Mexico

I stayed here for two nights. MX$1100 per night. Which is too expensive for the quality of the hotel (and two expensive for a mochilera like me!). The shower was terrible (like a fine mist that went everywhere except on me) and the bathroom needs a bit of an overhaul.

However, the bed was fantastic as was the airconditioning. There is also an excellent business centre and although I'm no longer staying in the hotel, the concierge has permitted me to use it to check my emails & write this post! If you need to do any online banking (which I needed to do today) this is probably the most secure place in Chihuahua to do it.

There is a restaurant downstairs called Degá where you can get a discounted buffet breakfast. They also do lunch and dinner, but I only ever ate a very light breakfast there.

This hotel is primarily for business people. I met Mexican rancheros from El Paso, businessmen and - the piece de resistance - a couple of Mexican Policía Federal Preventiva who were escorting the relics of a French saint around Mexico. Long story, but you can read about it on my other blog, here.

I moved out of here on Sunday morning to Casa Chihuahua which is a backpacker hostel, but has a nicer atmosphere than San Francisco Quality Inn - oh, and the showers at Casa Chihuahua are fantastic!

The final itinerary for my Mexican Pilgrimage is as follows:

12 September - arrive LAX
13 September - LAX to El Paso, Texas via Amtrak
14 September - arrive El Paso, Texas
15 September - El Paso, Texas to Chihuahua, México
16 September - Chihuahua
17 September - Chihuahua
18 September - Chihuahua to Creel (Copper Canyon train)
19 September - Creel to Batopilas (Copper Canyon train)
20 September - Batopilas to Creel
21 September - Creel to Los Mochis (Copper Canyon train)
22 September - Los Mochis to Mazatlán
23 September - Mazatlán
24 September - Mazatlán
25 September - Mazatlán to San Blas
26 September - San Blas
27 September - San Blas
28 September - San Blas to Guadalajara
29 September - Guadalajara
30 September - Guadalajara
1 October - Guadalajara
2 October - Guadalajara to Zacatecas
3 October - Zacatecas
4 October - Zacatecas
5 October - Zacatecas to San Luis Potosí
6 October - San Luis Potosí
7 October - San Luis Potosí
8 October - San Luis Potosí to Guanajuato
9 October - Guanajuato
10 October - Guanajuato
11 October - Guanajuato to San Miguel de Allende
12 October - San Miguel de Allende
13 October - San Miguel de Allende
14 October - San Miguel de Allende
15 October - San Miguel de Allende to Vera Cruz
16 October - Vera Cruz
17 October - Vera Cruz
18 October - Vera Cruz to Puebla
19 October - Puebla
20 October - Puebla to Oaxaca
21 October - Oaxaca
22 October - Oaxaca to San Cristobal de las Casas
23 October - San Cristobal de las Casas
24 October - San Cristobal de las Casas
25 October - San Cristobal de las Casas to Ocosingo
26 October - Ocosingo to Laguna Miramar
27 October - Pyramids - destination yet to be decided
28 October - Pyramids - destination yet to be decided
29 October - San Cristobal de las Casas
30 October - Taxco
31 October - Taxco
1 November - México City
2 November - México City
3 November - México City
4 November - Depart México City & arrive LAX
5 November - LAX
6 November - Depart LAX for Melbourne
7 November - lose a day flying
8 November - lose another day flying
9 November - Arrive home in Melbourne

Not only will the recent alteration to my itinerary prevent me from flying with American Airlines for an additional eight hours (something I was dreading!), the removal of the LAX-DFW-MEX-DFW-LAX legs of my earlier itinerary will also provide me with the ability to extend my Latin American trip should the opportunity present itself. I have booked my trip using my Qantas Frequent Flyer points (yes, almost a decade of points accumulation has now given me an opportunity to fly for free!) and travelling on a frequent flyer booked ticket has severe restrictions attached to it.

After making the original booking using one's frequent flyer points one is permitted to make changes to the dates of travel at a cost of 5,000 points (MEL-LAX-MEL has cost me 96,000 points) - depending, of course, on the availability of seats earmarked for frequent flyer points bookings. Prior to commencing travel it is possible to change the route of travel, although this is a little more difficult (and costs 5,000 points) due to the limited availability of seats earmarked for frequent flyer travel.

However, after travel on a frequent flyer issued ticket has commenced it becomes even more difficult to alter the date/s of travel and impossible (i.e. not permitted at all) to alter the route/s. Initially I was flying MEL-LAX-DFW-MEX-DFW-LAX-MEL: a route that was always going to prove to be impossible to request a date change. However, by removing the LAX-DFW-MEX-DFW-LAX leg of the journey if I want/need to change the date/s of my return to Australia this will prove to be much easier - as I will only need to change the date for one flight leg, as opposed to three.

The current plan is that I will overland it either by bus from LAX to Tijuana or from LAX to El Paso via Amtrak where I can hop over the border to Ciudad Juárez and hot foot it out of there to Chihuauhua.

Places of interest currently on my draft travel agenda are:

Cañón del Cobre, San Blas, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Guadalajara (home of Maná), Taxco, Cuernavaca, Oaxaca, San Cristobal de las Casas, Palenque, Campeche, Mérida, Uxmal, Chichén Itza, Tulum, Calakmul, Agua Azul, Laguna Miramar and of course México City and Teotihuacán.

I visited Dr Scally again on Saturday for my final Rabies, Hep A and Hep B shots.

Everything was fine until 4pm that afternoon when I fell ill. Really ill. I developed a raging fever which lasted for 24 hours and which no amount of paracetamol could reduce. Accompanying my feverish and delirious state were a series of bizarre and frightening nightmares concerning my impending overseas trip which have lead me to completely change my México itinerary. I have cancelled all internal US travel and will now make my way overland from Los Angeles into México.

Yesterday I spent most of the day acquiring "equipment" for my 12 September departure.

I settled on a pair of Merrell Pulse Trail shoes which I picked up from Mitchell's Adventure & Outdoor Sports store for $199.95. I behaved extravagantly and also picked up a pair of Merrell Nerve shoes for $179.95.

Other items of clothing I purchased include three pairs of light coloured pants (each around $39 - one pair converts to shorts), four tee shirts ($20 each), a Feathertop rain/wind proof jacket (purchased on sale for $70), underwear and socks (specially designed to 'wick' the sweat away). In addition, I picked up a Maglite/Victorinox utility pack (i.e. small torch and swiss army knife) as well as some heavy duty mosquito repellant and sunscreen.

The last item I need to purchase is a sleeping bag which I can also purchase from url=http://www.mitchellsadventure.com.au]Mitchell's Adventure & Outdoor Sports store[/url].

Mitchell's are significantly cheaper than the bigger city stores such as Paddy Pallin and Kathmandu, however the range of products are limited and if you are seeking something in particular you will most probably need to request that it be specially ordered for you.