San Louis / La Huasteca

Our next stop on this grand tour of Mexico was also our next Couchsurfing stop, San Luis Potosi. San Luis is the capitol of the state of San Luis. It is a fairly industrial city with many foreign companies such as BMW, Continental and General Motors. My host Sofi and Daniel are a perfect example of the people living in SLP. Young, progressive and foreign. Sofia is from Mexico City and Daniel is from Germany. They were such good host and we befriended them right away. They were kind enough to prepare a meal for us and took the time to show us the city.

SLP has many museums and strong architecture for being such an industrial city.

The Centro de las Artes, is a prison turned museum and arts center.

No. This isn't the KKK.

Sofia and Daniel took us out for a night on the town. Daniel really likes to Salsa Dance, and he not bad for a Caucasian guy from Germany!

Our gracious host Daniel and Sophia

Daniel even took us to the first Octoberfest in SLP. There is a fairly large German population here. The festival was fun although there wasn't any traditional German music or Lederhosen. However, there were many craft beers here and great food.

After two days in SLP it was time to say goodbye to Sofi and Daniel. Our next stop was Huasteca.

La Huasteca is a regional area defined by the indigenous Huasteca people. You could equate it to 'The Cascadia Region' of the Pacific Northwest. As we got further from San Luis the climate changed from high desert to tropical. Huastec is famous for it fresh water springs and waterfalls.

Our first stop was Laguna de la Media Luna. A natural preserve / park. Laguna de la Media Luna consist of five fresh water springs. The water is a constant 70 degrees and crystal clear. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and the place was jam packed with people so we opted to camp just outside the main area. Laguna de la Media Luna is busy on most weekends, but during the weekday, we had the place to ourselves.

On of the attractions here is the fresh water scuba diving. I had tried scuba before a long time ago, but didn't do very well. I gave it another try and this time with success!

My guide

The hardest part for me was clearing my ears to adjust to the pressure. My ears are pretty sensitive and it took about a week for one of my ears to feel normal again.

Giving the Okay sign.

After camping a few days it was time to move on. We were destine to go towards teh Tamual waterfalls, but my batter was starting to fail. We stopped at an Autozone to have it checked, and sure enough it was going bad. Although I could still start the bike, running GPS and phone was taking it's toll.

My 7 year old battery. Guess I can't complain...

After checking the local shops for a battery we decided that would have to go to Ciudad Valles. There was a Yamaha shop there and that would be our best bet to get the battery for my bike.

We got to the shop and inquired about the battery. Unfortunately, they would have to order the battery, which would take two days. While I was in the shop, I met a guy names Alberto who helped me with translation. In Mexico things flow differently. Alberto just meeting us, was happy to show us there area and one of the waterfalls in the area where we could camp. He offered us his house to stay, but we wanted to take advantage of the beauty of the area.

The best way to explain the way of life in Mexico is an arablic saying "Inshallah", meaning "If God wills"

Alberto showing one of his favorite places, Cascade De Micos.

Cascade de Micos is seven waterfalls. You can take a tour and actually jump from all seven falls. We camped the night, and it unfortunately rain pretty hard on us. The camp area turned to mud, and we spent most of the next day, drying out our stuff.

This is not one of the falls you can jump from. But I did have some fun playing with the camera.

We checked in to the Yamaha shop, and learned that the battery would be a few more days, so we headed towards Xilitla, home of the famous Las Pozas. An elaborate maze of architecture created by Edward James. This guy was eccentric to the max and obviously had too much tome and money on his hands. Nothing here seems to have a sense of purpose or intent, but it was really cool!

One things I think is interesting in Mexico is the lack of nanny rules. Las Pozas is a perfect example. If this was in the USA, there would be caution signs everywhere and you would not be able to explore Las Pozas to it's fullest because of the falling hazards. Not in Mexico. If you fall off of something like this, then you were stupid for trying in the first place. There are no law suits or lawyering up here.

There are several pools and waterfalls in Las Pozas. I decided to take a dip in this one. What you can't see is the giant crowd of people taking my picture because I was one of the few people who went in the water.

So glad I brought a waterproof camera.

The Next day we went to Aquismón and Sótano De Las Golondrinas (Cave of the Swallows)

Sótano De Las Golondrinas is a 300 Meter hole in the ground. Every morning when the sun rises, millions of Swallows take flight from the cave and then return at sun set. It's a pretty amazing thing to see. You can also rappel into the cave for a mere $500 us dollars. It takes about 20 minutes to get to the bottom and about an hour to climb back out. They actually pull you up by hand. Technically getting the bottom is free. Haha.

Big ass hole in the ground.

A view from where we camped.

Our last stop in Huasteca was at Puente De Dios (The Bridge of God), but before we got there we had another flat tire. This was the third flat thus far on this trip. Fortunately, it happened next to a workshop, and these guys were happy to lend a hand. They saw the patch kit I had, and insisted on using theirs which was much better!

Now that's a patch! Turns out you can buy those at most motorcycle shops, so I got some for me.

When we finally got to Puente de Dios the bridge itself was under water because it had rained so much the previous week. Puente de Dios is supposed to be famous for swimming, which we could not do.

Big ass tree.

So that wraps up The Huasteca region of Mexico. Our next stop would be Delores Hildago / San Miguel to celebrate Dias de Muerta (Day of the Dead)