Category: Vamos Kigo - vamos kigo

Mexico City Marathon 2014

9/12/2014

At 7am on August 31, 2014 a steady cold rain was falling in Mexico City and 20,000 runners were stacked and ready behind the Mexico City Marathon's starting line. Surrounded by the architectural beauty of the city's historic downtown, these athletes were prepared and pumped to cover the 42 kilometers that would lead them through DF to the Olympic Stadium.

Mexico City Marathon 2014

Mexico City Marathon 2014

Mexico City Marathon 2014

While we were not running, we were ready to cheer. In a lucky break, the runners came down Avenida Insurgentes just in front of our building. We grabbed some essentials . . . coffee, water, seats, dogs, blankets . . . and headed down to find a building overhang close to the street. We fell in with a pack of race volunteers and anxiously awaited the runners. For the next few hours we cheered, laughed, smiled and clapped for the determined marathoners as they moved past us at roughly the 30K mark. It was our first time to support from the sidelines and we loved it!

We learned later from the race website that Peruvian runner Raul Pacheco Mendoza won with a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds and the women's category was won by Shewarge Amare from Ethiopia with a time of 2 hours, 41 minutes and 21 seconds.

Congrats to all of the 2014 marathoners!

2014 Mexico City Marathon Route

Bike Commuting through México City in the kigo bali

7/23/2014

While we try to be barefoot or in kigos most of the time, there are moments and occasions that this is not possible. For me (Kristin), the most common is meetings in a corporate environment when I don a pair of heels and mentally prepare myself for discomfort. Living in México City means a variety of commuting options including the bus, metro, bicycle, moped or car. I prefer to bicycle which allows me to avoid traffic and crowded public transportation during rush hour. Commuting in heels is an unbearable thought, so I slip into my kigo balis, hop on my bicycle and enjoy the exercise and view. Arriving at my destination I throw on my heels and stash my balis in my bag. Besides keeping my feet comfortable on my ride and walk through the city streets, kigos also keep me safe and stable with a flat rubber outsole. As any heel wearer knows, it is a welcome relief to slip my balis back on for my commute home. No need to prolong the discomfort! #kigobali #vamoskigo

Food Truck Scene in México City

7/15/2014

In addition to the crazy street food culture, México City also has a healthy food truck scene. This past Sunday Dos Trotamundos and their salchichas checked out a Food Truck Bazaar in the Roma neighborhood. 10 trucks and a DJ took over a huge garage for the weekend, dishing up treats for those lucky enough to make the trip. The vendors were friendly, welcoming everyone who strolled by to their windows. If you're in the city, be sure to check Facebook and Twitter for the latest pop-up location. #vamoskigo #kigodrive #kigoleon

AAAAANNND…MACAU

11/28/2011

We set off for Asia on a bizarre flight plan that took us from México City to Tijuana to México City to Los Cabos to Shanghai to Macau. As you can imagine, this was a very long few days of travel that was made longer by a SUPER COLD overnight stay on the Tijuana airport floor. The initial discomforts were far outweighed by our excitement in watching the sun rise from a China-bound airplane and celebrating our arrival with delicious dumplings in the Shanghai airport. Hopping on our last leg to Macau we were moderately rested, stomachs full and ready to start exploring.

Macau is situated across the harbor from Hong Kong, both designated as Special Administrative Regions of China. Waiting at baggage pick up, we eventually realized that our backpacks didn’t make it with us from México City. We spent one extra day in our well worn travel clothes, but luckily had the essentials in our day packs and easily made it the extra night.

We jumped right in, taking the local bus from the airport to the city center, about a 30 minute drive. Of course we got on going in the wrong direction our first try, but the helpful bus driver kicked us off 2 stops later, told us to wait there, and about 20 minutes later picked us back up going in the right direction.

We braved our first hostel/guesthouse, SanVa Hotel, and for $18 a night we had a “private” room with a double bed, sink, mirror and ceiling fan in the heart of the city. The bathrooms and showers were down the hall and shared by all guests. I say “private” because the walls didn’t quite reach the ceiling and we could hear all of our neighbors as they could us. We had a particularly chatty and LOUD woman in the room right next to us and heard her give an ear full in Chinese to a lucky soul on the the other end of her cell.

If you can get past the fact you’re not staying in one of the beautiful casino hotels, all things considered SanVa was a good place to stay – inexpensive for the backpacker’s budget, clean, great location, safe and delivered exactly what it promised on the website.

Macau gardens

Macau gardens

We wandered the city streets for two days, taking in the people, architecture, smells and food. One of our favorite finds was a series of outdoor exercise machines that were repeated throughout the city. The best part is that they weren’t for show. We saw numerous people using them as a part of their workout routines.

Macau was a good city to get our feet wet on our own. After a quick three days…..it’s VAMOS to Singapore!

Macau

exploring Macau

PARAGLIDING IN VALLE DE BRAVO

11/18/2011

We spent the past few days in Valle de Bravo with Marco's uncle, two cousins and their families. The town is absolutely beautiful, built into the mountains on the edge of Lake Avandaro.

This place has everything – fantastic restaurants with amazing views, mountain biking, hiking, paragliding, boating, waterfalls, historical landmarks and a close knit community. The list goes on and on.

Marco’s cousin Hector is a paraglide instructor and took us out for a jump off the side of a mountain and fly like a bird adventure. It was AMAZING. The pictures highlight our time in this magical place.

Needless to say we enjoyed ourselves and our kigo drives and flits were the perfect adventure and lifestyle shoes. We send a special thank you to Tio Mac, Tia Maria, Pedro, Cynthia, Hector & Elsa for making our visit so much fun.

PRISMAS BASÁLTICOS AND CHINA NEWS

11/15/2011

Huasca de Ocampo is a town in the state of Hidalgo in central México. It is home to the Prismas Basálticos, majestic geometric basalt rock columns that line a ravine with waterfalls tumbling from above. What makes the pillars so spectacular is that each is an enormous hexagonal prism, some of them 150 feet tall and more than four feet wide. They were formed millions of years ago by slow cooling volcanic lava.

| THEY ARE TRULY SPECTACULAR AND WE HAD AN AWESOME DAY EXPLORING THE AREA.

And on a random note....

It’s official.
We have our visas for China!

We look forward to visiting the facility of kigo's manufacturing partner, PLUS Compound Technologies, and bringing the story of kigo production to the company's customers.

vamos kigo visas for China

Kristin & Marco have their visas for China

MOUNTAIN WATER AND MAGUEY

11/8/2011

We spent a day exploring Santa Maria, Tecajete, a rural area outside of México City. I sampled pure mountain water using a maguey leaf for a cup and Marco tested the crickets as we wandered through a tract of open farm land.

kigo drive black with grey stitch on Mexican farm

Kristin climbs the wall for a better view #kigodrive

IN THE CITY OF THE GODS

11/7/2011

kigo drive black with grey stitch at Teotihuacan, Mexico

The Ruins of Teotihuacan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located about one hour outside of México City. It is the oldest city in North/South America and dates 150 AD. Its early history is a mystery with no definitive answer as to the founders. Abandoned in 800 AD, the Aztecs discovered the ruins years later and named it Teotihuacan. The city’s impressive architecture, planning, evidence of trade and size indicates an intelligent multi-cultural civilization.

Our kigo drives were terrific for climbing the stairs of the Pyramid of the Sun, Pyramid of the Moon and Quetzalpapalotl Temple. The lacing system kept them snug, the fingerprint grooving on the soles had great traction on the ruins and after walking 5 hours we still had smiles on our faces with no leg, feet or back pain.

I DO, FAREWELL, HOLA

11/2/2011

Let’s start here. We have called this adventure vamos kigo meaning “we go kigo”. It’s not voy kigo, or “I go”. It’s WE. The reason is twofold…

One, this is a (proverbial) bicycle made for two – Kristin and Marco. Newlyweds (as of January 2011), we share a love of adventure travel, new places, new experiences, new foods and new friends. We are young, brave, motivated and savvy travelers. We knew as soon as we were married, we would start our life by exploring the corners of the globe together.

With kigos on our feet
and backpacks on our shoulders,
we will cross 20+ countries
in 3 continents over 365 days.

kigo drive black with grey stitch

The second reason for calling this adventure vamos kigo is that we are including all of you in our travels. We'll share photos, videos and stories. If you’ve been somewhere we're headed, send us your suggestions and tips. You can use this blog to post comments, thoughts and recommendations.

The kigo piece is pretty self-explanatory. We are traveling light. There is no other shoe as light, durable and stylish as kigo footwear – it is truly the perfect travel shoe. You’ll see us in everything from hiking apparel to casual clothes, always with kigos on our feet.

Kristin Parker Serrano and Marco Serrano Dos Trotamundos vamos kigo