I Love Mexico

Trying to get parked???
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We arrived in Topolobampo, on the mainland, at 9.00pm and drove to Los Mochis. Camping on a derelict piece of ground at midnight we had to be up at 4.00am for the train on the Copper Canyon Railway. I have taken to sleeping on the roof of the truck, which is 4 metres off the ground and not a great place to a) sleep walk, or b) wake up bursting for the loo. The only problem with it is it gets very damp overnight, or maybe that is just the result of getting caught short????

Next morning some of he group went to Creel on the train, I decided not to bother. We had 2 nights in a nice, clean Hotel in the centre of Los Mochis which is a pleasant bustling town full of market stalls, as most of Mexico seems to be. The other thing I have noticed is that bars are very hard to find, and good bars, ie. ones with customers, even harder.

I Love Mexico

Well, I did say!!
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We left Los Mochis last Saturday morning (7th) and drove towards Zacatecas. We drove through the Sierra Madre Mountains which were absolutely stunning. Huge expanses of wooded valleys stretched below us as we climbed to 8500 feet. Tiny villages clung to the mountainside, threatening to plunge into the depths at any moment. It was soooo good I managed to stay awake ALL DAY (this is somewhat of an achievement as the rocking motion of the truck usually has me snoring and dribbling like a baby within 5 minutes of us setting off).

That night we camped right next to the road. Nobody slept a wink because the night air was filled with a cacophony of sound, as huge trucks either chugged by, their air brakes screaming for respite due to the acute decline they were attempting to traverse or, roared past in low gears as they crawled up-hill. I "slept" on the truck.

We stayed 2 nights, in a Hotel (4 to a room, 2 in the beds and 2 on the floor) in Zacatecas, a really cool town a day North of Mexico City. Again NO bars to be found but great for sightseeing, and the cable car ride to the top of the mountain, overlooking the town, is a must -do for anyone visiting ( even though we got caught in the rain, that arrives for a hour every day now).

On Tuesday we set off for San Juan to see the Mayan ruins of Teotihuacan. Very impressive, reminded me of Roseberry Topping only manmade and still in one piece. We are apparently going to see a lot of these kind of sites!!!

We all got up at 6.00am to get to the sight early for the sun rise. It did not open until 9.30am so that was a good idea. We all jumped the fence anyway. I left my video camera in the taxi on the way back. Luckily I managed to find the driver (at home with his wife making his own movie (see youarehavingalaugh.org(y)). It cost me 200 pesos to negotiate the return of the camera, but as that is about £10 I figure it was worth it. That night we were attacked relentlessly by mosquitos. I was on the roof of the truck and now sport approx 20 lumps on my face and arms. I could give John Merrick a run for his money.

Yesterday, Thursday, we drove the 20 miles in the centre of the old town of Mexico City. The first 19 miles took 30 minutes, the last mile, ie. to find a parking space for the truck, another 6 hours. Every, and I mean every, street within a 10 block radius of where we are staying, is filled with market stalls 7 days a week. The truck is 4 metres high, 8 metres long and weighs 20 tonnes (even with my 3lb weight loss). It is not like parking Figgy, who I miss dearly.

Whilst driving (crawling) down streets too narrow and too low (electricity wires and market stall supports strewn across the thoroughfares), we encountered a few problems.

First "young" Aussie Paul was shot with a BB gun, then a guy who had cloth soaked in Petrol up each nostril decided to hitch a ride on the truck. We asked him, politely, to leave and then used a baseball bat as a lever to physically eject him from the truck. Actual physical contact with this gentleman was not really an option, he had obviously given up bathing for lent.......in 1973, and never really picked up the habit again. We then missed a rope stretched across the road (we have to sit on the roof and physically stretch the wires/ropes over). This one got caught on our log box at the back of the truck, and half of the market stalls in Mexico collapsed. Just to finish our 6 hour marathon we happened across a demonstration 200 yards from out Hostel. 400 NAKED Mexican men, and 2 women (and oh my God! No!) dancing in the street. You could not have scripted it! They were there again today by the way.

We are staying at the Mexco City Hostel which is well worth a visit. Very central, clean, friendly and about £5 per night. We are sleeping 8 guys to a room, however, but it definitely beats the roof of the truck.

Last night Mexico lost 3-0 to Argentina so sitting in a bar with all the locals proved to be a bit of a damp squib, but we found a "Rock" bar later on and had a great night.

Today has been all legwork walking around the markets, chuches, museums and, of course, photographing and filming 402 naked people dancing in the street outside the Hostel.

We leave Mexico City on Saturday and are heading South.

I have to say my opinion of Mexico has completely changed. The vast majority of its people are happy, friendly and extremely accomodating. It is loud, colourful, totally lacking in any pretention and full of amazing natural, and man-made, beauty. Everywhere, despite our few hiccups yesterday, feels safe, even at night. There is always a huge Police presence, which may contribute to the air of safety. I would, SO FAR, recommend it to anyone.

See ya later, love to all

Paul XXX