We left Oaxaca, heading north, surprised and excited about our new plan. Still receiving news of potential road blocks due to the teacher strikes, we proceeded with caution. It wasn’t long before we began to see traces of evidence that disruption had actually occurred. Burnt out cars and trucks littered the side of the road on the north side of the city and before we knew it we hit a traffic jam. Fortunately, the teachers seemed to be only interested in large trucks (as they can house policeman we were told) and they were funnelled to one side in order to be inspected. Smaller, personal vehicles like ours were directed to the other side to drive on through. We were waved on by some of the most un-violent looking protesters you can imagine, but I guess you don’t have to be violent to cause trouble, perhaps these were the highly educated teachers who had simply outsmarted the police! We drove up into the hills and through some spectacular scenery and the down the hills through small villages. We encountered several road blocks, although I use that term rather loosely. Sometimes they held a rope across the road so we had to pay a few pesos to pass, other times they stood there with a sign asking for money in which case we motored on passed! It was an incredibly long drive day, especially after so much time off the road, but we were on a mission north. The long day was worth it upon arrival at the Zapotitlan Salinas Botanical Gardens. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of botanical gardens is beautifully maintained lawns and flowers arranged neatly in their beds. It wasn’t like I was expecting to find gardens of such manner in middle Mexico, but I didn’t expect to find a winding gravel road through enormous cacti that was also a legit place to camp! We found a flat spot surrounded by the plant life and ate sandwiches for dinner.
The cacti were just as impressive in the morning and we gave ourselves a tour of the area, climbing the slightly wobbly viewing tower in order to take in the vast gardens. We packed up and hit the road just as the day was warming up, but it was rather pleasant morning drive with the door tops off. Pleasant until the ominous black clouds ahead grew darker and darker. We were driving directly towards the rain. We reached the outskirts of the city of Puebla as the heavens were well and truly emptying. So much so that we had to take shelter under a bridge, partly because we were getting wet without the door tops, but mostly because the road ahead was underneath another bridge that had water pouring so fiercely off the edge it could be likened to Niagara Falls! We sat and watched as other cars drove the waterfall gauntlet, assuring ourselves that it will ease soon. And ease it did, after about 20 minutes. We carried on through Puebla and out the other side to a ‘campground’. The GPS co-ordinates were slightly off and the place was not very well sign posted, but eventually after much frustration we found the compound that served as both a hotel and a place to camp. Fortunately the rain had stopped entirely and there were several patches of grass that had escaped mud puddles, nevertheless we set up in preparation for more rain because by golly it can come about quickly! We made the most of the indoor dry mall across the road for a warm, cozy sit down dinner, preparing ourselves for the intense drive into Mexico City tomorrow.
