So we took off after lunch. The road goes into the hills from the nearby town of Valle de Juarez, and at first it is paved, although with a few potholes. It isn't long before you start to get a nice view.
The town of Valle de Juarez.
Getting a little higher.
The road is still paved at this point, but that is about to change!
Now, we have a dirt road. With lots of rocks and potholes.
But we had some gorgeous views!
Just after the village of El Tigre, there is a plateau with green fields.
The town of Mazamitla is a popular tourist spot for people from Guadalajara, and it's a long weekend here in Mexico. In the town, they offer tours into the hills and there are several of these large 4 wheel drive open air vehicles that take groups on tours of these hills. We met one coming the other way...
The road was actually really bad at this point.
A farmer and his horse and his dog.
Another beautiful view of Valle de Juarez
Pretty slow going for the little blue car!
You can actually see Lake Chapala in the distance. If you know where to look!
This drive is actually fairly short, at about 27 kms (17 miles). But it took us an hour and a half to do it! We only really stopped to take the pictures along the way. Most of the time we were just crawling along in first gear!
A 27 km (17 mile) drive that takes an hour and a half!
When we got back, the little blue car needed a bath!
Looks like the drive was well worth it. The view is beautiful. Did you need to give the inside a bath too? That fine dust can find its way into very little crack.
ReplyDeleteA friend who lived on a dirt road gave me a great tip for going down dusty roads. Close all windows and set the "heater" fan (heat not necessary; just fan) on high (or at least near high). This pressurizes the interior of the car and keeps the road dust from seeping in all the little cracks and gaps. At first I thought "Huh!?" because I figured the fan would be pulling dust IN at the intake, but I have now seen from experience that whatever small amount of dust might come in there is minor compared to what it keeps OUT of every other little crack (especially in the rear of the vehicle).
DeleteExcellent tip, thanks Mr. Anonymous!
DeletePaul and Marsha, the inside of the car wasn't too bad. There were very few other cars on the road so most of the dust was behind us. Did have a little on the bottom ridge on the inside of the doors but that was about it.
DeleteJust caught up on all your posts. Sounds like you are living the good life. Glad you have the car, it will give you a different perspective on things in the local areas.
ReplyDeleteYes, having the little car does give us a different view of things but still not enough at this point to make us want to tow it.
DeleteThe shape you guys are in, you should get a couple of mt bikes and go for days ride. 17 miles. That's a cake walk for you kids!
ReplyDeleteOur only problem with having bikes here is the main road is fairly busy with truck traffic and it is narrow, in bad shape and no shoulders whatsoever so I would be to nervous too ride a bike on it.
DeleteWe might just go into Mazamitla and park the car and then hike up to the top though. That would still give us a good workout.
Hi guys. We will give that drive a try with Euri when we get there!! I am thinking since "Sherman" has an identity, maybe the little blue car needs a name too! Maybe your readers could have a contest? See you in a few months!
ReplyDeleteNot sure it would be a suitable road for Euri. There were a few times that we looked at ourselves and said should be taking the little blue car though here? Lots of deep cervices and big stones, don't think we would take the car though there again. I don't know if we could ever get used to calling the anything else but the "little blue car". We have called it that for so long now. Looking forward to meeting up with you two again.
DeleteLooked like a wonderful drive with great views. Shame about the roads but at least at that speed you could take in more of the scenery when not dodging potholes.
ReplyDeleteYes we were able to take in the scenery for sure. We knew the road was going to be bad before heading out, just didn't think they were going be as bad as they were. The potholes were the easy part.
DeleteI wonder if we could rent some horses to do one of those trips?
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you could rent the horses to go up the mountain but I know you can rent horses to go to the waterfall. I bet you could ask them when you get here, no doubt they would make a deal of some sort.
Deleteyou may have to get the LBC jscked up... just a thought ;)
ReplyDeleteYou just about had us on that one. Couldn't figure out what LBC was, though it was some kind of clearence thing, then the light dawned on us! I don't think we will be taking the "LBC" on another road like that so I don't think we need to have it jacked up.
DeleteTime wise that is not so bad, it's only 20 miles to Leeds but many times it has taken 2 hours on good roads but with bad traffic.
ReplyDeleteI remember being on the bus in that area, and yes, good roads but lots of little towns with lots of traffic.
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