Mexico Day 58: Banned from Mexico City?

La Cañada, Querétaro //

With the overnight low dipping down to thirty degrees, last night is our coldest night of the trip so far.  Thanks to our cozy blankets and heated mattress pad, we manage to not run our furnace until the morning.  Not knowing when or where we’ll be able to refill our propane tanks has us in conservation mode.  

Stepping out into the crisp, cool mountain air and surrounding pine trees feels like being back home in Colorado.  However, it’s January and I don’t need to be there to know that there are several feet of snow affixed to the ground at 9,000’ in Colorado.  Here at 9,000’ in the middle of Mexico, there’s not a speck of snow to be seen.  This makes me feel very aware of how far south we are on the continent.  

We’re all feeling haggard from the last few days of driving and are determined to stretch our resources so that we can sit still for at least a day.  A nearby hiking trail allows us the opportunity to stretch our legs and enjoy the environment.  A wide and well-trodden path through a dense forest concludes at an overlook with 180 degree views of the sprawling Sierra Gorda mountain range.  It is awe-inspiring to be standing on the edge of a high mountain ridge in the middle of Mexico, a place few gringos even know about let alone seek out, looking around at little villages and family farms tucked into the hillsides.  These people are far-removed from the nearest grocery store or hospital and I admire their resilience and ingenuity for living such self-sustaining lives.

When we get back to camp Mark goes into research mode while I rebel against it.  Sometimes I love all the research required to travel this way and some days I want nothing to do with it.  Either way, it has to be done as we have no idea where we’re headed from here.  What we do know is that our trajectory has us getting closer to Mexico City which, due to its population of nearly 22 million*, is a metropolis we’d like to avoid.  While we had heard mention of strict emission laws in Mexico City, we didn’t know much about them until Mark got deep into research today.  Due to the age of our trucks and the fact that they are diesel, not only are we not even allowed within Mexico City, we’re not allowed in all of Mexico state.  Further, it appears as though the next city to the south, Puebla, has adopted the same laws, though we’re unsure if the entire state of Puebla has followed suit.  (To clear up any confusion, many Mexican states have cities by the same name.)  After several hours of research, Mark concludes that maps & details that outline Mexico’s driving laws are not easy to locate online.

By the end of the day we still don’t know where we’re headed from here.  The good news though is that we still have water and propane.  That means we’ve afforded ourselves another day here in the peaceful backyard of the Eden family.  Hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow, we’ll have an idea of where we’re headed next.

*Mexico City itself has a population of over 9 million while the greater Mexico City area is estimated at nearly 22 million.

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