This post covers a lot of ground as I have not written in a number of days and was behind on my last post anyway. I am writing from the Hotel Ollin Bed and Breakfast in Oaxaca (see link on this page) where my friend John McKinley and his wife Judith have made me feel right at home. I will endeavor to both catch up and continue writing about my experiences here in Oaxaca over the next few days.
The first post goes back to WOW 6/8! Ouch. Ok here goes...
6/8 - A short ride from Santa Rosalia along a serene costal road is Mulege (Mule-Eh-Hay) where we stop for a quick breakfast of Red Bull and Cliff Bars. It is already war and a bit muggy at 8am and we´d like to get as much of the road behind us before the afternoon heat (which we can´t beat anyway). After some short and beautiful turns along clear blue water and mountains I made a detour left hand turn into a small thatched hut settlement on the Bahia Concepcion...the water is crystal clear and warm and I cannot help but strip off the padded jacket and pants and strip down for a swim. Mateo doesn´t know how to swim but once he sees that the water is only waist deep for at least 100 yards he is soon swimming with teh Pelicans as well. The settlement is exactly what I think of when I am sitting in an office building under flourescent lights and plan to evacuate that world and run away to some beach to fish and swim away the rest of my days. Turns out that the next 20 miles are nothing but rustic little slices of paradise---some more populated and developed than others---but all amazingly tranquil and beautiful and just begging for us to pull over and stay awhile...sirens and lotus eaters and chocolate bars if you take my meaning!
The ride south in wet boxer shorts and sunshine is pleasant and straight as an arrow. Lunch stop for tacos de carne y Coke at another truck stop in Cd. Insurgente and from there it is a plumb line south through Cd. Constitucion and into la Paz through desert heat. Gracias a diosa for the Camel Back I purchased in San Diego---hydration is very necessary on this type of ride. The Ipod and the water are the only things keeping me awake. Cresting the hill that reveals the azure water jig-sawed perfectly against the white-washed buildings of La Paz is backed by the Stiff Little Fingers and the hard driving Alernative Ulster in my headset...a perfect counterpoint and at the same time appropriate to the excitement of reaching the end (for us anyway) of the Baja Peninsula.
La Paz and the Hotel Lorimar (recommended by the Footprint guide) are exceptionally comfortable and tourist friendly. It reminds me of Marbella on the Costa del Sol in Spain. The bikes are parked in the lobby of the hotel and most of the guests are international...Aussie/English/German etc.
The afternoon was so hot today that I stopped at a babershop and had the rest of my head shaved (mohawk terminus) by a former Texas resident named Rosie who spoke perfect english for $40 pesos (less than $4).
6/9 - The customs officer for the ferry required that I go to the central police station to file a report on my lost passport before he would issue a vehicle import license for my bike. This is a required document to be able to put the bikes on the ferry to Mazatalan.
***So I haven't mentioned it yet but the first thing I did when I arrived in Mexico (in TJ) was to lose my passport, my international driver´s license, $200 USD in cash and the extra keys to both mine and Mateo´s bikes...ouch! I didn´t want any concern so I have left that part out until now...I have already spent 3 days in Guadalara at the US Consulate and recieved an Emergency Passport so all is well. Hopefully that was all of the bad luck I needed to have out of the way all at once (I am knocking on wood as I type!)***
So I got the police report (suprisingly quick and easy and free!), although I spaced the name of my hotel when I was asked and so essentially perjured yself on an official Mexican government document, and was able to get back to the customs office before they closed at 2pm to get my papers in order for a 3pm departure tomorrow. $200 per person including the bikes and a sleeping cabin for the 18 hour trip to Mazatlan.
With the paperwork all in order there is nothing left to do but start drinking tequila...Cazadores shots by 5pm and the "worst Margarita ever" at a crappy tourist spot along the waterfront in La Paz. Then another shot of Cazadores at a small outdoor bar a few blocks off the waterfront and another of a tequila called Suave recommended by the bartender which was, in my opinion, terrible. Time for a meal so we headed across the street to the Tequila House for delicious Margaritas and patatas con queso y tocino (patato skins with cheese and bacon!). The Tequila House is owned by a guy named Pedro from San Diego who has been an expat in La Paz for the past 15 years. When we tell him where we are staying he introduces us to Michael, the owner of the Hotel Lorimar, also an expat from SoCal. His family has owned the hotel for years. The remainder of the evening is el cansado de tequila...ugh!
6/10 - Woke early to checkout and stop for Gatorade and more water for the Camelback before purchasing our tickets at the ferry office. We spent the rest of the day until around 1:30pm at a small, white sand beach near the ferry terminal at Pichilingue relaxing and hydrating.
Found this on another blog on the name of the ferry port Pichilingue...
Thomas Cromwell was an English pirate and would occassionally visit La Paz. The approach to La Paz from the Sea of Cortés is both shallow and narrow. Cromwell could only sail when the wind was from the south. Thus, when the south wind blew the natives could expect a visit from Cromwell. His name was bastardized to Coromuel which describes the wind that blows from the south to the south west.
Cromwell and his crew spoke English. The Mexicans did not favor the language and called it "piche lengua". Lengua meaning tongue and thus language and "pinche" is what is found on the floor of a hen house.
La Paz was difficult to enter so Cromwell anchored further north at a place now call Pichilingue.
At between 1:30 and 3:00pm we watch the process of loading the ferry, the Sinaloa Queen, with all manner of vehicles from tractor trailers (at least 10 of them) to horse trucks to passenger cars and around 3:30pm mas o menos we are invited to load the bikes. Once inside the belly of the ferry we are handed a few lengths of twine to secure the bikes to a large eyelet on the floor. I put the beemer on the centerstand and secured it as best as I could with some twine and a quick prayer for calm seas.
The ferry ride with the exception of an amazing full moon is hot and reeks of diesel fumes. I managed to get a decent night sleep with my Ipod in my ears and the fan blowing directly on me.
6/11 Sunday - We arrive in Mazatalan this morning still hot and fumey. Mateo looks as if he may lose the delicious boat food (not) before we disembark but manages to maintain. Even the locals are sweating and commenting on how hot it is as we wait in line to get to our respective vehicles...I am just hoping the bikes are still upright. They are. After a gas fill up (got nearly 250 mi from my last tank) and some random seafood (still not sure what it was but it was tasty) and a half liter of Coke from a sidewalk cafe and I set off to the Southeast towards Tepic and Guadalajara and Mateo rides to the Northeast to Zatatecas. I need to go to the US Consulate and he is heading off to see the town where his grandfather was born. I would rather be headed in that direction but the passport is essential if I am to make it to Central America. the current plan is to meet in Guadalajara in 3 days...we will not end up connecting for another 8 days in Oaxaca.
The ride to Tepic is hot and along a two-lane highly trafficked road. I spend a good portion of the ride negotiating the passing of pods of trucks and and buses. Aaarrrgghh! Somewhere between 2 and 4 hours later...I never stopped or got off the bike!...I arrive in Tepic and check in to the Hotel Fray Junipero Serra overlooking the Cathedral and the Plaza Central. It is Sunday afternoon in Mexico and everyone is out and about in Sunday best. After washing off the road grime and sweat I hit the street to find sustenance. Down some side street I am drawn by ceiling fans and a large TV showing the Cuopa del Mundo game. 3 empandas de mariscos y 2 ceviche tortillas y una Coke y una Modelo and I am back among the living.
Wandering back through the Plaza I come across a demonstration---more of an exposition really---by the local Young Communists. Part of the demonstration includes a punk rock band who are setting up as I walk by. Back to the hotel to get the camera ...the magic hour lighting and the cool air are perfect as I take up residence on the steps to watch the evening unfold. It is nice to see some civil disobedience and some youth who are informed and concerned with the political stauts of their country. Of course the music and the revolution are as much a function of sex and romance as they are about affecting some change to the status quo, especially among these teenagers. It is fun to watch the interactions and capture some of the socialization that is taking place here in the Tepic Central Plaza on a Sunday evening in June 2006. The music is good and hard-driving and I stave off the urge to start a mosh pit in a foreign country. lol. Afterwards I drop off a few CD´s to the boys in the band and give them props on their playing. With a 4-5 hour drive to Guadalajara tomorrow morning I am ready for an early evening so I do a pre-flight on Dominique---oh yes the bike needed a name and found it around 5500 miles. Tire pressure is perfect and the oil level is fine...we are ready to go.
I will be glad to spend a few days in Guadalajara as the constant push is starting to wear on me...including the ride from SF to LA I have covered (mas o menos) 2000 miles in the last 7 days. Travelling to me mean becoming part of your trip not fitting the trip in between fulls days of determined commute from point A to point B. I didn´t even want too stop to take any pictures today for fear of having to re-pass all the slow movers I had just painstakingly worked my way around. A few days in Gudalajara and definitely some other stops along the way to Oaxaca and then 4-5 days in Oaxaca sound ideal to me at this time.
6/13 - Yesterday I made the insanely expensive trip from Tepic to Gudalajara. Less than 200 miles cost nearly $25! The roads however were pristine (except for the ubiquitous construction zones) and nearly deserted esp. for a Monday morning. I left around 8:30 am and passed one spot where the lava from a volcano had come down over the road---pre highway---all black and fertile with all manner of foliage finding root and and poking out at every angle. Also the large birds---which I have not yet classified but they are likely Turkey Vultures---riding the warm air currents and looking down at me, seemingly guaging my size, distance and speed to determine if they could actually swoop down and pick up a qucik and easy breakfast. Unlucky for them as I am in 6th gear and bearing down against that mahogany ribbon of asphalt laid out in front of me. The heat of the day has not yet percolated up from the road and the hills stills have that soft shroud of morning mist draped over them. Blue agave---fields in rows of hangovers to be ---stretch off to the horizon as I approach the town of Tequila. It will be difficult not to stop today but i have a date at the Consulate.
The urban sprawl begins around 11am. Guadalajara is the 2nd largest city in Mexico with nearly 1.25 million people. By 11:30 I am pulling into the garage of the Hotel Rotonda where Mateo and I have planned to connect in a few days. After purchasing a street map of the city---a map wth no index of streets! brilliant!---and working with the hotel staff to help me locate Calle Progreso and the Consulate I am off. The process requires $97, two passport photos and two pages of paperwork. I will have a replacement "emergency" passport in 1 day. Go get the photos today and return tomorrow morning and then wait a day. If I had not stressed that it was an emergency and that I was already travelling it would take 6 weeks! Not sure if that makes sense.
6/15 - So 3 days in Gudalajara and I have little to say about it. Got my passort which was my primary purpose in being here and did a bit of exploring but basically it is a a large Spanish city like many others I have been to and homogeneous in that sense...Cathedral, Central Plaza, Government builing and teenagers making out in the parks. I left Gudalajara in the morning with the goal of reaching Tolouca before dark. The first half of the day was spent on Rte. 15 Libre from Gudalajara to Morelia---with Chicken Mole and part of the Germany v. Poland Coupa del Mundo game near the 1/2 way point. Traffic on the libre road is normal which means pockets of cars, taxis, pickup trucks filled with people , semi-trucks and the heinous, black diesel smoke spewing tour buses. They drive like El Diablo himself is at the wheel and often they are filled with rambunctious teens defenestrating various snack food containers and wrappers from both port and starboard windows. Getting behind one of them on a twisty road is torturous, like navigating a polluted mine field while walking a tight rope at 50mph.
That said...Great Ride! Long snaking road that I know now had me climb from Gudalajara at around 5000 feet to Tolouca, Mexico´s highest city, at over 7500 feet. Passing by Lake Patzcuaro and nearly stopping to stay at an amazing looking Inn high atop a long winding downslope & overlooking the lake and mountains in the distance. The serpentine descent was too tasty however and I didn´t even bother to stop to take a picture. From the outskirts or Morelia a Pemex attendant estimated 2-3 hours to Tolouca on 15 Libre. My clock read 6:15 so I opted for 15D, the Autopista or carretera Cuota---the fast and relatively straight toll road.
Arrived at the Hotel Colonial around 8:30pm but not before having the opportunity to bribe my first Mexican cop. Entering Toluca I turned the wrong way down a one-way street. The cars at the red light across the street were all facing me and there were two cops on the side of the road looking at me from their car like I was a Martian. I pulled over without being asked. The cop started in on his angry lecture but soon looked at my blank face and realized it was watsed on me. Ranting at me in Spanish was ineffectual as I am sure my blank, incoherent stare made evident. Soon we were chatting about the BMW, my Camel Back ("que es?" "es para cervesa."), and my trip and making local hotel recommendations complete with directions and "star" ratings. Of course, he said after about 5 min of chatter, I still need to give you a ticket...unless, what do have for me? I mostly understood the word "contigo" and quickly forgot all o fthe phrases for bartering with cops that I had studied. "Dinero" I sputtered reaching into my velcro pocket to fish for bills without pulling out the whole wad. I pulled out a $200 peso bill (less than $20) and handed it to him $20 Millionaire style (thanks Esquire!) and he slipped me back my driver´s license and reiterated his hotel choices and directions.
I didn´t stay where he suggested but I walked past it later that evening and it did look to be a nice place. Just rather not ahve the cop I just bribed know where I was staying. I stopped the bike on a quiet side street, not easy to come by in bustling Tolouca, and checked the Bible (the Footprint Guide) recommends the Hotel Colonial. After circling once and realizing there was no garage parking I pulled in front and flagged down the front desk clerk who came out to meet me on the busy Calle Hidalgo. There is a lot around the corner or, he says, I can basically hop my 600lb bike up onto the curb and down the front steps into the tiled foyer of the hotel. The thought of cutting through 3 lanes of rush hour traffic (yes at 8:30pm) sounds worse than dumping the bike on the sidewalk because I failed to negotiate the curb or the stairs of the hotel. So I angle the bike as close to 90 degrees to the curb as possible without getting my rear end clipped by a taxi and vault the beast up onto the sidewalk amidst the throng of people going this way and that. Two steps down and I am on the tile and ready to end my day.
The Hotel Colonial is gorgeous. Everything is built in traditional Spanish style with all of the rooms built around the central courtyard. It is covered with skylights three floors above and is all tiled and decorated with leather sofas and chairs. The landing of each stairway is decorated with stained glass windows depicting various sailing ships. The room is simple but the tiled bathroom with huge open shower stall in amazing. All this for under $35 per night and I get to watch 12 Monkeys in English before sleep.
6/15 - I awoke this morning and felt it was difficult to breath and wondered at the altitude...I already mentioned that Tolouca is the highest city in Mexico but at that time I was still oblivious to that fact. The breathing issue as well as the fact that for the first time since Baja North I had to zip up my jacket and pants on the ride into town made me seek out the answer. Of course Footprint guide did not disappoint and that is how I know that Tolouca is at 2300 plus meters...Google helped with the conversion to feet. Had some delicious coffee this morning (made me miss Phil´s!) and read about the insanity of the Teacher´s strike in Oaxaca...Police in riot gear, tear gas, turned over buses and tent cities where the teacher´s had occupied the town square! What kind of teacher´s are these? The police presence in Tolouca is impossible to ignore. The cops are everywhere and they are heavily armed with automatic weapons. I asked the desk clerks at the Colonial "Why are there so many police?"
"Where?" she said.
"Everywhere. All over the streets with big guns." I said. The two desk clerks looked at one another and then back at me. "It´s normal?" I asked.
"Si" she replied. "Es normal."
"Why?" I asked. The male clerk smiled slightly and said that it was to protect the tourists. We exchanged amused glances, laughed and I went upstairs to pack. Another city with nothing much to offer but crowds, consumerism (there is a WalMart at the edge of town along with a Woolworth, KFC, Burger King etc etc etc.), a Cathedral and a ridiculous waste of precious funds on big guns and tons of cops when the poverty level is off the charts. Truly the word "ramshackle" must have some root in Mexican Spanish. I have seen shacks with one or more walls made from a used mattress or the hood of a car all throughout the countryside. In the city of course are the multiplex slums and homeless.
After navigating the front steps and plunging back into the morning commute I make my way towards Rte 55 and Rte 55D (D stands for Dinero or the toll road) both of which will take me to Ixtapan de la Sal. The toll road will take around 30 min while Calle Libre will take nearly 2 hours and wind its way through several small towns, climbing and descending multiple passes before reaching the tranquil resort town with the medicinal mineral baths. Of course if there will be medicinal mineral baths on arrival why take the easy road?
The birds here and throughout Mexico have been beautiful! I am not generally a bird guy (with the exception of #33 Larry) but I really must see what the names are of some of the technicolor menagerie I have seen so far.
Ixtapan de la Sal (Ixtapan from here on out) is situated south of Mexico City at around 6000 feet. The road, 55 Libre, is similarly trafficked as yesterday´s trip to Tolouca but when there is a clearing it is an epic, Skyline-style mountain road passing through crafting pueblos, verdant green hillsides and those ramshackle settlements on the outskirts of nothing. I have decided...somewhere between Tolouca and passing that open trailer filled with pigs...that I will be staying at the all-inclusive Hotel Ixtapan Spa and Golf Resort and getting a massage. On the road now for 12 days and around 3000 miles my body is ready. Also all-inclusive guarantees 3 meals a day and unlimited use of the pool and jacuzzi.
6/16 - Friday - Great night last night here at the Hotel Ixtapan---sure the service is generally pretty crappy especially in the dining room---but the people from both MX and the US have been super friendly and interesting. A number of US tourists on Spa Vacations---pretty inexpensive really for room and board and a massage and some other treatment every day (reflexology, manicures, pedicures etc.) as well as a ton of activities, yoga, morning walks, pilates etc. Seems like a good set up and a very beautiful and relaxing place (good idea for my Cousin Brian´s honeymoon?). Bruno and Joanne from NYC were the first people I met and ending up having several meals with them. Great people and great conversation---thanks guys and tell your friend at the
3 of Cups in the Village that I can´t wait to return for some Penne Bolognese! Also met a few people from the Bay area, Aventura, Florida and Pittsburgh,PA who also enjoyed having a cocktail and lounging by the pool as well as a writer of erotic fiction and her step mother from Los Angeles...my kind of people. LOL. There was also a convention of all of the Presidents and Govenor´s of every state in Mexico going on so I had the opportunity to meet a VP and a few of the aides and staffers for Pres. David Ulises. Struck up a conversation with David (a Mexican who is also an alum of Northwestern U. in Chicago) and works for the President, Jorge and Alexander who at 26 is already a VP. Passed along some CD´s and exchanged some contact info as they left that night. They were working and so unable to join me for a drink but did enjoy the fact that I was enjoying my Cuban Romeo y Julieta Churchhill and Ron Riserva rum.
I ended up staying and extra day at the Hotel Ixtapan and didn´t leave for Oaxaca until Saturday morning. Each time I stopped to ask the driving time to Oaxaca I was told that it was 7 hours (siete houras)...drive an hour and ask again...siete houras...drive two hours and again again...siete houras! Thought I would never get here!
Rte 160 Libre to Rte 190 Libre is 200 plus miles of motogasm...despite the Topes (enormous speed bumps that can dismantle the suspension of a car) present in every pueblo along the way...there are breathtaking views of mountain ranges and valleys and cacti of all shapes and colors and configurations. At one point I stopped to take the ubiquitous photo of the bike under a "curvy road" sign with the road slithering off into the corner of the frame. All morning I had been adjusting and re-adjusting my mirrors (and this was nearly 75-100 miles into the trip that I stopped to take the photo) and thought that the mirrors had loosened up. When I went to get back on the bike after taking the photo the mirrors were facing the ground! I realized it wasn´t the mirrors but rather my handlebars which had loosened up!!! Not good when you are leaning into corner after corner after corner at 50-60mph. I unrolled my tool kit and realized I had every tool but the one I needed for this particular fix. A school teacher from Pueblo (about an hour to the north of where I was stopped) who was coming from the strike in Oaxaca stopped to see if I needed help. He said that his other car had all of his tools in it and because this was new car he had nothing with him. I asked about the Green Angels who have the roaming tourist helper trucks and he told me that they don´t come to these parts. LOL. I managed to wedge the handle bars back into a decent position and for riding and proceeded very slowly and with minimal pressure on the bars to wind my way down the hill to the next town which my friend said was about 10 min away. About 5 minutes down the road I saw a sign painted on a sheet of plywood advertising a "Mecanico General" with and arrown pointing up a steep dirt road. Nothing to lose I stood up on the pegs and steered the bike off road and up the dirt hill and down a dirt road to a house with a number of car skeletons littering the yard. I pulled into the yard and a teenage boy came out. His father was the mechanic and not home but I managed to explain what I needed and he came back with the right tool. Five minutes and $20 pesos later I was back on the road and crusing towards Oaxaca with renewed vigor.
6/17 - I pulled into the Hotel Oaxaca Ollin around 8:00pm...I plan to spend several days here...
6/18 - Happy Birthday Mom! Happy Anniversary Mom and Jordy! Happy Father´s Day Jordy!
