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[HobbesOnTour]

Another rather mundane, perhaps even intrusive, aspect of touring is cost. Can I be frightfully rude and ask what your daily expenses are like in Mexico? A typical simple hotel for example? A meal from a roadside vendor, or from a simple 'restaurant' in the evening? Thanks.

Ok! I asked for it!

Not being a smartass, costs vary.

Because there are different currencies involved, I'll list prices in pesos. I calculate 20 pesos as being roughly equivalent to €1.

I'm paying up to 300 pesos for a room at the moment. Sometimes 200, 250, 280. 300 is kind of my internal limit. I could probably save some money by timing my arrival at a Love Motel just in time for sleeping!
I remember paying 500 in Tequila and thinking "pricey"! But it was a lovely room!

I have no idea what effect Covid is having on prices.

It's worth remembering too, that if there were two of us I'd be paying the same price for a hotel room.

Also, I have seen bloggers talk about haggling. In a former life I was a pretty mean negotiator but I either can't or won't bring that skill to bear here. These are very tough times.

I like AirBnB for multiple days. It can be cheaper than a hotel, Wifi is generally better.
Booking.Com gives a good indication of prices in an area. To my surprise, sometimes it's cheaper (not by much) than what the hotel asks for.
One significant advantage of both is the ability to pay for accommodation without cash and (especially) the need to hand over my credit card. Both are a great backup. I had never used either before this trip. I use Expedia too, but rarely as it seems to have less hotels where I am.

I've never seen breakfast offered.

Camping can be as little as 50 or 60 pesos. (60 in the Ecovillage, 150 in the Trailer Park with the best showers & toilets I've seen in México!)

Food varies.
It's the Mexican thing - great disparities in very short distances.
"Proper" restaurants have menus with prices, roadside places generally don't. I don't believe I've been diddled yet.
Yesterday, I paid 70 pesos for some very good mole with turkey, rice, beans, unlimited tortillas and a half liter bottle of soda.
A few days earlier, I was charged 30 pesos for 2 filled tortillas with Chorizo and cheese and 2 cokes. I argued about this! Way too cheap! I paid double.
A liter of fresh OJ (I mean squeezed in front of me) can be had for 30-40 pesos.
My chicken lunch the other day was 75 pesos - half a grilled chicken, potatoes, rice, salsa.

Basically, the cheapest is from a stand (no seating). Price has little correlation to quality that I can see.

Choosing a place to eat can be a bit complicated. I prefer where I can sit outside, under shade. I prefer to avoid crowded places, for Covid and also for the interactions. I do like a cold drink and not all places have fridges and of those that do, not all work!
For example, the "restaurant" that gave me my breakfast leaving the Ecopark had no fridge (nor electricity), but a channel was dug in the cool wet mud and a variety of soft drinks and beers were buried up to their necks. Remove, wipe and serve a cool drink!
It seems strange but it's interesting how we adapt.

I have to admit to having a particular skill, it seems, in picking out good places to eat. I am rarely disappointed.

Coffee can be had from a street vendor for 8 pesos. A latte at a trendy coffee place (if I can find one can be 6 times that).
I do like my coffee and sometimes will sit at a coffee shop (Not feckin' Starbucks!!) and sip a little luxury and watch the world go by.

I always tip, minimum of 15%, often more.

Tim Tower on CGOAB gives very good details. I think he budgeted for about $25 dollars per day. That's a good indicator in my book, but it could be done cheaper.

The thing with budgets, in my experience, is to avoid the trap of knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. Theroux in his "Old Patagonian Express" absolutely went to town on what we would call backpackers for their attitude to finances.
I see reviews and comments, especially on IOverlander of people (constantly) whinging about prices and costs. It's not a good look.
I've stayed in or eaten at some of the finest places where I'm little more than a number. And I've arrived into a little hotel, panting, sweating and wheezing to check in only to be given a cold glass of cider. Priorities!
To me, there is no way to put a value on that.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Great to catch up with your adventures. I might have missed it, but why no trailer?

Hola Charles!
The absence of the trailer is preparation for a post-Covid world that may mean more hopping, skipping and jumping than originally planned.

No fault with the trailer, I really like it and reccommend it to anyone with a bike who may want to tour without the need for a new bike. (The new models look pretty cool).

I had little chance to test it out with my current equipment before leaving (six months on a floor will do that!). As a result, the tent is just a tad too heavy for the trailer.

This is my way of testing to see if I need the trailer. Personally, I prefer the handling with the trailer, but with the tent on the front now it doesn't make much odds.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I wonder if I’m the only one who’s found @Hobbes’ posts since leaving CDMX …? Disconcerting? I’ve been casting around to think why. The general structure has changed little if at all, and the quality of writing sustains its high standard. So why did recent posts make me feel so unsettled?
Perhaps the content? Posts composed during the enforced ‘rest’ period became regular treats - welcomingly anticipated, comfortably familiar, reassuringly (mostly!) positive. Over the handlebars airborne antics and visa renewals aside, there was rarely a sense of hazard or peril. And in these times especially, that was heartening, at least for me as a reader.

Now back on the road and all that’s changed. Who knows what’s around the next bend or over the next crest? Will the road that’s indicated on the map be rideable … or even there?! When and where will food, water and a place to sleep be found?

It’s taken a few posts but at last I’ve managed to rationalise things. Isn’t it always the same when setting out on tour, at least for the first few days? It takes a while to settle into the rhythm of the road and becoming accepting of whatever it generously (or grudgingly!) provides? Of course there will be highs and lows (often literally!); touring life almost obliges us to ‘treat those two impostors just the same’, whether it’s a simple, spicy, and lovingly prepared meal, or a broken pannier rail.

I hope @Hobbes is taking as much delight in his onward journey as I’ve begun to settle into reading his unfolding account. Where next I wonder?

Hmmmmm…… Interesting!

I think there is something to what you say. I had been dwelling on the same thought in Orizaba.

There has been a higher than usual level of anxiety.
I wasn't sure how being a rambling tourist was going to be perceived (thankfully no negative experiences to report).
I can't overstate how at home I felt in CDMX. Leaving that comfort provokes its own anxiety.
I'm not physically in shape and have had some pretty tough, intense days. I find myself quite tired.

It's not like me to be this anxious other than normal "first day" nerves which rarely last past the first pedal stroke. This anxiety, though, I can feel in my belly. It's there, it's real, although this past week has eased a lot of it (you haven't read it yet!)

Also, there have been relatively few "normal" cycling days. Too many days were too intense, although that is easing up now. Intense days limit my "being in the moment".

There is a certain disjointedness to my posts as well. CDMX spoiled me for Internet. On the road posting is very, very slow. About 3 hours per post.

I think I'm suffering a bit from not having a "destination" - and yes, I know how "woe is me" that sounds. I'm heading south but at some stage I'll have to turn around.
I'm not sure what coverage is like in other parts of the world, but in Colombia, for instance, there have been serious riots because poor people can't cope with Covid. I can see such things spreading through the continent and from a completely selfish point of view, messing up my plans. (Yes, I know how horrible that sounds). It also raises the question if cycle touring in a pandemic is morally justified. I tell myself that CDMX was getting noticeably busier in the run up to my departure. On the road or there, there really is little difference.

Finally, if I'm honest, I'm also a little lonely. The places I'm hitting are all touristy places, much more enjoyable with company. Charleston, Austin, San Antonio nobody would have wanted to be with me - I knew what I wanted to do. That's different now. (I know, more woe is me!).

But…. I'll take it as a big compliment if you got the vibe that there was something disconcerting in my posts! It means that they're a pretty accurate portrayal of what's going on!

On the plus side, my limited Spanish is opening so many doors, windows and gates along the way that this part is a very different journey to what came before.

Now, @netman , what was disconcerting about my CDMX posts?

 

[cwskas]

I have thoroughly enjoyed your posts since you started out again. I am really enjoying the pictures as well and the character sketches of persons you have encountered along the way.

I love visiting new places and seeing new sites. Reading your reports isn't as good as being there . . . but almost!

Willie

 

[netman]

<snip>
Now, @netman , what was disconcerting about my CDMX posts?

Ah, no! Nothing disconcerting at all - I thoroughly enjoyed them, but it was like I was getting itchy feet on your behalf! The pandemic has made many things seem slightly unreal and rather 'not normal', I guess I just feel life is a little more 'normal' with you back on the road @HobbesOnTour!
Please don't ever underestimate the value of your posts to us stuck in one place with jobs, rent, bills etc.! Through you we can dream of adventure and the open road - truly inspiring . Safe travels...

 

[HobbesOnTour]

@cwskas & @netman
Thank you both for the kind words😊

 

[CharlesF]

In your latest post, I got all excited and looked for Roy Rogers in the brilliant pictures. No luck there!!

 

[cwskas]

... it was like I was getting itchy feet on your behalf! The pandemic has made many things seem slightly unreal and rather 'not normal', I guess I just feel life is a little more 'normal' with you back on the road @HobbesOnTour!
Please don't ever underestimate the value of your posts to us stuck in one place with jobs, rent, bills etc.! Through you we can dream of adventure and the open road - truly inspiring . Safe travels...

Well said, netman!

 

[cwskas]

There's no earthly reason I should have enjoyed the day as much as I did. Incredibly slow progress in sustained heat and sun, occasional bouts of being unwell, disappointment of non-existent stores, hard, hard physical effort, but this was different country, beautiful in its own way, firing my imagination, filling in images to scenes read long ago.

Small acts of kindness from random strangers when all the advice is just "No!". There was little traffic so at times I felt so alone, just an explorer, pitting himself against nature - and coming out the other side.

I arrived exhausted, but elated.

What an adventurous, long (14 hour!) day. Fantastic, rugged scenery!

I really liked the first and last pictures. And also the picture of Rocaddo resting (posted on Strava).

Willie

 

[HobbesOnTour]

What an adventurous, long (14 hour!) day. Fantastic, rugged scenery!

I really liked the first and last pictures. And also the picture of Rocaddo resting (posted on Strava).

Willie

Thanks Willie! And for posting the extra photo. Roccado did a lot of resting!

 

[cwskas]

flying down the many hills, even going up was fun! I took a tope at full speed - amazing fun - but I won't be doing that again!

That pretty well sums up your day.

Great fun to read.

Willie

 

[cwskas]

There's something about sleeping in a tent that wakes up some kind of inner child in me.

I identify with that.

I've a balcony outside my room, excellent internet and my plan was to relax, eat, savour a cold beer and watch a little HIGNFY.
For a change the plan succeeded!

Relax . . . savor . . . recharge!

This may be my favorite door so far!

And what a beautiful shot this is with the light coming through the trees!

Willie

 

[cwskas]

Chocolate and coffee are products from here too. I did not know this when I arrived but there is a chocolate hotel here!!
Unfortunately, not made of chocolate!

My poor hostess in the AirBnB asked me this morning what I thought of México - she's lucky I ran out of vocabulary after about 10 minutes!

Did she have a chance to participate in the conversation?

Willie

 

[cwskas]

Monte Alban: I went, I saw, I got a little bored but was saved by trees and lizards!

Frida & Mazi don't look bored! And they don't have any say in where their guide takes them!

I have never had a tour of ancient sites like this, but really stand in awe of the people and times behind them. I visited Teotihuacan many times, but always by myself or one other and on my own to read and take pictures.

I did have a guided tour with two friends once of Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City. But it was by an indigenous guide and so quite a different perspective I suspect than what others may have gotten.

Your corner looks superb! I could spend a lot of time admiring those branches.

Willie

 

[cwskas]

If I take a figary(!), I'll be close to the narrowest point of México - I can do another continental crossing!
Ocean to ocean - again!

And your second crossing of Mexico! Why not!

On the positive side, in this land of wonderful trees, my first pit stop tomorrow is a huge, massive tree!

I look forward to the pictures.

Willie