to La Venta: a one gear day

July 7, 2017

"This is the flatest ride we've had in a long time" Patrick says as we ride into La Venta around noon. Rachel adds it was a one gear day. Even though the flat hill of 4km from the main road to La Venta could have used a change in gears.

Another early start with barely enough light, good that the road has a nice shoulder. The traffic didn't seem to lighten up overnight and plenty of trucks on the road this morning. We keep a steady pace helped by a tailwind. When we reach the junction where the main road splits from a new toll road 180D, we take the toll road and lose a lot of traffic. The free road doesn't go in as straight a line as the toll road and crosses the toll road frequently with high overpasses. There are no services though except for people selling gasoline under bridges marked by sticks with plastic jugs on top. There are also some characters selling live parrots tied to a stick they wave trying to get passersby attention.

After a toll booth which we just cycle through at the junction to road to the coast, finally an Oxxo. We stop for chocolate milk which they didn't sell, but had a nice cold coffee espresso drink. The next stretch continued more of the same.

There are two hotels just entering La Venta. We check out the VQ first. The rooms are not ready for check-in, it would be a roll in room, there's no toilet seat but supposed to have hot water, and good WiFi. Next door is Hotel San Benito. We can check-in now, more modern looking supposed to have hot water, WiFi, only up one flight of stairs. We decide to check-in now at Hotel San Benito, find lunch and go to the ruins via a tri-cycle taxi.

For 20 pesos, we get a ride to the Olmec ruins site. The entrance fee is 50 pesos each. As Patrick was signing the entrance book, the woman woman said "repellent mosquitoes?". We didn't get very far on the trail when we discovered just how bad the mosquitoes were in this area. When Rachel stopped walking, her legs were covered with mosquitoes. We return to the entrance, and Patrick goes back to the hotel for our insect repellent. A missed entrepreneurial opportunity for the site not to sell repellent.

The Olmecs were the first major civilization in Mesoamerica along the Gulf coast in present day Mexican States of Tabasco and Vera Cruz. The name Olmec is an Aztec word meaning "rubber people", they made and traded rubber. They were a complex society without a written language yet influenced later civilizations like the Maya. The distinctive feature of the Olmecs are the giant carved heads of fleshy cheeks, flat noses and slightly crossed eyes. They worshiped anthropomorphic deities like the Maize deity, Rain Spirit or Were Jaguar and the Fish or Shark Monster. The Olmec civilization lasted from 1600 to 350 BCE. It's a shame though that the artifacts were moved from La Venta, the town would have benefited from tourism.

After visiting the site, we returned to the hotel to clean up. There was a problem with the water, but the staff worked to get that fixed. Internet is great! We went out to find a restaurant for dinner, asking at the reception desk and directed down the street. Along the way a local asked, "may I help you?" and directed us to the restaurant that serves "food from the sea".

Tomorrow is our 22nd wedding anniversary. Last year we were in the Pamirs Tajikistan, and for our 20th we celebrated in Gori Georgia. We've experienced so much together and are fortunate to share our lives.

We did see this flowering tree. Looks exotic.

With all the blown truck tires on the shoulder it is only a matter of time before one of us picks up one of those little metal wires. Patrick's temporary new front wheel with the Chinese tire is the first one to go flat.

Finally an Oxxo for a pit stop. No chocolate milk at this one though, but those expensive little caffeine laden cold coffee drinks are good for cycling too.

Mountain bikes with passenger trailers seem to be the short-distance public transportation of choice in La Venta. Some of these trailers can carry four people, that's quite the load.

We take a ride to the La Venta Archaeological Site, just to experience the ride. Much nicer than having to pedal yourself.

Olmec giant heads at the Archaeological site. We are conflicted about this place, the original heads and statues that La Venta is famous for were all relocated to a museum in Villahermosa, these are replicas. You go from a real site with real artifacts to a site with replicas to a Disneyland effect. We do take photos because it shows the way it looked before they removed the artifacts.

The basalt rocks are real though. They were used to demarcate different areas.

View from the hill around which the La Venta site was build. In the hazy distance is the Gulf of Mexico, only about 15 kilometers away.

Detailed carvings on a stellae. It is not real though.....

Today's ride: 78 km (48 miles)
Total: 34,661 km (21,524 miles)

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