Day 4......The Long and Winding Roads.....

 Looks like all the buses are going to come at once again.......


So today went quite well. We got off to a good start from Cordoba. We were apprehensive as we remember all too well the mountain road from Puebla from three years ago. The mountain is steep and winding and on our way down last time I remember having to stop three quarters of the way down for two hours to let the brakes cool down. They quite literally smoking' hot. This time we decided to do it a little differently and disengage the car and drive over the top separately.This worked like a dream...... not too much pressure on the  'old girl' .... no , not me the old motor home of course .


The mountainous drive that we expected in fact turned out to be a bit of a damp squib it went so smoothly. The big regret was that I didn't take my camera with me when I got in the car. I did think about flashing ( with my lights !!) Stephen to pull over so I could get it but I thought that might be pushing my luck.


The scenery was stunning not a bit how I recall it. There were so many missed photo opportunities. Caballeros on horseback. Old weather beaten farmers in their straw hats and baggy cotton clothes tending goats and donkeys. Little Mexican houses built into the hillside the list goes on and on. Quite breathtaking.


So we had done the hard bit ?..... ........done the hard bit? yeah right.


It was now freezing............ no you might laugh but honestly the temperature really had dropped dramatically........ no honestly it had. Mmmm mountain air! Essentially driving in the motorhome without sweat dripping down every orifice of your body and then some was a quite the most gratifying  experience. The temperature rose as we moved further down the mountain side and stayed pretty pleasant all day with almost NO HUMIDITY..... Halleluya.


Before I move on I have to tell you an amusing little story. Well it was amusing to me at the time lets see if it translates. We had just done 'the big' mountain and guess what happened to be at the bottom? Yes, a Pemex and The Italian Coffee Company so of course we always need coffee.


We were sat having coffee and I think Stephen was looking at the map. At any rate I was in a little world of my own, something was spinning around in my mind I don't know quite what ( nothing worthwhile I suspect). Anyhow. I kept hearing this far away little  voice punctuating my thoughts . I kept throwing out the usual little retorts like 'Mmm?' and 'really' you know the kind of interesting little response you do when you actually  aren't the least bit interested but want to appear interested. 
This went on for a couple of minutes then some of the words started  weaseling their way into my thoughts. I was hearing words like diuretic, concentration, wards of types of cancer............... I looked around and Stephen was reading a Coffee Company napkin...........have you ever seen a Coffee Company napkin? It has all the benefits of coffee written all over  it ( you may not believe what it says but it does ) and Stephen was reading the list.


Now had the mountain befuddled his brain me thinks? I just turned and with that 'I don't believe what  I'm hearing look ' and said ' You're reading a napkin? you are actually reading a napkin?' I could actually see his brain ticking over with an excuse for doing such a banal stupid activity, fortunately even his brain rejected  the idea and we both started laughing..............Doh!!!

I made him pose for this but
you can still see the silly smirk.

So on with the expedition........
We navigated our way around Puebla which looks like it could be worth a visit. Another time maybe ? Another life time maybe, certainly not in my life time anyway.But for those of you in Mexico  I have heard it is worth a visit. The surrounding countryside looks wonderful.

You can see the patches on the road
 and there's potholes too.

Our next major road was the new Arco Norte which is the new by pass around the by pass around Mexico City. It is an amazing piece of construction and quite the road. It is important for us to have a smooth road. Some parts of todays roads were not smooth and when this is the case believe me you've heard of a' bone shaker' ? Well we're actually driving one when the roads get bad. Things rattle and vibrate with gusto. The microwave spits it's rubber wedges out constantly and we are always re positioning stuff in the cupboards so they don't clatter around






 Anyway the arc Norte isn't one of these roads in fact it is a really great road . The scenery again is spectacular. So varied , shifting from lush greenery to dry barren fields. It's like stepping back in time to as you can see wagons being pulled by donkeys and workers tilling the fields by hand. Quite mind boggling.

This is my favourite picture I think
I may have to enlarge this and frame it.

As the day progressed we got really fed up of........


Looking at this......

 and seeing  these... 




 










     

 I have never seen so many humongous truck on the roads in my life it's all we seem to see

on the roads since we left.......

It was quite a day, the Arco Norte is quite a steep climb. If you are in a car of course it's a doddle, but if you are in our 'old girl' them it is something else.

 We chug chug chug our way up and pray on the way down that the brakes hold up. I have a feeling that tomorrow has not seen the end of the by now infamous climbs through the mountains.

We arrived in Querataro in great time about 5.30. Wonderful an early night! This of course was not to be.

We travelled the outer ring road to try and find a hotel . One thing we don't want to do is get caught up in traffic and end up in centro .

It was  incredible how busy it was. Trucks up your jacksey, Mexican drivers being.... well... Mexican drivers. After two laps of the busy road we decided to un hook and I would follow Stephen as it was just too hairy towing the car in such heavy traffic whilst trying to look for a hotel. Four hotels we tried and all  were full.... full? maybe Queratero is the weekend party city? Who knows?

Following in the car as far as I'm concerned is not less stressful. I have to try and not get separated as we have no means of comunication and darting in an out of traffic is like waiting for a accident to happen. Plus, by this time Stephen is a 'little' stressed. So I know exactly what's going on in the vehicle in front of me.

Two hours later and don't ask how many hotels later we found one that happened to be just the ticket. It even had a secure enclosed area for the r.v ( and Hannah and Barney).

We were knackered so that is why the blog didn't get done last night. I started but just couldn't finish.

I am finishing last nights  blog tonight ( Sunday ) and it looks like this isn't going to get published tonight either as I can get on the internet but can't down load my photos.