"On the Trail"

The Journals from the Road

February 26:   Led home by a Cowboy on a Mule! - San Jose Ixtapa, Puebla State

Spent most of the day pedaling right into the wind, which does have a slowing effect. I thought I might be able to make it to the large town of Tehuacan but the uphill and wind tag-team caused me to reconsider. It was getting much later than 4:00 and there was little civilization in sight. I saw a farmer packing husks into a bag and asked him how far to the next town. He told me it was some 5 kms and that I would see the spires of the church. I kept on going, more than 5 kms and kept seeing mirages of churches in the distance but never the real thing.

Finally, I spotted another human. A cowboy, called vaquero here, was riding his mule and trying to round up a stray calf. I guess he figured he had better round up the stray traveler instead because he left the calf and came over to me. He was riding a mule, which would make my dad(a mule fan) proud.

He told me that there was a town up the road. It was two bridges down the highway and then to the left. I thanked him and followed his directions and sure enough I was winding down a dirt road into a very small village.

And who was there to meet me but Joventino Monterosa, the vaquero who gave me directions. He told me he was going to take me to the president's house. That sounded good to me, having never met a president before.

Sure enough, the president of the town said he had just the place. There was a storage room where the city wokrkers would sleep right next to the central plaza. Joventino was also pleased with the set-up saying I had a place to sleep, a store at the corner, and music(some traditional singer wailing over a public stereo system).

At night I entertained with my cook stove and spagetti dinner. The word got out that "Watch the Blondy Eat!" was playing in the local plaza.

I conversed and laughed with about thirty teenage boys who were playing soccer, showing off in amateur kung-fu, and practicing their English.

Peace(Bike),