Advertisement
Published: November 21st 2008
Back on the bike!
But this time, mountain biking in the Baja California Sur countrysideHola!
A quick update on my adventures in Latin America!
As hinted at in my previous entry, I managed to get out of La Paz for a day´s mountain biking last week, which was headed up by the very likeable Miguel of 'Baja Challenge'. Five of us cycled through some beautiful scenery in La Sierra de Laguna just south of La Paz, seeing Santiago on the way and finishing up at a beautiful natural pool with a waterfall. We swam and lunched and the braver ones jumped into the pool from the top of the waterfall - I was not one of them!
After another day´s relaxing in La Paz it was time to fly to Mexico City for a night at the vibrant, busy hostel there - right in the city centre with a roof terrace and fabulous views over the main square - before meeting the Intrepid Travel group that I would be spending the next month with. The group is mostly young and a mixture of nationalities, and there are several other singleton 20-something girls who have been great fun to hang out with. Our leader is a really nice Guatemalan guy called Juan Carlos
and he has been great at helping me out with my Spanish and encouraging me to speak it whenever I can and not making me feel stupid when I get it wrong!
My impression of Mexico so far is how happy it is! Everywhere we have been there has been a festive atmosphere with lots of local people out in the streets, eating the streetside food (tacos are everywhere), playing music and dancing, just because they want to. There is a complete lack of inhibition and a "joie de vivre" which is really infectious. In one bar, where a group of us were playing drinking games over some VERY cheap beers, an old Mexican guy got me up for a dance and was spinning me all over the place to some Latin music, with all his pals looking on. I felt I was truly interacting with the locals!
After a couple of days in Mexico City, we spent two days in Puebla and are now in the vibrant, pretty town of Oaxaca. The cultural aspect of this holiday has been strong as well, and we have visited Teotihuacan to see the world´s third largest pyramid, and took a
Piramide del Sol
at Teotihuacan - built in 150 AD trip to Cholula where we had splendid views of Mexico´s second highest mountain, Popocatepetl, a live volcano which smoked as we watched it. We have seen several ornate churches, watched potters and weavers at work, visited a Mezcal factory (complete with tastings!) and wandered through several colourful markets. We have tried lots of local food and even as a vegetarian I have tried my best to eat what the locals do! This week has also been the celebration of the Revolution anniversary so there has been even more singing, dancing and cheerleaders to entertain us as we explore the towns and villages.
Yesterday, we took a bus to the Hierve el Agua Mineral Springs outside Oaxaca, where the springs seeping out of the limestone mountains are loaded with minerals which over time have built up into rock-hard deposits and formed what looks like a huge frozen waterfall. At the top are natural pools which we all swam in, overlooking the expansive views all around - a perfect way to cool off after a fairly tough hike on the surrounding trails.
Today it´s time to pack up again, have a bit of a rest and a final wander around
Oaxaca before catching an overnight bus to our next destination - I have a feeling that will be an adventure in itself...
More news soon! xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.082s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 16; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0418s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Nita
non-member comment
Wow
Oh Laura, I am so envious of you! The mountain biking sounds great. I really like the picture of your view from the hotel room, too.