Day 17 - Pecan perfection

If yesterday lifted my spirits, today was perfection. My visit to New Mexico may have been a brief 3 days, but it's been brilliant. With only a short 45 mile hike on the flat, I wasn't on the road till 09:00. However from the moment I left the motel and turned south under the freeway, I was out in the beautiful Rio Grande Valley.

With the Franklin mountains off to the East, the valley is a slim North-South strip of beautiful farmland north of El Paso. There's rice and wheat grown and vineyards galore, but the key crop is pecans. And for mile after mile the pecan groves arch over the road and stretch into the distance, as the road winds through sleepy little villages. Much like the orange groves east of LA it's so almost there as a tourist spot, sweet little cafes crop up ever few miles, and there are the odd homestay and farm shop available, but it's as if no one's quite noticed how beautiful it all is. It's all the more charming for this very reason, but with a little thought and attention this area should be as famous as Napa.

Twinned with Yorkshire

There's not much more to add about the ride, there was a fair tailwind that whipped up dust at points, and the last 45 mins odd into El Paso was as bleak as all city outskirts are, but bottom line it was a great little ride. In fact getting in around 13:00 has left me a bit disorientated. With a full afternoon free, the day has felt twice as long as normal, but no complaints as El Paso turns out to be a cracking spot.

There really can't be any other city like this anywhere on earth. You are definitely in Texas, as the truck size and BBQ joint density per square mile has shot up noticeably the second you're over the border, but this is very much a Hispanic city, not least in the architecture of the university area where my hotel is. Certainly in the area I'm in it's a thriving, decent, fun little city of half a million odd, with everything you could need and a nice atmosphere. But all of this is by the by.

What makes El Paso extraordinary is from my 5th floor hotel window, 500 metres away at the edge of the University grounds, I can see the sprawling 1.5 million strong Mexican city of Juarez  crushed up hard against the Rio Grande. Type "Juarez" into Google. Unless there's something wrong with you, you'll be shocked. It is quite regularly put behind Baghdad and Mogadishu as the 3rd most dangerous city on earth. It's controlled by the Mexican army on the streets and has the murder rate of a war zone, 1000s a year, and that's only the recorded deaths. Yet 500 metres over here I'm in the second safest city in the USA, and about to have sushi for supper and to try and find a bar full University of Texas students out on "party night" (as the bloke in the bike shop sold Thursday to me earlier).

I really can't think of another place on the planet where two worlds, two countries live in such close proximity. Even in more comfortable areas of Brazilian or South African cities you're still the same country. There's no Rio Grande and patrolled fence keeping two worlds 100 metres apart.

It's odd, but I guess I'll get to explore it more tomorrow. With a planned stop here, and laundry done and bike in the menders tomorrow will be focused on getting the route to Eastern Texas planned up and resting my legs after a tough few days. I can't wait.

Route - Mesilla - La Mesa - El Paso

Breakfast - Huevos di Chorizo - Chilitos, Las Cruces, NM. Like scrabbled eggs with chorizo, a tortilla and refried beans. A good solid start to the day, protein rich and sugar poor.
Snacks - 2 red apples.
Lunch - Japanese Teriyaki tray - Miraibowl Japanese Canteen. Sushi, squid salad, Teriyaki grilled chicken breast and steamed rice. Spot on, and bliss after a week lumped with small town eating options.
Supper - To be decided, probably something similar to lunch, going to wait till the sticks till I take on Texan BBQ.