Cholula

The Zocalo:

Decision Reached!

We will continue with the original plan. Chetumal is warming up and should be in the high twenties in two weeks. We have two options: one, go overland to Chetumal and then up the Caribbean coast to Cancun and Isla Mujeres and stop ar Merida on the way home or two, do it the other way around.

I put a Weather Widget on the right side to monitor temperatures in Chetumal. If making this decision is the biggest problem I have for the rest of my life I will be in good shape. Life is good!

Decisions, Decisions!

The Yucatan is cold! The Government is handing out jackets and blankets and it is not looking to get warm soon. The West Coast is warm but is not really my favourite part of Mexico. There are too many bugs and condo salesmen. We wanted to go to Merida, Isla Mujeres and maybe back to Chetumal but there is little point if the cold weather continues.

There is a good road heading south that passes through Oaxaca where we want to visit but were going to put off for another year. It is cold as well but at least is on the way to a warm place. This road ends up near Puerto Escondido on the Pacific where we have wanted to go for many years. Acapulco would be on our way back up the coast and we want to see it as well. We will spend a few hours making this decision. We can always do the Yucatan next year….

This:

Or this:

Trailer Park Las Americas

This is the RV park here in Cholula, a suburb of the State Capital of Puebla. We are the only paying guest in here right now. The rate is $230 pesos a night.

Common Room – there is free WIFI in here:

However, I can pick up the WIFI with my hawking dish from our site:

Here is my windproof StarChoice dish. There is no wind, but you never know:

Arco Norte!!!

We left cold SMA this morning heading to Puebla and hopefully, some warmer temperatures. To get here we used the brand new Mexico City bypass called the Arco Norte. We headed south from Queretaro on 57D and eventually came to this large Pemex station between the north and southbound lanes. There are also two restaurants here so it is a good place to stop and fuel up as there are no gas stations on the Arco Norte. (Edit: There are now Pemex stations in each direction at KM 192 near the Puebla end). If you forget to gas up you will have to exit to one of the towns off the Arco Norte and go through more toll booths to get back on.

About 40 miles (65 KM) later you will see this sign:

Then this one at about Km 88:

And this:

And this:

And this:

Then the toll booth where you will get an electronic card. At the end of the Arco Norte they will scan it and you will pay for whatever distance you traveled. Simple!

Here is the start of the highway. About 100 (160 KM) miles to Puebla:

This is a fantastic highway! It bypasses the headache of the D.F. with it’s Hoy No Circula rules and general chaotic traffic. The toll for our motorhome, dolly and car was $424 pesos or around $38 CAN. In my opinion a very good deal!

We are safe and sound in Puebla. The temperature was 73 degrees when we arrived! MUCH warmer than SMA and Guanajuato! The Starchoice setup was the easiest so far, we found the signal within a couple of minutes and we get pretty good WIFI at the motorhome with the Hawking dish. Life is Good!!

Leaving San Miguel

Today we are leaving San Miguel de Allende. It has been over a month and I am ready to move on. Terrie,Nancy, PJ, Claudia, Les and Norma and I went out for a farewell dinner last night. It was a great time with great friends. Leaving is sad but we will all see each other again as Mexico is really a small country.

We got up at eight this morning to find PJ and Claudia already gone. They are headed for the Emerald Coast and then the Yucatan before finding their way back to The USA and a flight back home to the Netherlands. They have been on the road for twelve years and this will be their first long visit back home in all that time.

Terrie and Nancy from Nova Scotia will be here for a while as Terrie is taking a sculpting course at the Art Institute. After that they will be heading for the West Coast.

Les will be here visiting his sponsored girls until March when Sara will be joining him in Puerto Vallarta for the drive home to Nanaimo.

We are heading for Puebla via the newly opened Arco Norte bypass of Mexico City. This highway is owned by Carlos Slim, the Mexican cell phone billionaire and will not be a cheap drive. It will however avoid the traffic nightmare of the D.F. and/or the confusing old route around the Capital. We will spend a couple of nights in Puebla so I can visit the Pyramid there. It is the worlds largest man made structure and I am looking forward to my visit. The adventure Continues!

Les, Nancy, Terrie, Claudia, P.J. and Norma:

Same photo with Croft:

Claudia and PJ:

Terrie and Nancy:

Les’s “Weathered Face” (inside joke!)

Leaving Guanajuato

For some reason we were not kept awake all night by the music last night. Either the mariachis had worn themselves out Thursday night or we are just getting used to it. We got up at 8:30 and started the checking out process. We went to the desk where they arranged for someone to accompany me to the parking lot and guide me back to the street behind the hotel. While this gentleman and I headed off for the uphill climb to the car, Norma had the bellhop bring all the luggage down.

Fifteen minutes later we all met on the street behind the hotel where cars are allowed and transferred everything from the cart into the back seat. Generous tips were passed out and we were on our way into the tunnels. We followed the signs to Leon and found Les' shortcut to SMA.

It was a nice, uneventful drive and we were greeted by Claudia and PJ when we parked. We really like this young globetrotting Dutch couple and have offered them our RV pad if they ever make it to Campbell River. I sincerely hope they take us up on it.

Adios El Pipila!

Adios, El Pipila. We will see you at the next Alhondiga burning!

Aun hay otras Alhondigas por incendiar!
“There are still other Alhondigas to burn”

Guanajuato Day Three

After only three hours sleep we awoke to pouring rain. What actually woke us up were loud English voices outside the door. It was two couples who had separate rooms and were using the hallway outside our door as a common area, talking and yelling back into their rooms. What inconsiderate jerks!

Norma had a nail appointment at 10:00 so I took the opportunity to try to sleep in a little. At 11:00 I walked to Starbucks to send the Blog and wait for Norma, as planned. By 12:00 she was still a no-show and the rain had stopped so I walked to the nail place where she was still being worked on. At 12:30 she was done. Two and a half hours of steady work for $350 pesos! Not bad. It would have been a $100 dollar nail job in Canada and it would not have been anywhere as good a job.

We walked back to the Jardine and went to the same restaurant we had breakfast in yesterday. It was almost 1:00 and we were sure it was too late for the breakfast menu but we forgot this is Mexico! The customer wants breakfast, the customer gets breakfast! I had the same thing I had yesterday. I think I could eat this every day for the rest of my life! It is two earthenware dishes that are heated in the oven until very hot. Butter is added and an egg is broken into each dish where it starts to fry. A mild, delicious tomato based sauce is added and cheese is grated over top. It is then broiled until the top is bubbling, the egg just barely cooked and the yolk still very soft! This is the result. Heaven on a plate!

The stuff in the middle is refried beans which come with everything in Mexico and which I never touch because they are made with tons of lard.

We finished breakfast, went back to the room for a short rest and then headed out to walk to the Alhondiga.

The Alhondiga

The Alhondiga was a large structure used to store grain in order to maintain a supply through times of drought. It was naturally fortified with high, thick walls and many small windows perfectly suited for musket fire. It was an easily defended structure and this was where the Spanish barricaded themselves when the Priest Hidalgo and the former Spanish Captain Allende entered the city with their poorly equipped army of 20,000 aboriginals and mestizos. This army of farmers and peasants was armed mainly with machetes, axes and a few small arms captured during the long march from Dolores (now Dolores Hidalgo) and San Miguel (now San Miguel de Allende). They had no artillery and little discipline but they had a noble cause, to eliminate the hated Spaniards from Mexico for once and for all.

This is the sight that greeted the Revolutionaries as they approached the Alhondiga which would have had muskets and perhaps cannon firing out of every window.

The sole weak point was a massive wooden door and it was here where the military leader Allende concentrated his efforts to gain entry. A brave, freshly recruited young miner from Guanajuato called El Pipila strapped a stone slab to his back and, with a torch in one hand and pitch in the other, crouched over and amid a rain of bullets, ran to the door and set it ablaze! Here is the door:

The Spanish occupiers soon found their slow loading muskets to be no match against 20,000 machetes and axes. The Alhondiga would not have had stairs then but would have allowed for horses and carriages to enter.

When the Revolutionaries moved on to further battles the Spanish re-occupied Guanajuato. When the four leaders of the revolution, Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and Jiminez were captured and executed the Spanish made the mistake of hanging their severed heads from the four corners of the Alhondiga. This was the corner Hidalgo’s head hung from:

Instead of terrifying the peasants into submission this macabre spectacle only infuriated the people into furthering the Revolution and soon the last of the Spanish were killed or driven from the land. “New Spain” was now “Mexico”.