Old faces in new places

We have had a fantastic time since I last wrote a blog with so many varied environments, experiences and meetings with different people. Yet again I have been astonished by people's kindness and generosity. I'm sure you are getting fed up of keep hearing me say this, but truly it has been one of the most astonishing things on the trip.

We left Morelia and stayed a night in Tuluca which is a big, bustling city with some very modern architecture and skyscrapers. It proved to be quite difficult to get accommodation in the centre itself especially as we were looking for secure parking for the shed. We found one with a garage and Brian went to check it out only to find that the bedroom was actually in the garage! At least we could have kept an eye on the shed all through the night. We ended up in a Holiday Inn just heading out of the city but this meant that we were quite close to Puebla where we were going to meet with Haallem who had responded to a request we had made trough the Horizons unlimited community web site.

The ride through Mexico city was difficult but finally the Garmen Zumo became invaluable. It is illegal for a motor cycle to go on the perifique so we had to go through all the little streets. This was very, very noisy and Brian was getting a little bit hot under the collar at all the honking of car horns when people didn't set off from the traffic lights before they turned green. Garmen guided us straight through and it seemed that we were going to make good progress. I was very glad to be on the shed and not using the public transport. Clearly there are no real rules about the condition of these vehicle as you can see from this photograph.

As we started to leave the city behind it looked like we were going to make good progress when suddenly we hit a traffic jam. It was unbelievable. There had been an accident which had brought all the traffic on the freeway to a grinding stop. Cars, bikes, buses and vendors going form lane to lane to try and squeeze a few more inches forward or squeeze money from the frustrated drivers and passengers. We eventually crept toward enough to get onto a slip road and ride through about 18 inches of dirty, smelly water from an earlier heavy rainfall. I was really glad to get off as there seemed to be a lot of impatient and frustrated drivers round and about. My relief changed very quickly to despair as we found ourselves in the middle of a town which had become grid locked. Everyone had been going up and down the little streets trying to find their way out only to find that all exits were blocked and as a result everyone had gathered in the middle with nowhere to go. Eventually we stopped on a side street to gather our thoughts. Both dying for the toilet, thirsty and not knowing what to do next. Soon after we noticed that the traffic was starting to move again in the freeway so we attempted to get back on. At this point we came across some local guys who had pulled down some of the fence at the side of the road and had built a ramp to enable cars to get back on (for a small, voluntary donation of course). I made the mistake of speaking what little spanish I knew to a lady who came to speak to me. As a result she presumed I understood her very well and proceeded to explain lots of things to me........ none of which I understood.

M

Back on the freeway and all became clear. The reason the traffic was moving was that a little further up another group of locals were kindly guiding people off the freeway via an entry slip road and back into the already gridlocked town (for another small voluntary donation). Again we were hopelessly lost in the same town, with the same flooded streets and no apparent exit. Fortunately a biker approached us and offered to lead us through the flooded little back roads and back onto the freeway some way on.

Once in Puebla we were met by Haallem who took us back to his house where he lives with his younger brothers . He has been a treasure. Haallem has kindly invited us to stay in his home, has been our interpretor and helped us to find secure parking at a BMW dealership for the shed, car rental to enable us to see Shelly in Cancun, laundry facilities (which were desperately needed). He has taken us into downtown Puebla and showed us some of the sights there and introduced us to local delicacies and drinks. He has been a fantastic host and a fabulous ambassador for the people of Puebla.

On Monday 31^st August, my family were having a 'bit of a do' to celebrate my sister and brother-in-laws 25^th wedding anniversary. We now have a skype account so I was able to have a video call and speak to and see everyone. It seemed a very long time since I saw my son and daughter so to be able to do this and to see them so happy and well was lovely. I had used skype a few times before this to speak to anyone at Mum and Dad's but because of the excitement of seeing each other it tended to be a bit of a free for all and I had to beg my sister not to 'get everyone' as she offered to do, but to just chat one at a time. After all, there is no rush, it's free!

After leaving Puebla we drove the 1000 miles plus to see my step daughter, Shelly, in Cancun. We had paid for this trip for her 21^st birthday present. Both of us were really excited and couldn't wait to see her. Though we had planned to use the road trip to allow us to visit some of the beautiful and historic places along the way we were both too impatient to do this and didn't want to rush away after seeing her. Brian drove like a true native of Mexico. Honking his horn at every opportunity, jumping lanes and speaking fluent toll spanish at the booths along the cuerda roads. As a result, we only managed to see Chichen Itza (which is a fantastic place especially if you have a good guide as we did)

Shelly looked great. We stayed in the same hotel for 3 nights which meant we could have dinner with her and her friends, Daniel and Jack, every evening. We caught up with what was happening in her life, what was going to be happening.

We went swimming in the sea and in the pool (having a lot of fun with the underwater camera) and generally soaked up all of the lovely feeling of being together again. Shelly had a special treat for me. She had brought along her tweezers so I could pluck her eyebrows, something I used to do before she went away to university and whenever she came back home. A little bit of nostalgia for both of us. It was really, really lovely being with her again but it did leave me with a feeling of sadness when we left her this morning (6^th September). It was a stark reminder of how much I DID miss my family and friends. I haven't been fully aware of this so far in the trip. Of course it was a little upsetting to leave people on the 7^th June, but the trip has been so exciting and stimulating that I haven't really had time to recognize that I 'missed' them. Now, with skype, I can chat with everyone as I used to when I lived a few hundred miles away from them in England. But to actually touch and hug Shelly, laugh and giggle at things I heard and saw her do brought home just how very far away from everyone I am and just how very, very much I miss them.

The next bit of the adventure is very exciting. We will only have a few days to get out of Mexico after collecting the shed and then we're off to Guatemala. How exciting......... I don't know anyone who has been there and I just can't wait for the thrill, apprehension and excitement of moving on to see new unlimited horizons.