The second day out is always enjoyable. Our butts don't hurt, our endurance is kicking and we are excited to be back on the bikes, making for a touch longer day. As the sun began to set and thunder booming all all around, we found ourselves in the town of Cocaxtalan, at a quaint little place called the Cazadores hotel that was in the process of being newly renovated. A quick shower and we were out through the alley and across the street ready for dinner. Not knowing what we were getting, simply pointing to the torta the woman was making for the other customer, we happily devoured our crispy pork filled sandwich and guzzled down a family size corona. Life is good.
After 9 hours on the bike, I was asleep just after 8 and Ryan 9, barely budging until 8am. 12 hours of sleep a night is fairly typical when we are riding long days. I guess our life mainly consists of riding, eating and sleeping. That morning, we were enjoying the nice, clean hotel, reading our books when I noticed there was not any noise coming from the remodeling. Odd because Mexicans start work early and work hard throughout the day. The amount of manual labor here is unlike anything I have seen. They do not sit around like we often see at construction sites in the states. I peeked out the window and sure enough, 5 guys were sitting in the 2 feet of shade along the wall waiting for us to rise. How thoughtful. I instantly opened our door to let them know we were up and about which worked out perfectly because we needed to start moving the pedals before the sun was too hot.
A few miles down the road we came upon a juice stand with a woman squeezing fresh orange and watermelon juice. How could we not stop? A few feet over from her, a mother/daughter taco stand, making the tacos freshly on site with a small griddle that pressed one taco at a time before putting it on a small grill. They chatted and laughed as they cooked through their morning. Ryan and I shared a huge orange juice and 4 thick open faced tacos that looked like mini frisbee's, no bigger than a cd and about as thick as a pinky. Pizza tacos topped with red sauce, beans and cheese. All of this for the whopping price of 28 pesos (a little over $2). I love Mexico!
We rode our way into another state, Oaxaca. I think there are maybe 31 states in Mexico, but I am not sure. After a long ride yesterday, we were a touch more tired than expected, making for slow miles and many stops. Puebla sits at just over 7,000 feet, so we had some cruisy descents into the valley. Although the riding was relatively easy, we were tired and burnt. We opted to try for a hotel in small town of Tecomavaca. Trying my best to speak Spanish (which is sadly horrible), the nice man finally gave up and instead worked his way around town to find someone who spoke English. There were not any hotels but people did sometimes offer an extra room in their home for guests. Following his mini taxi, a three wheeled car with a back seat that zips passengers around town, we pulled up to a home in the center square. Out walked a woman named Paola who spoke perfect English. It turns out she lived in the US for 16 years and had just recently moved back. We were in luck. Her uncle ran the Ecotourism biosphere preserve of cabins in the area and gave guides to see the guacamayas in the area, an amazingly colorful parrot with 3 foot wingspans that covered the canyons. After being chased by the kids in town, her uncle loaded our gear in his truck while we followed on our bikes to a great little cabin just off the road, tucked in the desert. If you are reading this and would are thinking of spending an authentic getaway in Mexico, I would highly recommend making this stop. You can rent a car, bike or horse in Oaxaca and then use one of those options from this cabin to explore the canyons and see the guacamayas. Anyway, we spent a few hours talking with both of them about what they are doing in Mexico to provide eco-friendly options for tourists. It's nice to see these steps being taken. And yes, Mexico is extremely safe and the people are so kind and generous. Again reiterating that people are people everywhere and maybe, just maybe, the media is out to scare us:-)
After 9 hours on the bike, I was asleep just after 8 and Ryan 9, barely budging until 8am. 12 hours of sleep a night is fairly typical when we are riding long days. I guess our life mainly consists of riding, eating and sleeping. That morning, we were enjoying the nice, clean hotel, reading our books when I noticed there was not any noise coming from the remodeling. Odd because Mexicans start work early and work hard throughout the day. The amount of manual labor here is unlike anything I have seen. They do not sit around like we often see at construction sites in the states. I peeked out the window and sure enough, 5 guys were sitting in the 2 feet of shade along the wall waiting for us to rise. How thoughtful. I instantly opened our door to let them know we were up and about which worked out perfectly because we needed to start moving the pedals before the sun was too hot.
A few miles down the road we came upon a juice stand with a woman squeezing fresh orange and watermelon juice. How could we not stop? A few feet over from her, a mother/daughter taco stand, making the tacos freshly on site with a small griddle that pressed one taco at a time before putting it on a small grill. They chatted and laughed as they cooked through their morning. Ryan and I shared a huge orange juice and 4 thick open faced tacos that looked like mini frisbee's, no bigger than a cd and about as thick as a pinky. Pizza tacos topped with red sauce, beans and cheese. All of this for the whopping price of 28 pesos (a little over $2). I love Mexico!
We rode our way into another state, Oaxaca. I think there are maybe 31 states in Mexico, but I am not sure. After a long ride yesterday, we were a touch more tired than expected, making for slow miles and many stops. Puebla sits at just over 7,000 feet, so we had some cruisy descents into the valley. Although the riding was relatively easy, we were tired and burnt. We opted to try for a hotel in small town of Tecomavaca. Trying my best to speak Spanish (which is sadly horrible), the nice man finally gave up and instead worked his way around town to find someone who spoke English. There were not any hotels but people did sometimes offer an extra room in their home for guests. Following his mini taxi, a three wheeled car with a back seat that zips passengers around town, we pulled up to a home in the center square. Out walked a woman named Paola who spoke perfect English. It turns out she lived in the US for 16 years and had just recently moved back. We were in luck. Her uncle ran the Ecotourism biosphere preserve of cabins in the area and gave guides to see the guacamayas in the area, an amazingly colorful parrot with 3 foot wingspans that covered the canyons. After being chased by the kids in town, her uncle loaded our gear in his truck while we followed on our bikes to a great little cabin just off the road, tucked in the desert. If you are reading this and would are thinking of spending an authentic getaway in Mexico, I would highly recommend making this stop. You can rent a car, bike or horse in Oaxaca and then use one of those options from this cabin to explore the canyons and see the guacamayas. Anyway, we spent a few hours talking with both of them about what they are doing in Mexico to provide eco-friendly options for tourists. It's nice to see these steps being taken. And yes, Mexico is extremely safe and the people are so kind and generous. Again reiterating that people are people everywhere and maybe, just maybe, the media is out to scare us:-)
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