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.