Cycling with Kevin

The only thing hotter than the road into Oaxaca is the road out of Oaxaca.

Between Mexico City and Oaxaca, we passed through a bunch of small towns. This area has the highest indigenous population in Mexico. With that comes a more traditional way of life, including dress and food. When we crossed into the state of Oaxaca, it seemed like a switch flipped, and all of a sudden, things were quite different.

We started having more interactions with random people at gas stations or restaurants. We noticed the predominant political parties changed their marketing considerably. Probably the most notable is the style of dress.

Not different is the church in the main square of every town. I feel like everyone is probably getting retired of pictures of churches and letters, lol. But oh well. I'm going to keep taking them.

The big game of thrones looking building is actually a convent. It is open to tours, but unfortunately, it was closed the day we passed through.

The riding in this section seemed uncannily easy the first few days. I thought I was just really well rested. Tess was saying I seemed a lot faster than usual. After racking my brain for a while, I finally realized I'd switch out of my generating hub. My hub pooped the bed getting into Mexico City, so I had to get a new one. A normal hub. Numbers on the internet vary, but this is about a 10% change in efficiency. So no. It wasn't actually me. Just my bike got a little easier to push.

Oh, what do I say about Mexico City.

It is a place I dreamed about for a long time. I have imagined going to Teotihuacan for ages, Mexico City for probably a decade or more, and riding my hike there for a few years. And it all came true. Best of all, I got to enjoy it for a short time with my parents.

While they were there, we went to Teotihuacan, got a driving tour from a super cool Uber driver, explored around the ruins of Tenochitlan, and, yes, ate some ice cream. It was so good to see them and explore with them.

After they left, Tess and I pretty much put our noses in the book, trying to learn some Spanish. We took 3 weeks of Spanish lessons with a school there, and I personally think we go a little better. Maybe not as much as we'd hoped, but it's definitely better. I am still struggling to understand people when they speak full speed to me, but generally, if they slow down a little, I can catch on.

There are so many museums. So much history. Such beautiful architecture. SO MANY PEOPLE. Some serious pollution hanging around the whole time. But all in all, one of my favorite cities I've ever been to. I am definitely looking forward to being in a rural area again. Maybe somewhere a little lower elevation with less pollution too...but whos complaining.

Pues, hasta próximo CDMX, voy a volver algo día.

Mexico Day 49 - El Camino de Arqueologica

This past week has been filled with some amazing visits to prehispanic archeological sites. An absolute dream come true. But first, before I get to that. A huge thank you to for helping me out in a pinch. A few kilometers out of Tepic, my rear derailleur cable broke leaving me in a bit of a pickle. We rolled back in to town and a few minutes later I had a new cable, and they were working on replacing my busted bottom bracket. Thanks so much for the help and warmth. I can't say how much I appreciate it.

Out of Tepic we we camped at Laguna Santa Maria del Oro. It is a crater lake perched in the top of a dormant volcano. It was nice to swim in a lake again. I miss that. The desert is truly behind us now. Only drawback was it was a 400m descent down the the lake. So first thing the next morning we had a big climb. But that's life.

Alrighty, so on to the ruins. First up was Los Toriles, outside on Itzlan del Rio. The site was occupied from around 300BCE to 600CE. It was a big palace and market complex with this really unique round structure. This was likely a temple to the Toltec god Quetzalcoatl. There were several other structures in pristine shape that were really marvelous to see, but pictures don't do the site justice.

Next up was Magdalena where we watch a men's league basketball game. That was a nice change of pace to just sit and watch other people sweat. Next we went the Oconahua to see the Palacio de Ocomo ruins. Here the caretaker showed us around and gave us a history of the site. He was present for the digs and found some remains and artifacts. It was really cool to hear the strategies and tactics used. This site however is reburied. They didn't have the funds to keep the dig going and needed to protect the site so they returned it.

Last and certainly not least is Guachimontones. This place was awesome. Probably a highlight of the trip so far. Beautiful circular pyramids. Stunning layout of the site in concentric circles. Near pristine altars and house pedestals. And probably the best museum we have been too yet. I could've spent 2 more days there wandering around.