A mix of everything /entering the jungle

Starting from oaxaca on... which day is it again?... we had two more "must-see" tourist destinations to visit: Mitla and the Hierve el Agua. The first was must-see it because it was on the way anyway; the second because after the excruciating climb up there, anything becomes worth seeing by virtue of being the reward of the journey.

Actually, Mitla was a bit of a let-down with a very small archeological site and very few information — but I had Mexican "pizza" (tlayuda) with grasshoppers and Kathi a maassive quesadilla which was the highlight of the town for us. The climb to Hierve el Agua never got down 10% and was 600 meters of climbing, the descent to the town was so rough it also destroyed my jacket, and we were passed by multiple tourist busses going there (stupid tourists) but it _was_really nice there. A small pool, "waterfalls" of hardened calcium, and amazing views. Just bad facilities.

At that point we decided to not do any tourist-trap hunting for a bit (consciously or unconsciously), and we had even more climbing to do. Seriously, it just goes up and down continuously. We stopped early in a bigger town on the second day in a hotel with hot water (!), but the day to come was really an adventure.

First, I found out by accident that Kathis rear brakepads were through, and came to the very unpleasant discovery that Sram Apex 1 brakepads are not the same as sram apex 2 brakepads. I would like to post the meme of Bauke Mollema yelling "FUCKING SRAM!" Here. Luckily, it seems to work. Then came the dogs. These f*cking dogs here are really a nightmare, and as bad as in greece. Then came the rain, sometimes when pushing our bikes uphill, and the rain doesn't come in small doses here. We decided we have now visited a Rainforest: it is still raining while I write this (Monday morning).

In the late afternoon, soaking wet, we came to San Miguel Quetzaltepec, where we first wanted food and then a hotel. We asked around for food and were pointed by people to literally abandoned buildings. While having given up, and looking for the hotel, some guy said "how are you" without laughing, which we were grateful for, as it is generally a sign of speaking English. We asked for food, and he let us into another empty looking building, up two flights of stairs, to a room with two chairs, one table, and a big kitchen. Yes, there was a woman cooking there and she served us Mexican hot chocolate and Tamales (with chicken, which I ate because sometimes you don't have a choice). A very weird experience. We did have the Mexican thick cinnamon-spiced hot chocolate which was amazing.

Then we got to the hotel—a real shithouse—without electricity, where the lady asked 200 pesos which is way overpriced. She even asked for money for toilet paper when I asked for that: I refused the kind offer.

While now still hoping the rain lets off, another "communist" announcement in some native tongue is blasted through the local loudspeakers.Read more