Tuesday 19 February 2013

Oaxaca to Tuxtepec - It Rained Cats And Dogs

Then the rain got heavy!! 

We left Oaxaca when it was overcast. Not sure what the teachers are going to do on Monday, we didn’t want to wait and find out either.

Don told us from Oaxaca to Tuxtepec is nice windy road, up to the mountains and very nice. When we left town towards the mountain, it started to rain. We haven’t seen any rain for about 7 months, this time, it’s a real one.

I guess because the Oaxaca side doesn’t get much rain in the dry season, so it brought out the oily stuff to the surface, it’s as greasy as a butchers knife and slippery .

We carried on up to 3200m high, the temp went down to 3 deg C, we both got really cold. We had to stop on the top of the hill and found a restaurant, hot coffee ordered followed by some hot food. After a while, when we warmed up a bit, plus more warm clothes put on, we are on our way again.

The rain was driving in horizontally !!



The sign of a desperately cold face ... proof that yello can turn blue back to yello 



The life saver



My jacket left a huge puddle on their floor, the water was pouring out of everywhere, the Klim gear held extremely well but water was driven in through the cuffs and the neck soaking down from my balaclava as I had to ride with my visor open for a fair bit of the time to see where we were going 

Descending down the hill, this side the road was not as slippery as the other side, but the fog set in (we were actually in the cloud so no big view for us today), we can’t see 50m. It took us 5 hours to do the 220 km, and our Spot was killed by the rain too.

See the water rolling down the road



Bit damp but somewhere under there is a smile



It was windy as well as rainy so there was foliage all over the road.



Visibility was less than ideal



Thick fog and water chasing us down the road.



Getting to Tuxtepec, we quickly found a cheap hotel. Although our Gortex was water proof, riding in the rain long enough, water still found its way down to our chest and sleeves. Luckily we had the ceiling fan working all night to dry most of them.

To finish there was a waterfall cascading off the building so what is one to do but make the most of it  ... next time I will wear my togs!



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