Paquime and North to the Border

We spent another long day driving across the desert to Casas Grandes and yesterday morning we visited the ruins at Paquime. These crumbing adobe walls are what remain of a major trading settlement in this area that flourished between AD 900 and 1340. The people that lived here had ties with groups in Arizona and New Mexico. We got to the ruins early enough to have the place to ourselves and it is a special feeling wandering around the site with a cool wind blowing and birds singing. The museum that is part of the complex is very well done and shows many of the artifacts found here, including beautiful polychrome pottery.

Before we left Casas Grande, we made a visit to one of the pottery shops that features the work of potters from the nearby town of Mata Ortiz. These pots are made in the Paquime style using a cream coloured clay and painted with red, brown and black geometric designs. They are very beautiful and very reasonable. We picked out a number of lovely ones and while we were paying for them, a young woman in her 20s with a little baby on her hip told us that she had made three of them. She was rightly proud of her work and it was really cool to be able to meet her and shake her hand and compliment her on her artistry.

Following our shopping trip we drove north to the border and crossed from Palomas into the town of Columbus, New Mexico, without any difficulty. We have given back the auto import sticker that was issued for Mohita as we have decided that we will not take her into Mexico again, as it's just too stressful worrying about the aging engine and other parts. We'll keep her for camping trips a little closer to home.

Two long days across the desert

We left Zacatecas early this morning to head north for the border. It's about 1250 plus km and we've made a dent in this figure already. Today Harry drove Mohita 591 km, which is quite a feat for this clunky old girl. Both Mohita and the dogs behaved very well today. Our plan is to drive for two long days and then spend our last day in Mexico at a place called Nuevo Casas Grandes, just a little south of Demming, New Mexico. This area is home to a group of amazing potters who create world renowned painted bowls. It is also the location of some very old ruins dating from AD 900. Our plan then is to cross into New Mexico and spend some time there and in Arizona before returning home. Oddly enough, it was hotter this afternoon than any time since we were in Villa Corona. Tonight we have splurged by taking a motel room so we can have a nice shower and rest up for our long drive tomorrow.

Mexico's Challenges

This is an incredibly prosperous and productive country, home to millions of ambitious and energetic people. We've seen enormous growth since the last time we were here in the early '90s. New cars, new buses, new roads, new housing developments, new businesses, and best of all a spirit of optimism. It's obvious that the Mexican government is putting a lot of money into infrastructre. There are many new highways in Mexico that are as good or better than those in the USA. We've seen sewer projects, ambitious shopping complexes, housing projects of all kinds being built. Yet at the same time there are things that hold Mexico back.

In spite of its excellent climate and its cheerful industrious people, Mexico seems to feel a sense of being less than. Its placement next the the powerful USA is part of this, but there are other factors. For many years the political power was held by PRI, a bunch of backroom boys who milked the country dry. Things are gradually moving forward and the government is working hard to improve the lot of its citizens, but much has yet to be done. The problems here appear to be different from those to the north. We don't see overt drug use in the city, but we do see a huge class gap between working people and the indigenous people who often survive by begging or selling trinkets. This takes place everywhere we have traveled. Often it is women with children of all ages and we wonder how much education available for these kids.

The other serious problem of course is the country's contaminated ground water. Everyone knows that you can't drink the water here or eat the produce without treating it to kill bacteria. But the repercussions of this are huge—in spite of its excellent climate for growing fruits and vegetables, much of what is grown cannot be eaten fresh. When we were coming to visit our friends in San Juan we bought some fresh strawberries and apricots at the side of the road to bring to them. As it turned out, this family will not eat these fruits fresh, even with the iodine treatment. Dr. Reyes says that nothing except boiling will make these fruits safe. He told us that we should never eat lettuce or cilantro or strawberries or celery or anything that doesn't have a smooth skin. He himself, although he loves cilantro, will only eat it in the USA or Canada.

I asked him about the fruits and vegetables that are exported to the north and he informed me that these are grown in areas where the American companies have instituted practices to make the produce clean. But this produce is not available for purchase in Mexico except in a few gourmet stores at a very high price. This means that most people are eating food that is contaminated. Harry asked why there were so many pharmacies in Mexico (we see one or two on every block in very town or city). Natalia's answer was, “Because of cilantro.” Apparently most Mexican people suffer continually from food-borne bacteria and take heavy duty medications to function day to day. This was an eye-opener for us.

It's a huge problem and one that cannot be easily fixed, although Mexico is trying. This photo is from a mural painted on a wall in San Juan del Rio. It says: “If you don't take care of the water, you don't take care of me.” We see that a lot of work is being done to replace antiquated sewer and water systems here but it's a task that will take decades and enormous amounts of money.

Here we are in Zacatecas

So here we are in Zacatecas—finally. It was an eight-hour drive for Mohita but she did well and we made it to this 450 year old city that is steeped in history. We travelled across the high plateau and saw clouds for the first time since we left California. Great towering clouds with beams of sunlight shining through—a most beautiful sight.

At 8,200 feet, Zacatecas is higher than Mexico City and we are really feeling the altitude—shortness of breath with the slightest exertion. The altitude creates a lovely climate however; the air is cool and the sun is warm. It has the feeling of one of those golden September days. Zacatecas is larger than we had expected with extensive suburbs and highway overpasses, but the old centre of the city is quite something to see. The churches and many of the other ancient buildings are made of a vibrant rose-coloured stone, and the streets and sidewalks are laid with basalt blocks. This part of town lies between two significant peaks so from the central area the streets wind up the hill, often with steps or ramps of stone.

It's quite a cultural centre with many interesting museums and galleries. We spent the afternoon at the Gallery of Abstract Art and discovered a couple of brilliant contemporary painters, Manuel Felguerez and Cecelia Garcia Amaro. This museum is housed in an incredibly beautiful building that began as a seminary, then was taken over for the headquarters of the Mexican Revolutionaries and later became the prison. About 15 years ago the local government did an amazing restoration to create the gallery.

For the past two weeks Zacatecas has hosted a huge music festival. If only we had known last night when we pulled in that we could have gone to see Bob Dylan perform as part of the festival! Tonight they're presenting some pop music from Argentina but we're just going to stay home to rest up so we can explore more of the city tomorrow.

Easter Weekend in San Juan del Rio

It's been a while since we posted here as both Harry and I got sick in Patzcuaro. Must have been something we ate (duh!)—but we don't know what. We never made it to Morelia but Harry did manage to pilot Mohita to San Juan del Rio about six hours away. This town is not in the guidebooks, although it is very nice and has an old colonial centre. We came here to visit the parents of a young man that both Harry and I taught when we were working at the Pan Pacific English School in Victoria. In fact Jamie spent six weeks visiting here the summer before last.

We arrived on Good Friday and were warmly welcomed by Chata, Jose and their daughter Natalia (who is studying at a private university in Queretero, about half an hour away). Jose is a medical doctor so we were lucky enough to have some medicine and care for our illness, as well as a place to rest. This family lives in an apartment in the centre of town. They also have another vacant apartment upstairs where we have been able to stay. To get into the apartment, you open a big double wooden door off of the busy sidewalk and enter a large courtyard with several turns and doors. It's like going into another world. As there is no parking for the motorhome here, we have left it in a gated yard a little out of town with a friend of the family.

On Saturday we drove out to a little town called Pena de Bernal, which is famous for its rocky mountain peak. The weekend of the spring solstice is important in this town as people come to get energy from the mountain. It's a lovely little place with lots of pretty hotels and streets, absolutely full of Mexican tourists. Many people come from the capital as it is only about two hours away. After wandering the streets and enjoying blue corn gordidtas we returned on a highway that was bumper to bumper with cars returning to Mexico City. It took us about two hours to complete a drive that normally takes half an hour. Our dogs were very happy to see us when we arrived home at 8:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday was celebrated with a dinner party at an elegant house in a gated community with friends of the Reyes family. There were several other couples there, all educated and interesting. Most spoke some English so conversation drifted between the two languages. Two of the couples are retired and live in this community. It was an experience to participate in a holiday party. Mexican people are very courtly and warm and they made us feel welcome.

Many businesses were closed over the weekend but today (Monday) the city is back to normal. This afternoon Joanna went to a museum of the dead with Chata and then we all drove into Queretero to have a nice lunch and a look around at the old part of the city. Tomorrow we plan to head north and this time perhaps we really will make it to Zacatecas.

Semana Santa in Patzcuaro

Patzcuaro bills itself as one of Mexico's "pueblas magicas" and the description is very appropriate. This town is an absolute treasure. We arrived on Monday afternoon and set up at a very sweet trailer park, which even has a cute little Mexican kitchen where people can cook their meals. We spent Tuesday wandering around the plazas of this historic 17th century town. Its magic comes in part from the architecture and in part from the amazing variety of handicrafts here. There are beautiful stone churches and fountains and an old convent that has been turned into a maze of handicraft stores. Almost all the adobe buildings are painted a cream and deep reddish-brown. It's a lovely place and full of every kind of craft imaginable. From copper to lacquer ware to ceramics, to wood carving, pewter, and basketwork--it's all here. The variety of crafts is because of the work of Bishop Vasco de Quiroga who in the 16th century helped the surrounding villages develop craft specialties. Quiroga is still revered for his work and the descendants of the Tarascan peoples still carry on the craft traditions.

Patzcuaro celebrates Semana Santa in a big way. Not only with fireworks (thankfully farther away than in Villa Corona) but also with dances and a huge handicraft market set up in the main plaza, as well as numerous altars to “our lady of sorrows” complete with Virgin Marys, candles, flowers, fruit, coloured globes and bunting of pink and mauve. Joanna took over 200 photographs in the past two days and a few are posted here.

Today (Wednesday) we took one of the little passenger boats to Isla Janitzio, along with many Mexican families celebrating the holy week. Janitzio is a small rocky island with a huge statue of Morelos at the top. It's big (like Statue of Liberty big) and you can walk right up inside his arm to get a view of the lake and surrounding villages. Harry and I walked up to the viewpoint at the base of the statue but our knees weren't up to the climb into the arm. On the way back we were serenaded by mariachis (two men and a boy) who played some cheery music for us.

Tonight we're going into an art gallery where a show of wood block prints by a local artist is opening. We met the gallery owner yesterday and were invited to the show. Tomorrow we plan to take the bus into Morelia and spend the day exploring its central zocalo area.

Driving Deeper into Mexico

This morning we started our day with a soak in the warm pool under the palm trees at Chimulco, then headed east along the south shore of Lake Chapala. At the last minute we decided we weren't quite ready to head north, so we've driven deeper into Mexico towards Morelia and Patzcuaro.

The drive along Lake Chapala was just beautiful. It looks a like a cross between the Okanagan and the area around Kamloops. We had a lovely surprise at the little village of San Luis Soyatlan. As we came into town, a policeman directed us to a detour off the highway. The pavement on the main road was covered with alfalfa and palm leaves and people were gathering around for the Palm Sunday service. The priest and the altar boys were there, as well as people dressed in long robes, including "Jesu Cristo" and a donkey to lead the procession. It was an amazing sight to see everyone from families with children, to groups of teens with cell phones, to old men in cowboy hats and grandmas in prayer shawls, all holding bouquets of greenery or braided palmito leaves. Palm Sunday seems to be a special occasion here. We noticed many fresh flowers and wreaths on the shrines and in graveyards and we think it is a time when people also remember the loved ones they have lost.

We made it as far as Zamora where we're staying tonight. Strolled with the dogs down to the main Cathedral to find Palm Sunday celebrations continuing there. Many people were selling things of a festive and religious nature. Balloons for the kids, flowers, toys, and braided palmitos for the evening service.

Zamora is not a tourist town and it's obvious to us now that people selling things on the street is not just a tourist thing. It seems that wherever you go in Mexico you can find people selling things—on the highway, in restaurants, at gas stations, in the street and parks. Hammocks, roses, candies, belts, straw hats, mangoes carved into flower shapes, cut up fruit, toys, tamales—it's all available if you want it. We often feel sorry to decline the offer of these various things and think about how difficult it must be for someone to make a living this way. Certainly there are many people who don't have much money or a “regular” job but at least they are working and hopefully able to eke out an existence.

Chimulco Aquatic Park

We're staying for a couple of days at the an aquatic park in Villa Corona, just south of Guadalajara. This is an amazing place built to take advantage of thermal springs in the area. The water is a constant 39 degrees and it's used to fill three big pools and several smaller ones (fresh water every day). In addition, there are two water parks for little ones and something called the Lazy River which is about half a mile of cement built river banks that they send the water through so people can float down it on inner tubes. We have access to all of this with our trailer park fee of $19 a night. The grounds and the buildings are really beautiful. Mature plantings of palms and banana trees as well as other flowering trees, purple and pink and yellow, and in between them the lacy pine trees of this area and others. The place was designed by an architect and the buildings and design are very beautifully done.

When we arrived on Thursday afternoon there weren't many people in the pools, but today is Saturday and the first day of the Mexican holiday week called Semana Santa and there are many Mexican families here from Guadalajara. Semana Santa is the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday and it's traditionally a time when everyone takes off to the beach or the balnearios (swimming pool complexes). It's fun to see but it's also kind of noisy.

Apparently the little village has a fireworks display and it seems that the people organizing it take whatever opportunity they can to practice for it. The past two nights they were setting off fireworks between 5:00 and 7:00 am--as well as at odd times throughout the day and evening. Needless to say the dogs are in deep trauma. The only thing that makes it good for them is that we're camping in a huge empty field of grass and trees and they can go out and play ball any time. Geordie spent the night crammed into the space in front of Mohita's toilet and wouldn't come out at all until we asked if he wanted to play ball. With that he leapt out and stood at the door wagging his tail.

Yesterday we took a little drive along the north side of Lake Chapala as far as Ajijic and had lunch at a little lakeside restaurant. Today we're going to enjoy the warm pools and we'll decide whether we'll stay for the Palm Sunday procession in town tomorrow or head towards Zacatecas when the traffic may be less as the big trucks won't be on the road.

On the Road Again

Thanks for all your messages of support. Mohita is back in action and ready to go. Harry says she's more powerful and quieter, so things look good to go for Zacatecas. We'll be heading out tomorrow towards Guadalajara. There's a really nice RV park just south of there that we heard about from our friends Allison and Ches who we met in Alamos. Apparently it has pools and thermal baths there so we'll stay there tomorrow night.

Maggie saw a veterinarian today, a young woman who actually came here to where we're staying and prescribed a special shampoo for allergic skin reactions. She had her first bath this afternoon and seems a bit more comfortable already.

So we're back in Mohita and getting ready to be on the road again. Hooray!

Still in Tepic

Yesterday morning Miguel drove in with the mechanic, who quickly confirmed the need for a new head gasket and assured us that the work couldn't be done here in the trailer park.  So Harry and the mechanic headed off to the garage  leaving me in a deck chair with the dogs (in an x-pen), the mattresses from Mohita (which had been sprayed with flea product), some dirty laundry, a bottle of water, a can of juice and one leash, a novel, and my trusty computer.  Five hours later Harry returned with the news that the work couldn't be done by the end of the day. Replacing a head gasket (and a radiator as well) is a big, big job, and at this point I can only hope that they can manage to put it all back together so that the vehicle will be driveable.  As to how long that will take, who can say?

We were lucky enough to find that the owner of this place has an empty studio apartment that he kindly offered to us for the night. It has no furniture but fortunately we had the cushions, the deck chairs and the (by now clean) laundry with which to create our little nest.  We were even able to watch “Grey's Anatomy” on the computer, and with a bottle of wine we had all the comforts of home.

Tepic is really quite a pretty little city at an altitude of about 3,000 feet.  It's cool at night and hot in the daytime, and it has lovely clear air.  Harry saw some sweet little houses on his way back from the mechanic's yesterday.  So if it came down to it, I guess we could just stay here and become expats in Mexico.  Even the little place we're staying in now is pretty nice, with Mexican yellow walls, a functioning bathroom, a kitchen (needing only a stove) and a cool laundry area at the back.  After living in less than 90 square feet in Mohita, this feels like a mansion. 

Today we discovered that Maggie's chewing and scratching has created a couple of suppurating sores on her back.  The pills that the vet gave her in Mazatlan haven't worked that well.  Poor little thing, she's really miserable, but at least she is able to rest in the coolness of this room today.  Once we get Mohita back we'll be searching for a veterinarian here and also a place to buy a couple of new tires before we get going again.   

Our southward motion keeps getting stalled time after time—so we've decided to listen to the messages and head back north. Depending on how “fixed” Mohita is, we will decide whether to head north via Zacatecas and Chihuahua into New Mexico or to retrace our steps through Mazatlan and Guaymas.  We're still hoping to make it to Zacatecas (even though our friend Armando won't be able to make our rendezvous) as it would be nice to see a different part of Mexico on the way back.  Harry has gone over to the garage this afternoon to see how the work is going.  We'll keep you posted.

Both horrible and wonderful

Well we had another “adventure” with Mohita today. It seems when things look the bleakest that something wonderful is about to happen. This morning we left Mazatlan heading south to Tepic feeling fine. We'd changed the oil, gassed her up and felt ready to go. It's about 300 km to Tepic and up into the mountains. About halfway there Mohita started making a kind of rattling noise. At first we thought it was perhaps pinging and knocking from low octane gas but it continued to get worse as we drove. Then Mohita started to overheat—something she's never done before. About 30 km outside of Tepic we pulled over and found that our coolant was boiling! We decided to wait for a while for the engine to cool down and then we discovered that we also had a flat tire. It was the same tire we had repaired in Navojoa and this time it was really flat. So—there we were stuck on the side of the road again.

What to do? Well, in Mexico you can sometimes just wait and help will arrive and that is what happened today. In about 15 minutes a pickup truck pulled up with "Angeles Verdes" written on the side, driven by a man in a uniform. We were rescued by “Los Angeles Verdes” and a lovely man named Miguel. On the toll roads in Mexico and on some of the other roads traveled by tourists, the Mexican government provides emergency road assistance. Trucks patrol up and down the highways carrying gas, water, basic tools to assist travelers in trouble.

Miguel helped us cool down the engine and change the tire and diagnosed a possible need for a new head gasket. After a lunch of sandwiches and orange juice provided by Joanna, he followed us into Tepic to make sure that we would make it. Then he led us to the one and only RV park in town. We found the address in our “Mexican Camping” book but it didn't sound too great; we weren't even sure it would be open. After following Miguel through some very dingy streets we came out on another highway and entered a gate that looked like it was going into a construction site. But in behind the gate is a pearl of an RV park. There are about a dozen spots situated around a big green grassy field with hookups and clean bathrooms with hot water showers, and the icing on the cake—free wifi. We're close to mechanics, stores and even a Pemex gas station. So the horrible afternoon turned into another amazing experience of the kindness of people in this country.

Miguel even offered to see if he could get a mechanic to come here to the RV park to do the work. He'll be coming by tomorrow at nine in the morning to let us know. Talk about going over and above what's required! Miguel is a very sweet man who is studying English and planning to study law.

This evening we are preparing to fumigate Mohita. It seems that in spite of the veterinary preventives, we have ourselves an infestation of fleas. Maggie is suffering greatly and pulls out great chunks of fur trying to scratch her allergic spots. This afternoon Joanna found a live flea on her leg as well, so we are pulling out the big guns and using Mexican insecticide. We'll do that tomorrow morning and then head out for a long, long walk.

With luck we'll be able to get Mohita fixed up enough to make it to Zacatecas by Friday. The alternative (limping back to Mazatlan and north again) is unthinkable at this point. This photo is taken through our rear window and it shows a huge banana blossom hanging down. We're shaded by banana and fig trees here and it should work well to stay for a day or two and fix what ails us.

Iguanas in the Laundry Room

Camping in Mexico is not the same as camping back home. In addition to the excitement of a different language and culture, there are the adventures of encounters with the natural world. This morning I met one of the resident iguanas in the laundry room. Harry had been telling me about them but I hadn't run into them until now. Coming around the corner I almost stepped on it—a biggish brown and green one who lives in a hole with her children. She was as startled as I was, but held her ground. Earlier this morning two hummingbirds flew into the motorhome and fluttered around trying to escape. One found its way out but I had to actually capture the other in my hands and carry it to the door and release it.

Because we're doing our own cooking, we have had to develop protocols with water, food and dishwashing that are different from at home. Our drinking water is delivered in the big five-gallon jugs that you see everywhere in Mexico. We keep ours on the floor and have fitted it with a little hand pump. The vegetables, which we buy at the mercado or from the vegetable truck, we soak in an iodine solution and air dry them before use. For dishwashing we use the regular tap water and a hot water rinse. After a few days of washing dishes it occurred to us that we were rinsing our plates and cutlery with regular water, so we've taken to putting a little splash of bleach in the rinse water. It must be doing the trick as neither of us has experienced any tummy rumbles. Sometimes Harry overdoes it with the bleach and the morning tea ends up tasting like swimming pool water. Yuck. Could be we'll end up getting sick from the bleach and not the water!

San Fernando RV park is emptying out this week, as most of the snowbirds who have been hanging out here since November are now heading back home. A surprising number here are from BC, and others are from Alberta and Quebec. Of over sixty spots only three are occupied by Americans. In any case, the exodus had begun. This morning three big rigs towing cars pulled out. By the end of the weekend I think that it will be half empty here. However, we won't stay around to see, as we're heading south tomorrow towards Guadalajara. Our plan is to spend a few days exploring this area and then go north to Zacatecas. There we'll meet up with Armando, a young Mexican man who stayed with us a few years ago when he was studying English in Victoria.

Mexican Wall Art

Whenever we're out wandering around we take the camera with us. Joanna especially snaps photos wherever we go. In Alamos she focused on doors and dogs, but since we've been in Mazatlan she's begun to record Mexican walls.

Most of the buildings here (like elsewhere in the country) are built with bricks and then plastered over and painted. The ruins and the older buildings that haven't recently been painted show layers of paint colours that look like abstract paintings. These were the first ones to draw her attention. Also, in Mazatlan, there are lots of walls with spray paintings, ads and graffiti that look like art. The third group are adjacent buildings with contrasting colours. Here are just a few from the collection.

El Quelite, el Shrimp Bucket, and a Visit to a Veterinarian

We spent a couple of pleasant days with Mark and Linette exploring this area. On Tuesday we drove Mohita north to a sweet little town called El Quelite. It's not very big—only a couple of streets wide, but lined with colourful casitas and friendly people. This area is home to real Mexican cowboys, cock-fighting, baseball, and an ancient game called ulama. We learned that it's kind of like soccer but using only the hips. At El Quelite we enjoyed a typical Mexican lunch in a pleasant courtyard and Joanna began a series of Mexican wall photographs. (More about that later).

Last night we had dinner at El Shrimp Bucket, a Mazatlan institution. Joanna remembers this from her first trip down here in 1974 with her first husband, Doug. The shrimp platter (shrimp prepared six different ways with three different sauces) was fresh as can be and very, very good. Here's a photo of the four of us there having an excellent time.

This afternoon our visitors returned to Victoria on the plane and Harry and I took the bus downtown to find some help for Maggie, who has developed a flea allergy. There are fleas in the grass in the RV park, and being a sensitive girl she has reacted to a bite or two with a bout of scratching. We noticed a sign saying “veterinarian farmacia” so we tracked it down and had a consultation (in Spanish) with a very professional veterinarian. He prescribed six days of antihistamine tablets and baths with “jabon avena” also known as oatmeal soap. I gave Mags a bath just now and it seemed to help her a lot. These kinds of adventures are what make our trip memorable.

A Day at Stone Island

We've been having fun with Mark and Linette doing some tourist things. Yesterday we took one of the little pangas that cross the harbour to Stone Island (actually a peninsula) just across from the old part of Mazatlan. There's a long sandy beach with coconut trees and palapas that offer shade, hammocks, chaises and whatever refreshment you'd like. A pleasant place to while away the morning and early afternoon. Later we walked through part of the old town and ended up having lunch at a place that overlooks the malecon and the big waves, then took the bus home. Today we're planning to drive up to El Quelite, a little town to the north, which was recommended to us by someone who lives here and made a comment on this blog. What an amazing thing the internet is!