This is why we come to Mexico

9:30am start for the group yesterday after a great week in the Cholula/Puebla city area. But, it's time to get back into the countryside.

As I mentioned yesterday, the next couple of weeks are going to be interesting. Not many RV'ers to Mexico visit the region through which we are headed. As such, there aren't many official RV camping areas and we kind of have to wing it.

Not every day you see something like this. Especially here in Mexico!

Sundays are a great day to explore downtown Puebla... there is so much going on!

So yesterday morning at 10:30am, we ordered some Uber taxis and took the group downtown to central Puebla.

Bike ride in Puebla, and new dinette cushions for Sherman

(I posted February's expenses last night... you can read about it here... February Expenses.)

Eight of us set off at 9:00am yesterday for a bike ride into Puebla.

Puebla is a modern city of about 3 million people. It is located at an elevation of 7,000'. It's also one of the cleanest cities in Mexico... very little graffiti, and lots of green space. We purposely didn't go into the historical area itself since we are taking the group in there today. Plus, the "cyclopista" doesn't go into the central area.

February Expenses

Not a bad month, pretty much exactly as expected at $1,900 CAD ($1,415 USD).

We started the month in Cuernavaca and drove all the way to Ocozocoautla and back to Oaxaca so we actually did a fair bit of driving in February. So of course gasoline took up a fair chunk of our February expenses!

Steak for dinner!

It just occurred to me that I never published out February expense report... and I don't have time to do it now. We are headed out to do some cycling around Puebla this morning and we are leaving in 40 minutes... so this will be a quick post.

I'll get to the expenses later today.

We had to go to plan B

We had a van coming to pick us up at 9:00am to take us on a planned hike in the national park located between the two volcanoes.

The town of Cholula where the campground is located is at 7,000' altitude. The park where we were going is around 12,000' altitude, so it's a bit of climb by vehicle just to get to the trails.

This town doesn't get many tourists!

Great day for a hike.

But, it was a great day for other things as well because some of the group chose to go bike riding, and some took the Cholula trolley tour.

We set off with Bob and Denise at around 9:30am.

A great first day in Cholula

We really like this area. There is so much to see and do, and the weather is absolutely perfect in our opinion.

First thing we did was to walk the 2.5 kms or so to the Great Pyramid of Cholula. This is the largest pyramid in the world, built over a period of more than 1,000 years between 300 BC to 900 AD. When the Spanish came, they built a church on top of it, and they may not have even known it was a pyramid.

Mexico RV Caravan Travel Day - Oaxaca to Cholula

Long driving day yesterday as we made our way from Oaxaca city to the Puebla suburb of Cholula.

It's a distance of 369 kms (229 miles), and we had thought about taking the free road and breaking it into a two day drive, but due to a variety of reasons we chose to take the toll road and do it all in one shot.

Market day in Tlacalula

The Tlacalula market just east of Oaxaca city is a huge Sunday market that has been operating since before the Spanish arrived. Many of the indigenous people from the surrounding hills come here on Sundays to sell their goods and socialize.

A group of us hopped on the local bus at 9:00am to do the drive out to the town of Tlacalula.

Alebrijes and Cactus... more touring around Oaxaca City

Yesterday was another great day out touring for the group. We once again booked a van for the excursion and driver Omar showed up right on time for our 9:00am departure.

We headed directly to the alebrijes studio of Jacobo y María Ángeles located south of the city of Oaxaca in the town of San Martín Tilcajete.

Into the city of Oaxaca

There is so much to see and do around the city of Oaxaca that we haven't spent much time in the city itself. Ruth and I were here at the beginning of March 2013 when we spent a week or so in the city, but otherwise it has only been the surrounding area.

Friday, we went with some of the group into the city.

Hierve el Agua and Mitla Ruins

There is a lot to see and do around the Oaxaca city area, but a prime attraction is Hierve el Agua... that's why we keep returning there to show it off to some of the new people in the group. Also, Ruth and I have been there 4 times now and we never get tired of it... the scenery is simply beautiful.

We headed out with the group at 9:00am Thursday morning.

I wonder how many people are getting taken advantage of?

Just a few things to talk about today.

Yesterday was a day off... nothing planned for the group and everybody just did their own thing. Aron and Owenita got new rear shocks shipped to the campground so they were waiting for them when we arrived. And Mona and Roger got a new toilet! So they both had projects on the go yesterday.

The rest of us just puttered about. We took some laundry down with a few others. Ruth went for a long morning walk with Denise and Bob and Scarlett the dog.

Mexico RV Caravan Travel Day - Ojo de Agua to Oaxaca city

Up early and on the road for an 8:00am start. It was baking hot overnight. The temperature inside the motorhome was 26C (79F) when we got up in the morning at 6:30am. Too hot, and too many bugs.

Once again, we are reminded how much happier we are away from the coast.