After a couple of weeks in the fleshpots of San Blas, the time has come to move on. I have to start moving northeast. My next major destination is the La Reserva de la Biosfera del Cielo, which is over there somewhere.
I like to take small roads and set off up on a tiny one over the mountains towards the city of Fresnillo.
We go from sea level to 3,000 meters on a very, very steep and very broken road. I am in first gear coming out of the hundreds of hairpins that lead us to the top.
The prospects are breathtaking for a hundred miles!
The road has been tarmac covered at some date but now is in very bad condition. We swerve and slalom around the 50 cm deep potholes that judder the truck painfully if hit. There is no one on this road. Not quite true as there is quite a lot of horsey traffic.
At one point, three police/military trucks come by. Each has a heavy caliber machine gun and carries six horribly be-weaponed young men. I waved and to my surprise they waved back!
Occasionally, a collection of wooden huts shows up. The inhabitants are Indian and dressed in bright colors. It is getting dark and I do not know where I am. Wonderful thing about the 4wheel camper is that you can peel off into the woods and set up camp at will. This I do.
After a peaceful night, I gently weave my way out of the mountains and end up in the city of Fresnillo.
Fresnillo is a nothing sort of place but has lots of interesting small shops.
The recent, let’s say the last 200 years, history of Mexico is complex. This is another way of saying I know very little about the recent history of Mexico. A guy in a bar told me that at one point of time the government made Christianity illegal.
I stumble into a non descript restaurant that is full of men with weathered faces, all wearing white cowboy hats, and women wearing highly colored skirts and shawls. They only serve variations on mutton stew. I get a rack of lamb chops for 150 pesos. So good!
So, I am in the middle of Mexico with no very clear idea of where I am going. It will become clearer with time.
The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond 
What an interesting place! I love your adventures.
Hola Tim,
I really like Mexico. So much to see. Also the Mexicans don’t try to sell me stuff.
Didn’t Stalin try that banning religion thing? Maybe he got the idea from Mexico; often think it should be given a real try. Is it a Danish proverb – “Nobody waves, but everybody waves back” – Scandinavian anyway.
Seems Fresnillo made its name for being a big silver mining place. The Fresnillo silver mine has been operating since 1554 and is still churning lots of the stuff out today. Maybe the Mining Museum would be worth a look and who could resist a department store called Liverpool? Those hats are amazing – is there a machine round the back pressing them out in their thousands?