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20 Nov 2013
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27. Loco Las Pozas de Edward James, Xilitla
Several people have told me about a place called Xilitla and how there is an amazing garden that exists there. Xilitla is about 6 hours north of DF in the state of San Luis Potosi. It’s rural up there and largely comprised of small farm communities, this means good roads, unmolested scenery and culture. I set out early in the morning to beat the commuter traffic that floods into the city every morning. There is an immense gravitational pull that Mexico city emits towards its surrounding areas. As if it were a black hole, everyone and everything is sucked into its center as I fight my way out. Once I get free of its grasp it began to rain, and from this moment until the moment that I arrived in Xilitla, 10hrs later, it pissed rain continuously.
About 1/3 of the way to Xilitla I came through a small pueblo called Atotonilco. Here I stopped for some food and to take a minute to try and warm up to a decent temperature to safely operate a motorcycle at.
The food was bomb. Maize tortillas pumped out right in front of me with some freshly done up, well…. some sort of roasted cow. They called it something different though and people seemed to be all worked up about them having it today.
This little pup was having an extra tough day due to the rain so I chucked him some cow.He seemed to like it and sat very attentively next to me for the rest of the meal. Gave him a hefty helping at the end for his patience.
It was raining so much that I didn’t take very many photos, and the ones that I did take my camera was so wet from being in my tank bag that everything came out foggy. Along the way I took a shortcut through a curvier and more interesting road. There were some sticks across the turn for the shortcut. This is the standard latin american placarding for “don’t come this way”, but this signage doesn’t always apply to offroad oriented motorcycles though. This time they did apply, and so I waited for the dozers to clear the rock slide.
I took no more photos until I arrived in Xilitla as I was simply too wet and too cold to care to do so. It rained so much that I managed to suck water into my carb somehow, not sure where, maybe the air filter…but a quick drain of float bowl and she started right up. Nice having a simple machine to work on. It took longer to get my hands warm enough to be able to access my tools than it did to solve the issue. Other than this I had no troubles, and by dinnertime I rolled into where I was going to spend the night for a couple days in Xilitla. When I arrived I shakingly introduced myself to the other guests and chatted for a bit, then explained that I would be MIA until the morning, and rid myself of everything wet to retreat into my sleeping bag to warm up until the sun rose.
In the morning I awoke feeling fresh as rain…”rain”…well that’s weird, but yes I awoke feeling like a champion. With the sun out and clear I got a good look at the place. It’s called Casa Caracol. Rudolpho and his wife run it and its super laid back. With a fun design and cool places to hang out in, it’s easy to kick back and relax here.
There are private bungalows available but most people stay in the tipis which fit 4-5 people.
The grounds are full of fun sculptures and places to hang out.
I was sharing a tipi with two guys from Australia and we set out to find a cave that we were told had a pretty spectacular entrance.
They were correct, it was spectacular.
The opening of the cave is the main attraction in and of itself, but we hiked down into the bottom where there was a smaller mini-cave. The depth of view is hard to gauge here but if you look down and to the right you’ll see a large australian for scale.
Inside the cave there wasn’t a ton going on besides a fair amount of bird shit and a bit of graffiti. A long exposure though lights it up enough to see what’s up.
Looking up and out of the smaller cave.
We left and found some oranges.
Assessed their level of deliciousness.
And packed a few for later.
Back at Casa Caracol I met up with Fey, a girl from Queretaro Mexico who was visiting her sister here in Xilitla for the weekend. We set out to explore what for me was the main reason for coming to Xilitla, Las Pozas de Edward James.
Edward James was an Englishman born in 1907 into a fair bit of money. He was a lot of things (poet, artist, etc) but he is most prominently known for his early support of the Surrealist movement in the arts. For example, sponsoring Salvador Dali in his early years so he could continue to paint and also supporting him through the collection of his art. Eventually, Edward James would be known for having the finest private collection of surrealist works of any collector. The time would come though when he grew tired of simply collecting and supporting, and he wanted to create a masterpiece of his own. He set out to find the perfect location to blend the beauty of the natural world with his taste and flare for surrealism, and he set out to do it on a grand scale. He considered places all over the world, but when scouting for a location in Mexico he was blown away by the natural beauty of the high mountain subtropical forest just outside of Xilitla. He chose this location in 1945 and began construction of his personal sculpture “garden of eden) in 1949. He named the garden Las Pozas, “The pools”. Although he was a wealthy man, the project was on such a grand scale and required such expertise and craftsmanship that he had to sell the majority of his private art collection to afford the construction. The wood molds used to form the concrete structures as scene as works of art all by themselves. Here, high in the mountains, he took 80 acres of natural rain forest, waterfalls, and rivers, and built enormous concrete surrealist structures amongst them. He also brought in many exotic plants (at one point the grounds boasted 29,000 orchids) as well as exotic birds and animals. It took decades to build and although many structures are left unfinished (or have been lost within the jungle), even now, after his passing and the properties opening to the public, it doesn’t fail to fascinate and intrigue those that venture into its landscape.
As you wander through, it’s eerie to think that this was not created for the public, nor was it made to be inhabited or lived in. None of the structures were built with any functional intention other than as an enormous surrealist work of art for Edward James’ and his private guests to be amazed by. It is a real life work of art that you can physically walk through and explore, and at less than $5 to get in, it is a pretty cheap trip to an entirely different world.
Many structures have stairways that lead to nowhere. Edward James named this place “The House on Three Floors Which Will in Fact Have Five or Four or Six”. (Fey is near the center several stories down for scale)
And bridges that simply end before they’ve reached their destination.
Other times there will be stairs that appear out of nowhere that lead to an amazing structure, yet they are found on the other side of a small river with no walkway.
There are no signs that tell you where to go, and everything is dense jungle so you never know what’s around the corner until you walk into it. You simply have to wander, explore, and keep your eyes out for clues to venture further into an area. If you are willing to explore though, and get a little wet, you can stumble upon to some pretty amazing locations hidden within the gardens 80 acres.
By the end of the day Fey and I had been walking for 5 hours or so and the night was taking over the garden. With no guardrails or ropes keeping you from exploring, high structures with no logical architecture, and the entire place being a dizzying maze of pathways and hidden trails Las Pozas is not a place you want to be lost in at night without a light. We found a trail out just as the last bit of light was dipping over the mountains. That night we stayed up late hanging out with Fey’s sister Eunice, and Eunice’s boyfriend Sobo. Great people to hang out with and I’m glad I got the chance to meet them. Shit, is my Spanish getting somewhat conversational?!
Here’s a video from the trip. Mr. Edward James, you were one ‘pinche loco’ mother ****er, but I sure had a blast exploring your fascinating mind today.
__________________
"In life sometimes you just need to value adventure above security and comfort."
Last edited by seantully; 1 Dec 2013 at 00:35.
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1 Dec 2013
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28. A Run Through The Ringer, Valle De Bravo
After a few days of relaxing up north in the state of San Luis Potosi, I returned to Mexico City to head out for the weekend. This weekend is a long weekend with Monday being a state holiday and Edgardo has invited me to tag along with his family for a weekend out of the city at his home in Valle de Bravo. He said he could show me some good enduro riding and that he had a XR250 for me to use so no need to bring my bike. We had stopped in Valle de Bravo for a bite to eat after our ride last weekend in Toluca and I really liked the place. Some enduro riding and a long weekend out of the city, sounds rad to me.
Valle de Bravo is situated a brief 2 hrs from Mexico City to the north east, and sits right on the shore of Lake Avondaro. Its proximity to Mexico City and Toluca, it’s beautiful terrain, and ample outdoor activities make it a popular weekend getaway location for many of Mexicos affluent families. There is plenty of boating, mountain biking, paragliding, and of course, endless amounts of offroad riding of everykind. You can tell how centered around outdoor activities the community is by the sheer number of outdoor recreation shops that can be found in town. These are high quality shops too, with all the kit, parts, and top of the line bikes you could want. KTM, Husqvarna, Yamaha, etc are all represented in full. Do you want to buy a brand new KTM 6-days, or a rally outfitted 690 without having to special order it? No problem, plenty for sale here. Or maybe you just want to rent a race ready bike and bring it back muddy and haggard for someone else to deal with, that can be arranged no sweat.
Edgardo and his wife Jessica have a beautiful home here with an amazing view of the area.
We geared up for a day of riding and I met my noble steed that Edgardo was kind enough to lend me for the weekend. I’m glad he had a few bikes laying around, as I wouldn’t be able to do what we had in mind on the KiLleR.
Edgardo would be on his KTM.
Edgardo asked me what my level of riding was to get a gauge for where we should go. The riding options vary wildly here, with everything from beginner to professional quality routes. I said I knew enough to know that I’m no expert, but I always would rather be challenged than bored. He thought for a second then nodded and we headed out.
We started off with some easier stuff so I could get used to the bike and so Edgardo could gauge where I was at.
After a while tooling around Edgardo asked if I wanted something more difficult. I said yeah let’s kick it up a notch. He said he knows of a place but once we start we can’t really turn back and are committed. I said great, let’s do it.
We rode to the base of what I could see was a very steep little mountain,Edgardo pointed to the top and said we are going there. “There will be lots of roots, rocks, and it is very slippery yet hard clay. It’s possible that you won’t be able to make it”. If there’s anything that lights a fire under me it’s a challenge coupled with low odds of success. Sounds great, let’er rip!
As soon as we dropped it into gear the riding was both technically and physically demanding.
About 2 minutes in I was sucking water like a camel and enjoying the grind immensely.
We ran into 3 other riders working up the same trail, all on pretty light enduro bikes. It’s good we ran into eachother, because you needed at least 3 people to get up some sections of this route.
3 hours of huffing, teeth clenching, body crunching and eventual triumph later - we made it to the top. If you have a slight masochistic side to you this is a lot of fun. I had an absolute blast.
Here’s a video of the ride
http://vimeo.com/80474750
The next day my whole body was pretty sore, it’s a good feeling. One that shows that you pushed your limits and persevered to succeed. We spent the next day out on the lake towing the girls on a large banana.
Kicking back some cold beverages on the floating tienda.
And having Edgardo and his family trying to teach me how to wakeboard. I didn’t really learn how to wakeboard, but I got really good at ragdolling and spitting up water. Thanks for a fantastic couple of days Edgardo and to your warm and welcoming families hospitality. For such a physically demanding weekend, it was exactly what I needed.I now feel refreshed, recharged, and ready to hit the road again.
__________________
"In life sometimes you just need to value adventure above security and comfort."
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2 Apr 2014
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Update
For anyone that was following this, sorry for the lack of posts. I hate to link to another site from Horizons, as I really enjoy the environment here on the HUBB, but I am only posting now in ADVrider due to the photo limit on the HUBB. My ride report is fairly photo heavy and thus I am limited when posting on here. If you would like to follow along, you can check out the progress on ADVrider.
OR if the mods are able to not limit the number of photos per post I would LOVE that!
Currently in Colombia on post #68.
Cheers,
Sean
__________________
"In life sometimes you just need to value adventure above security and comfort."
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Next HU Events
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2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
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helps answer the question - Why Go? Inspirational stories by veteran travellers Greg Frazier (5 times RTW), Peter and Kay Forwood (193 countries), Tiffany Coates (Mongolia Mayhem) and Rene Cormier (University of Gravel Roads).
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break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
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