Real de Catorce

[VRoss]

My buddy and I have made a quick three day weekend out of Real. Below are some of the pictures from the trip.

The mexican border -- a picture is worth a thousand words. Check out the crowd of tourists tripping over themselves to get into Nuevo Laredo. I could have dismounted and had a lunch right there on the pavement of International #1 without any chance of being disturbed...

 

[VRoss]

The famous cobblestone road, build by Romans (or so I tell the trusting kind). It has a rep for eating BMW final drives. Having chains we felt reasonably safe. At 40 VStrom suspension sets into a nice float, but you have to give up feeling of being in control. Control is an illusion, anyhow.

 

[VRoss]

We've got what felt like the best digs in the town.The business was pretty slow. To paraphrase the saying when US sneezes Mexico catches cold. Anyhow, the hotel was about empty, and Claudia, the swiss proprietor of the place, was nice enough to let us have the corner room on the third floor. The views were something else.

 

[VRoss]

A quick walk about the streets around the hotel

 

[VRoss]

Ahh, the beer on the roof after a long day. Check out the happy mug. The stupid gringo ran out of cash on the quota (you'll find as much use for your VIsa in Mexico as at the North Pole), got himself lost in Nuevo Laredo, then in Saltillo. Nice seniorita let the dumb gringos ride gratis, trusting the promise to pay on the return leg (which they did). The denizens of Saltillo were willing to share the crowded roads with the clueless oafs. All in all Mexico was turning out quite a pleasant surprise indeed.

 

[VRoss]

The next day the bikes were parked, while we appreciated the traditional mode of transportation

 

[VRoss]

After breakfast we were ready to ride. Did I mentioned the business was slow? The local guild of guides trusted chance in deciding who was to earn the wage that day. Jose won the coin toss.

 

[pacman]

Nice pics. Keep 'em coming.

 

[VRoss]

Jose did not speak a word of English. My spanish was somewhere at "Hay muchos bolivianos aqui", which happens to be the only phrase that i've remembered from the two weeks of listening to the spanish tapes during morning commute. I tried it as a conversation starter with Jose, to which he replied : Si, Senor. The conversation has sparkled from there on.

Thus engaged in a spirited exchange of ideas we've made it up the sacred mountain of the Hoichoi indians.

 

[Texason]

I love ride reports. I love ride reports about Mexico the most.

 

[AusFletch]

The famous cobblestone road, build by Romans (or so I tell the trusting kind). It has a rep for eating BMW final drives.

Hogwash. Such talk is pure myth and speculation.

 

[VRoss]

Huichoi are the only native tribe in Mexico that has kept its identity (or so I am told). Here is why. Before Conquistadors came Huichoi had 32 gods. Afterwards -- 33. Christ has survived the pledge drive and joined the fraternity. Between the ideological flexibility and an inherently pacifist nature of the tribe the huichoi got to stay independent and free to pursue their way of life. Kind of reminds me of what Joseph Heller wrote in Catch-22: It is better to live on your feet than to die on your knees. He was speaking about italians surviving as a nation through loosing wars, i recon.

But I digress. Huichoi like to come up the mountain we are on now, partake in some peote cactus and commune with the god of the sun. Huichoi enjoy peote cactus and like to depict it on various art and craft objects. The neon-like colors of Huichoi art remind of the Acid Culture of the 70-s, perhaps for the same reason.

On the last picture Jose explains to the clueless gringo how to absorb the divine spirit of the sun god present at the ceremonial altar. The clueless gringo is sceptical. Without peote, the gringo estimates his chances of communion with the divine spirit to be those of a libertarian candidate winning the presidential election.

 

[The Bruce]

NIce photos. thanks

 

[VRoss]

Not wealthy by any contemporary measure, the Huichoi share with the gods the little they have. A pair of jeans, some old shoes, a candle, flowers, a broken flute. We leave some money on the altar. The way we were raised, it is impolite to visit without a gift.

 

[VRoss]

AusFletch, it was your post that inspired us to visit Real, as well as that other blatantly false ( or is it patently untrue ?) reference .

I Thank You!

 

[VRoss]

Down the mountain, the views...

 

[VRoss]

The Donkey is the Toyota Corolla of Mexico...practical, reliable, cheap.

 

[AusFletch]

AusFletch, it was your post that inspired us to visit

Thanks for sharing that. Your account of your visit has certainly begun to capture the essence of why I like (no, me encanta) Mexico so much. It is the home of magical realism after all. Please keep it up. -Fletch

 

[VRoss]

Meanwhile, back in town the folks got their own deities too. The one that gets by far the most reverence is St Fransis of Assizi. There is a whole room to the left of the cathedral's altar (see the last picture) that is covered wall to ceiling with thousands of what I understood to be a special form of thank you note. Each postcard sized picture depicts a story of a miraclulous salvation attributed to St Fransis. If you take a closer look at the upper left corner of the last photo, you could make out the motorcyclist thanking St Fransis for the miraculous escape from death after being run over by a cager. Here in US the cager would have payed through the nose, in Mexico, staying alive is a gift that is to be celebrated by itself. Lots of notes have shown hospitals and operating tables with doctors surrounding the patient. As far as I could tell, doctors got no credit...

 

[AusFletch]

I just ran across this quote in a great book I am currently reading about the Sierra Madres - God's Middle Finger by Richard Grant.


I think you will understand...

On a visit to Mexico, the French Surrealist André Breton said, "Our art movement is not needed in this country."

 

[VRoss]

A lunch and a walk.... Meson de la Abunduncia, would that be the House of Plenty? To those that can afford, it is. Mexico is not all that well off. I've visited third world countries before but what struck me the most during this trip was the natural dignity of the people. I have not seeng neither a drunk nor a beggar. The way that the people I've met carried themselves is what makes me want to come back and learn more. That and Indio beer.

 

[VRoss]

Some more pictures. I seem to be unable to stop posting, so bear with me. See that picture with the buildings clinging to the side of the mountain? It illustrates best, i think, the cadence that the local clocks are set to. Make some money, buy cinderblocks, put up the walls. Next year, god willing, there will be a door or a window. This pattern repeats all over the place. Call it life before credit ratings... My old folks living somewhat similar lives, I think I understand enough to refuse having an opinion.

 

[VRoss]

As all good things this one had to come to an end. This one did so with the bang. That evening we've had hailstorm with streets turning into rivers of liquid mud. There was nothing else to do but to distruct ourselves from thinking about making it down the wet cobblestone the next morning. So we drank tequila while listening to a local Santana. We've put aside the quotas and the gas money for the next day, then spent the remainder of our pesos then and there. There is one bar in town that has live music. I forgot the name, but you'll locate it easily enough.

 

[VRoss]

The next morning was wet, slick and cold. The rear end of the Wee had tried to swap places with the front while descending one of the streets before the tunnel. I've kept the shiny side up, but barely. The cobblestone was covered in mud in places where the runoff came down the mountain. It was first and second gear most of the way down, but we've made it without laying down the bikes. The sun came out a few miles south of monterrey. Austin was about another six hours away. It was pretty easy going, we were coming home.

p.s never mind my bud here. He was born with his hand up in that position. one day you will see a guy receiving a Nobel Prise in Biology with his left hand up all the way through the ceremony. That would be him.

 

[Tourmeister]

Good stuff!