I continually promise myself that I´ll get in better shape and focus on my language skills. I`ll make smarter decisions and be a more well-rounded person.
And yet I`m not quite sure if I`m fulfilling these commitments as I push my bike up the hill of a two-way highway in the middle of nowhere. Any minute now a car will come barreling around the switchbacks and end this foolishness, I think. How did I get here? I decided it would be a great idea to rent a bike for the day to head up north and try to find some waterfalls that everyone is talking about. I went to an adventure outfitter, very professional and all, and was outfitted with a decent bike, spare tire, lock and pump. They even gave me a map with which to find the falls. And I even sat there and listened to them as they explained to me how it was 13 km away, uphill and gave me all the precise directions.
My Spanish must be rusty, because I had no clue as to where I was headed. So after an hour of pushing up various hills, blazing through the countryside, stopping to take photos, I gave up and turned around. I`ve also come to the sad conclusion that I`m out of shape. I`m starting to lose my demi-god status (both physically and linguistically) and it is embarrassing. It has shamed me and it has shamed my family. After 3 km of climbing, I`m toast and it`s time to head back towards the city. The downhill descent is exhilirating enough to make it worth the pain though. So instead, I decided to take a road west of the city to EL Fosil, which is the remains of a few hundred million old Cronosaurus. But after riding through the dry country and struggling with the hills, I´m not sure if the 8 miles of biking to see a million-year-old dead fish was worth it. I´ll have to get back to you on that.
However, what did impress me was a couple of hikes that I took up into the mountains behind the city. I found some old farm trails that people use to get between the cities and used those to get up into the hills. Great views and strange plants. Plants that look evil. The most disturbing moment was when a growling black dog came out of nowhere and scared the shit out of me. I thought about running for a moment, but then I decided to turn and fight, using my black Hemingwayesque journal to fend the dog off, all the while yelling Tranquilo! to the dog. It worked and I returned safely to the village in one piece. More thumbnails ...
| 
