Written around February 22nd or so. Last I wrote, we had just played the University and were getting ready for a 42 km trip from Guadalajara to Chapala. Well, Friday, I made it to Chapala… barely. I had a little trouble with one particular uphill climb. A mild heat exhuastion issue, but once I rested I was fine for the rest of the trek to Chapala. I didn´t know it but I was almost over the crest of the hill when I took this big rest. I could´ve made it. I´m learning my gears more and more each day. Joey and Toby are trying to teach me how to climb hills in standing position. It wears me out! …but I´m getting there. The huge downhill ride into Chapala was so amazingly gorgeous. Once we crested the hill, you could see the lake and all the mountains around it. What a reward!

My days may be a little off, but here you go…

We played in the plaza of Chapala last Friday (or was it Saturday) night for a great crowd. People were dancing and singing along as the sun set over the mountains around the lake. Surreal! I think it’s a tourist area for Mexicans mostly. The city put us up in this really sweet hotel for the weekend and bought every single meal we ate. Saturday(or maybe it was Sunday; I think it was Sunday), anyways, we traveled an hour or so down the lakeside to Ajijic, a little tour full of Natives and retirees mostly from America and Europe. Older crowd, but still very responsive (in the own raisin-like way). After the show, we rode back to the hotel in Chapala to crash for the night.

Monday, we left Chapala with all our gear. One of our local friends took us to this native healer’s land where we had lunch and helped get his sweat lodge for use. This was an awesome evening. It was up on the mountain side, right out side Ajijic. We played music, rested, and prepared for the evening while the sun was setting. We had a great view of the sunset over the mountains and Lake Chapala from the camp site. Some guy, I forgot his name, was there playing songs and singing in spanish with his lady friend. It was beautiful and they played for hours. He was a great song writer and musician; played anything he pick up (guitar, flute, recorder, and these other weird native stringed instuments). He’d pluck around for a few minutes and before long, out came song after song. Kipchoge and Eco arrived later and after the sweat lodge they blessed the campfire with their music, too. They´re great songwriters as well. I’m stoked to be here supporting them and their music, and the message.

The sweat lodge. Basically, a big brick or clay suana. It was so freaking hot, you could not even sit up straight. Periodically, I’d try to sit up and fell the true heat that was in the room, but soon run back to the cool air back at the bottom. Having your head lower was great cause you could really smell the herbs that we were sitting on. Some kind of menthoyl, rosemary smell (sage, I think). We sat in the pitch black lodge, singing, clapping, meditating, and chanting til you felt the urge to cool off. Then, we could each leisurely go outside and dump ice cold water over ourselves. The native said if your heart can handle it then you could go back in. I went in twice. After the second round I felt as though I was done. My sinuses were completely clear and I felt higher than I have in a long time. A real cleansing sensation was all over. What a strange rush… truely unexplainable. I laid there all bundled up and watch the stars above, while drinking water and eating fresh fuit. A vegan dinner was being prepared by CelloJoe and his lady, Ariel (misspelt, I’m sure), and music was being played by the fire. A mystic evening for sure.

The next morning we rode toward Manzamitla…

This entry was posted on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 4:43 pm and is filed under Bicycles, Music, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.