Explosions, concrete, and cell phones Juventina Rosas to Acambaro, GTO

Ted: Today we went, I think, a bit further than yesterday, due to much less climbing. We´re staying in a decent hotel (suite for about $18) with beds, and a bathroom of our very own! Acambaro seems like a normal town, like most other mexican cities, it´s a concrete jungle. Everything seems to be made of concrete. On a few other notes, there seemed to be rockets going off in most of the town we passed through today. At first, we thought they were blasting rock in the quarry that was outside of the town, but we heard them in other towns, too. They seem to be going off at random intervals, with anything between 1 and 6 rockets being sent up at a time. They´re loud as heck, too. We can hear them through the foot thick concrete walls of our hotel room. Also, I kind of wish we had decided on buying a cell phone down here, because the cells are cooler than the ones up in the states. They´re about the size of two fingers, and half as thick, sometimes the size of two fingers up to the third knuckle, and about one centimeter thick when closed.

Andy: our route today left Juventina Rosas through a large town on the highway to Celaya that I can't remember the name of, to the lovely town of Salvatierra, past very ancient churches and what looked like forts and storehouses and into Acambaro. The state of Michoacan is just a few km away to the south.

Again, I find myself sitting in another internet café, this time in Acámbaro, GTO. The city is fairly large, maybe 50000 people or so and it is in a large well watered valley. The stores here mostly all open out into the sidewalk. When the end of the day comes they just pull down the “garage door.” In the meantime I am smelling the fresh rain and hearing the busses and cars pass close by.

After our second day on the road we feel more comfortable with the customs of traffic and the different challenges of riding bicycles on these roads. The foods we bought in the stores and ate on the road last year are not to be found here as easily but we are finding good substitutes. Bananas are small and cheap and provide a great pickup during the day. Bakeries are everywhere and we like to snack on fresh rolls. The cheese we found is different (white, squeaky and wet) but good. Mangoes are great but they are a mess to eat on the road, better to have as a dessert in the evening. Roadside restaurants are everywhere, inexpensive and good. Today we stopped for a meal in the afternoon, sharing a big plate of beans, nopal (prickly pear), salsa, wonderful corn tortillas and 2 huge 1 liter drinks for all of 40 pesos, slightly less than $4. It was a good way to pass rest in the heat of the day.

Tomorrow we head further south, first to a town called Ciudad Hidalgo and then to Zitacuaro. I want to go there because it has such a cool name but it is also supposed to be a beautiful colonial town, a UNESCO site I believe (I was wrong). For information I am using Lonely Planet´s guide to Mexico as well as blogs from folks who have passed through here previously. After I post this I will do my research and will know more.

Distance today: 96 km
Riding time: roughly 9 to 5 with a few long breaks.