Day 20 & 21: I have finally made my way out of Monterrey and started to wander south. I was at the hostel nearly two weeks and hadn't met anyone like-minded, but as luck would have it, on the last day two Aussies from Perth showed up, 6 weeks into their trip to Tierra del Fuego, at the southern most end of South America. Exactly the trip I want to do some day.

We had lunch together (at the culinary institute). They are not on motos, although they said they wished they were, but instead are going to take buses all the way down (20,000 miles). They intend to take 16 months. I was quite jealous! As much as I'd like to stay and hang out with them for the weekend, it was time for me to hit the road.

I headed out, riding through the mountains south of Monterrey, taking the road up past the Cola de Caballo hotel that we stay at so often for the ACA rendezvous. I'd been wanting to see where that road would lead me ever since I first experienced its winding, twisting, mountainous path with sheer dropoffs in 2005. It didn't disappoint. The road gets narrower and more rough, and leads high over the mountains, hour after hour. It took nearly 3 hours to cross through the mountains to the altiplano on the other side.

I ended up in Real de Catorce, an old silver town high in the mountains at 9000 feet (recommended to me by Hans). The last 10 miles into the town are cobblestone, which is very tricky to ride on the bike -- it was sliding all over the place at 35mph. Then, you travel through a mile long tunnel hewn out of mountain by hand, and you emerge into the town, nestled securely in its high valley. The air is fresh and brisk (cold) up here -- such a difference from the 105 deg it was in Monterrey yesterday. I found a nice hotel for 200 pesos ($16). There are some nice hikes from here to the ruins outside the town -- I'm about to head out and see where my feet will take me.