Yes folks, it is the long-awaited saga of Brad's journey to Mexico and beyond!  Grab a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or iced tea (depending on whether you're way up north in cold country or down south like me) and a comfortable chair, and get ready to read of daring exploits, spine-tingling tales of narrow escapes, tales of romance, and descriptions of beautiful natural areas that are known to but a few.

When I entered Mexico some months ago, I had no real idea of what to expect.  I had read the information, seen the pictures, but they did nothing to prepare me for what was to come.

Entering Mexico
In the first place, I came into Mexico with a truck and travel trailer, which would prove to be interesting by itself.  I won’t list all the lines I had to stand in to obtain my tourist card and vehicle permit; suffice it to say that it was the type of bureaucratic red-tape that I had been told, and thank goodness there were very few people trying to get the same permits.  Once I got through that, it was time to hit the pavement running. 

An idea of the road conditions
The roads in Mexico are pretty bad: narrow, no shoulders, and usually very rough.  This proved true of the first road I traveled on between McAllen and Monterrey (hwy 40).  There were times that the road edge dropped off a foot with no shoulder, while I had large semi's coming from the opposite direction who preferred hugging the center line instead of the road edge.  This made for some pretty stressful driving, and I was just about ready to turn around and high-tail it back to the States.  This taught me that even though the toll-roads in Mexico are quite expensive, they are probably worth it while pulling the trailer because of the lack of stress involved.  The toll-roads are very nice with wide lanes, decent shoulders and very little traffic as most Mexicans don't want to, or can't afford to, pay the high tolls.

Culture shock - Encounters of the third kind!
The first major shock I received after entering Mexico was the price of gas.  Ouch!  For a wanderer like me, the price of gas being 5.8 pesos per litre, or equivalent to about $2.50 a gallon (in February 2002), puts a real damper on my excursions.

DRIVING me crazy!
The first city I encountered was Monterrey.  Unfortunately I was so overwhelmed by culture shock that I did not stay for very long in such a big city.  By culture shock I mean various things.  First and foremost were the drivers.  Oh my word!  These people drive like people in New Jersey… during rush-hour… on a Friday… after work… but they drive that way all the time.  A two-land road becomes a three- or four-lane road if they prefer, and as for passing vehicles... they will pass on blind curves, hills, during the day, during the night, in a car, or in a semi!  It is quite surprising that there aren't more fatalities from vehicles in Mexico than there are, although for all I know the death toll may be sky high.  Still, I have seen very few accidents considering the amount of driving that I have done, and that really surprises me.  Then of course you get the laid back rancher that drives 20 miles under the speed limit, and that makes for its own dangers, especially with those in a hurry trying to pass him.

Me, Myself and… I really stick out like a sore thumb!
Another aspect of culture shock that I ran into was the fact that since there are so few white foreigners that travel in Mexico (except maybe in big busses that drop them off in predestined areas that have no semblance of real Mexico), the Mexicans tend to be very curious of me wherever I go.  This is probably because of the fact that I travel to the less visited areas in Mexico instead of spending all my time in the tourist areas such as Cancun and Acapulco.  The curiosity is even more evident now that I have dyed my hair blonde.  Yes!  I decided shortly after entering Mexico to dye my hair blonde.  I had a Mexican girl suggest it, and I figured it was worth a try.  I mean I had kept my head shaved for over a year one time, so I might as well try dying it too.  So I started letting my hair grow out and keeping it dyed blonde, and I rather like it this way.

I still haven’t gotten completely over the fact that most of the Mexicans tend to stare at me as I walk along the street, or especially when I am talking to a store clerk in order to buy something.  They seem to think that it is amazing that a gringo can speak Spanish sufficiently enough to buy items, or, of all things, to barter with the vendor.  I have become pretty adept at bartering at the markets and places where bartering is expected, and this simply amazes so many of the Mexicans around me, and in the meantime I am getting a better price on whatever it is that I want to purchase.  For example:  “100 pesos” a vendor asks for a hand-made shirt. But I tell him, “No, I’ll pay you 50 pesos for that shirt.”  “Oh, I can’t do that, but I’ll let you have it for 80.”  “Sell it to me for 70 and I will buy it.”  “Okay, okay, but you drive a hard bargain”, he says good-naturedly.  The vendors seem to get a kick out of the fact that I have taken the time to learn their culture enough to know that I am expected to barter for certain items instead of being “stupid” enough to pay the first price asked.  (This was especially true in Cuba… oh, but I am getting ahead of myself.  Cuba will have to wait until later.)

The Lone Wolf remains alone in Mexico
The third, and most difficult, part of the culture shock comes from the fact that most of the Mexican women are married with children at a very young age.  I met a “woman” of 15 that already had a 3 year-old child!  Now this is not all that common, but girls of 15, 16 and 17 getting married is.  For me, this has put a damper on my dating habits, as it is hard to find young women that aren’t already married, or with children.  Also, I tend to believe what has been told to me more than once, that the Mexican people really do not like the Americans (or gringos, which is a derogative term although I use it myself).  They will tolerate us, and a few may accept us, but for the most part the Mexican people really prefer to have very little to do with us.  I think that this comes in part from the fact that our government took their country by force in the late 1800’s, but I think that it also comes from the fact that they see us as the “rich” neighbors that don’t want to share our wealth and toys with them.  Of course this is only an opinion that I have formed after a fairly short time here, but it comes from talking to the Mexican people themselves, as well as from talking to some of the Americans that have lived here for years.

Now to get on with the traveling
After Monterrey I headed farther south, and I camped on a fellow’s property for three days after asking him if it was okay.  No one lived on the property, it was just fenced off for his cattle and horses as well as some farming.  He was very considerate and had no problem with me wanting to camp there.

Next I headed to Ciudad Victoria, which has a nice trailer park run by Rosie and Russ, a very interesting and helpful couple that speak English.  In fact Russ is an American that married a Mexican woman.  It was nice to meet with some other Americans camping at the park, because they were able to give me more information regarding questions I had about traveling in Mexico.

Two gringos in a sea of Mexicans
While I was there I met Bill Carrell, a gringo from near Telluride, Colorado who had been to Mexico a number of times before.  We were both heading the same direction, so we decided to travel together for a while.  It was very helpful for me, because I was able to gain some more knowledge of the Mexican ways, learn about some neat places to visit, and work on my Spanish. 

Oh heavens!
After a couple of days in Cd. Victoria, we headed down to Gomez Farias, which is a small town of about 800 up in the mountains near a biosphere reserve called “El Cielo”, or “the heavens/skies”.  We ended up parking at the main square in town after asking around to make sure it was okay.  We made friends with a couple that owned a small store and who had a coatamundi (a native mammal that resembles a raccoon) for a pet that was caught in the nearby jungles on the mountain.  What a beautiful area it is!  Because it is in the northern reaches of the tropics, (just a few miles south of the Tropic of Cancer), this area has lush vegetation. It is considered a cloud forest, and for that reason I am sure it can get rather damp and chilly during the winter.  We went hiking up in the mountains where there were some beautiful, tranquil areas.  There are cabins for overnight stays up in the biosphere itself as well.  El Cielo is the only place that we encountered any other North Americans.  They were studying some of the wildlife in the Reserve.

Ciudad Valles --- an area of beautiful natural areas
After a few days of enjoying the biosphere, Bill and I headed to Ciudad Valles and camped at El Bañito, a nice campground south of town that has large flocks of some type of parrot that roosts in the trees across the street at a now defunct golf club.  We visited an area called Tambaque that has a nice crystal clear river running through it.  There is also a path that leads to the source of the river where it emerges from holes in the rock cliff. 

Not far away we visited the Sotano de las Golandrinas, which is a hole in the ground about 100 meters across and 500 meters down!  Then it branches off into a couple of caves.  It was awesome!  Near sunset there came a whirring noise that we couldn’t place at first, but after a bit we realized they were the Golandrinas, birds that nest in the lower parts of the caves.  They would come flying in so fast that we could see little more than a blur that accompanied the sound of the wind in their wings as they dove for the bottom of the hole.  Before it was over, there must have been hundreds that kept circling and finally diving into the hole.  I had a great time standing on the edge and looking straight down to the bottom, but no one else shared my enthusiasm for such a sight.  A few feet from the edge was sufficient for them.  Fortunately we had three children guide us down to the sotano, because we would have had a difficult time trying to find out way back out in the dark.  (See the photo “Three Little Guides”.)

The next day we visited Cascadas de Micos, some very nice water falls.  (See the photo “Cascadas de Micos”.)  The water was very nice with a lot of trees and green vegetation around.  The next place we visited has been my favorite place since coming to Mexico… it’s called Puente de Dios, the Bridge of God, and it is a beautiful slice of paradise stuck out in the middle of nowhere.  The water is an awesome blue with the bright green vegetation surrounding it.  It starts off with a waterfall plunging into a deep pool of almost unreal blue, then it continues under the natural bridge of rock about 30 meters wide, and flows into a smaller pool before leaving through a number of rapids.  The pictures I took show a beautiful area, but they just don’t do it justice.  (See the photo “Puente de Dios”.)

We then heard about a place in Xilitla called Las Pozas (the wells), so we headed down that way for a couple of days.  It is property that belonged to a “crazy” Englishman, James Edwards, that had a number of different buildings and monuments made of concrete in many odd, yet enchanting designs.  It is set in the midst of a tropical jungle, so it makes for an interesting background for the shapes and contours that were designed by Edwards and made by various Mexican workers.  In fact there were times that he had over a hundred workers going at any given time.  We were there when there was very little water running in the river, so I am sure it would be even more beautiful during the rainy season when the pools are filled.  (See the photo “las pozas”.)

Parting ways
At this point Bill and I parted ways, as he was heading down to the Gulf Coast to get in some beach time before having to head back up to the States.  I, on the other hand, wanted to continue checking out the area around Cd. Valles, since it seemed to have so much to offer in the way of natural areas.  So Bill and I said good-bye with the plans of meeting up again someday somewhere in Mexico.  I drove back up to Cd. Valles with the plans of staying a few more days, but I ended up staying in that area for a month!  But that will have to wait until my next installment.

In closing… but only temporarily
I hope you have enjoyed this wanderer’s attempt at telling his story of traveling in Mexico.  If so, please drop me a note to say so, and that will give me the incentive to work on the next set of tales from South of the Border.
Hasta Luega
Brad
Cascadas de Micos
Las Pozas
Puente de Dios (Bridge of God)
Three Little Guides
Cascadas de Micos
One of the beautiful natural areas around Cd. Valles!
One of the fascinating buildings at Las Pozas in Xilitla built by Edward James
The three little guides that led Bill and I down to the Sotano de las Golandrinas and back out again.
Puente de Dios (Bridge of God)
The most beautiful place I have seen so far in Mexico!