On Monday, February 24th we boarded the bus for the trip which would be more than 2,620 km (1,626 miles). There were 13 tourists, 2 tour guides and 2 bus drivers on a 40 seater bus. It took us 2 1/2 days to reach Oaxaca.
(On this trip we remembered to bring nose spray and lip balm to counter the effects of the dry air in the high country!)
On Day 1 our destination was Leon. We left about 7:30 am from Savage RV Park in Lo de Marcos with a stop for breakfast 2 hours later in Ixtlan del Rio. The restaurant featured a beautiful painting of the Los Toriles ruins with indigenous people in their native costume.
On the east side of Guadalajara, we passed the area of Agave Sol. Our tour guide informed us that the area had been settled by the French so the people in the area are tall, thin and white skinned.
We arrived in Leon shortly after 5 pm. Leon has a population of approx 1.23 million and is located at an elevation 5,955 ft. The city is known for the sale of inexpensive leather items. We discovered when we went shopping you have to look carefully for the Hecho en Mexico label as many cheap items in the stores were Made in China!
Our accommodations were at the Hotel Real Rez just 2 blocks from the town square so easy walking distance to go out to dinner. It was a beautiful hotel with continental breakfast included.
On Day 2 we boarded the bus about 8:30 am to drive to Puebla. About an hour later we passed through an area known for producing strawberries. At Salamanca we saw the PEMEX renfineries.
While on the Arco Norte (north bypass of Mexico City) there were 2 areas where we reached elevations over 8,800 ft. The first notable industry as we entered the city of Puebla was the huge Volkswagen plant - it had over 1 km of road frontage.
We arrived in Puebla at 5 pm. Puebla is located at an elevation of 7,005 ft with a population of 5.78 million people.
We booked into the Best Western Real de Puebla for the night. The hotel rooms are in dire need of renovation so we re-named it Worst Western Real. The maintenance has been neglected. This was evidenced by beeping smoke detectors whose batteries were low. We had to get the one outside our room door replaced or we would never sleep the night. We went for an evening walk around the town. There were many beautiful old buildings and we wish we could have stayed another day in this city.
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| Vic clowning around standing on an embedded light |
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| The street lights changed from pink to purple to blue during the evening |
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| Each vendor carried a huge bouquet of balloons |
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| a fountain in the town square |
Day 3: The buffet breakfast at the Real de Puebla the next morning was excellent!
After breakfast we went shopping at the market for a couple of hours. While there we were given a tour of a local Talavera pottery factory.
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| Smoothing the tiles |
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| A peek inside the kiln |
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| The ring on the left shows the colour change after 8 hrs of baking at 1100 degrees. The one on the right is in the raw form before the baking process. |
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| Items baked and waiting to be painted |
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| artist painting a set of tiles |
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| There were 4 painters at this factory |
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| All free hand painting to create this design -- amazing to watch! |
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| Sherry and Louise leaving the factory with their purchases |
We left Puebla about noon and spotted this beautiful fountain as we left the city.
We arrived in Oaxaca about 6 pm to book into the Hotel Gala. The hotel was located just 2 buildings from the town square. We were close to entertainment, dining and the historical area.
After dinner at one of the restaurants at the square, we took an evening walk along the streets.
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| One of the many churches |
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| The Music campus of the University |
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