A very complete week, we've continued with our gastronomic tour and also seasoned it with traditional local drinks. We've done that tourist thing which, thanks to our bikes, we've managed put our own tinge on; sleeping by an enchanted lagoon and even on top of an active volcano after making it up there under our own steam. Although, we've finished the week succumbing to an organised tour so we could admire the process of tequila distillation in... Tequila! And well, thanks to this we've ridden around in a bus shaped like a keg pumping out loud reggaeton music that got even the grandmas in the town square shaking their booty.

We began the day bidding farewell to our friend Fidel while he and his family raked up the fallen leaves that had rained down from the trees in the night. We cycled towards Santa María del Oro, a small town famous for its enchanted lake. It wasn't far and we could enjoy the cool of the mountains but once we arrived our tummies were begging desperately for food. Thankfully we soon stumbled upon the market stand of a really friendly fella selling a fish soup called "Campechana", it's basically a salad of prawns in a bowl of fish stock. Simple and delicious! For desert we couldn't resit but to try an ice cream in the "Paletería", which tasted heavenly in the heat. We still had a few kilometres until we reached the famous lagoon, but we were seriously debating whether to go down to it as it would be a 400m vertical climb the next day... When it looked like we had no choice, since all the campsites were right on the lagoon, we chanced upon a lookout at the start of the descent which had a little restaurant and decided to take a break and have a beer. We'd been told the traditional meal at the lake was "chicharrón de pescado" but unfortunately we have no idea what it is due to a misunderstanding and when we went to place our order the kitchen was already closed... In the end, seeing that the restaurante closed so early, at about 17:30, we decided to ask if we could put the tent up in a corner of the patio. And they said yes! How lucky we were as we slept with the best views possible and all for free, but the best part? We didn't have to climb the hill in the morning!

The day before we'd planed to try and see a few more things along the way and by chance a volcano was just about to come up along the route which is one of the most important in Mexico due to being active and massive. We decided to wake up early and work our way towards her, then, with a bit of luck, climb up in the "cool" of the afternoon. What we didn't expect was such a tough cycle even to get there... Up and down, up and down, and none of these small hills, no... Serious mothers! And it was a hot one too which didn't help proceedings. Because of this we wore ourselves out and just as we reached the turning to the volcano, which would have been an 800m climb, we discovered that we didn't have much petrol for the camping stove either and we'd feel much better with a little more. We put all the facts into a cocktail shaker and decided to spend the night in the next town along, only 6km away, and charge our batteries for the next day's climb. So we headed for Jala, part of the state program of "Magic Towns" which, due to their culture and traditions, are considered representative of the Mexican culture. In total there are 121 that have the pleasure of making this list. Just as we poked our heads into town we found Hotel Juanito where, for the modest price of €14, we could enjoy a roof over our heads and take a well needed shower. Later we went out to take a stroll and grab a bite to eat when we ran into Rosita and her family, in whose restaurante we tucked into some lovely dishes and even lovelier company. Later Miguel, Rosita's cousin, took us to meet his mum and grandma that were selling some delicious deserts from a stall on a street corner and, very kindly, invited us to try some. It was a bowl of fresh fruit all sliced up and put on a bed of some sweet sauce made of condensed milk, a real treat!

With everything ready for our climb up the volcano we awoke at 5am, so as not to loose a second in the cool morning air. Although, soon after we were conscious of the fact that it was raining and this made us think twice. It wasn't till 9am that the rain had stopped and there and then we decided to postpone (again!) the ascent till the next day. After a call back home we went into town once more. Arriving in the town square a nice man who worked in the tourist office offered to give as a very long and complete explanation about the history, traditions and foods of Jala. We also saw the pretty town next door where a stunning little church was waiting to surprise us at the foot of a hill smeared in tropical flora. Later we popped into a bakery where they sold local tasties, one of which was a sponge loaf called "Wedding Bread" and some round biscuit type things glazed in sugar (as can be found in the lovely town of Caudete, Spain according to Ruth) that apparently some colonial bishops brought over a while back and the recipe has been passed down through 5 generations in the vicinity of Jala ever since.

Today it was to be, finally time to take on the volcano! We got up nice and early again and started, firstly heading across the pebbled town which took nearly an hour over all the bumps! When we had finally come out the other side the climb was waiting for us which would be near on a kilometre vertically upwards from here. The first third or so being tarmaced so fairly easy going and with a bit of cloud cover to go with it, which was very much appreciated. The rest of the journey was pebbled and, to say so politely, challenging but satisfying. With various stops required to catch our breath, in one we had the pleasure of meeting a couple of guys that lived on the road and told us their grand plans to develop the place with a restaurant, arts and crafts shop and even cabins for tourists. It all sounded great but the truth is that it was lovely to see the place without all this (we'll see in a few years how it turns out but it could be a while with just the two of them!) After 5 hours of constant uphill we reached the finishing line, the first crater of Ceboruco and its fumaroles. We didn't count on our new neighbours being the most peculiarly curious and friendly cows on earth who would continually chill out all around us. After such a huge effort the peace and quiet seduced us and we spent what was left of the afternoon reading in the shade of the trees and enjoying the stiff but pleasant breeze.

It's not every day you find yourself in such a unique place, so we had to make the most of it. We got up early and after a quick coffee we headed out on a hike to see the series of craters that crowned the summit of Ceboruco. It took us about 3 hours, pretty easy going and we enjoyed taking in the volcanic landscape while the sun rose. Half way through the morning we upped camp and started our bumpy way back towards Jala once more. Here we had lunch with Rosita and family again and spent the afternoon having a chat and a good old tequila that Miguel prepared for us. At last we managed to try the dish "mole", a sauce made with chillies that was absolutely delicious! We had plenty of time to fix a puncture that we must have picked up along the way after lunch. But then with late afternoon getting later we hit the road towards some ruins in the town of Itxlán del Río (try saying that when you're pissed!). On the way we picked up some beers and refried beans for dinner then on arrival a policeman welcomed us with open arms. He let us camp between the figurines that were on display in the garden to get some rest.

We had a great night's sleep, hidden away in a really tranquil little place. We got up to have breakfast and our friend, Martín the policeman, unlocked the door to the "Tumba de Tiro" (some tomb) so we could go inside and have a look around. Supposedly the culture that made the tomb lived only with what they really needed and directed all their efforts towards their dead, building houses underground. This underground lair was full of funeral offerings represented by ceramic shapes together with beautiful hollow and solid figurines. In this same archaeological area known as "Los Toriles" there were also circular pyramids that unfortunately were closed due to the pandemic. Well, after trying to have a sneaky peak through the fence we got back on the road not really knowing how far we'd make it today. This depended mainly on the topography of the terrain since we had some fairly large hills up ahead. We were cycling happily away until we got to a toll booth with food stalls and shade at about 10am. Here were debated our options. Just after this point was a potentially massive uphill struggle and it was already pretty warm, so we decided to spend the rest of the day right where we were and take on the hill first thing in the morning. We were doing all sorts of little things: reading, playing cards and counting how many of cars jumped the toll booth by following super closed behind a lorry just after the lorry driver had paid, after which the naughty alarm would sound. But as they say round these parts, the Mexicans start their day as night falls, and so it was. Just as it got dark was when we started to meet loads of people. Amongst which a lovely bunch of motorcyclists, a family on their way back from their holidays, another couple of motorcyclists who were into cycle touring... After this shot of energy we went behind the market stalls where we found a little corner to put the tent up in and spent the night to the tune of the, now familiar, background noise of the motorway.

We began our Sunday in the proper Mexican way, with a tasty menudo (which you'll recall from last week) and what better place than the menudería of Don Miguel. We peddled away the kilometres until hunger struck and stopped in the town of Magdelena where, after checking out the church and square, we headed to Don Miguel's. After all this what we really needed was a good siesta after such a stuffing but we were obliged to return to the road so we could make it to the famous town of Tequila, where this drink is made and has its origins. When we arrived we were shocked by the shear number of people in the streets and the traffic, indescribable. We even considered leaving town and going onto the next instead but in the end we went into the hotel we had scouted out beforehand and relaxed, since the place was tucked away, peaceful and run by a lovely family that made us feel at home. We had a well deserved shower, after 4 days on the road this was really needed, and got ready for the distillery tour we'd organised ourselves. We'd have liked to have had a less in your face option but the tours were limited by the coronavirus pandemic and we had no choice but to be the tourist with a capital T, complete with a tour in a bus shaped like a barrel emanating reggaeton music at full blast! But in truth we had a good time with our guide Pancho López (at your service). In fact, we almost missed it altogether as we'd just crossed over from the neighbouring state and so the clocks had changed and we only realised after our original tour start time was in the past... Thank goodness the family running the hotel were so competent and, in no time, helped us to reorganise the tour. We spent the afternoon learning all about the origins of Tequila. Let us explain, the name of the drink comes from this town which itself gets its name from the nearby volcano, Tequila. The drink has geographic protection, so that all the tequila sold in the world as tequila must come from Jalisco and its neighbouring states in Mexico. We also learnt how it's distilled and that it comes from a plant similar to Aloe Vera called agave which takes some 7 years to mature! Finally the way to drink it, traditionally either in shots with lemon and salt (just a few grains to put in your mouth before so you salivate a little) or in "canteritos". These are kind of cocktails with a grapefruit lemonade, lemon/lime juice (We're a bit confused about what constitutes a lime vs lemon in Mexico), a mix of tomato-like semi-spicy stuff and salt mixed with chilli around the rim of the ceramic mug it's served in. Delicious! And it goes down seriously well! The cool thing about them is that they are served in a ceramic mug (painted and all) that comes with the first one you buy, then after you simply refill your mug. So you can imagine the whole town walking around with big mugs in their hands. We finished the tour enjoying said canteritos in a field of agave then ended the day with another treat, "sesos" and "al pastor" tacos. Delicious! (But maybe "sesos" are not for all tastes of you want to look up what they are...)