Oaxaca to Cuernavaca
December 26, 2009

Down the mountain
Snow on the mountain
Active volcano
More mountain roads

We woke early this morning and got the rig ready to travel and by about 8:00 AM we were on the road to Cuernavaca. I wanted to leave Oaxaca early as we had to pass around most of the city to get to the cuota road to Puebla. Fortunately, on the periferico (ring road) the traffic was very light and we did not loose our way and were out of the city in what I thought was really good time. Next onto the toll road Hwy 135 going towards Puebla. Now this started as a 4 lane road but quickly became a Mexican 3 lane. This is a normal driving lane with a wide shoulder for traffic to pull over onto when others wish to pass.
You must remember that Oaxaca is at 5,200 feet altitude and Mexico City which is the direction we were headed is at over 7,000 feet altitude. In between however the altitude goes to about 9,800 feet and then down again. So there was lots of mountain climbing to be done today. Fortunately today the road was good and there was no 25 mph driving around sharp curves all day long. Still it made for a very long day and a tiring one.
That was my fault as I wanted to be beyond the traffic going back to Mexico City on Sunday. So rather than pull into Pueblo for the night we continued on to Cuernavaca.
So first it was onto Hwy 150 towards Puebla and then trying to get onto the Periferico in Puebla which we totally missed and went clear around the city finally winding up on the Hwy to Atlixco. From there a jog over to Cualtla on Hwy 180 and there is where it got interesting.
The turnoff for Yautepec was nicely signed and I took it but it was not the highway but a road into the small puebla itself. So we found ourselves again on a small narrow road without directions and then behind a funeral of people on foot. Needless to say this was frustrating and nerves were getting raw. Finally after three or four stops for directions a man said to follow him and he would take us to the road to Cuenavaca. We followed over again narrow streets with topes every 100 feet or so until sure enough we finally made it to the road to Cuernavaca.
Now our campground was supposed to be near the Airport which was west and south of Cuernavaca but even with the directions from the guidebook we could not find it. So we backtracked to the autopista to Acapulco and then finally found a Pemex station (our home away from home) to spend the night at.
The guard came out after we had parked and said that it was ok to spend the night and that this was a safe place to stay and that we would be ok here. So here we are after 10 hours of driving and we are really exhausted.
So bye for now and tomorrow we should be somewhere north of Acapulco for the next few days.