My flight from Atlanta to Mexico City was loaded with screaming kids and impatient mexicans returning home when the pilot reported that we didn't have enough gas to make it to Mexico City. Something about the tanks not accepting the fuel. (probably too expensive!) So we would be landing in Monterey to refuel.
      They then proceeded to wait for another hour before finally closing the doors and getting underway. By the time we reached Mexico City, it was 1am on Sunday morning (Saturday night). Clearing customs rather quickly, I looked for my ride to Valle de Bravo as Will had promised, only to realize that I was three hours late! (It turns out that they had only left half an hour before!).
      OK, so here I am alone in Mexico City in the middle of the night. I waited another hour, then decided to look for a hotel. As I left the airport terminal, the grubby airport rats were on me like flies on mierda. One seemed relatively helpful, and after checking him out with a local federali who confirmed that this guy is here every day (good enough reference, I suppose), and I followed this guy over the footbridge to the "hotel".
      The other end of the bridge dropped us off in the middle of the "barrio" and I became uneasy. My little friend reassured me and we got into his friend's taxi - an old beat up VW bug with no passenger seat! Off we went to the hotel, which was supposed to be nearby. I became uneasy again after 15 minutes of driving, although they were quite interested in paragliding as we talked as we drove.
      Finally we arrived at a seemingly decent hotel, where I ended up getting a clean room for about $40. My new "friend" said someting about his family and the hotel which I couldn't understand, but I was glad to have this little episode go so well (I'm sure it could have easily gone wrong!).
      The next morning I woke early and grabbed a hot shower - NO TOWEL!! Oh, well.... Caught a taxi to the Observatario Bus Station, and got a second class bus to Valle De Bravo for 48 pesos, about six bucks. This was a stylin' tour bus - one of the big ones and I enjoyed the 3 hour ride to Valle. Arriving at about 11 am, I was too late for the first day of the competition, so I kicked around the town referred to as the 'Switzerland of Mexico' and had lunch. Later I discovered the LZ and watched the first pilots come across the goal. They had flown for just over an hour since the staret tarp was opened, coming across the lake on final glide.
      I caught a ride up the hill to 'El Torre' which means 'the tower', a launch overlooking the city where we soared until sunset. Very nice! El Torre launch is very steep, and you'd better be real sure of your launching skills here. On a strong day if you pull up in a cycle, you could be drawn back into the wires of the tower or into the trees, but the cycles are regular and you can time a launch well. The view is stunning as you ridge soar in the late afternoon behind the city with the lake stretching out towards the sunset. Many large mansions dot the hillside, most you'd never see except from the air. Kind of like the Montecito of Mexico. Flying out to land, I circled the marina area before heading over to the LZ.
      Jeff Gritsch and I dined that night at a gourmet vegetarian restaurant that only serves on the weekends. Awesome food, as good as anything I've had in Santa Barbara; salad, vegies, soup, bread - really a surprise - even carrot juice! In the morning there is fresh squeezed orange juice on the corner by the town square, and it's really sweet and good. Valle de Bravo is like no other part of Mexico. The people here are really helpful and not always begging for money. I found a nice little hotel right adjacent to the 'centro' (the main town square - a garden of lush vegetation and trees with long-tailed black birds that sing like crazy), in front of the big church for 50 pesos a night! That's cheap!! I have a double bed room that shares a bathroom with two others. It's cool, quiet and clean. The owners are always here, so it's real secure, too.