalks just to be on the safe side. Kaya is always so happy to be out and seeing new sights including new dogs, but obviously these Mexican macho dogs know she is no threat and ignored us. We'd seen several advertisements in town for Pension Creel, and decided to check it out, thinking we might park overnight there and use their facilities. It looked nice and cozy, with piles of split wood outside every room, and hot showers! But they were asking half the room and breakfast rate, just to use the facilities. Not worth it we decided.
There were quite a lot of Tarahumara Indians around, mainly women and children, although the men would be more difficult to identify if wearing ordinary Mexican clothes. On the way out to Lake Arareco, 8 km out of Creel, we saw the caves that some of them still live in. We pulled off the road by the side of the lake for lunch and enjoyed the view. Some Indian children were playing nearby; the smallest boys were dragging around old tuna cans tied to bits of string as toys. They came to watch us making lunch, and although they were carrying things to sell to tourists they made no effort to sell them. They were very solemn - they never even cracked a smile when I gave them some Smarties.
We had a shock to find that unleaded gas wasn't available in Creel, and the nearest was in La Junta, 65 miles away. We had been quite confident there would be some in Creel which is the end of the railway line up from Los Mochis (14 hrs). We expected to see other tourists but the only ones were railway passengers just stopping briefly. We didn't see anyone else who had driven. We were disappointed not to be able to drive into Copper Canyon but we don't have enough gas. As it was we had to drive back all the way to La Junta, using part of our spare can to get there, and then part of the way back to camp in the same spot as last night. While at the gas station at La Junta an American driving a Dodge van towing a small trailer wanted to know where we'd driven from. He wanted to drive to Hermosillo, 500 km away, and was worried, with good reason, about running out of gas. Who knows where you'll find these Pemex stations. In the most unlikely spot you might find unleaded gas at a wonderful, modern station with all the facilities, and yet in a place like Creel only some old stations selling only leaded.
Disaster - the van wouldn't start. It turned over alright but wouldn't fire. Denys checked out everything he could: voltages, spark plugs, fuel pump, plugs, but no luck. Eventually we went out, both of us, to the main road with the jumper cables to try and get help. Unfortunately everybody seemed to think we wanted a ride and as they were all fully loaded they couldn't help. I left Denys after a while and eventually someone stopped and was willing to come down the track to help. A middle aged couple with boxes of apples to sell at a nearby market town. Denys finally got it fired up with the jumper cables on, but it took quite a bit before it ran smoothly again.
We had a hard time coming to a decision as to what to do for the best. Do we head back to Creel and beyond, with the possibility of getting totally stuck in a really isolated spot, or do we give up the idea of Copper Canyon altogether and make for Cuauhtemoc and Chihuahua where we could get help if it wouldn't start again after standing overnight? In the end, we decided to play it safe and drive to Cuauhtemoc and spend the night there. It wasn't much more than an hour and a half's drive, but it was early afternoon when we left last night's camping spot.
Cuauhtemoc was bigger than we expected, the biggest town we've encountered so far in Mexico. It is the centre of the Mennonite farming area, very much a farming town. It reminded me of Calgary. It was very windy when we arrived and there was dust blowing everywhere, which gave me a bad attack of hay fever. We drove around looking for somewhere to stop and found our way to the top of a hill with various radio and TV masts on it, with good views over the surrounding area. We decided it would be a good place to stay overnight, particularly when we moved halfway down the hill to park, pointing downhill, in the shelter of a partly constructed house. We figured we'd be safe enough here across the road from police headquarters and the prison! Even better, the VW dealer was at the bottom of the hill if we needed it. We soon realized that this track is a shortcut over the hill for people walking or riding (donkey or pickup) and it was quite late in the evening before it was totally quiet. There was a brilliant, almost full moon. We spent a different evening, by candlelight, afraid to have the interior lights on and run the battery down. We got our short-wave radio out instead and found we got good BBC reception. Listening to the BBC World News in the evening became a habit from then on.
We got up early while it was still dark, but there was still a brilliant moon. To our relief, the van started up without problem so we were spared a trip to the VW dealer at the bottom of the hill. The road to Chihuahua was a divided toll highway in excellent condition. The only problem initially was that we were headed directly into the rising sun and visibility was very poor. In Chihuahua we had to pay for parking. We left the dog on guard while we went sightseeing. The shops (including Sears and Woolworth's) in the pedestrian mall close to the centre didn't open until 10:00 am although all the snack places were already open. Nachos were by far the most popular item. They smelled so good but cost $1 for a small portion. More interesting than the sights, many of them to do with Chihuahua's connection with the revolution, were the streets full of stores selling western gear - white stetsons, cowboy boots and clothing. Nearly every man in the state wears a white stetson! Best of all we came across a brass band playing in the atrium of the Post Office. Nearby we saw our first tour group of the trip. We made quesadillas for lunch in the parking lot before leaving town.
IT'S A DOG'S LIFE!Kaya seems to have adjusted well to life in the van. She is quite ready to go to bed on the floor in front of my seat, on her own blanket. We have started having difficulty in getting her off the front seats during the day when we leave her in the van to go shopping or sightseeing. Barely has the door slammed when she's up there so she can see what's going on. I suppose we shouldn't complain because I'm sure it must discourage anyone who had ideas of breaking into the van. Looking back to the years when our children were little, I think in some ways it's easier taking a baby along than a dog. At least you can take a baby along with you just about everywhere, which is more than you can say for dogs - although admittedly you can leave a dog alone in the van. She has been very quiet so far - the only sounds we have had out of her up to now were a few growls and little barks when some men rode by our camping spot in the pine grove. |
We took advantage of a fancy new Pemex station to replenish our water supply and have a wash. When this new divided highway became a toll road we left it and followed the free road through pleasant villages from Las Delicias (where Delicious apples originate!) to Concho. This is a rich agricultural area with lots of nut plantations among other crops. We stopped for our afternoon cuppa in a shady grove outside a school in a small village and bought some apples from a roadside vendor. They were sold by the kilo but there were no scales to weigh them. Shortly after we saw a gravel road by the side of an irrigation canal and thought it might lead us to a suitable camping spot; and just after the last house we saw the ideal spot in the corner of an alfalfa field, very inconspicuous, and pulled in. Not long after, an elderly man came wandering across the field seemingly inspecting his alfalfa crop so we went over and chatted for a bit and established that it was alright for us to camp there. A little later a younger man came by on a bicycle for a chat. He was one of the sons in the family living in the small house we could see on the other side of the field. Eventually he invited us to go and visit his family after dinner, which was on the stove already; in fact, we had barely finished eating when he was back again with his mother and their dog to take us over there. We took Kaya along and tied her up outside. Their dog, Tippi, wanted to make friends but Kaya totally ignored it. We spent an interesting evening with the family, looking at family photo albums. There are three sons: the eldest, Cosme, the one on the bike, is an engineer but prefers to work on the farm; another brother works on the farm, and the youngest is a part-time university student at the University of Chihuahua at Las Delicias - farming in the morning and university in the afternoon. Two daughters live away, one, an accountant, in Chihuahua. We were invited to see the rest of the house (living room full of sacks of chilis colorados) which is only partly finished - home made adobe bricks are piled up outside waiting for the next phase - and the "other members of the family" - two pens of pigs and piglets! They served us coffee and bunuelos, invited us for breakfast tomorrow, and then the mother insisted on us taking away a jar each of her home made pickled peppers and pickled corn. A wonderful evening, and our first good practice in Spanish this trip.
Amazingly we didn't get up until 7:30 am, very late for us, and had to hurry to get to the farm for breakfast at 8:00. We had a first rate Mexican breakfast: yerba buena tea (made from a type of mint which grows on the property) to start, then frijoles and huevos rancheros with fantastic whole wheat tortillas, and coffee. I disgraced myself by coughing and spluttering on what Denys reckons was only a moderately mild chilli pepper. My eyes kept watering for the rest of the visit. I'd taken along five pieces of my Christmas Cake for them, and ended up with having to accept another gift from them - a bag of nuts, very similar to walnuts, from their property. We did our best to thank them for their hospitality as well as the gifts, and exchanged addresses.
The roads in the morning were all straight and flat, in the afternoon when we crossed into Durango they were still straight but over rolling hills. The scenery was quite boring, so was the town of Parral where we stopped to have a walk around. This mineral mining town was very busy with traffic and lots of people shopping. When we stopped for lunch up a small side track we could see an incredible variety of vegetation. At this time of year it was almost all in seed and dried out; in the rainy season (summer) it must be quite a sight. Almost all the seeds seem to have spines or barbs on them. They hook onto your clothes, and Kaya is always getting them stuck in her paws. The local dogs don't seem to be bothered; I suppose their pads must be tougher. In the late afternoon we started heading into the mountains, crossing the continental divide again before dropping down into Durango. The road was very tortuous with some steep hills. Range after range of mountains were silhouetted against the darkening sky. We didn't want to drive after dusk and as there was nothing marked on the map before the city of Durango we pulled off the road into a small village to spend the night. We stopped near to a tiny kindergarten. Kaya enjoyed checking out a couple of the local dogs and eyeing the pigs and chickens wandering about. One young guy warned us it would be noisy here. We wondered what to expect, but apart from a couple of pickup trucks in the early evening it was dead quiet.
The weather during the day had turned cloudy, but the evening was much warmer and we were able to sit with the van door partly open until it was time for bed.
It rained during the night and we had our warmest night yet. We were up and off early immediately after breakfast but stopped shortly afterwards up a side road to wash - ourselves and the dishes. As usual, no sooner have we stopped than it seems to become as busy as the main road. One pickup warned us not to stop there because of "ladrones" (robbers). We crossed several passes with narrow switchback roads, one of which was the continental divide. In one area there were big buzzards sitting on top of all the telephone poles, some with their wings spread out to catch the warmth of the morning sun. Leaving one village, as well as the usual signs not to dump garbage by the road, which everyone does, we saw a sign "No tire los animales muertos"!! And then we actually saw some men butchering one of the dead cows by the roadside.
Today's lunch stop was Chosadero, which, according to our guidebook, is the site of many western movies. It must have been quite a while since it was last used because all the specially constructed buildings were in ruins. From there it was only a short distance into Durango. We filled up with gas on the outskirts of the city and somehow got ripped off, finishing up with only half a tank when we paid for a full tank. It was lucky we noticed before we left the city later. We checked out the one listing for a trailer park in Durango but they wanted 30,000 pesos and it was right next to a circus! We parked on the main street, leaving the dog on guard, to have a walk around and do some shopping. The weather was quite threatening, completely overcast, with some very black clouds about. It really did have a November feel. People were wearing wintry clothes and the lights had to be turned on at the market stalls. We bought guavas (you could smell them everywhere in the market), tomatillos, and eggs (sold by weight). Sightseeing included the zocalo, cathedral, and in the side streets many older buildings with wrought iron balconies.
It rained for most of the hour it took to drive to El Tecuan National Park. The road was the most tortuous yet, climbing steeply out of Durango, then dropping and climbing, twice to cross deep, sheer sided canyons. Heavy traffic too, including big logging trucks. (All logging trucks we had seen before were small, carrying logs cut to fit across, not the length of the truck.)
It was grey, wet and chilly when we stopped at the gate to sign the visitors book (no charge) and chose a spot. We took a walk around some of the paths. The park is in drybelt pine forest, with well spaced trees and open grassy patches. There is one area of family sized cabins, a couple of them occupied, a picnic area with a big children's playground, as well as plenty of camping/picnic spots with barbecues. Kaya is having a ball here, romping around with the resident dogs. By the time we went to bed the sky had cleared and the temperature was down to 42º.
No wonder we were so cold last night. Overnight temperature was 30º! Our garbage can (45 gallon drum) was knocked over during the night. At first I wondered whether there could possibly be bears here, but later we saw a pig, followed by piglets, trying to push it over. The parkkeeper has a couple of dogs as well as the pigs, which he rounds up at night. One of the dogs delights in chasing the piglets and nipping at them until they squeal. A beautiful morning - deep blue sky and the sun glistening on the hoar frost. We enjoyed a good long walk with Kaya, who is acting like a puppy, leaping around in the frosty grass. We expected to be inundated with picnickers from Durango, but there were only a few families. Perhaps they had heard the weather forecast. By mid-afternoon the weather changed dramatically - heavy black clouds, thunder, lightning and hail! Good thing I got the washing out and dried early in the day. We also made good progress writing our Christmas cards today, which we must post in Mazatlan.
Freezing cold again last night, in spite of wearing several layers of clothes and woolly hats, with blankets and jackets on top of our sleeping bags. The thermometer registered only 27º when we got up. Only when we looked at some of our books we hadn't checked before did we discover that we were at about 8,200 feet. I had been hungry in the night and was desperate to get a hot breakfast inside me. In my haste I let the porridge boil over. What a mess!
We went for a walk again in brilliant sunshine, climbing to a fire look-out tower. The hoar frost was really heavy this morning. We couldn't decide whether to stay another day or not: The peace and quiet (we now have the place completely to ourselves) is very appealing; we have enough food; the dog loves it here; and it costs nothing. On the other hand we have to face the prospect of another freezing night. In the end we decided to stay the morning and leave after lunch. We spent the time enjoying the sunshine while making another attack on the Christmas card list. We had a bit of a fright with Kaya when her back legs suddenly gave way under her and she couldn't get up for a minute. Immediately before she had been dancing around, and shortly afterwards she was prancing around as though it never happened. I wonder if this cold weather has anything to do with it.
Not only were we reluctant to leave, so was the van! Denys managed to coax it to start and we were off. The drive from El Tecuan to Copala was both spectacular and strenuous, constantly shifting gears to deal with the hundreds of hairpin bends, potholes and rough sections, besides the ups and downs (highest point 9250 feet). The 118 miles took more than 4 1/2 hours with only a few minutes of stops. Each time we stopped for a view we left the engine running, just in case it didn't want to start again! If it had been up to me I wouldn't even have risked stopping. It was bad enough pulling off and getting back onto the road again - no shoulders and limited visibility
There were a few villages before the highest point, all of which seemed to be dependent on small sawmills and related businesses. After that the terrain was so rugged there wasn't even room for any villages. The road, often just a shelf on vertical faces, with drops of 1000 feet or more (no barriers in most places) went along the "Espinazo del Diablo" (Devil's Spine). Almost the only other traffic on the road were buses and heavy, slow moving trucks which were difficult to pass on the winding road. I was uptight most of the time.
As the road started to drop the vegetation became more lush and colourful. A sign announced "Tropico de Cancer" and straight away flowers grew in greater profusion - masses of yellow daisy-type flowers clinging to the rocks - and we started to see people sitting outside their houses. We knew we'd hit the warm weather when we saw a poinsettia bush. We'd now crossed from Durango into Sinaloa and from Central to Mountain time, but we won't bother to change our watches. It suits us coming light at 7:15 and going dark at 6:30, not shifted an hour earlier.
The first opportunity we had of finding a place off the main road - up to now, what settlements there were clung to the roadside with nowhere for us to pull off - was the somewhat touristy village of Copala, and old mining village dating back to the 1600s which we just happened to have read about in a "Western Living" magazine. Tour buses make the excursion from Mazatlan for lunch - restaurants are open 9:00 am. to 5:00 p.m. There was no ideal parking spot for us so we settled for a quiet corner of the main square right in front of the church, where we would have few neighbours. (One side was a restaurant, now deserted). Of course, no sooner had we parked than we discovered that a pathway began right beside us, over the low wall, onto the rooftop, before winding down steeply. We had a walk on the main street to buy milk, taking Kaya with us. She always enjoys these excursions, especially meeting other dogs. So far we've encountered no aggressive ones.
We sat by the van, comfortable for the first time without sweaters. What a contrast from last night when we sat huddled inside and cold. Saw our first big "cucaracha", a sure sign we have arrived in the tropics. While we were sitting enjoying the view, we could also enjoy the good Mexican music belting out from a nearby store. A good feeling, which we celebrated with the first beer of the trip. Our 4 L box of home-made wine is now almost finished. Millions of stars in the sky.
We were up early, breakfasted and off before the village came to life, although there was a blast from the ghetto blaster at the nearby store at 6:00 am local time - we were already up - which was very quickly turned off. As we drove out of the village, the women were already out sweeping and the village was spotless.
It was about an hour into Mazatlan, with the road getting progressively flatter and straighter. We had our first encounters with trailer parks and checked out three possibilities before deciding on this one, San Bartoleo Trailer Park, one block from the beach. At first glance none of them looked the kind of place you would want to spend several months. In most cases the views are quite dismal, although some people do their best to improve their surroundings with screened off private patios. One trailer park, the only one on the beach, wanted 50,000 pesos for the front row facing the beach. We're paying 30,000 ($10 US). We are taking full advantage of the hook-ups - the luxury of a working fridge and water on tap (instead of from our storage tank) although it will only be used for washing up. My morning was entirely taken up doing three loads of washing - in hot water! I was embarrassed at the colour of the water when I was finished. Then, a hot shower and shampoo. I think we are getting our money's worth today!
The day had started out cloudy but it was clear by noon and seemed quite hot after what we had got used to. We had a walk around the neighbourhood, which is quite well supplied with grocery stores. While we were sitting beside the van a fruit and vegetable truck came by, and then an itinerant barber with his tools in a briefcase.
I am going to have to buy some shorts. I have relied too much on Carl Franz's Guide to Mexico, obviously hopelessly outdated, which cautions women against wearing shorts. Lots of Mexican women are wearing them, just as short and tight as anywhere else, even in the smallest towns and villages. In the trailer park the other tourists are all wearing shorts, the men with no tops. I have already had to start patching - shades of last year's Indonesia trip! My nearly new patchwork pants from Bali are already falling apart. I cut off a couple of inches from the hem to make patches.
There are only five other vehicles in the campsite: two from BC, two from Alberta and one from Nevada, our closest neighbours. The guy from Nevada and his Mexican wife told us some real horror stories of bandidos further south, especially between Manzanillo and Ixtapa, and about the astronomically expensive tolls on the new motorway from Culiacan to Mazatlan. I am very apprehensive now and question how much further south we want to go.
We went for a walk along the beach towards sunset. It had been a bit too hot earlier, but now it was pleasant. Kaya was very lively after being dopey most of the day.
We now have the pop top up and for the first time we are going to sleep in the "loft". It is surprisingly roomy, but much cooler than I expected. I needed to get up in the night to put more clothes on and get a blanket. We acquired several mosquito bites this evening. Fortunately, they seem to be the type that itch like mad for a short period only then fade quickly (we hope!)
A cloudy day with occasional drizzle. Glad we're not here on a one week package! Still, we felt nice and cozy inside the van with the door open when it was raining. Did a bit of tidying up, reorganising our space and putting away our winter gear. The fridge is working now and running in the cool 50s. Ice is expensive - we have only been able to get cubes - and doesn't last longer than a day.
We went searching for a tortilleria after asking directions from the Mexican caretaker but never found it. It's all residential, including vacation homes and apartments. We ended up buying some packaged whole wheat tortillas from our nearest convenience store and enjoyed them with some home-made tomato barley soup, which seemed just right on such a grey day. We finished up the last of the American cheese and tortillas as quesadillas for another good meal.
Going to and from the washrooms here can take anything up to half an hour - everyone here has nothing else to do but chat. Most of the others are only going as far as Puerto Vallarta, and one RV stays here all winter. An Albertan in a big trailer was making disparaging remarks to Denys about the expensive looking campervan next door to him from BC - "too cramped" and "if you have to count the cost of gas you might as well stay home". The BC people commented to Denys that the Albertan rig was "too big", "cost too much to run" and was "expensive on tolls". To each his own! Everyone else's patios are spotless, they have brooms, canopies, a place for everything. We have one little hand corn broom to cope with all our housework. Dog hair is everywhere. I comb Kaya every day and still she is shedding. She is now starting to look like she could use a bath. She has made friends with a little light brown dog, a young male, that comes to visit from outside the trailer park. It's a treat to watch them both cavorting around. I think she must be feeling rejuvenated. Three Mexican children came to play near our site but Kaya chased them off, barking and growling!
A long, stressful drive today. Before leaving Mazatlan we mailed 30 Christmas cards, which cost a small fortune, changed money at the bank, and did major shopping at the market. This big covered market is impressive with a good selection of all sorts of produce including the biggest pineapples we've ever seen. Even the meat (refrigerated) looked appetising. We stocked up on fruit, vegetables, cheese, ham, and dried beans. On the way back to the van through the zocalo there were lines of tour buses disgorging passengers from two cruise ships in port. Leaving town, we spotted an ice factory and got a big block (quarter of a standard block), very cheap compared to what we have been paying for cube ice.
Now on the main coastal highway south we have to contend with a lot of heavy traffic - trucks and buses, as well as significant numbers of cars which we had not seen on the roads we were on before. (In the mountains everyone drives pickups.) We saw the remains of three accidents - a big tanker flipped in a ditch, two tow trucks together, one pulling a semi-trailer that had flipped, another pulling a police car, and later another tow truck pulling a crashed tractor unit. Among the road kill we saw the remains of an armadillo, recognisable by its tail.
The road at first was mainly flat and straight with lush, jungly vegetation, mango plantations and sugar cane fields. Later, as we approached Tepic, and from then until Las Varas, the road was hilly and very winding. We turned down a little side road for lunch, and for once no other vehicles came by. Instead we were attacked by hordes of mosquitoes. We wasted time driving into Tepic instead of bypassing it, hoping to find a supermarket/liquor store in preparation for a few days isolation at a beach, but instead got lost in a maze of narrow streets and diversions caused by a fair in town. It all seemed much bigger than when we last went through five years ago. The most noticeable change was the large number of glossy new car dealers.
From Tepic we were following the road to Puerto Vallarta, narrow and winding, with plenty of slow moving trucks, but none of the heavy stuff. That must all have continued towards Guadalajara. I began to wonder whether we should rethink our planned itinerary. Distances are taking much longer to cover than we expected. Most roads are just two lanes and if you get stuck behind a truck or, worse, a tanker, you're stuck until you get the nerve to pull out to pass, and safe passing places are few and far between. It horrifies me to see three or four vehicles pulling out to pass, one after another, the last one having no visibility.
Instead of bypassing Compostela we decided to have another attempt to finish off our shopping but again got frustrated - no parking on the main street where the few shops were - and gave up. We eventually managed to get our tequila (it was so cheap we bought the most expensive brand without turning a hair) and a few other things in Las Varas before we turned off onto a side road to the beach at Chacala. It was a very rough narrow road with some enormous puddles in places as well as mud. They must have had heavy rain here when we were having a few sprinkles in Mazatlan. We passed a surprising number of pickups and men on bicycles, all heading towards us. They must have been finishing work at the various farms and plantations along the road. It took us three quarters of an hour to do the 9 km. and it was dark when we finally arrived at Chacala beach. This is one of the beaches described as "idyllic" in "Hidden Mexico". Not that we expected to be totally alone, but we were quite surprised to find absolutely no one else there apart from a few shack type restaurants. Someone in a nearby restaurant said it was OK to just park anywhere, which we did.
We were awakened in the night to sounds of a van arriving, then music playing and a campfire lit - at 3:00 am! In the morning we were staggered to see all the new arrivals, including a bus. Then we remembered today is a national holiday (commemorating the 1910 revolution) and it's a long weekend. So immediately after breakfast we set off to walk to the beach at the next cove, Chacalilla, to see if that was any better. It is a smaller beach with no facilities and so far deserted. The water was very clear and calm with a nice sandy bottom and no rocks. Perfect for me. We decided to move in quickly - while we were looking around another vehicle arrived - and Denys went back for the van while I reserved our spot. By the time he got back the beach was filling up fast. An interesting group set up camp beside us: six young guys with almost Boy Scout-like habits. First thing they did was erect a toilet tent, then another for the shower, two tents for sleeping and one gazebo-type for cooking and eating in. Fishing tackle too. But our hearts sank as more and more people arrived, including a group with a big speedboat on a trailer - incredible how they got it down the road, which is even worse from Chacala to here. Fortunately it wouldn't start and they had to drive back for a mechanic.
We have set up our camp: put up the awning for shade, fixed with tent poles and tied to the van roof; taken the trestles down from the roof so we can have our table outside; and dug a hole for garbage we've collected. The only problem is this grass-like plant with spiny burrs - it's a real torment for Kaya when she gets these in her paws. They stick to our socks and pant legs too. We've cleared all we can from our immediate area. Now we have to contend with sand being tracked into the van.
A young fellow who seemed to be doing some work around here came over for a chat and to ask us to please pack our garbage out with us when we leave. No problem there - if only the Mexicans would do it too. Turns out he is employed (caretaker?) by a developer who is going to build around 300 condos, already being pre-sold in Guadalajara, on the point between Chacala and Chacalilla starting in January. Chacalilla will no longer be accessible to outsiders then.
There is a fair bit of wildlife around: frigate birds hovering overhead, flocks of pelicans circling the bay, parakeets in the trees beside us, vultures and many butterflies, including some that look like flying handkerchiefs; also a good variety of wildflowers. Not too many mosquitoes; instead sandflies instead near dusk.
The group next door are no problem. The music they play is fine and they hardly make any noise. They went fishing this morning but didn't catch enough for dinner so they must have gone all the way back to Las Varas for more supplies, including fish. More new arrivals, overflow from Chacala. Daren't think what that must be like by now. Every vehicle arrives crammed with people. We watched as one small pickup with canopy disgorged a dozen people plus all their food and equipment. However, by evening there were only the same three groups as last night.
It was brighter today but quite windy in the afternoon when we had to seek out sunny spots. Yet the thermometer registered in the mid 80s. I had a session shelling the nuts we got from the farm. They taste just like walnuts but they're the very devil to get out in less than at least ten crumbly pieces. I suppose that's the reason you don't see them sold commercially except right where they are grown. (We found later that the older they became, the easier they were to shell.) Kaya has discovered that she likes coconuts and now combs the beach looking for snacks. Spent a lazy afternoon reading year old "Cosmopolitan" magazines inherited from Anne. Hopefully, by the time we leave this beach we will be able to dispense with the magazine box. (We never did - it went back home with us!)
Sunday day-trippers have started to arrive now. One family who came for the afternoon and cooked their dinner asked us to go over and join them for a drink (mescal). The father is a photographer in Las Varas. We were surprised when he told us there are three photographers in town so there must be more to it than what we saw by the main road. The father and son-in-law were seriously into the mescal and didn't bother eating. The others ate a little of the caldo de res (beef soup) that had been simmering on a charcoal fire for several hours. It didn't look too appetising to me - plain boiled potatoes, carrots, cucumber and cabbage along with a few chunks of fatty, gristly meat. Thank goodness we were able to say quite truthfully that we'd already eaten. The children ate coconut smeared with lime and hot sauce, and the same with their boiled potatoes. We did our best to have a conversation but it was an effort. The father talked about bringing a fish next Sunday if we were still going to be here, but we said we'd probably be gone by then but we'd let them know. By the time they left, passing on to us the leftover tortillas (gratefully received), we had the beach to ourselves. The big group next door had carefully collected all their garbage before they left and gave it to the guy who'd taken them out in the boat to dispose of. All he did was dump it behind the old boat by the rocks not far from us!
Denys spent most of the morning picking up and disposing of garbage left by the weekenders - burning the paper and plastic and burying cans and bottles (all non-returnable here). A group of about 30 people, mostly kids, from Chacala, came over for a swim, but they were no problem. Two locals, one either a bit strange or a bit drunk, came by with a cooler of beer. They wanted to know if we'd seen a boat with five people in it, which we hadn't, and insisted that Denys share a beer with them. Eventually the boat came, dropped off a party of Mexican tourists, and took off the two guys and their cooler of beer. They came back later to pick up the tourists. Meanwhile two American guys arrived on foot (their taxi from Las Varas had dropped them off at Chacala) laden down with camping equipment, and set up their tent at the far end of the beach. They were on a week's holiday at Puerto Vallarta and wanted to do some camping away from it all. Neither had camped before, although one had actually been at this beach years ago in an RV with his parents. They had no bedding and only a frying pan to cook with.
We explored the north side of the bay, clambering over big rocks. We were surprised to see lots of frangipani trees as well as other exotic plants. Looks like there could have been some settlement there at one time.
Walked into Chacala this morning to buy tortillas. (An American guy we'd met in Chacala dropped by yesterday to chat and he told us where we could buy them.) While we were waiting for them to be made, we checked out the tiny store across the road, but it's mainly stocked with snack food, soft drinks and toilet paper; there's little we can use other than eggs and tomato puree. The tortilla lady brought our half kilo of tortillas to us, wrapped in a beautiful crochet edged embroidered cloth, and then realized I hadn't anything to wrap them up in. Had to make do with a couple of torn up Maseca bags (Maseca is the brand name for corn meal used to make tortillas) and hurried home to eat them (with hummous). We'd had to wait for the two tenters to come back from their walk - they didn't want to leave their stuff unattended - before we could set off. It was already quite hot but it didn't seem to be a problem for Kaya. I can't believe this is the same dog that could barely make it up to Susan's place one day last summer. The locals assume she is "un perro bravo" (bad dog) because we keep her on a lead.
A BC couple from Castlegar, staying at Chacala, walked over to Chacalilla. They bought an RV in Phoenix and plan to stay in Mexico for at least a year, and probably will stay in this area the whole time!
Gave our solar shower its first proper workout, heating some water for Denys to wash his hair. It worked so well the water was almost too hot to touch.
My birthday today! We're all alone at the beach now; the two tenters left at first light, hoping to catch the school bus from Chacala to Las Varas. They returned the tartan wool blanket we'd lent them for last night, and left us their surplus supplies (two cans of tuna, cup-of-soups, and packets of sugar, milk and hot chocolate). Last night they'd insisted that we accept a papaya from which they'd only cut two small pieces. It had been nice to have their company for a while. We'd sat by our campfire together last night, chatting and drinking tequila.
We decided against going into Chacala for a birthday lunch. None of the restaurants look too appealing, and we'd discovered yesterday that the shrimps are frozen; perhaps the fish is too. I'll save the birthday celebration until we get to somewhere a bit more civilized. Celebrated with a can of beer from home.
I enjoyed that special birthday feeling all day. After I'd written home (a load off my mind) I lazed around, sun tanning in my bikini, dozed after lunch, and started to read Rudyard Kipling's "Kim" - first book of the trip. Denys went exploring the south side of the beach; rougher going than the north side but more interesting with tide pools with sea urchins and brightly coloured fish. I enjoy just sitting and watching - many different butterflies and birds, and especially the pelicans. A near perfect day, but for the fact that Kaya collapsed again. We were just walking down the beach when suddenly both her back legs gave way, and she lost control of her bladder. However, only minutes later she was up and active again, although a big subdued and cautious. This is the third time this has happened. I searched through the Dog Vet book but could find nothing similar.
When the sun had vanished from our end of the beach, we walked down to the other end and sat on the rocks enjoying the sunset. Kaya, full of energy, took a flying leap from some rocks, this afternoon's episode quite forgotten.
It was pretty cool in the evening, and went down to 60º overnight. We heard that the current temperatures are abnormally low.
I'm savouring every moment of our last day here. We walked into Chacala for more tortillas. This time I'd come prepared with a tea towel to wrap them in. Perhaps I should consider making myself one of these fancy tortilla cloths while I'm in Mexico. While we were waiting for them to be made I spotted a stone mortar and pestle and got the idea of making salsa and guacamole to go with our tortillas. I asked the tortilla lady where we could buy avocados, and she gave us a nice big one. I saved enough tortillas to make chilaquiles (we still remember fondly those we had on previous trips in Guadalajara and San Blas). I have the recipe with me - one of a couple of dozen I copied down on 3 x 5 index cards to bring along. I dried the six leftovers in the sun (keeping an eye on the dog!) and made a reasonable imitation.
I'd planned to have a second swim in the afternoon, maybe even do some sketching, but we spent the time chatting with a couple who came of from Chacala for a swim. Turns out they lived in Woodlands (Indian Arm) in the '60s and '70s, but have lived in California for the past ten years or so. They were on their way to their house in Ajijic. By the time they'd left there was barely time for me to have my long-awaited solar shower (water hoarded as a birthday present!) and the water sitting in the shade all the time we were chatting had cooled off considerably. Denys fixed it to the roof of the van and stood guard while I showered, beachside, standing on the palm leaf "mat" (an arrangement of three palm fronds in front of the door to catch the sand - the carpet mat was a disaster because it traps all the burrs); then I did the same for him. It took quite a bit of effort to get rid of a week's accumulation of sand, salt, insect repellent and suntan lotion.
Regretfully, we left our beach this morning and set off for Lake Chapala - a day we would rather forget. We had trouble getting out of the sand - it was wet and hard when we had driven in but had now dried up and softened. A Mexican who was collecting coconuts nearby gave us a helpful push. We needed to do some shopping in Las Varas and to let Solis (the photographer) know that we wouldn't be at the beach on Sunday. The studio wasn't open yet and there was no one about.
To save driving back to Tepic we took a shortcut on a toll road. We were rather taken aback to have to pay 9000 pesos for only 30 km. especially as it was still only two lanes with no shoulders. (We learned later that the toll roads which are built privately, make a profit within five years or so.) Stopped for lunch at the abandoned and now derelict "Parador Turistico", obviously built as a fancy rest area, with craft shop, bathrooms and viewing tower overlooking a lava flow and the 7141 ft Ceboruco volcano. From now on the road was very busy with heavy traffic. (We decided against the toll road around this stretch - 24,000 pesos for 40 km.) After Ixtlan, the road dropped very steeply with some spectacular views, then climbed up just as steeply, and very winding. We got stuck behind some very slow moving trucks, including one carrying a load of very smelly pigs!
As we approached the town of Tequila, the road passes through miles of maguey haciendas. The blue agave from which tequila is made grows only in this region. Just after Tequila we got tied up in a mammoth traffic jam for an hour. It was total chaos, with cars trying to get around by driving up the shoulder on both sides of the road and even up the oncoming lane, then trying to force their way back in the (stationary) line. We saw the cause of the problem a few miles further on - repairs to a railroad crossing. Not far off there was a major bus/truck crash, probably the result of drivers getting reckless during the delay. We had only a short stretch of easy driving on a divided highway before we hit the Guadalajara ring road and found it was totally under reconstruction. Another nose to tail traffic jam for an hour and a half. To add to the misery, from the approach to Guadalajara, the air had turned acrid and yellow and made our eyes burn. Worse to come! First in line waiting for a traffic light to change, we got pulled over by a policeman who tried to extract "la mordita" - a 100,000 peso kickback for not having our licence plates properly affixed. (We had taken one off as a precaution against having them stolen.) When we refused he wrote out a ticket for 290,000 pesos, switched to $200 US, eventually came down to 150,000 and finally settled, after much exhausting discussion, for 100,000 ($30 US). The alternative was having him pocket Denys's licence and God knows how we would have retrieved that in Guadalajara. He'd eventually agreed to accept the lower amount when I pointed out that without the licence we would have to stay right there as I didn't drive! The best part was when Denys opened the side door and the policeman saw the dog - he must have thought we were going to set the dog on him and he almost ran away!
Once we left the ring road and got onto the Chapala road it was a good four lane divided highway and we made good time. Even so it was dark by the time we arrived in Ajijic, only to find half the streets closed off for a fair. We found a place to park beside the lake, had dinner, then went for a walk into the centre of town. Big change from the sleepy village we remembered from our last visit. Big crowds everywhere, two bands competing in the plaza, rides along one street, midway games and food and drink stalls, the most popular of these were selling fancy mixed drinks in attractive decorated clay pots ("Ajijic 92") to take away. Cinnamon tea laced with liquor of choice was also popular. It was chilly. People were wearing ponchos over their sweaters, babies were bundled up like parcels, but a lot of little girls were wearing elaborately frilled party dresses - over their long sleeved sweaters. There was to be a fireworks display at 11:00 pm but we didn't feel like staying up to watch. We got to hear it in bed instead, as well as loud music playing well into the early hours.
What a night! We'd barely got to sleep when we were rudely awakened at 5:30 (still dark) by loud bangs, church bells pealing, and then a band playing. Our overnight parking spot is much too public in daylight and so we had to drive a little way out of town for a wash, etc. Privacy is not easy to come by and we were interrupted a couple of times. We drove into Chapala to make a phone call home to Susan. We found the long distance office in a little store down a side street and got through with little fuss. Susan told us that the tenants have asked for an extension until March 15. (I wasn't as thrilled about this request as I should have been. The driving conditions, tales of robberies, and then the run-in with the police have made me question whether I now want to go as far as Oaxaca.) We did some grocery shopping in a big supermarket; spending ages searching for sugar. We found it right beside the salt, both in plain plastic bags, and we had to taste to confirm. Saw pumpkin pies for sale - it was American Thanksgiving on Thursday. There is a large ex-pat population in this area and notice boards in the supermarkets advertising accommodation at reasonable rates: e.g. $225 US/month furnished. Began to think this might be a possibility on the way back if we need to kill some time. They have fantastic bolillos here, warm and crusty. Before leaving Chapala we checked out the park as a possible camping spot, near the (pay) washrooms, but then discovered the washrooms are locked overnight.
We parked by the lake back in Ajijic in the afternoon, put up the roof and I crawled up to bed for a nap, knowing we'd be in for another disturbed night while the fair is still on. The town was absolutely dead during siesta time. Mosquitoes were incredibly bad here, and there were thousands inside the van.
After dark we went back to the fair which was even busier than last night, and Denys sampled some of the market food (various concoctions of tortillas and meat). I'd already eaten before we set off so I only indulged in a bunuelo, slathered with honey, and made a sticky mess on my poncho. We went back to get Kaya later but had to keep her on a tight leash as she walked nose to the ground looking for discarded food and garbage. People here didn't seem afraid of dogs and Kaya was patted frequently and called "bonita" and "chiquita". This is the first place we have come across where the middle class predominate. People are well dressed and seem to have money to spare.
We parked for the night in a different spot, hopefully further away from the noise, but got disturbed again around 4:00 am by carloads of drunks.
We were allowed to rest until 6:00 this morning before the fireworks blasted off and church bells started pealing. Today Denys had planned a route to Guanajuato along the backroads, avoiding main roads whenever possible. We set off along the north shore of Lake Chapala along an unpaved road which soon deteriorated to the point where we were travelling in first and second gear at no more than 10 mph. We had to ask for directions several times when the road seemed to peter out. Can't imagine anything other than a pickup or a VW coping with this. Eventually there was a side road which climbed steeply over the hills to join up with the main road. It had taken us two hours to do what would have taken less than half an hour by the main road. Still, it had been a lot more interesting through picturesque villages with great views. A lot of the time we were driving alongside chayote fields - vines grown on horizontal wires, with the chayotes (like large pears) hanging down. It was a fairly main road through Ocotlan, La Barca (where we got tangled up in heavy market traffic) to La Piedad, then on a quiet, minor road which took us through a variety of terrain, climbing quite high before dropping down to another plateau and on to Silao. We were surprised to find a big new four lane toll road from Silao to Guanajuato, but we chose the free road which couldn't have taken much longer. On the outskirts of Silao they were clearing ground for a big GM car plant. There was a side road leading off to the top of 9440 ft Cerro del Cubiete and its Christ statue, which is supposed to be the geographic centre of Mexico.
TOPES AND VIBRADORESEverywhere you drive in Mexico you are faced with vicious devices to make you slow down. There are three main types:
Topes and vibradores may or may not be marked. If they
are, there may be an advance warning, or one at the tope itself.
Sometimes there is a sign but no tope - just as effective to a stranger
since you dare not risk not slowing down. When the topes are unmarked,
you often don't see them until too late and face the prospect of slamming
on the brakes and still having a violent bump. Usually, whenever a road
goes through a village, there will be three or four bumps. In town you
get them to force you to slow down for intersections which are usually
unmarked. Even on rough back roads where it is impossible to drive much
faster than 10 mph, you will get a row of rocks set into the road to act
as topes. It seems as though no self-respecting village can be without
them. |
We reached the outskirts of Guanajuato in mid afternoon, stopped at a tourist information office to pick up a map and get directions for the trailer park. We then spent nearly three hours driving around looking for it, up and down, along Panoramic Highway, through town and underground tunnels. Obviously we hadn't intended taking a city tour at this point, but after the first wrong turn we had no choice. We didn't know at the time that these tunnels had originally been built for the river to run underground. If it hadn't looked such an interesting city I think I would have been tempted to say "let's forget it and move on". There was absolutely nowhere to park. Houses cling to steep hillsides. Eventually, after asking at least half a dozen times for directions we found the trailer park on an incredibly steep, one way cobbled street. God knows how anything bigger than our vehicle could possible manoeuvre to get in here. I needed a beer and a mescal to unwind, and I hadn't even been driving! It wasn't much of a park but there were hot showers and a good view. The only other occupant was an elderly American spending the winter here, along with his enormous husky that Kaya quickly made friends with.
After dark we could see Christmas lights from the houses across the ravine, and we went to bed to the sounds of donkeys braying, dogs barking and, later cocks crowing.
That incredibly noisy donkey woke us up at 3:30 am and barking dogs nearby kept us awake. Walked into the city, only about 20 minutes steeply downhill, to mail more Christmas cards and letters, do some Michelin guide sightseeing, and change money at the bank. We must remember not to do this again first thing on a Monday morning. It was very busy and we had to wait ages.
We covered most of the main sights: 16th and 17th century churches, all very ornate and in good shape; university (very imposing, like a big fort); market (an impressive structure designed by Brunel). In the market be bought a chicken, the first fresh meat we have bought. We got one without wings and legs for the same price per kilo as a whole one so since neither of us is keen on those missing parts it was a good deal. We noticed that all the chickens we've seen so far have deep yellow skin, not white like we are used to at home. I boiled up the lot, we ate half with orange sauce and rice for dinner, picked apart the other half and put it into the cooler; the bones will go for soup with leftover rice, and the dog can share that. We are getting worried now as Kaya has refused to eat her regular food for two days now and is getting noticeably thinner. I don't know what we'll do if she continues to refuse her usual dry dog food. We have a three and a half month supply! The brands you can buy here are a terrible price. Her legs have given way several times now, always just after she has been prancing around - either when she's excited to be going for a walk, or when she goes off to play with other dogs. She is really enjoying the socialising.
We went back to the van for lunch - we'd had to leave Kaya there - and stayed around in the heat of the day. Then in the late afternoon Denys went back to town to pick up a film we had left for processing and mail another letter. He discovered a shorter way to the centre, involving a five minute walk through another tunnel. There was more activity now - people at all the sidewalk cafes, musicians strolling around, and a student demonstration outside the legislative palace (noisy chants and banners - "more democracy and people power") blocking the main road. Goodness knows what this did to the traffic - there are basically only two main roads through the city centre, both one way - the subterranean one going one direction, and the blocked one in the other.
I took advantage of the sunshine to wash clothes, had a hot shower and washed my hair. I had another session with the hand broom in the battle against dog hair in the van; at least most of the sand is gone now. I got out my sketchbook and made a start on the view from our van up the hillside - Panoramic Highway and houses on the ravine.
Denys didn't feel too good this morning - stomach-ache and diarrhoea. Says he had twinges for a couple of days but put it down to a diet heavy on avocados and beans. (It was probably the food he ate at the fair in Ajijic.) I didn't mind staying around the campsite this morning anyway as we don't like to leave Kaya alone just now. By lunchtime, however, Denys had made a quick recovery and we went into town again mid-afternoon. We found a tortilleria. Forgot my cloth again so had to have them wrapped in paper. A little boy in front of us with a big shopping bag handed over his money in a plastic bag along with instructions written on a piece of cardboard: "3000 pesos worth, and please put the change in the plastic bag".
The American at the campsite brought over an extension cord and light bulb for us to borrow. It made an enormous improvement. We must get one, even if we only have a few places we can plug in. I wish we'd had longer to get to know him. He seems an interesting guy: does "some writing and sculpting"; spends his summers at his cabin in the Appalachians, and has lived in so many places - Key West and Europe besides the US and Mexico (where he winters). He was very disparaging about San Miguel, where we are going next, "full of Americans"! Wish I'd asked him what he writes about. Next morning when Denys went to return the light, he was already at work on his wordprocessor.
Left this morning by way of the Carretera Panoramica, stopping several times along the way to enjoy the spectacular views over the city, and at the old mine, the old dam (which provided the first piped water to the city in 1851) and at the monument to Pipila (who helped liberate the Alhondiga). One of guides/souvenir sellers commented on Kaya's good looks (un perro bonito), and when I told him she was 14 years old he joked that we ought to celebrate her Quince Años (15th birthday) which is an important milestone for girls.
It was a lot easier finding our way out of town, gassing up at the same Pemex station where we'd stopped to ask for directions on the way in. It was an easy drive, only 50 miles, to San Miguel de Allende along quiet, good roads with pleasant scenery - rolling hills, mostly uncultivated. We did have one piece of excitement where road repairs were taking place on a blind curve. The flagman wasn't watching as we approached. (Denys commented to me that the flagman was asleep on the job.) When he saw us he gave a quick glance over his shoulder and waved us on past the workmen on the wrong side of the road. We were going very slowly, no faster than walking speed, when a big old American car came hurtling round the bend, right at us. He slammed on his brakes, skidding all over the road on the newly spread gravel until he finally stopped less than 10 feet in front of us!
The road into San Miguel took us past the trailer park we had a listing for and we decided to stop there, just on the outskirts. After lunch (excellent bolillos from a nearby bakery) we left Kaya at the campsite, and spent three hours exploring the town. (San Miguel is celebrating the 450th anniversary of its foundation this year, being founded only 50 years after the arrival of the Spaniards in the Americas.) This is the first place this trip that we've seen tourists in any numbers, including the first "travellers" we've come across. All the other tourists (not so young) are very neatly dressed and look well-off. It was interesting walking along the narrow streets, obviously fancy houses hidden behind high walls with big ornate wooden gates. There are lots of tourist-type restaurants (horrendous prices) and "artsy" shops. We made good use of our Michelin guide here, with occasional help from "Let's Go". Searched out what was described as "a sort of flea market" which sounded interesting, but we found that barely one third of the stalls were open. We did well enough though; managed to find some epazote (a herb used in Mexican dishes such as chilaquiles and frijoles - a digestive agent) and enjoyed a chat with the couple who owned the stall. Out of curiosity checked out the second hand clothes stall "Rosa Otra Vez" (Second Hand Rose!).
We sat down to rest in the shade in a little plaza and ate nice juicy mandarin oranges we had just bought. There are always plenty of places to sit down here. The only other bench was occupied by a young couple with a baby. The mother had just finished bottle-feeding the baby and for the first time in Mexico I managed to catch a glimpse of the baby's face. It was all bundled up in winter woollies. When carried, babies are always completely invisible, their faces hidden under blankets.
At a new market I priced cloths ready printed to embroider for only 1500 pesos (50 cents) which would do for a tortilla cloth, but I wasn't keen on the design right in the centre (probably cushion covers). If I could just get some plain white cloth, I already have embroidery silks brought from home.
We went to the public library, set up by Americans/Canadians, to look in the English section for vet books to see if we can find out what's wrong with Kaya, but what there was didn't help.
On the way back we saw two little boys carrying home the family tortillas (with their mothers' notes). This must be a chore for little boys, girls presumably helping mother at home. Saw some very elaborate dresses in boutiques, like wedding dresses but in pastel colours. (Later discovered these are Quince Años party dresses).
We had a scare in the night. We woke up when we heard the sliding door opening, and looked down to see a young guy standing there, holding Kaya's blanket out between him and Kaya, who was standing looking at him. He asked if we wanted coffee! After a bit of staring, we told him to get going and Denys relieved him of one of our folding chairs he'd picked up. (He had the nerve to tell us we should take them in in case someone stole them!) It wasn't easy to get to sleep after that, especially as we were cold (down to 40º). We found out the front passenger door was unlocked and that was how he had gained access. In the morning we noticed our cooler had been opened (nothing missing) and that the trailer next to us, unoccupied, had one of its storage lockers open and the contents scattered on the ground.
It was colder than ever and foggy when we got up. We debated whether to stay on another day, in another location, or move on. In the end we decided we should take Kaya to the vet and then decide. Poor Kaya. She's obviously ill. She fell down again, as if drunk, when we tried to walk her around the campground, and is very subdued. She won't eat now and she's even not bothered about her blanket. It's as if she is giving up. It's very hard to bear. We drove into town and found a Veterinaria-Farmacia. It was just opening at 10:00 and the girl sweeping out the store said the vet would be there in half an hour, so we waited. We passed the time until he showed up at 11:00 watching while she fed the puppies - five German shepherds and two rottweilers. The vet was very pleasant and gave the dog a good check-up. I'd looked up a few words in preparation for the visit and managed to get the information across, and along with his minimal English we did fine. He told us Kaya is suffering from a rheumatoid condition, common in older dogs (he was amazed to hear she is 14) at the start of winter. He warned us we could expect it to get more frequent and more severe until eventually she wouldn't be able to get up again. He wrote out a prescription for a steroid. His fee was 35,000 ($15).
We drove back to the campsite for lunch, packed up, then drove back into town, parking the van in the shade with Kaya inside. We thought it was safe enough, outside the Episcopal church. We finished off our sightseeing: the Instituto Allende (a former ancestral mansion from the mid 17th century, now an educational institution); the convent of Conceptionist Nuns, now a cultural centre, where there was currently an exhibition of superb water-colours - very beautiful, simple and spare, and how I envied the artist (Else Heusser van Arkel) her talent and wished I could afford to own some of her pictures. We also went in the Casa del Inquisador, a beautiful house dating from the end of the 18th century, now a craft shop.
We went to the public library again to use their toilets, and discovered there was a thrift shop sale on. Bought the perfect pair of khaki shorts for me for $1!.
We'd had enough by mid-afternoon. We had checked the notice boards at the Instituto Allende for places to rent, but decided against it after all. The more we see of San Miguel, the more we feel it is too touristy for comfort.
Denys had one or two camping spots in mind, which he'd seen on the way into town, near the dam (Presa de Allende) about 10 miles out of town. It took a bit of searching before we were both satisfied. One turned out to be on a bus route - going God knows where! Another was a major goat thoroughfare. We finally settled on what turned out to be one of our favourite spots of the trip - beside the lake with a distant view of San Miguel across the other side. On the track nearby there is a locked gate leading to what appear to be summer cottages and shelters, very neglected. One local woman was doing her washing by the edge of the lake when we arrived. It took her over an hour.
Kaya was quite subdued and wouldn't eat anything or move around, even when other dogs came by. We had made her a special dinner but she wouldn't touch it, and another very skinny dog stole it when we weren't looking. Another dog drank her water. We decided to sleep "downstairs" tonight. For one thing we will be less obvious without the poptop up, and secondly it will be warmer.
We were nice and snug last night, although I took no chances and wore my usual cold night outfit: T-shirt and cotton leggings and thick socks under my winter nightie, with a blanket and poncho on top of our sleeping bags. We didn't need hats this time! It was very quiet in the night - only the sound of an occasional train across the lake, and a donkey braying. I woke up and couldn't help sobbing over Kaya.
We watched the sun rise across the lake through the mist. It turned out to be a beautiful cloudless day. We decided to stay and give Kaya an easy day, and we enjoyed the peace and quiet too. We are finding that we prefer the country and small anonymous villages to the more famous and noteworthy attractions. We pottered about all day. I went off to the clothes washing area by the lakeside, and managed to get two "loads" washed and dried by noon. I did some mending - Denys' pyjamas are falling apart. Three little girls came to the van in the afternoon, trying to sell us some basketwork. We noticed they were all wearing proper shoes, and socks. In other third world countries we've visited they'd be barefoot or in thongs.
We saw quite a few birds around, including a flock of snow geese, white and grey herons, egrets and a large humming bird.
Kaya collapsed in the van right after getting up and again a little later. She lay down most of the day, although she did manage some barks and growls when some small boys came by with a herd of cows and donkeys. She ate a small portion of tuna tabbouli (our lunch) and two dog biscuits today. Normally we wouldn't spoil her so, but the way things are going I don't think we are going to have to worry about the dog biscuits running out.
We agonized a long time about whether we should go back to San Miguel to have Kaya put down, but decided to delay it and stay put to let her rest. She ate some breakfast but just lay down the rest of the day, refusing to walk anywhere, and her breathing is quite laboured most of the time. We went exploring around the village looking for shopping possibilities, but only found a small eating stall on the other side of the main road, and no tortilleria.
More people started arriving by car to spend the day, but we are still far enough off not to be bothered. Denys took a walk in the afternoon to some ruins at the other end of the lake. I did the same when he got back, reluctantly - I'm feeling very upset about Kaya - but mainly for the sake of my back. This clothes washing (plus too much sitting around I suspect) has given me a backache.
We lay awake long after we went to bed listening to Kaya's distressed breathing. This seems like the end of the road for her and we have decided to take her to the vet on Monday to be put down.
We were awake a lot in the night comforting Kaya. When we got up there was thick fog and it was almost drizzling. This makes it easier for us to say goodbye to this spot, and we set off in the direction of Patzcuaro, though we won't make it in one day, keeping our eyes open for vet pharmacies along the way. Being Sunday, though, we can't count on any being open. Driving was difficult at first because of thick fog but soon we dropped down into flatter and more fertile country (although still well above 5000 ft) and the fog had cleared by then. Nothing open in Celaya - too early anyway - but by the time we reached Yuriria we spotted a vet pharmacy open on the main street. The vet was out - his mother said he would be back "ahorita" (soon). I explained the problem, not without breaking down, then went back a second time half an hour later. Still not back. At her suggestion I tried two other vet pharmacies on the main street but neither of those vets were in. I went back to the first place again, but still he wasn't back. The lady could see how distressed I was, and came across the road to where we were parked, prepared to give Kaya an injection for pneumonia - "easy to cure". We seriously doubt it's that, and don't want to prolong Kaya's misery. We drove a little way out of town to have lunch and returned so I could do a second round of all the vets. Eventually I got directed to a vet (Dr. Edgar) "experienced with dogs" who was open. Dr. Edgar did not look your typical vet - he has long curly hair and a patch over one eye. He immediately diagnosed the problem as distemper, and although we disputed this since she has been vaccinated, we gave him the benefit of the doubt and let him give her two massive injections. Then we had to wait around and go back to see him at 6:00 pm. (It was now 2:00). We managed to find a reasonable place by the lake, almost covered over by water hyacinths, and plagued by mosquitoes. Being Sunday afternoon we soon found it was a popular place to visit to show off your boombox equipped car or pickup.
While we were doing a bit of shopping, we saw children dressed in very fancy clothes lined up outside the big old church. They were just setting out in procession, and we followed, along a back street all decorated up with streamers (in Mexico's colours of red, white and green) to another church. Food stalls lined the street and a fireworks display was being set up.
Back at the vets at 6:00 the vet pronounced an improvement (we can't see any) and asked to see Kaya in the morning. He gave her another shot and gave us some electrolyte solution (for dehydration) which he'd sent his mother off to buy at a nearby pharmacy, and told us to get 100 ml of this down her tonight, then three times a day, and to come back at 9:00 in the morning. He was about to give us a great big syringe to force it down but we said we would do without that.
When we got back to the dock we tried to make Kaya stand up and walk a little so she could urinate, but her legs gave way almost immediately and she let out a mournful cry.
We had hoped to spend the night here at the dock, expecting it to have quietened down, but the "cruisers" kept coming all evening, so eventually we packed up and went looking for another place. It wasn't so easy after dark, but we eventually found a quiet spot on a dead end street, alongside a vacant lot. We could hear the boomboxes in the distance until quite late.
We are heartbroken about Kaya. I can hardly stop crying, and the kitchen paper and toilet paper are disappearing fast. We have made up our minds that that this suffering can go on no longer. Tomorrow must be Kaya's last day.
We were awake a lot in the night comforting Kaya and trying to coax her to drink, but with little success. I don't think she slept at all. It was hard for her to breathe and she won't lie down. We were up before sunrise and left before there was much activity around. Rather than cook breakfast we bought pastries from a bakery.
At 9:00 we were back at the vet's, adamant that we would not let him continue to try and treat her, because we were sure he would want to continue with the shots. We agreed that the pneumonia could probably be cured (although we were not completely convinced that it really was pneumonia because there was no fever) but that was only secondary to her collapsing and inability to stand or walk, which of course the vet hadn't seen. He felt that by curing the pneumonia and then putting her on a course of vitamin therapy, she would recover. Still, we begged him to put her to sleep. The vet's wife and his mother were both involved in the discussion, as well as a man living nearby who had been sent for because he spoke good English. This was a great help - so far all communication had been in Spanish - and eventually we convinced the vet that it was because we loved Kaya so much and wanted the best for her that we were begging him to put her to sleep.
The vet and his family had a little discussion among themselves and asked us what we planned to do with the body. We told them we would bury her somewhere near, and then they told us they had a piece of land where we could bury her. This was a big relief to us.
With Kaya lying on her red blanket in the van, I hugged her and stroked her head while the vet's wife held Kaya's leg for the injection, and she just slipped peacefully away. After what she had been going through we thought this was a great mercy. Then the vet closed up his shop and with his wife drove with us to a farm on the northern outskirts of town where he and Denys dug the grave (with a great deal of effort - the ground was like concrete) and we buried Kaya wrapped in her red blanket. We put some rocks on top and I picked a little bunch of wildflowers growing nearby and placed it on top. Denys took a photograph. The sun was shining, and it was a lovely, peaceful spot, above an orchard at the bottom of a wild hillside. The vet told us he has six other dogs, all boxers or Dobermans, buried there.
We drove back to the vet's afterwards, and when we tried to pay he absolutely refused to take anything, not even for the drugs. And then he offered to us as a gift, one of his own Doberman pups. And to think we had been concerned, because there had been no discussion of costs, that he might be trying to "take" us with all the injections. Besides letting him know how grateful we were, we left him the three month supply of dog food - he had dogs of his own, got his address, and offered him hospitality if he should ever come to Vancouver. (We wrote him a thank-you letter from home.) It was an emotional parting. I hugged the vet's wife, who was crying too.
We drove off from Yuriria feeling, besides enormous relief, a sense of peace, that we'd done the right thing. We talked about how it had all been handled with dignity, and how especially grateful we had been that we had been able to bury Kaya, and about how sanitized it has all become at home. We agreed that perhaps bringing Kaya to Mexico might have hastened her end, but she had had a wonderful time and seemed to have a new lease on life at first, displaying more energy than she has for a couple of years. Perhaps she just wore herself out. At least she went without any long, painful illness. We weren't sorry we had brought her. We would have been distressed if this had happened at home while we were away. At fourteen, she had lived a good life span.
We drove straight through to Patzcuaro, with just a stop for a cold drink. We didn't feel like a lunch stop. It was a fairly easy drive, even though it took us through the city of Morelia (a good bypass route). From then it was a divided four-lane road without a great deal of traffic. We stopped at a trailer park just before entering Patzcuaro. There were no other occupants, and we managed to bargain the price down to 30,000 from 40,000. We cleaned up the van and cooked our meal. By then it had started clouding over and we had a thunderstorm. We just sat around, to recuperate. It was the best trailer park we had been in, nice, grassy sites. Kaya would have liked it. It seemed quiet in bed tonight without Kaya around.
Cool (40º) outside last night and very damp when we got up. First thing this morning I banged my head and it set me off into floods of tears. I think I was unduly optimistic yesterday that, because I had done so much grieving beforehand, I was going to get over Kaya's death more easily. Weeping spells come over me several times a day. What surprises me is that I'd really like another dog right now - Denys says he feels the same way. I know it doesn't make sense while we are travelling. How can you train a pup while you are living and travelling in a van for the next three and a half months, never mind leave it alone like we could with Kaya. I so much enjoyed playing with a puppy belonging to the trailer park.
Today is the first day of the annual fair (Virgen de Salud) and there was lots going on. There were stalls set up everywhere, selling all sorts of stuff. By the main church (Basilica) there were dancers performing traditional dances to small musical groups. The church was just filling up when we were there, although the service was underway. Many people (mainly Indians and poorer looking people) went down on their knees as they entered the church and shuffled on their knees all the way down the aisle (a very long one). The market here is a big one and fruit and vegetables are the cheapest we've seen up to now. The Indian women here wear gingham aprons, beautifully decorated in cross stitch in intricate designs. These are worn over accordion pleated skirts and many petticoats. Indian women were selling their wares from baskets covered by embroidered cloths. Everything looks so attractive. In the inside market, near the florists' stalls was a flower bedecked altar and a mariachi band playing beside it. Lots of interesting and attractive Christmas decorations for sale.
We needed to get back to the campsite before noon for a shower. Showers are only available 7:00-12:00 noon and it was much too cold earlier on. We rested for a while after lunch, and waited for another thunderstorm to pass before going back into town. We were considering taking a boat out to the island of Janitzio in lake Patzcuaro, but after looking around the lakeside dock area we decided the island was probably not a lot different - nothing but restaurants and tourist (Mexican) traps.
Instead we set off to drive up the volcano Estribo Grande which towers above the town, and got trapped in a narrow street behind a parade which was just forming up. We managed to get through after a while and on to the narrow, cobbled (very rough) road which wound up the volcano for 7 km. From the lookout at the top you get a tremendous view over the town and the lake. We were sitting on the wall admiring the view with a snack and a drink (mescal almost ice cold with the fridge plugged in at the campsite) when a group of people having a barbecue called us to go over and join them. They fed us on tortillas, barbecued chorizos (we passed up the steak), frijoles (deliciously smoky), salsas, and orange juice, with Spanish brandy to finish! As usual the men did all the talking (all in Spanish) while the women did the cooking. There were at least a dozen of them, two families, who had come up in a 1949 Chevrolet and a 1970 jeep. When we eventually left, we came across the jeep, broken down on the way back from a run for more brandy. We were just turning around (not easy on the narrow steep road) to give them a ride back up when they managed to get it started again.
Going back through town about 7:30 there was a traffic jam in the centre and crowds everywhere. There wasn't a hope of finding a parking spot at that time if we had wanted to.
We had to write home tonight to tell Susan and Anne about Kaya. It was very painful.
We only had a light breakfast, planning to buy stuff from the street vendors, but driving up the hill, we were surprised to find a lot of vendors packing up. We thought the festival lasted several days. We bought tamales and, following the example of the woman sitting next to us, a mug of atole - a thick hot drink made from corn and flavoured with sugar and cinnamon, almost a meal in itself. We hung around the area waiting for the museum to open at 9:00 but changed our minds when we found the entrance fee was 13,000 pesos each - a bit beyond our budget. We went into the public library, housed in an old Augustinian convent. One wall is covered in a large mural depicting the history of Michoacan - very anti-Spanish. Also very interesting was the Casa de las Once Patios, built in the middle of the 17th century as the convent of the Dominican nuns. Now restored, it houses workshops of local artists as well as craft shops. It was almost deserted of visitors and so it was peaceful and pleasant to wander through all the courtyards and nooks and crannies. We had an interesting conversation with the owner of one of the shops who did beautiful lacquer work, although we aren't into that sort of thing.
We left Patzcuaro after lunch, after stocking up on food at the market, including some very lean ground beef (pretty expensive) which we made into spaghetti sauce for dinner, and decided it was worth the expense.
Our route today was on a secondary road, shown on the map as unpaved. It turned out that that part was paved, the later part wasn't. It was very pleasant driving; very little traffic, mainly pickup trucks. At first it was rolling farmland, but after Villa Madera we started climbing very steeply to a high pass with spectacular views on both sides of the road with an incredible variety of flowers, including lupins growing in large bunches. It was cool and damp with lots of moss around. When we dropped down from the pass, and we didn't seem to drop very much, we were suddenly into very arid country. There was an amazing temperature change in a few miles - and we were suddenly too hot in the clothes we set off in. This was easily the hottest we have had so far. The country was still very interesting, with endless ranges of mountains. For a while the road went along a ridge, with a canyon on one side and a valley on the other. There was major road work underway, with long stretches where gravel had been dumped in piles on half of it; they were in the process of grading one section and we had no choice but to drive through several inches of gravel mixed with wet tar. This was obviously the limit of the road building so far; after that the road was unpaved and in very rough shape. We were in a very sparsely populated area of scrub acacia and cactus.
We went down a small dirt road to find a place to camp for the night. Naturally, no sooner had we parked than people appeared from nowhere - men on horseback and a woman driving some cows and donkeys. One young guy on horseback stopped to chat. He was concerned about us sleeping in such an isolated spot; weren't we afraid of whatever comes from the "panteon" (cemetery) although we could see no cemetery in the area. He felt we'd be better off if we moved closer to their place, one of a couple of "ranchitas" in the area, maybe a kilometre off the "main" road.
First thing I had to do when we stopped was wash some underwear and hang it out to dry on a line fastened to the fence and a big cactus. It was dry in no time - it was 80º. We sat outside all evening, enjoying the peace and quiet. We were waiting for the moon to come up - it is getting towards full moon - when we suddenly realized that what we saw was only a small sliver and an eclipse was taking place. We sat watching as the shadow gradually moved off the face of the moon. It was still 70º when we went to bed. What a change from the fog this morning.
Our day started at 5:30 when we were awakened by one of the local rancheros letting out a whoop as he went by on horseback.
We hadn't intended being on the road for so long but there was never anywhere to stop - roads were narrow and sides steep. We stopped in the first sizeable place (Huetama) towards lunchtime to buy tortillas. We have no problem demolishing half a kilo of tortillas at one sitting now. It was their busiest time and I had to wait in line. The girl working at the counter was wearing a red party dress with sequinned top!
We had a long day of driving, very mountainous and winding, with few places to stop except where there were heaps of garbage. Although we passed through four quite large towns (Huetama, Ciudad Altamarano, Arcelia and Iguala) the rest of the route was only sparsely populated, generally being very mountainous and inhospitable. It was hot all day, too hot to knit, and we started seeing coconut palms, which we hadn't seen for a while.
From early afternoon we started to look for places to camp but couldn't find anything suitable. We decided to drive on to Taxco and stopped by the tourist information place on the edge of town. It was closed but stationed outside there was a man with maps who told us that the one trailer park for which we had information didn't exist any more but we could park in the large parking lot across the road from the silver factory he represented. Very safe, he said. It was not easy to find - there was a rocky detour around the main road into Taxco (an old mine under it had collapsed) which we negotiated without problem, but then drove right past the silver factory and its parking lot. There were dozens of silver factories. We hadn't noticed it at first because it was completely filled by four tour buses. The man we'd seen by the tourist office was there and he assured us that the buses would all be gone by nightfall. We were a bit doubtful as it was right on the main road, but there was no alternative. On the other hand, with all these silver shops around and security guards, we figured it is probably a safe enough spot. We had a look around the immediate area to see what we could buy to eat. Every other establishment on the main drag is either a silver shop or a hotel/restaurant. Since we were worn out, Denys suggested we have a splurge and go for beer and pizza, but it was going to be ages before they'd be in business - we saw a woman in the kitchen just starting to knead a huge pile of dough. We ended up buying a large bottle of beer which we drank inside the van along with some packets of nuts, until the buses had gone and we could park and cook our dinner with what we had in - fried eggs, potatoes and onions, along with some marinated green beans. Not too impressed with what we have seen of Taxco at this point but we will be doing some exploring tomorrow. We were quite surprised how quickly the main road quietened down. It would have been even better if it hadn't been for the topes right near us. It causes vehicles to slow down right enough, but then you have to endure all the revving up as they speed off again.
Surprisingly we both slept well. We'd had breakfast and were away before there was much activity around. It was easy finding a parking spot so early in the morning. We spent a few hours exploring the centre. The church in the main square was incredibly ornate. The cobble stoned streets are very narrow, steep and winding; fortunately there is a good system of one way circulation. This is no place for the infirm, or the weak-kneed. It's gruelling climbing. We climbed uphill looking for a viewpoint over town and began to hear a band playing (this is only 8:00 am). We followed the sound, through streets decorated with paper and plastic banners (home-made cut-outs) until we reached a plaza with a church decorated for the Guadalupe festival. We sat and enjoyed the music and the view for a while and then went back to the van - to find a parking attendant waiting to charge us for parking. You can never be sure what's what when it comes to parking.
As we left Taxco we started encountering relays of runners carrying a torch, each group accompanied by several vehicles, all moving at walking pace. Given the winding roads it wasn't easy to get past them. We came upon these groups all day today and again the next day. Some sort of Guadalupe pilgrimage. The route out of Taxco that Denys had planned, avoiding busy roads, was quite complicated to follow and a couple of times we had to ask for directions. We got a bit muddled up and took a wrong turning so we ended up going further than planned. We came upon a lake, not on our planned route, obviously used as a cottage area by people from Mexico City. We had a shock as we approached the town of Zacatepec - an enormous chimney belching black smoke you could see for miles. Everywhere seemed grey and depressing. It was perhaps a sugar mill since it was in an area of sugar cane. We passed an area where the cane workers live in tiny cubicles.
We narrowly escaped being hit head on by a bus that had pulled out to pass at the crest of the hill. It was lucky there was a shoulder for us to swerve onto.
As if that wasn't bad enough, shortly after Jojutla we pulled off to the side of the road to have lunch and were held up by three men who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, demanding money. One was wielding a large pair of scissors, another a big screwdriver. After Denys had been jabbed in the ribs with the scissors a couple of times we realized it was hopeless to resist. I threw a cup of hot tea over one of them, and started yelling for help. For that I got a push in the face that sent me sprawling. They took all the money from our waist packs and frisked us for money belts, which we weren't wearing. It was too bad we'd just been to the bank that morning and hadn't got around to hiding some of it. Then they wanted "dollares", but we managed to convince them that we had none, only travellers cheques. They picked up a few things like the camera case, and the Swiss army knife (presumably to stop us from using it against them) - which Denys pleaded with them not to take - and they eventually gave up and left. While they were still in sight an old man who had parked his pickup behind us a few minutes after we stopped and then disappeared, returned and drove off. We ran up to him to tell him what had happened (not sure what good we expected that to do) but he just shrugged and said to report it to the police. We were good and mad by now and rushed back to the van, swung around and drove back in the direction the robbers had gone. Denys was quite ready to run them down given half a chance, but they were nowhere in sight.
Now we had a problem. It was after 1:00 pm Friday afternoon; we were at least an hour from a sizeable town; we had only 6500 pesos and a quarter of a tank of gas, and no campsite we could reach with the gas we had; banks close for foreign exchange at 12:30 pm. We wouldn't starve - we have enough food to get by, though not very interesting - but we didn't have money for accommodation. We decided to go on to Cuautla, the next big town, where there was a chance we might be able to change money. The Banamex was closed but there were still people working inside and a security guard at the door letting out customers. I tried to get him to let us through but it was hopeless. Next we tried the bank machine but got the message "Try again later". Meanwhile someone else had persuaded the security guard to bring out one of the cashiers to help with the machine, and we got her to change $50 in US bank notes - enough to fill up with gas and get to somewhere to stay. We thought we'd try another bank on the next corner to see if they had a machine (they hadn't) and came across a currency exchange office. It was open, and we got the same rate as the bank - amazing. We hadn't seen anything like that since Mazatlan. We changed $100 traveller's cheque - and we were solvent again.
After today's experience we wanted to be in a secure campsite. We decided in favour of one associated with a hotel in Izucar de Matamoros, more than an hour away, rather than a recreation area near Cuautla (it's weekend and probably draws people from Mexico City). When we got to Matamoros we found motel units had been built in the area that used to be the park. The rate we were quoted was way too much (35,000 pesos) for just a parking spot with no services (there is a pool - not that we'd want to use it) and after talking to the manager (night clerk?) it was agreed we would pay 20,000 pesos - much more reasonable. The hotel has an enormous dining room but was totally deserted evening and morning, except for one guest.
All afternoon we had been able to see the spectacular Popocatapetl, a perfect snow-capped cone towering above the surrounding plateau, but we weren't in the ideal mood to appreciate it right now.
Lots of fireworks going off well into the night - the eve of the festival of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico.
We have a long day ahead. We must make it to Oaxaca today and there is nowhere to stay overnight en route, and I am too nervous. Thank goodness it was an uneventful day, and I did my knitting most of the way. Little traffic other than more of the relay caravans. The roads were winding and narrow, but there were some good straight stretches. Other than the few towns the route was very sparsely populated. We stopped in a town for lunch parked in front of a church on the top of a hill with plenty of people coming and going. We spent ages searching for either tortillas or bread but couldn't find either. Today is the Guadalupe festival and all the children are dressed in traditional costume.
We had a hard time finding the trailer park in Oaxaca. The first one we tried, before entering the city, was very rundown and hardly seemed to be in business, so we had to drive across the city - busy on a Saturday afternoon - and ask for directions several times before we finally found it. We had expected the trailer park to be quite full, but surprisingly there were only about eight sites occupied, almost all from BC! It was a big relief to get here and we felt totally drained. Denys went out to get some booze at a nearby supermarket (with a huge booze section) and came back with a big bottle of beer and a few other groceries. We'd just poured it out when we got a visit from a guy in a '78 VW van from Texas, and we chatted for a couple of hours, feeling more cheerful by the end of the day.
