Road to Mexico City, Sunday 6^th September

It was time to say goodbye to our last campsite before Mexico City. With only a few exceptions, most people had upgraded and so had I to my own rustic shed with just a bed in it... rather than the opulent cabanas with en suite showers and toilets that most other people upgraded to. It was also a little damp and my clothes smelt of damp the next day on the bus...so aplogises to anyone who caught a whiff.

The mountain road is tortuous but there were road works where there is a new wide and straight road being built with deep cuttings and large embankments. Some the little remote quaint village’s natural charm was the journey to get there but soon it will be just another turn off a main road.                       

Outside the village there were charcoal burners making wood into charcoal which I didn’t get a picture of as we went past a couple of days before. There was a distinctive smell in the air and a lot of smoke but it was hard to distinguish between smoke and mist.

There was more open country to get through before stopping for lunch at the small town of Maravatio together with our own military escort for short distance along the motorway which we picked up at a petrol station and they followed us until our turn off to Maravatio when they over took us.

Being nice weather and a Sunday the markets were heaving and it seemed that everyone was out for their Sunday lunch.

I and David ordered a large sandwich between us but this somehow got confused and we ended up with one each. It was a large flat bread with salad, two types of cheese, beef, chicken, bacon and sausage plus a guacamole and picante chilli sauce each in its own little plastic bag. I ate half and some of the rest for an afternoon snack and had to throw the rest away. 

We got to Mexico Districto Federal, called such to distinguish it from the country and shortened to DF pronounced Defe.

There was no time to waste so Lawrence and I did a whistle stop tour of the historical centre, Contesa de Oribispo’s residence, the Plaza Mejor with the main cathedral, National Palace and Town Hall. Up a side street and nosed into a courtyard where there was a cultural review being presented...note the crooked pillars so we didn't stay long in case it fell down. Past a museum showing Diego Rivera’s works, an Aztec ruin and a main shopping street although we took some back streets to void the crowds.

That evening we said goodbye to several friends as seven people were leaving the group. We had a farewell meal in a well known local restaurant with some history, the Tacuba with some interesting architecture inside.

We were serenaded by a group of yrn musicans, one in the srcond photo with a huge moustache.

Most of the group, L to R, Lawrence, Gabi,, Paoka, Zoe, Clare, Maegan, Seb and Becky.

Friday & Saturday

I was up early to get a few photos that I had missed the day before, just a couple of several taken in the dawn..

The cactus symbol and tequila related statutes are all over the city.

Was a long drive day to get from Tequila and eastwards via Gaudalalara. Even early on  Sunday morning, Gaudalalara was busy with its major thoroughfares busy but we were soon through and back into the countryside.
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 The weather was changeable and it absolulely chucked it down only to clear a few kilometres down the road at the next  town with its colourful houses and bunting.

Our destinaton was Anhuguan which is not a well known place but it is over shadowed by its better known neighbour, the Puricutan volcano which is nearby.

In 1941, a farmer noticed a crack in his field and the next day there was a baby volcano in his field. Over the next four weeks it grew to five storeys high. It continued to erupt up to 1953 and became dormant but not before engulfing the village.

That evening it was Steve, Clare, and Paola to cook and with some uncanny gift or curse, they were again cooking in the rain but at least we had a shelter on site but a little rain wouldn't dampen spirits.

Paola cooking.

 Steve cooking.

 The shelter.

 Eating witht eh cook group Steve, Paola and Clare with L to R David, Lawrence, Gabi, Faye and Colin.

We were staying here for two nights so that there were options. Some did nothing, others went for a walk whilst Zoe, Paola, Becky, Lawrence, David and I went for a days riding up to see Puricutan with a local guide, Andreas.

 It was a damp early start and it rained in the morning but that didn’t dishearten us.

We arrived at the volcano and left the horses at the base. The cinder cone is steep sided and rises nearly 500m above the surrounding countryside and the associated 10 square miles of lava flows.

We stopped at a small off shoot of a volcano from the main crater and there was still rising from the ground around the smaller cone.

The sides are impossibly steep but the climb up was worth it for a view of the crater and the surrounding countryside.

On the way back to the campsite we stopped off at the location of the original village which now lies under the lava flows but the one building that survived was the church, now surrounded by lava and abandoned.

Sayulita to Tequila, Thursday 3rd September

We were walking through the main square after our evening meal and came across three horses and riders.

There had Spanish saddles and tack and the horses necks were in a graceful arc. One by one the horses were walked forward and the horses danced. The shod hooves sent sparks into the air as each horse danced from foot to foot, moved backwards, sideways and changing the tempo of the dance. One even did a finale by crossing its legs alternatively as it danced away from the square.

You have to imagine that the pictures are better than they are.

We left Sayulita shortly after dawn and took the same road back through the mountains.  It was a slow journey as there were many steep gradients and tight turns with signs saying ‘Curva peligroso’ as the road wound its way through the mountains.

After two hours we reached a turning and turned east towards our next destination. We soon passed our first field of ‘agave azul’. These are grey almost blue cacti planted in both fields and steep valley sides from which tequila is made and the centre of the tequila industry is Tequila in Jalisco province.

Other cacti can be used but a bit like the appellation controllee for Champagne, the distilled spirit can only be called tequila if it is made from a certain cacti and in one of five states in Mexico.

We arrived at lunch time and after checking into our hotel we walked into the centre of town past a round about with the town symbols proudly displayed, a man cutting a cactus ‘heart’ or ‘pina’ which translates as pineapple.

It was too hot for the local dogs but we reached the plaza major with its grand church and waited for our distillery tour to start. The city has just had a former resident canonised ho is now a recognised saint so the church has recently gained in importance.

Meanwhile we watched several buses pass until our barrel bus arrived to take us to a local distillery. We had originally planned to visit the Jose Cuervo distillery but changed our plans for La Americana distillery as the price was cheaper, we got ride in a barrel bus and try ten different types of tequila.

We were taken through the various stages around the distillery.

Local transport.

 The chilli bus.

 The barrel bus.

We were taken around the distillery and had the various processes explained and tried some newly made tequila straight from the still in traditional horn receptacles.
Cooked 'pineapples'.

Steve tasting fresh liquor from the pinepples.

Raw pineapples ready to go into the ovens at the back once they are emptied.

Tasting fresh tequila as per the tattoo, 'Living the dream'.

Then it was on to the tasting room and there were ten tequilas to try, clear, aged, and lightly or darkly coloured from the ageing process. The best quality three year old dark tequila wasn’t available for tasting but it was replaced with a chocolate flavoured liquor. Each taste was only a thimbleful but the ability to taste the difference was lost on me after the first few samples.

We were taken back to the plaza major in the barrel bus. The city is the centre of the tequila industry and hosts several distilleries including the Sauza brand familiar in UK. We decided to try the other main UK recognised brand, the Jose Cuervo distillery and made our way just off the main square to their commercial outlet.

It was set in a traditional Spanish colonial style building with several courtyards with shades and fountains and some art work.

We settled into the bar and tried a succession of cocktails. I started off with mango, then tamarindo margaritas frape then had a passion fruit based cocktail. I finished with a ‘La Enamorada’, which is just great tasting and to look at.