Mexico - July 11th

San Luis Potosi to Xilitla

Today I rode through butterflies. Bright yellow and iridescent. Clouds, flurries, of them. Ever more as I neared Xilitla.

The road from San Luis Potosi east to Rio Verde is spectacular. It winds through the mountains, from cactus forests to pine and oak forests. Fantastic rock formations can be seen, some with villages built into them. The road into Xilita is also amazing, it winds up into tropical mountains filled with dense jungle.

Xilitla

Mexico - July 12th

Las Pozas

Edward James' surreal jungle masterpiece. 

Surrealism is beyond any rational description, so a few photos will have to suffice.

Mexico - July 13th

Xilitla to Zacatlan - Day of the 10,000 topes.

The topes between Xilitla and Zacatlan are like the Bodhisattvas, too numerous to count.

Highway 105 south of Huejutla De Reys is spectacular. The road is cut into the steep jagged mountains. It rises into the mist of a dense rain forest. Giant ferns hang from the rock cliffs alongside the road. The mountains, and the vertical rock faces shrouded in cloud, look like something from an acient Chinese landscape painting.

I headed south east from Zacualtipan towards Zacatlan on secondary roads. The weather turned from mist to rain as the road turned from mostly paved to mostly potholes to dirt. By the time I arrived at Zacatlan it was pouring and the street into town was more like a fast shallow river. Found the Hotel San Pedro, a 7 by 9 foot room, a block from the cathedral and fast wifi. Feels like a palace after 9 hours of travel.

Mexico - July 14th

Zacatlan to Orizaba

Sunday morning in Zacatlan was bright and sunny after a night of rain. I started the week off with morning mass in the cathedral. Latin prayers, the smell of incense, and cold hard mexican tiles beneath my knees.

Zacatlan

Zacapoaxtla

In Orizaba they like to mix their beer with sarsaparilla.

Orizaba

Mexico - July 15th

Orizaba to Oaxaca

Gran Cafe de Orizaba

Bar del Jardin, Oaxaca

Mexico - July 16th & 17th

Aimless in Oaxaca

Church bells, sky rockets, deep sleep, good coffee, church bells, sky rockets.

Wednesday in Oaxaca, any day in Oaxaca, Oaxaca will give something. A brass band parade, led by the usual, crazy, skyrocket throwing, pyromaniac. Paper shapes, dancers, free shots of mezcal poured out to any one along the way. I could hear them coming through the city for an hour before they arrived in the Zocalo. The exploding sky rockets competing with the claps of thunder. It poured rain briefly before they came round the corner, but then they played so loud they kept the rain up in the sky.