Monday, February 9, 2015

Cobblestones, A Forest Fire, and Traffic

The three words of this post's title somewhat summarize our day.  A forest fire?  Hang on, I'll get there.  
But first, a laugh.  Maybe this guy we saw on the side of the road is really worried he's going to get a flat tire, so he has to carry some extras

Our day began in San Miguel de Allende at the beautiful winter home of Audrey and George, two friendly Canadians who spend two months down in Mexico every year.  It was wonderful spending time with them and learning history through cinema (we watched The Imitation Game, and it's really good so you should too).  Thanks, Audrey and George, for making San Miguel feel like home!
Audrey and George

Similar to Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende has incredibly old and picturesque buildings, tons of history, and very steep, narrow, cobblestone streets.  Our trek out of the city involved us pushing our bikes up what must have been a 20% grade.  A slow start for sure.  

Sign interpretation: the streets are too uneven to walk on safely, so, when crossing the street, be sure to float.

Once we got out of the city, pavement reigned again and we were happy to get back on the bikes (I was riding on the cobblestones for a bit but there's just no point when it's so steep).

As we went south, we entered the state of Queretaro (pronounced care-ATE-are-oh) but decided to skirt around its eponymous capital city.  There was quite enough traffic without being in the city.  We had chosen the toll road again, and they haven't been badly trafficked until now, about 100 miles from Mexico City. Anyway, about 50 miles into our ride, we saw thick smoke ahead.  
As we got closer we could see flames, too, on the other side of the road, for about 100 feet next to the shoulder.  The people driving by didn't seem to care; if they even noticed the fire they didn't show it.  Luckily it was windy, so the smoke didn't stick around too long and we were able to get through the forest fire (okay, I may have exaggerated) without issue.

Worn out and with the sun going down, we found a cheap hotel for the night in the city of San Juan del Rio.

No comments:

Post a Comment