(excerpts are from previous email)
The location: Central Mexico
Here in this part of Mexico, the weather is usually great with a high of 80-85 (degrees F) and a low in the 55-65 range. Queretaro sits at a lower latitude than the entirety of the US, minus Hawaii, but just under 7000 feet altitude and the landscape is essentially mountainous desert, but with a lot of foliage and larger trees. Heading off-road, the terrain becomes quite rugged and only the well-prepared should dare venture in those areas. Help can be a very long walk in any direction, should you require it.
The Roads - Welcome to Land Rover Country!
The roads, in general, are a good mix of brand-new highway, city street, cobblestones from the 17th century, diesel truck route (potholes that swallow VW's!) and the occasional burro pathway they call a 'road' - truly Land Rover country - glad I brought it! The good news is, that 90% of the places that we gringos wist to get to are reasonably finished, some actually brand-new, financed by the rush of incoming dollars/euros/yen, etc from the many factories operating here in the city and just north of it.
Another big push that is occurring in Mexico is the RUTA 2010 project, which is also a big influx of pesos to prepare certain roads for Mexico's Bicentennial. coming up next September 16. If you plan to be anywhere in this country at that time, it will be a huge celebration and Queretaro is essentially their Philadelphia, so welcome to 'ground zero' for the festivities.
Here in this part of Mexico, the weather is usually great with a high of 80-85 (degrees F) and a low in the 55-65 range. Queretaro sits at a lower latitude than the entirety of the US, minus Hawaii, but just under 7000 feet altitude and the landscape is essentially mountainous desert, but with a lot of foliage and larger trees. Heading off-road, the terrain becomes quite rugged and only the well-prepared should dare venture in those areas. Help can be a very long walk in any direction, should you require it.
The Roads - Welcome to Land Rover Country!
The roads, in general, are a good mix of brand-new highway, city street, cobblestones from the 17th century, diesel truck route (potholes that swallow VW's!) and the occasional burro pathway they call a 'road' - truly Land Rover country - glad I brought it! The good news is, that 90% of the places that we gringos wist to get to are reasonably finished, some actually brand-new, financed by the rush of incoming dollars/euros/yen, etc from the many factories operating here in the city and just north of it.
Another big push that is occurring in Mexico is the RUTA 2010 project, which is also a big influx of pesos to prepare certain roads for Mexico's Bicentennial. coming up next September 16. If you plan to be anywhere in this country at that time, it will be a huge celebration and Queretaro is essentially their Philadelphia, so welcome to 'ground zero' for the festivities.
Driving in old San Miguel:
The other weekend, I was driving in the colonial town of San Miguel de Allende, (about and hour NE of Qro.), which is built partially on a mountainside and its historical center is almost all cobblestone, some of it still from the 1600's, so I'm told. Several of the streets are nearly a 45 degree incline (not exaggerating, either!). Going down them is relatively easy but you have to literally stand on the brake and switching-on the LR's hill function helps also. Going up them is actually fun in the Discovery as you put it in LO and do a nice, steady climb and leave all of the others green with envy, haha.
The only thing that tends to be an issue is the Land Rover Discovery's width: there were a few streets that were so narrow that I didn't dare attempt them. At one point I had approx 1" clearance for each mirror! I had the whole street's attention as they watched to see if the 'gringo loco' would end up having to back up the whole way, but luckily they were not given such a spectacle. I found a parking spot (whole separate issue - jeez! maybe I'll cover that in a later entry) and walked over to the Starbucks (yep, even here...) for a well-earned coffee and relaxed in the courtyard there, cira 1810, I was told.
Life is good here.
frank
