Feliz Navidad, una vez más
A year and a day ago, the Argentine family in whose posada we were staying invited us to join them for Christmas dinner. For us Englanders, there was a twist: the dinner was held not on Christmas Day, but – in traditional Argentine fashion – late on Christmas Eve. Midnight was greeted with cheers, present-opening...
The Night of Radishes
During the 19th century, competition grew tough in the markets of Oaxaca. There were too many vegetables and not enough shoppers, and traders were forced to seek new ways to attract passing trade to their stands. At some point, several stallholders began carving their vegetables into shapes, figures, even tableaux. This novel marketing method proved...
On the up
From the city of Campeche, a colonial jewel box on the banks of the Atlantic, we rode for 12 consecutive days to reach the beaches of Oaxaca – south-west on the edge of the Gulf Coast, west through the heartland of Mexico’s oil industry, south to cross the country at its thinnest point, then west...
Month 17
10 November – 9 December 2014 Countries Mexico (total 16) Distance 2,251.34km (total 21,355.18km) Climb 7,094m (total 192,747m) Longest day 151.77km, Champotón to Ciudad del Carmen in Mexico (longest so far: 160.11km) Top speed 53.5kmh (fastest so far: 67.4kmh) Punctures 4 (total 32; Will leads 23-9) Touring cyclists encountered 12 (total 88) Longest stretch in...
Snaps – November 2014
Lots of old ruins among this month’s snaps. And alongside those pictures of Ruth and Will – ba-dom-tish! – quite a few photos of some archaeological sites. For more where these came from, click here. We’d heard that the highway between San Cristóbal de las Casas and Palenque, unfriendly at the best of...