Under Construction

March 23rd to 25th

Circumnavigating the lake to the west and south, we look back over fields of blue agave plants with Lake Chapala behind backed by mountains.... 

It's an easy amble on flat tarmac and the miles fly. The heat of the day is really starting to be a factor now and it's 2pm when we reach the fork where the road swerves away from the lake towards Mazamitla. We know there's another tough, 1000m climb coming up and we hear the road is 'not good', so we decide to tackle it on fresh legs in the morning. The guy who tells us about the road also owns a taco stand and he's very persuasive.

Early next morning we discover why the road is 'not good'. It's something to do with the fact it's not built yet...

It's hot sweaty work climbing out of the lake basin and dust thrown up by construction workers rapidly turns to mud as it sticks to wet skin. Construction equipment lines the road as we look back at the dip in the earth we are struggling out of...

Much of this region holds minerals under the rock and mountains, including iron; which explains why the landscape is turning Martian....

This is tough riding as the sand prevents traction and bogs the wheels down, hindering forward momentum. Passing cars kick up a cloud and we eat dirt. In places tankers damp down the dust spraying water from huge pipes. They are bemused as we ride through the deluge, but it's a welcome relief from soaring temperatures - and a chance to clean off some mud. 

And suddenly it all changes. 

Like teleporting from Mars back to earth, the world stops being red and becomes a green and pleasant land. It actually reminds me of England....

And 8kms (5 miles) further on, we are in Switzerland in the alps....

It's five hard, hard hours and just 40kms (25 miles) later when we roll in to Mazamitla, a "Pueblo Magico" or magical town. The Mexican Ministry of Tourism decided in 2001 to promote 32 towns around the country that offer this magical experience. In their words:-

A "Magical Village" is a place with symbolism, legends, history, important events, day-to-day life – in other words, "magic" in its social and cultural manifestations, with great opportunities for tourism.

It's a shame then that we feel so beat up after the ride. To our tired eyes and aching bodies it just looks like a small town with lots of tat vendors and we need to sleep.

Riding out the next day though, we are in a better mood to apreciate the beautiful surroundings and much of the town has been built to mimic a style of Swiss chalets, all golden wood and sloped rooves. It's all very nice and echoes more natural Alpine themes found in the mountains.

We spend the morning falling out of those mountains. Where yesterday's total of just 40kms took 5 hours, today they fly by in just 60 minutes. We drop out of the sky onto the fertile valley floor.

Riding past fields, recently relieved of crops, we look back at yet another line of mountains we have tackled on our long, long journey....

 

We ride into Ciudad Guzman and contemplate the next one to come, our biggest challenge to date....

Lake Chapala

March 21 to 23rd

Just 45kms south of Guadalajara lies Mexico's biggest freshwater lake - Lake Chapala. That's not saying much as Mexico is not really noted for massive lakes but it does stretch a reasonable 80kms by 18kms (50 by 11 miles). What it lacks in scale it makes up for in natural beauty, surrounded by picture postcard mountains on all sides....

Chapala also enjoys a near perfect climate and is a riot of colour the whole year round....

The lakeside towns; Chapala and Ajijic (A-hee-heek) are rapidly turning in to US and Canadian retirement destinations - land and new houses are advertised for sale all along the main highway and both population and prices are rising fast. It's easy to see why....

The level of the lake is also rising. In fact water levels and quality have been a major source of political tension in recent years, with Guadalahara draining much of the precious liquid and replacing it with indutrial waste. Levels dropped precipitously a decade ago and steps to replenish it since then look to have been a little too successful..... 

We post a new all time cycling low of just 7kms (4.5 miles) travelling between Chapala and Ajijic but it's not to be missed. Ajijic attracts a number of artists and painters to it's narrow cobbled stone streets and walls and buildings are vivid in colour....

Strolling along the boardwalk you do get get that urge to break out the easel and watercolours and have a go....

Lazy boat trips will whisk you off to Chapala's 2 islands; Scorpion and President, where independence fighters successfully held a fort against government troops between 1812 and 1816. You might want to choose a different boat though....

 

You might need a different companion as well. Mine discovered that Pina Coladas came in litre glasses and sight seeing took on a different meaning in her bloodshot eyes....

 

She was in good company though as the Tequila bars were attracting all comers as well...

Yes that is a donkey ordering a strong one. 

All in all; a gorgeous place and a popular one with weekending Guadalajarans. It looks even better as the sun slips lower towards the mountain tops and sprinkles gold across the water....

Guadalajara

March 18th to 21st

Guadalajara is Mexico's second largest city after the capital with over 5 million inhabitants, and it suffers from almost as many letter A's in it's name. 

As a city it made a stuttering start in 1532, originally sited by the Spaniard Nuno Guzman a hundred kilometers further North in Zacatecas state. It failed due to a lack of water and the local Indians who kept beating people up. It was relocated after only a year, to what is now a suburb of the modern day city, but Guzman disliked the new site and moved once again. It took the Indians just 2 years to find him; and this time they completely destroyed the place. Credit to the man though, he kept going and finally, the fourth version worked.  

Guadalajara is famous as the birthplace of the Mexican sombrero, Tequila andMariachi music. A full Mariachi band consists of a minimum of 3 violins, 2 trumpets, a Mexican guitar, a guitarron (an acoustic bass) and maybe even a harp! They dress in silver studded "Charro" suits and wide brimmed hats and play restaurants and plazas. It's great entertainment....

With impeccable timing, we arrive just as the city sets about staging it's annual Tequila Festival. Plazas are lined with stalls offering free samples and there are hundreds to choose from. We've got our work cut out and take a hotel close by....

I like Guadalajara. For a big city, it has a really nice layout, centred as per most Mexican cities around it's huge cathedral....

What's nice about it is that the cathedral is surrounded on all 4 sides by huge plazas. Plaza de la Liberacion to the east stretches for 2 blocks and terminates in the impressive Degollado Theatre building. Behind that is plaza Tapatia with it's pedestrianised walkways complete with statues, fountains and street performers stretching for 500m. It's fantastic to have so much open space right in the centre of a huge metropolis.... 

South of the cathedral is Plaza de Armas with it's imposing Palacio de Gobierno -town hall. Inside are incredible murals of Independence leader Miguel Hidalgo by Mexico's favourite muralist Jose Clemente Orozco. The bandstand stages regular Jaliscan and Classical music concerts, and the band is just getting into place for tonight's show...

Plaza Tapatia culminates in the Intitute of Culture building. This incredible edifice originally served as an orphanage for over 150 years, but also saw insane patients, soldiers and prisoners during it's stints as an asylum, barracks and prison. It houses another 54 murals by Orozco on the walls and ceiling of the church....

Completed inside just 3 years, they make bold and powerful statements against opression by social organisations such as the catholic church, the government and labour movements. There are other more historical representations of the Spanish conquest and modern day Mexico....

North of the cathedral is the Rotunda of Illustrious Men of Guadalajara set with 20 bronze statues of illustrous heroes - Architects, artists, lawyers and scientists. Speaking with locals, the line up would appear to be contentious, and with the inclusion of the first woman, it would appear a name change from Illustrious Men is in order....

There are several high quality museums to explore including the regional museum where Sue contemplates the deep, underlying meaning hidden in the artist's obvious angst ridden search for understanding. Or did they just spill the paint?

To cap it all, there are live bands on several stages througout the city to help keep the Tequila vendors in business by attracting the crowds.... 



We could easily spend more than the 4 days we have in Guadalajara. There are many other museums and galleries to explore, not to mention the planetarium and the parks with their butterfly houses, aviaries and exotic plants. Oh.... and just one more tequila! However, the road is calling and it's back to the bici tomorrow...

Next Stop - Guadalajara

March 14th to 17th

It's always nice to be accompanied out of town by musicians. These guys followed us for a short time playing a merry tune as they went, before turning off into the drive through off licence for beer. I kid you not, and it's one of the coolest things we've seen so far, the band driving up to the counter playing all the while. Bit worrying watching the driver crack a cold one before driving off though....

It's yet another ride through the Sierra Occidental mountain range that marches almost the length of Mexico. This time we are heading to Jalisco state, land of the blue green Agave - the plant that yields the local fire water; Tequila! Suddenly the land is covered in them, their spiked, sword like leaves piercing the ground like an explosion, frozen in place....

Agave can be used to make other brands of spirit like 'Mescal', but similar to champagne, only the spirit produced within the Jalisco region can show the brand name 'Tequila'. Some of the plants are just beginning to flower and 4 metre spikes shoot upwards from the centre.

The ride is a colorful one and the road is often lined with trees vividly flowering, a profusion of reds, purples and oranges. Towns along the way like Villanueva, Tabasco and Jalpa all have amazingly vibrant central plazas, sporting exotic flowers....

 

Temperatures are pleasant and we are able to ride long into the afternoon to cover the miles. It's beautiful in the mountains and it's a continuous series of long manageable climbs followed by roaring decents. One longer climb attracts the interest of an overzelous sign makers 

DANGER!....  

Shortly after "Ixtlahuacan", the road starts to merit signs like this as the road suddenly drops towards the Juchipila River 1200 metres below. That's a Chrysler Building on top of an Empire State Building, with an Eiffel Tower on top of that. We plummet at over 80kph (50mph) straight down and past the river as it cascades over a rift in the land on the far side of the valley....

I can fully recommend the durability of Canon's Powershot 550 camera!

I attempt to get it from my handlebar bag to snap a shot at around 50mph, when it's strap catches on the handlebar and it goes down, hitting the road hard, before sliding forever. Foolishly I try to catch it and get in to the kind of speed wobble that would make a slalom skier proud. Recovering and slamming on the breaks, I start to gather up the pieces; internal battery, memory card cover and springs etc. After reassembly, miraculously, it bursts back into life. Battered and bruised and sporting a couple of loops of electrical tape, it just keeps going - it just doesn't have a screen you can use anymore. Still this is what I wanted to take a shot of.... 

The green river valley at the bottom of the drop. The temperature has risen noticeably as we level out and the vegetation has a much more tropical look to it.

What goes down, must go back up and we start the gruelling 2 hour slog back up the other side. The views back over the valley more than make up for it....

We meet Miguel, a professional road racer who uses this route as a regular training run from Guadalajara. A 100km round trip accumulating nearly 2 miles of climbing. He's a fit lad!

Plans get delayed however when we see the signs for "Los Camachos" waterpark - the perfect way to cool off after a 1000 metre climb. This is the tornado ride and the idea is to shoot down the slide and orbit the big yellow bowl as many times as you can before plunging into the pool below. 

FUN!!!

We are adopted by Fransisco and his family of musicians who insist on trying to get us to sink by over-feeding us on barbequed steak and Nopales - an edible cactus leaf.

It's late in the afternoon before we finally say our goodbyes and make the last climb towards Guadalajara.

 

Guadalajara! Our first Mexican metropolis at over 5 million people, and reputedly the "most Mexican city" of all. Now I don't know what that means, but when a place has over a hundred types of Tequila to test - I'm not too sure if we're going to find out.

I'll let you know....... 

La Quemada

March 12th

Our First Mexican ruin!

"La Ciudad Quemada" stands 55kms south of Zacatecas, the name literally meaning "The Burnt City". Most of the physical structures of this lost city still lie hidden beneath the earth and it's origins are silmilarly unclear....

Maybe it was just a smaller part of the larger empire centred around Teotihuacan outside Mexico city. Maybe it was a trading post of the Toltecs. Or just maybe it is the legendary site of "Chicomostoc"; a mythical place told of in fables concerning the origins of the Aztec people. All have been mooted by archeologists. La Quemada remains shrouded in mystery.

What is known is that it was occupied for some 900 hundred years between 300 and 1200AD. It was built from rhyolite, a volcanic rock torn from nearby mountains to the North. Rhyolite is a hard, granite-like substance, which explains why much is so well preserved. The mortar between the stones, however is made from clay and grass fibres which is rubbish and explains why a lot of well preserved stones are now piled in ruin. 

Nevertheless It's a hugely impressive site. 

The "Hall of Columns", thought to be the remains of a huge ceremonial hall....

Typical of cities in Meso America - an area covering much of modern day Mexico and Central America, there is a steep sided pyramid used to make offerings...

The main site is built in a series of terraces up the steep sides of the hill, lower levels serving as foundation for those above. It's a precipitous climb up crumbling steps towards the citadel above, but now you start to get a real sense of the scale of this place and the views it commands over the huge valley floor....

At it's zenith, La Quemada was said to have been a hub for regional trade, with exotic items such as shells, salt and obsidian discovered here and sited as evidence of long distance trade. From the hilltop, it is possible to see discolorations and indentations stretching off, miles  into the distance - a latticework of ancient paths and roads fanning out across the land. Reflecting the city's importance, huge fortifications were built to prevent incursions by competing tribes. Today blackened stone hints at the violence of the city's final days and the failure of those defences. La Quemada was detroyed by fire which explains the name "Burnt City".... 

Only a fraction (estimated at 10 percent) of the site has been exhumed from the earth that the passage of time has built around it, and yet it already stretches for several hundred metres across the hill top. Slowly, slowly the ground is revealing it's secrets as archeologists scratch away at the dirt and already I am dreaming of returning when more is understood.

  

Zacatecas

March 9th to 14th

Zacatecas is a gem. 

Set in the steep sided valley between Cerro La Bufa and Cerro del Grillo, it's easy to lose yourself exploring it's intricate web of twisting cobbled streets as they meander around the city's treasure trove of old colonial buildings. 

It's arid, dry country and at 2500m skies are azure by day, cool and clear by night. The centre is dominated by the pink stone Cathedral built at exorbitant expense using money from the rich silver mines under the surrounding hills. The mines bestow the town with wealth to this day. 

Rich barroque carvings adorn 3 sides of the Cathedral and are exquisitely detailed....

The city is rich in culture, boasting world class galleries and museums. The Raphael Coronel Museum is set in the 16th Century ruins of the Convent of San Fransisco, now decorated with beautifully colourful landscaped gardens....

It boasts the largest collection of Mexican folk masks. Over 3000 are on display at any time with several thousand more hidden away. Many were used in celebrations round the country....

 

There's a fine collection of excellent pre-Hispanic sculpture from many of the indiginous tribes...

 

Plus puppets used in shows before television was invented...

Pedro Coronel (Raphael's brother) was an affluent artist and also a hoarder of fine things from around the world. Upon his death he bequethed the entire collection to his home town. William Hogarth engravings, Goya and Picasso paintings amongst others.

Taking time out from the museums we explore parks and gardens with exotic flowers and fountains that sparkle and glow in time to music by night....

A cable car rides 200m to the top of Cerro La Bufa for commanding views of the city. There's a silver mine tour and museum comemorating Pancho Villa's fine military tactics as he defeated 12,000 of President Huerta's troops ensconced in the city in 1914. This was a nail in the coffin as it left the route to Mexico City open to the revolutionary troops....

Our 4 day visit extends to 6 as a mixture of culture, tranquillo city life, and a friendly hostal with an amazing rooftop terrace tempts us to stay longer. Great company in the form of 2 Canadian couples - Terry and Diane, Frank and Kathleen make Zacatecas truly memorable. Thanks guys!