Arco Norte & Unicorns... Do they really exist?

Nov. 16th

We awoke before the roosters the next morning, deadset on finding the Arco Norte.  We were on the road by 6:30am, heading back towards Mexico City on highway 57.  With fresh directions, an open mind and 2 shots of tequila in our system, we were quite hopeful.  We drove and drove and drove, finally reaching the point where we had turned around just the previous night.  Though at this point the Arco Norte was as real to us as a unicorn was, we pushed past trails blazing and fingers crossed.

Turns out my gut was right.

Duh.

Half an hour down from where we had last been was the sign for “Puebla Cuota.”  Oooh, how amazing and ridiculously frustrating it was to see it hanging there.  No sooner had we veered onto the ramp was I expressing my unhappiness with not being trusted to navigate and pointing out that we would be a whole lot farther into our trip had we not turned around.  That being said, I believe in the phrases “Trust Your Path” and “Everything Happens For a Reason” and as you will find out in the next entry, maybe it just did happen that way for a reason… keep tuned in.

But I digress… so here we were finally entering the Arco Norte, now shamelessly laughing at us with its literal big, blue arches.  We jumped on and it was pretty much what we expected… smooth roads, fast driving and farm land all around.  Very happy we found it and avoided the cluster-nut Mexico City.

Arco Norte was great, except for one accident we saw.  Poor guy practically wrapped his 18-wheeler around a pole and was stuck in the cab of the truck.  Must of happened only 20 minutes before we got there because it was a fresh scene, with his cargo (we think snack items) sprayed across the highway and no emergency vehicles there yet.  I only mention this sadness because it helped to shape our following day.  Abasi and I were torn on whether or not to turn around and help.  Not only were we on the wrong side of the highway and couldn’t find a turn around, but there were a lot of people there trying to help and while looking for a turn around we saw an ambulance fly by.  So without turning around, we said a prayer for the man and his family and continued on our way but not before promising each other that if we truly felt we could help someone in need along the way, we would.  Again stay tuned.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful in terms of things happening though it is definitely worth noting that after the Arco Norte, the highways we took were dreadful.  Not only were we WAAAYYY up there in the mountains, where what goes up most come down, but also the potholes were insane.  Clearly we had been spoiled by the previous 2 days of traveling, because there were times I thought we would blow a tire.  The worst part is that we paid for these “cuotas” or toll roads, so I can only imagine and PRAY for the people who travel the free highways every day.  God be with you.

The night ended with us checking into a hotel in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, which was our chosen destination, so that was nice that we made up time on the Arco Norte and didn’t get off track in our travels.  We got a great room, ate a fantastic dinner… Abasi’s mole sauce was DELISH… and walked back to our room with a shot of tequila to put us to bed.  Yes, more tequila, you didn’t know we bleed Agave?

Views from the Allusive Arco Norte

Richard from New York doing a US/ Mexico Bike tour ALONE! GO Richard!!

Pretty <3

A Birthday to Remember

Welcome back everyone!  I feel like its been... well 3 days and it has.  Though 3 days driving through Mexico and all her glory feels like 3 weeks to us.  WiFi has been No-Fi for us, so we apologize for not keeping up, but we ARE NOT DEAD... I repeat we are not dead.  One day gone and our family and friends are ready to call the US Embassy!! Regardless, welcome back to the fun and we do appreciate all the love, concerns and well wishes.

The past 3 days have been quite interesting, but let's focus on November 15th for now... Abasi's 35th birthday... a birthday he WILL NOT forget!

So we woke up in Matehuala, Mexico in route to Puebla, Mexico which is about 7-8 hours away.  We were dead set on finding the allusive "Arco Norte," which would circumvent us around Mexico City and put us out on the other side, safe and sound.  The thing about Mexico City is that though many people find it unsafe, like a majority of places both in the United States or Mexico, most of the danger is at night.  Even with that being said, danger isn't the main issue in Mexico City for us.  It is one of the, if not the largest, cities in the world and with that comes pollution, more cops, traffic and oh yea more cops.  We have read that there are laws now dictating certain driving times or days for locals to cut down on air pollution and improve air quality, depending on their license plate numbers.  As Americans, or foreigners in general, we are at a higher risk of driving on the wrong days and being hassled, so why bother?

This Arco Norte they speak of, is supposed to go right around Mexico City, on a highway made for kings.  Reading about it, we knew this was exactly what we needed.  Well turns out what we needed was solid directions.  There aren't any actual signs that say "ARCO NORTE" on the highway and as Abasi puts it you need to know somebody that knows somebody, who's been on it personally.  The sign you have to look for is Puebla Cuota... but nobody tells you how far it is down highway 57, heading TOWARDS MEXICO CITY.  And the directions we found online were vauge at best and terrible if we're being honest.

In truth, I (Krysta) said we were going the right way the whole time.  I had a feeling, a gut feeling, that we were not going the wrong way.  However Abasi felt we were getting to close to Mexico City, with it approaching in a mere hour or less.  Feeling I had navigated wrong and worrying we were headed straight into the belly of the beast, I told him to turn around if he feels we were going the wrong way.  After all it was his birthday and he can get us lost if he wants to, no?

So we turned around on highway 57, heading back towards Quateraro… a pretty big city for all intents and purposes.  Not only had we hit some traffic heading toward this “Arco Norte”, but also after turning around we hit more traffic.  This was disconcerting because we were losing daylight as it was and still hadn’t gone around Mexico City.  We certainly didn’t want to sleep in Mexico City or its proximities, especially if that meant driving around looking for suitable hotels in the dark.  After finally getting back to where we (he) felt we had gone wrong, we started again, first stopping to ask for directions.  Just like every time before, the gas station attendants had been more than willing to help us and after grasping the new directions, we headed on our way.

To only God knows.

Turns out we may have gotten the right directions for the wrong route from this particular guy because when we asked for the route around Mexico City, he sent us this way.  Granted it WAS a way around Mexico City, but because the Arco Norte is less known then most highways in Mexico, this was not the road we were looking for.  Instead we were sent down some East-Bum-Farmland road, driving into dusk.  It was entirely the wrong way and we felt it, both of us this time.  So we pulled over again and asked someone else for directions.  This time we needed to know how long until Puebla to ensure we were headed the right way, and when he replied 4 hours, I almost cried.  We were 4 hours away from our destination and a solid hour away from where we knew there were hotels behind us.  With darkness fast approaching we asked if there were any hotels down the road and he assured us yes.  Again, correct information, but not what we were looking for.  The closest hotels were NOT THAT CLOSE and when he said hotel, he meant some village motel that we couldn’t possibly stay in with absolute certainty of our safety.

So we made the difficult decision to turn back.  We didn’t want to keep on driving.  We had promised others and ourselves that we would not drive at nighttime, but in reality what were our options?  Pull the car over and the 2 of us, with Bentley and Gemini, sleep on the side of a country road with the bulls, horses and chickens… doubtful.  So we did the unthinkable… we turned around… in the dark.

We got back to the city within 40 minutes and after stopping at a gas station to buy dog food, only to settle for puppy chow, we found a hotel and settled in for the night.  Unfortunately, the hotel didn’t have Wifi to call our loved ones, and the loved ones with us (the dogs) weren’t allowed in the rooms.  However with it being night out, not really knowing where we were and being down right exhausted, we decided that the locked gate parking lot was safe for the dogs and we were right.

Now if you remember this was Abasi’s birthday and though I knew we would be traveling, I still wanted to have a nice dinner and a cocktail to celebrate with him, unfortunately we too had to settle with a bag of pistachios and a bottle of tequila.  Feliz cumpleanos! 

Birthday Boy

Follow the Parrot... 

Snow!

Snowcapped mountains in Mexico!

Tomatillo likes Modelo too!

Mountains, Machetes, Bees and BEEP BEEPs... Abasi Saw a Road Runner?

Welcome back!  Today we are officially in MEXICO!!! Right now we are in Matehuala, MX... about 2 days from the border to Guatemala.   In our room, dogs fed, beers drank, ready for some more sleep and thankful for a day that started off rocky... AGAIN... ended so perfectly.

This morning we attempted to cross the border at Eagle Pass, TX again into Piedras Negras, which is Mexico's border town.  Immediately we were pulled to the side at customs and once again declared nothing... just like yesterday.  However, unlike yesterday, they didn't ask us some simple questions and let us on our merry way.  NOO.  This time, they crawled around the inside of the truck and found... wait for it... what do you think it is???

A gun? NO!

Drugs? OF COURSE NOT!!

They found a... MACHETE!!!

Abasi's favorite machete to be exact.  The one he looked for online for weeks to find just the perfect one for Costa Rica and then paid a pretty penny on.  Well they found it, and because of its different shape (it is curved because it came from Nepal) the TOOK IT!  Now if you know Abasi, this made him very, very upset.  He did keep his cool however, trying to explain that it was a tool for living in Costa Rica, but as the military men began to swarm around him, either to listen to his explanation or simply to intimidate him, I became VERY WORRIED.

Here's the thing... as soon as they found it, they made the dogs get out of the car, and I had to stand with them off to the side so Abasi could take a bunch of stuff out of the car and a DRUG DOG could come sniff our stuff.  Good looking dog though, a German Shepherd male... possibly a Mexican boyfriend for Gemini ; )  

To be honest, from where I was standing and the situation going on, my pretty limited understanding of Spanish (which wouldn't have mattered anyway because I had to stand far enough away with the dogs not to hear), and the look on Abasi's face, I thought he was being arrested.  I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!  

I started to tear up and one of the guards assured me he was not going to jail, but that they had to take the machete.  I understand why Abasi is so upset, but from my point of view I'm thrilled that's ALL that happened.  After the whole ordeal... about an hour and half later... we packed the stuff back in the car, put the dogs in and headed on our way to Matehuala, doubting we would even make it there in time.

And we almost didn't.

Because of the ridiculous amount of time spent trying to save our hides, we lost valuable daylight driving time.  We specifically chose Matehuala because it is safe and past most of the cities with gang violence right now.  We also knew there were pet friendly hotels.  That being said, we did NOT know that there was pretty much nothing else around us from Piedras Negras and Matehuala.  Every local, military soldier, border cop or experienced traveler has told us NOT to drive after it gets dark because it is just not as safe as it used to be.  Needless to say it got pretty nerve-racking in the last hour as we raced to beat the clock we call dusk.

But we did... and it was such an enormous, almost euphoric, sigh of relief when we did.  We made it just in time and to celebrate, we headed to the restaurant in the hotel to eat (we tried come cactus flower (yum!), drink and be merry.  Turns out, not eating all day and being plain old exhausted, leaves little room for a big dinner and an early bed time... Abasi is already sleeping.

Cactus Flower... yummy.

Gave the dogs Abasi's left overs because they down right deserve it!

That all aside, the actual drive was breathtaking.  Absolutely left us in awe as we stared at the open desert, unfathomably huge mountains and mesas and the absolute tranquility around us.  The roads were paved BEAUTIFULLY and very easy to navigate.  I hope you can get some sort of glimpse into what we were seeing today because it really does make you appreciate the vast greatness around you when surrounded by natural beauty in such magnitude.

Muy Bonita, no?

Military trucks ALL over, but to be honest we felt better with them there... and I even got a few to smile and wave!  Better than getting a 18wheeler to honk if you ask me : )

However, while looking at most pictures, we do apologize for the "exoskeleton Jackson Pollock" all over our windshield.  Turns out, and I kid you not, though I can't explain it.. we killed about 50 bees at one time.  All of a sudden we hear a splattering on the windshield... I'm pretty sure I ducked though I don't know why... and it looked like a flock of birds had just poo'd on us.  That was until we saw the half dead buggers... no pun intended... all over the windshield and 2 of them... INSIDE THE CAR!!  Abasi says he saw a swarm like image in front for like 2 seconds before it hit, and clearly we did.  I truly don't know how to explain how it happened... really weird and PS: WE DID NOT WANT THEM TO DIE, fyi.

EWW!

Finally, the last cool thing of the day was that in addition to the cows, horses, goats and dogs all around, Abasi actually saw a real live Road Runner!! We totally looked for the Anvil and Coyote as we drove, however neither appeared. I BETTER SEE A ROAD RUNNER TOO!!

Ok

Pura Vida

Where they make Corona... oh yea baby.

Guy on a horse in a city... normal.