Tuxtapec

To see details of this section:

https://strava.app.link/DE0tYk2KLGb

We fortified ourselves in the morning with a few of these delicious snacks - potatoes rolled in a tortilla and then fried. Tasty and lots of calories for hungry cyclists.

We discovered that Huautla is famous for magic mushrooms. Once we had learnt this, we saw mushroom logos everywhere - including for our hotel. It explains why a man sidled up to me and offered me 'healing treatments'. I'm glad I turned him down.

Our ride took us up and then down, down, down. The views were so awe inspiring we could barely take them in. The steep valleys covered in lush vegetation were like something or of a nature documentary. It was wet at the higher altitudes as we were inside a cloud.

In some places the cloud was so dense we could barely see where we were going and had to descend at little more than walking pace 

When we began to drop out of the bottom of the cloud we were treated to yet more mind blowing views. Words and pictures cannot do justice to the beauty of the natural landscape we saw. Nature ruled here and humans fitted in around it.

We could see this huge cliff approaching from a long way away. It dominated the skyline. It took a long time and a lot of descending to get near it.

When we did get below it we realised that there was a vast river flowing down from it. The perspective in this photo makes it look quite small but in reality it dwarfed everything around. It was so loud we had to shout to each other to be heard.

We were so awed by what we were seeing that we opted for a short day so we could enjoy more of it the next day. As luck would have it, this place was not far from the waterfall. We stayed in the top floor with views out over the jungle.

It was part of a swimming pool complex. What a stunning location right beneath the cliffs. We were too tuckered out and cold after descending in the rain too face a swim. Shame.

It was a good decision to stay the night as it meant our morning was filled with yet more views of the jungle landscape. The cloud rising off the trees was magical.

As we continued to drop we transitioned from subsistence farming back into more rural landscapes. The local craft in this area is embroidered clothing. Zoom into the items hanging in the picture below to appreciate the detail. We saw lots of people sitting in doorways busy doing embroidery.

Our route took us over Lago Miguel Alemán. It was beautiful even in the overcast weather. If you look it up on Google maps you will see a bridge over it. We stopped for lunch on the bridge. It was very quiet with lots of interesting bird life.

It was a fast (for us) flat run into Tuxtapec. We passed this in the centre of a roundabout at the edge of town. We have seen lots of pineapples for sale but none being grown. (We have seen lots of maize and sugar cane being grown).

We are excited as we are about 2 days from the coast and by the time we arrived it should be sunny again. If it does we will treat ourselves to a rest day.

Google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/p8J9ERd7iN2bGiZy9

Email miketoyn@gmail.com if you would like an email update whenever there is a new blog post or if you want to get in touch

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/two.boldlygo/