Massive Ruins, Sheer Cliffs, and Dangerous Curves!

July 2, 2012

Aguascalientes, Mexico

I may or may not be writing this while sipping on a 1.2 liter (BIG BOTTLE!) of Indio cerveza (made by Heineken!) after my dinner of carne asada with a liter of what I used to call a spicy beer. I've told only a very select few people about a spicy beer and my passion for the delicious beverage only because of one simple reason: it sounds (and looks) gross! Its key ingredients are beer, lime, and hot sauce with a salted rim and ice cubes to keep it cold. Looking at it for the first time I felt what anyone reading this must be thinking, but after trying it I was hooked. So imagine my surprise when walking down one of the main pedestrian streets here lined with bars when I saw a myriad of signs selling Micheladas which from the picture I could instantly tell was a “spicy beer.” Needless to say it was delicious and for anyone willing to try something that only looks like it was drained from the closest gutter I'd be happy to make you one.

Aguascalientes itself is a very nice and clean colonial city. It's a lot like Zacatecas but a little more modern and a lot bigger. It boasts some stunning gardens to walk through that are more park sized then anything else and the streets are lined with stores, bars, and clubs that I'm sure would be packed and swinging with vibrant music if it was any other day but lunes (Monday). I survived the ban on alcohol in Mexico for two days and I went without the last few nights in Texas, so when I arrived here ready to go out and see some night life I can't say that I wasn't a little disappointed when all I found was families walking around and couples hand in hand seeming to ignore the large open bars practically guaranteeing a good time on every corner. Now to many this may not seem like a lot, but I haven't even had any tequila since I've been here!

The most memorable part of today though has to be the drive. A few weeks back I considered myself the luckiest guy in the world when I got to swim in the gulf of Mexico for a quick break en route to my next destination. Today's stop kinda makes that look like getting a gum ball from a vending machine for getting all A's on your report card. My first stop today to break up the trip landed me at La Quemada; my first ever Mayan ruin and it was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen in my entire life.

La Quemada is a Mayan ruin about 30 minutes south of Zacatecas, but while it may not be the biggest it's perch atop a huge mountain and the mystery surrounding its location is sure to make it one of the most memorable. From the top after huffing and puffing up countless so called stairs (they're atleast 2 feet high! each) you can see out for miles on end until finally running into jutting mountains in the distance. While I tried my hardest I just don't think my phone has the capabilities to capture these scenes but hopefully you can get the idea. The ruins themselves are equally massive in stature including a couple massive pyramids, numerous open areas surrounded by stone walls, and some other interesting and complex structures. I could only imagine the much smaller Mayan's desperatly trying to crawl up the near veritcal stairs and walking through the same tiny openings I had to go sideways though in the buildings thousands of years ago and I couldn't do anything but smile. On top of that, what adds to the allure of La Quemada is its distance from other ruins. No one know can really tell why they made this huge settlement so far away from everything else but one things is for sure: they definitely enjoyed their human sacrifices as noted on most of the plaques spread out on the grounds.

Now I know I've boasted about beautiful drives before and I always say this time was better then the last, but this time I really mean it. Today brought me not to the mountains, but the small two lane road actually followed them today no shape resembling the safety of the other large highways I had been on. My route was almost totally switch back roads, hair pin turns, tiny two lane highways, and signs stating “Curva Peligroso” (Dangerous turn) every few hundred meters. It was almost like I was driving in some set from a video game and me and Saphira ate up every mile of it with a continuing smile and a slight questioning of reality. Now I've said before that I definitely do not have a death wish despite my love of adventure travels so in sticking with that I took each turn much slower then I normally would because with every non-existent shoulder the road met with at least a twenty foot drop if not a sheer cliff. It was out of this world and while I may not have made very good time today (or taken any good pictures in my bliss), the time I did take will not be forgotten soon.

Speaking of Saphira though there was one thing I may have “forgotten” to mention yesterday to all except my brother who I'm pretty sure never noticed. Yesterday morning I came out and noticed my bike was slowly dripping gasoline from the air box. Also what I assumed the other day was simply over heating now made much more sense in that there was something wrong with one of my four carburetors (a very important part!). After some research I realized that I probably had a stuck float most likely due to the lesser quality gas I had used not so long ago out a lack of other options.

Now I'm not trying to say anything bad about Mexico, but I'm a little doubtful about the quality of their gasoline (which just happens to be owned and distributed by state run entities) due to its brownish tint and different somewhat worse smell. So I did what any good mechanic (with no idea what he was doing) would do and smacked it a couple of times with a wrench. While that seemed to fix the leak starting my trip today I noticed that she still had no power and no idle so I also added an entire bottle of carb cleaner at the first gas station I came to. Not that I was too worried or anything, but my bike is my only means of transportation right now and if something happened to it on my tight budget it would be disastrous. Even more worrisome is the idea of being fifty miles give or take a few from any town and having her all of sudden quit, but that's really not something I want to think about. Saphira hasn't let me down once though (except for the times when I ran her out of gas) and today proved to be no exception. With in less then 10 miles I noticed her power returning and in no time she was back to her fearsome self. For now she's sleeping quietly in the front hallway of the hostel after dragging her heavy frame up two flights of steps and I will be soon as well.

Its been an excellent day full of sights I will remember for a long time. The city here is again friendly, welcoming, and peaceful. Its days like these past few ones that I cannot imagine how bordering Mexico more Americans don't travel here. I see police all the time on the roads and I haven't run into anyone in any city that caused me any discomfort. I've even managed to figure out how to drive in Mexican cities. While I still took only one wrong turn looking for my hostel I managed to find it in recorded time (which doesn't mean a lot due to my past records of well over an hour). While its peaceful, clean, and staffed by friendly people as well I'm pretty sure I'm the only one here. While that's not necessarily a bad thing for a tired traveler like myself, as stated before I'm ready to see some action. That's why when looking up the next city Guadalajara and noticing its huge night life I instantly booked it for two nights. While for the past few nights I've been seeking peace, comfort, and tranquility now I'm on a new path: A real night out in Mexico!

Update:  A friend of the desk attendant just came in and made a spicy beer for himself using only clamato and beer but I think the clamato juice here is spicier.  I'm now having one too!

Images from:
Curva