Saltillo, Mexico

Trip Start Nov 05, 2006
1
5
182
Trip End Jan 14, 2008


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of Mexico  ,
Saturday, November 25, 2006

We arrived in Saltillo after a quick two hour drive. Saltillo is roughly population 100k and much more palatable for driving! In contrast to our Monterey accommodations, our hotel was a beautiful mission style building with a marble staircase and stained glass overseeing the lobby. Saltillo, in general, is a much better reflection of northern Mexico. While Monterry is much more industrial with strong ties to the border, Saltillo is a small northern town, with interesting new suburbs developing (the new modular housing is actually quite ugly!): However, it soil maintains a traditional¨"Zona Central" complete with a beautiful cathedral, museums and cultural centers and colonial architecture.

The stop was also scheduled to be a ´car day¨ for maintenance on the bus. We decided to hit the local Museo de Aver (bird museum) and do car work the next morning. Mexico boasts over 1000 species of birds so we decided to get educated on what our exposure would be a Saltillo Zona Central
a Saltillo Zona Central
 . Having now committed to memory the 1000 different species, our blog will be much more informative! Actually, we were at the "Museuo de Aves" on Thanskgiving Day, so we spend a moment of silence at the wild turkey exhibit.

Car Day - The plan was to do simple valve adjustments and timing checks. All was well until we got to the #3 & #4 cylinders (We were doing this ourselves). At some point along the way, a spring on the rocker arm assembly broke. As some of you know, we have many spare parts & tools...except for the one part we needed - a rocker arm spring. Off we went on our quest for parts. After a lengthy search and several stops at "parts dealers" we learned that while many VW parts are widely available in Mexico, these aren´t! I can only assume that Mexican made VWs have a different set up. A customer at the VW dealership pointed us to a crusty old VW mechanic ("Taller Mechanico") where a guy working in a muddy lot on VW engines simply reached down and produced an old rocker arm and pulled off the parts we´d need to rebuild the assembly. Our taxi drivers were fantastic. After they understood what we needed they served as guides and interpreters and made sure we knew where to go if we couldn´t fix the bus. Mexico taxis are CHEAP! For an hour of driving around guiding and interpreting, our total fee was $9 equivalent. One taxi driver inquired about our politics. We have decided the correct answer is "no me gusto George Bush" whenever asked. After a couple of hours and some frustration, the bus is fixed and ready for action! photos will also be added here in the future, still no USB ports.

Our hotel owners directed us to some great local eateries. So far, great food, no stomach problems and we´re now off to the town of Real de Catorce. It´s suppose to be sleepy little "ghost town" that houses the state´s peyote supply (used by a local Indian tribe). It also happens to be where "The Mexican" was filmed, but we will try to avoid the Hollywood hype.
Slideshow Print this entry Saltillo hotels