Day 148 - 156: Rest in Puebla
This will be a short entry. I have been resting in Puebla for the last week. I met a friend here from a previous time in Mexico. We explored both Puebla and Cholula. I got caught up on some chores like tent cleaning, which was badly needed.
Nicolous from the Go club in Guanajuato put me in contact with a Go player in Puebla that is roughly the same level as me. We met a couple of times and got some great games in. I have been really enjoying meeting Go players and playing Go while on tour. Go is beautifully language agnostic. You can laugh, joke and communicate perfectly, even without a shared language. The game is the shared language.
I learned a traditional Spanish card game called Brisca.
Mate is a traditional Argentinian drink, and I expect it will become a staple later in this trip. I have only had it once before. As I happened to be in an Argentinian restaurant, I took the opportunity to retry it. Think of it as a leafy green, shared, social caffeinated drink.
The ceiling of the restaurant was covered in flags and I was disappointed not to see an Irish one. Later, the owner started up a conversation and explained that she only puts up flags of countries of her customers. She asked where I am from and was excited that she now gets to buy and put up an Irish flag.
Am not one for planning too much (as ye well know by now), but will have some decisions to make in the next couple of weeks. Chiapas is a Mexican state and isn’t the safest. So I need to strategize somewhat on how to get through or around this state. The two leading options right now: One is to reach the Oaxacan coast and follow the safer Chiapas coastline into Guatemala. The other option is to go through Tabasco, into Yucatan and then cross into Belize and then Guatemala. That would be a huge month-long detour so I am leaning towards option one. But this decision is to be made in a couple of weeks.
My next “main” stop will be in Oaxaca. I don’t really want to take time off between here and there. I have been lazy about camping lately but it’s time to get back to camp life. I also want to get off the main highways and onto more country roads and backroads. I found a route mapped by some other bike tourers that looks difficult, scenic, remote and fits the bill. I will use that for inspiration for the next week. Am looking forward to this next section.
