Travel with Kevin and Ruth

What's the plan for Japan?

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Fri, 15 May 2026 14:18:39 +0000

We were originally going to fly back to Mexico City from China. But there's only one direct flight per week, and it's ridiculously expensive. So we decided we could hop, skip, and jump our way back for much less money.

And so we found flights from Hong Kong to Tokyo to Vancouver to Mexico City for almost half the price of the direct one.

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Rainy season has begun

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Thu, 14 May 2026 14:16:35 +0000

I think we're going to enjoy it when we return on July 23rd. We'll be back here at the house for a month until August 20th.

Yesterday, they were calling for a thunderstorm, and boy did we ever get one!

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Caught in the rain!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Wed, 13 May 2026 14:26:17 +0000

First of all, thanks for all the anniversary well wishes yesterday!

We had a good day... we had to go into town anyhow, so we timed it around lunch and went out for a meal to our favorite enchiladas restaurant here in Valle de Bravo.

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And they said it wouldn't last...

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Tue, 12 May 2026 14:58:00 +0000

Actually, only one person said it wouldn't last... my friend Paul, who at the time said we hadn't known each other long enough and he gave it five years. He has now been married three times!

Ruth and I met on March 5, 1983 and within two months we had decided to get married. But we didn't tell anyone yet because they would have thought we were nuts!

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Thought this was funny...

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Mon, 11 May 2026 15:04:00 +0000

I didn't leave the house all weekend! Unbelievable. This trip planning is fun for me, and I enjoy it, but it sure is time consuming.

Ruth did manage to get out and pick up a few groceries from the local shops.

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Our China trip plan... the planning is half the fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Sun, 10 May 2026 14:08:00 +0000

I spent much of the day yesterday doing trip planning for our upcoming three weeks in China.

We arrive in Chengdu on June 21st, and up until yesterday that was all we had planned or booked. We had an idea of some of the places we wanted to go, but didn't have a route or accommodations booked. That is now changed, although I'm not done yet!

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That's it, we're going back to Canada!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Sat, 09 May 2026 15:32:00 +0000

"That's it, we're going back to Canada!". As we joke to each other sometimes when we have a frustrating day. But it's definitely just a joke. A bad day in Mexico is better than a good day in Canada!

So we had three problems yesterday, two of which are still not fixed despite literally hours of trying.

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Lots to keep us busy for the next ten days!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Thu, 07 May 2026 16:51:00 +0000

The other day, we were invited to our friends Fernando. Yessie, and their daughter Aminah's house for lunch.

Fernando had been away on a business trip to Bangladesh, so that was really interesting talking to him about that.

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We are well stocked up on wine!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Tue, 05 May 2026 14:18:00 +0000

Coming home to an empty fridge and cupboards meant we had to get into town and do a grocery shop yesterday.

There's a discount store in Mexico called Tiendas 3B that often has some great deals, and we learned recently that they have a boxed red wine that is quite good.

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I can't believe we made it!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Mon, 04 May 2026 14:43:00 +0000

A bit of a long travel day, but really, considering that we sat on buses for 9 hours, we felt the time went by fast enough.

Our hotel in Oaxaca, the Hotel Posada San Rafael was a bit of a disappointment though.

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An evening in Oaxaca City

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Sun, 03 May 2026 13:10:00 +0000

We spent the morning and into the afternoon getting Igor all cleaned up and ready to be stored. At least he'll be clean when we return in October. Other than a layer of dust I expect!

Then we drove over to the storage place. This is the old Oaxaca Campground that we stayed at several times in the past.

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The nicest campground in Mexico?

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Sat, 02 May 2026 14:34:00 +0000

We've been to several nice and well equipped campgrounds in Mexico. But certainly the one we are staying at now here in the outskirts of Oaxaca City ranks right up there with the best of them.

We're at El Rancho RV Park. The two brothers who own it did a really good job of making this exactly the way most RV'ers like things.

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April Expenses

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Sat, 02 May 2026 13:58:00 +0000

What did it cost us to tour Veracruz and into Oaxaca for the month of April?

Well, we spent a total of $2,799 CAD ($2,060 USD) for the month, but of course that also included the rent on our house.

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Look what I found!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Fri, 01 May 2026 15:19:00 +0000

Yesterday, we did the drive down from the mountains into the city of Oaxaca.

We went from 2,900 meters (9,600') altitude down to 1,550 meters (5,100'). And so it's certainly warmer down here in Oaxaca City, but not as hot as it was in Veracruz!

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A few photos around the ranch

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:49:00 +0000

Well, it's time to start heading home. We've been gone for a month now, and we want to spend some time at home prior to heading to Kyrgyzstan on May 17th.

So today we will drive down the mountain and into the big city of Oaxaca, We'll stay at a nice campground there for two or three nights and get Igor ready for six months of storage.

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We found a great spot

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:37:00 +0000

Tuesday morning, we went for a short hike up a hill across from where we had been parked on Monday night.

It had been a great sleep... the temperature went down to about 12C (54F), so it was nice and comfy at 9,600' altitude.

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Up to 10,000' altitude!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:45:00 +0000

Yesterday we drove from pretty much sea level all the way up to 3000 meters (10,000'). What a refreshing change in temperature!

It was 40C (104F) when we left, and 25C (77F) when we arrived.

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Even I went for a swim!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:54:00 +0000

The last time we were in the state of Oaxaca was March 2020 just before Covid began. So six years ago.

We headed out of Veracruz city and onto the toll road. We took the toll highway to get out of the city and then a free road heading south into the mountains. But you actually don't begin gaining any altitude to speak of just yet.

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The aquarium, and Veracruz city at night

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 14:29:00 +0000

The plan was to get to the Aquarium close to opening time at 10:00am, but because we decided to walk there we were actually closer to 11:00am. There was a bit of a lineup for tickets, but only for twenty minutes or so.

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Baby, it's hot outside!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:23:00 +0000

As go the lyrics of the famous song.

We arrived in the Gulf Coast port city of Veracruz yesterday. Made our way through the port area, and then the central part of the city before arriving at our hotel towards the south side.

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The interesting little town of La Antigua, Veracruz

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 14:31:00 +0000

Wednesday night was likely our only beach stop on this trip. The Gulf Coast beaches aren't the best and as you all know, we're not beach people to begin with.

But we couldn't leave Playa Chachalaca without doing a walk down to the dunes.

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Made it to the beach

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 14:56:00 +0000

We left our Walmart parking spot in Xalapa at almost 11:00am and headed out on the main highway towards Veracruz City. It wasn't very far until our first stop at the Hacienda del Lencero.

The house at the hacienda dates back to 1525. It was one of the original Spanish haciendas located along a trade route where some Spanish were granted lands to establish inns, making the town of Xalapa and the surrounding region a mandatory passage area.

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We finally made it into central Xalapa

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:44:00 +0000

Xalapa is a big city. It's probably one of the last big cities in Mexico that we have never visited. The other is the coastal port city of Veracruz, and we are going there next.

Xalapa is the capital of the state of Veracruz. Population is about 550,000 people.

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Well, this is better than most Walmart parking

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 15:09:00 +0000

Some overland travelers in Mexico use Pemex gas stations to park overnight. Walmart is popular in Canada, and especially in the U.S., but for us those two options have always been for emergency use or as a last resort. It usually doesn't take much effort to find something much better.

But here in the city of Xalapa, parking is at a premium, even for regular sized cars. It's a fairly congested city, and there are no RV parks or campgrounds that are suitably close.

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Moving on today

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Read) — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:14:00 +0000

We haven't been having the greatest weather... mostly overcast ever since we arrived here on Thursday. So it's nice to wake up to some sunshine and blue sky this morning!

Yesterday turned out to be the "relax" day that we had needed. They were calling for rain, and we did get a few showers throughout the day.

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