Month: January 2015

Queretaro: Part of the Family

Well, I am still in Mexico City and will remain for at least two more days. I’ve met someone here and I really don’t want to leave 🙂

It has been a while since my last update. For the last month, I stayed in a hostel that was not conducive to work. The place was under construction and there were no quiet places. That, and I fell seriously ill twice while staying there.

I’ve since moved to another area of the city, Coyoacan, where I can be closer to, uh, closer to someone special that you’ll meet in an update or two. I spent the first two nights recovering here in a hotel from an illness Felix is calling “Mexibola.” I am now in a quaint little hostel where I can finally get some work done.

The following story takes place five weeks ago in the city of Queretaro where I was invited to stay with the family of a friend I made in a hostel in Durango. I cannot thank them enough for all they have done for me. I really felt like part of the family.

Arturo's Mom and Dad standing before the worlds third largest monolith.
Arturo’s Mom and Dad standing before the worlds third largest monolith.

Continue reading →

by Categories: Bike Touring, Canada to Panama, Travel 2 Comments

Copper Canyon: Mountaintop Rescue

Wednesday November 5th

Sierra Madre Tarahumara Mountains

Chihuahua, Mexico

StormDSCF7292
Such a beautiful day…

Thunder shakes the earth beneath my feet. Lightning pierces the wall of rain that replaced the pelting hail. My clothes are heavy with accumulated water and I am shaking uncontrollably. I lean my bike against a wall. I huddle beneath the slight over-hang of roof. An old hobbit-of-a-man is standing in the low-framed doorway.

“Hola,” I say through chattering teeth. I point to the roof and press myself harder into the wall, further from the driving rain. “Here. Please. I am very cold,” I say in woefully bad Spanish. But my words are not important as my condition is obvious. My needs are clear. I am human. I am suffering and exposed to the elements. He invites me inside.

I duck through the doorway and enter the adobe walled shack. A lone lightbulb flickers from the ceiling illuminating a long wooden table. In the far corner, an elderly woman stoops over a wood burning stove preparing dinner. Her back is hunched making her 5 foot frame appear even smaller. Her hair is wrapped in a scarf. She is wearing a long skirt. Continue reading →

by Categories: Bike Touring, Canada to Panama, TravelTags: 9 Comments

WhatsApp Explained

A few days ago, after downloading the app, I allowed it to post a link to this blog. The link was not very helpful.

Anyway, thanks to an eccentric Frenchman, I am now the proud owner of a Mexican sim card. This means I have a local phone number and unlimited use of WhatsApp and Facebook. This means that for as long as I am in Mexico – and in cell coverage – I can be reached “instantly” on my new phone number. The catch is you must use WhatsApp or Facebook.

So, without further adieu, I present to you my Mexican phone number!!! 33 1062 7209

I’ll leave it to you to figure out all the intricacies of country codes and dialing outside of the U.S. as, quite frankly, I just don’t have the time or desire.

A quick google search revealed this however:

  1. Enter US exit number 011
  2. Enter country code for Mex 52
  3. Enter 1 if calling a cellular number
  4. Enter my number

Crazy complicated I know. Sorry if instructions are bad. I’ll receive your messages if it works!

Using the apps this may very well be useless information. Good Luck!

by Categories: UncategorizedTags: 3 Comments