From one mad house to another!

We arrived at the gardens early which meant we had the run of the place and hired an English speaking guide who gave us an excellent tour for a couple of hours. The other benefit of an early start is that the humidity factor is less of an issue, especially when wearing bike gear.

The Road to Las Pozas was the usual rubble highway.

The house that James built.

Every piece of work was left unfinished to give the impression that it was actually in decay, the artists intention was to let the jungle finish his work.

Gothic arches (many of the pieces copy aspects of traditional architecture)

We also got the opportunity to climb around the place which is something not normally allowed when the gardens are full, James intentionally designed certain features that can only be seen from a specific viewpoint.

The face through the wall.

All the staircases have no handrails and lead nowhere.

Bloody tourists!

Another Bug moment.

Some of the walls and non reinforced structures have already started to collapse.

Concrete bamboo screen.

We left Las Pozas with enough time to get us to Queretero that evening, we had originally intended to go to North to San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato but the lure of the Pacific coast was stronger so we decided to head straight for Zihuatanejo. When we got to Queretero the problem with the keyboard arose so instead of us taking a look at the city I spent the time trawling the PC shops for an alternative means of typing the Blog.

The road out of Xilitla (check your brakes).

The next day was a good ride to the coast in glorious sunshine, we have been fortunate to miss riding in the really heavy rains and as we are coming to the end of the rainy season the waterproofs will get relegated to the bottom of the tank panniers.

Stopped on the way to take a churchy type picture.

What the well dressed motorcycle cop is wearing this year....Spurs!

We stopped off in Patzcuaro and had lunch on the street that houses the local the carpenter's workshops, they were basically wooden shacks with corrugated tin roofs but they all held a bewildering array of furniture and carvings.

These guys carved anything and everything (even had Michael Jackson on the roof!)

Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying......

That line is from the movie The Shawshank Redemption, one of my all time favourite films. If you've seen the film you'll know that The character played by Tim Robbins eventually escapes to start a new life in Mexico in a place called Zihuatanejo (pronounced say-wot-an-heyo), It's a small resort in a sheltered bay a couple of hundred kilometers up the coast from Acapulco.

Zihuatenejo Bay.

The water was really shallow.

The view from the hotel pool.

Ruby throated hummingbird.

Sue relaxing on the balcony.

Me relaxing at the bar.

Another Pacific Ocean sunset.

We'd heard that turtles often frequent this area to lay their eggs and asked to be woken if one appeared during our stay. That night at 11.30 there was a knock on the door and we were escorted via torchlight down to the beach and watched while mama laid her eggs (about 100). There is a financial incentive to the hotel staff to protect the turtles so they retrieve the eggs immediately and place them in a mesh covered pen until they hatch and are ready to start their life at sea.

It's truly amazing that these creatures cover thousands of miles of open ocean and still return to the same spot they were born. I have difficulty finding a bloody hotel with a map and GPS.

There are 3 species of turtle that frequent the beach, Hawksbill, Leatherback and this type the Olive Ridley turtle.

The last time I witnessed a live birth was.......and moving on.

We were fortunate that when we took the eggs to the compound where they are reburied and labeled, that hatchlings from a previous brood were poking their heads above the sand. So these were helped out of their hole, put back into a plastic bag and taken down to the shore.

In the background you can see the wooden stakes with the projected hatch date marked on them, these babies were due on the 22nd of September and were 2 days late.

Unfortunately the sea unceremoniously pushed many of them back onto the beach and we spent a few minutes running round picking them up and taking them past the breakers to give them a chance (when I say taking what I actually meant was throwing).

It's suprising how far you can throw a baby turtle! (only joking)

It was too far to ride from Zihuatenejo to Mexico City in one day so we decided to break the journey and stop overnight in Acapulco.
Leaving Zihuatenejo we met up with a couple of travelers, Ron and Garrett who were parked up at the side of the road waiting for Garrett's bike to cool down after he thought he had an overheating problem. They are both headed to South America and we decided to ride to Acapulco together and meet up for a beer that evening (we never did, sorry guys) We left them on the outskirts of Acapulco and soon found ourselves in the middle of the city.....Lost!, I had forgotten the location of the hotel and the GPS was giving instructions in that tone of voice that says "I thought YOU knew where we were going". Being a bloke and not wanting to admit my navigational skills were only slightly better than a pigeon with Alzheimer's I drove around for a while not wanting to admit defeat (what we should have done was pay a taxi driver to take us there) and in desperation made a U- turn on the freeway in an attempt to head in what I thought was the right direction. Mistake number 124...... this nice policeman (who from now on shall be known as 'Bastardo') pulled us over and proceeded to explain that not only had I made an illegal manoeuvre but I had also ran a red light, after we explained where we were trying to go he said no problem I'll take you there after we sort out the formalities. He then went through his usual crooked routine "do you want to go to the station or shall we sort it out here", because we were tired and hungry I agreed to sort it out on the spot, rather than extort money from us on the hard shoulder he escorted us to our hotel via a dead end street where he explained the fines would amount to 1300 Pesos (about £50) I whinged and whined and got him down to 500, if we hadn't been so tired I think I would have enjoyed the sport in calling his bluff but we paid the money and booked into the hotel. Oddly enough Ron and Garrett also got robbed the next day (sorry I meant fined), that evening we had a quick walk along Copacabana beach, which is not very nice, 1 in 4 gradient and looks and feels like building sand! and that night sat through another tropical rain storm. I was so pissed with the whole thing I couldn't be bothered to take any photos except this one from the hotel balcony.

Acapulco Bay (home of the 'Bastardo Federale')

Throughout our trip we have visited friends who made contact with us through the two main websites for adventure travelers (Horizons Unlimited and Adventure Rider). One of the first people to offer help and advice was Garry from Mexico City, Garry is an British ex pat who now lives in the city with his Mexican wife Ivonne. They have both traveled extensively and host fellow travelers as a way of paying back the hospitality they were shown when they were on the road (that's how this thing works). Under normal circumstances you would be mad to even think about riding into Mexico City but Garry being the stand up type of guy that he is will actually meet you and escort you in. He agreed to meet us in Tres Marias a small town outside the city which on a Sunday hosts all the local bikers looking to meet their maker on the twisties in the mountains.

Tres Marias in the rain. (BOB attracted the usual attention with people wanting to sit on him and have their photo taken like some safari park elephant)

Mexico City is not as bad as people make out the traffic is no worse than any other city with 20 million inhabitants and in the four days we were there I rode around the city every day and never saw one accident (they must move the dead really quickly) I have driven in worse places, Turkey, Iran, Italy and the Yorkshire Dales and with Garry taking the lead I soon settled into the routine of lane splitting, pushing in and using the pavement as a kind of extra lane! In Mexico we have found the Road Traffic Laws are more what you would call guidelines! most taxi drivers are red/green colour blind and the local police would not have enough time or paper to process all the traffic infringements.

During our stay Ivonne drove us into the city to have a look round (we can now swear fluently in Spanish) she is a superb driver and Sue said she felt at ease in the back of the car and even I was relaxed (being one of the worst passengers ever).

The museum of Beauty and Art.

Sue and Ivonne in front of the Cathedral in the City square.

The view of the square from our lunchtime restaurant.

Sue's Chile en Nogada, a wonderful dish consisting of a green chile, white walnut sauce and red pomegranate- the colors of the Mexican flag. This dish is a Mexican Independence day favourite.

Inside the cathedral is a pendulum hung from the centre of the roof showing the amount of subsidence and movement since it's construction in 1664 (white arrow)

The main alter in the cathedral

Restoration work to one of the side chapels.

Downtown Mexico City.

Garry and Ivonne were superb hosts and took us for a day out to the Aztec ruins at Teotihuacan.

Teotihuacan is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the so-called "Avenue of the Dead", and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals.

Bloody tourist in front of the Pyramid of the Sun, the pyramid is the third largest in the world after the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt and the Pyramid of Cholula just down the road in Puebla.

The hand rail is there for a reason (it's as steep as it looks)

Sue and Garry at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun (in the background is the Pyramid of the moon)

At the top of the pyramid in the centre is this piece of metal embedded in the surface, this is reported to be a focal point for the suns energy and people climb up there to lie on the spot or touch it in the hope of being invigorated with solar power. I wonder if no one was looking you could drop your pants and...no,no,no!

The stones projecting from the walls of the pyramid were originally designed to hold in place a lime stucco covering that was then painted bright red.

The Pyramid of the Moon.

"No Darling yer bum's not really that big, it's a wide angled lens it's supposed to make things look wide"

Looking back down the Avenue of the Dead from the top of the Pyramid of the Moon.

Some of the original wall paintings.

Ongoing restoration work at the Citadel.

The Temple of Quetzalcoatl or Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent.

Close up of carved serpent head.

Mexico is big on wrestling, really big all the shops sell replica masks of all the favourites. First of all I didn't buy this mask I borrowed it off Garry's son Lloyd, so here's me disguised as one of the most popular wrestling hero...Mystico!

And here's Sue disguised as.....well..errr

Viva Zapata!

One of the reasons I needed to get to Garry and Mexico city was to replace the rear tyre, the Metzler Tourance we had fitted in Vancouver had done over eight thousand miles fully loaded and would not have got us to Guatemala City which was where the next chance to change tyres would be. Garry did some ringing round before we got there and managed to source a Michelin tyre at a reasonable price, the front still has a few thousand miles left on it so that will get changed in Guatemala. We got the tyre fitted and balanced at the local Suzuki dealer but I also decided to get the 24,000 mile service done whist we were near a main BMW dealer. The cost of the labour was half of what we were paying in the States or back home so the bill was reasonable but the biggest result was that I managed to get a new visor for my helmet. As a result of the crash both our helmet visors were scratched, Sue's more than mine and we managed to replace hers in Vancouver. I have continued to ride with mine until now and the service guy at the BMW dealership in Mexico City sold me a replacement off a new helmet (it wasn't cheap when you consider the cost of a new BMW system 6 helmet here is close on £600! All in all it had been a successful time for BOB and me.

We spent a hugely entertaining four days with Garry and Ivonne but as with all our visits this one came to an end too soon and we needed to be heading South again. We said our goodbyes and Garry kindly showed us the way out of City and we were on our way to Oaxaca.

Following Garry out of Mexico City in morning traffic.

Get ready For Architectural Overload.......

So First of all an apology.....apparently I am not updating the blog often enough. I realise that there are people all over the world hanging on my every word and waiting for the next installment, which is all very well but the realities are that from now on the availability of good Internet access will become more scarce the further South we travel unless we are in a highly populated area. I will try and update the blog weekly to ensure everyone knows we are well and how much you have to pay collectively in terms of a ransom to secure our realease. Before I update you all on the last week's activities I will give you an insight into how something small and insignificant can become an overwhelming headache. The other night we had checked into our hotel which was equipped with High Speed Internet, and I decide to update the events of the last seven days. I turned on the laptop to find half the keys on the keyboard weren't functioning, B ST RD! no letter , no letter , nd the sp ce b r w s pl ying up..you get the picture. I took the keyboard to bits, gave it a clean, still no good, the next solution is to buy a normal USB keyboard and use that. Back home I'd call into the local computer store and pick one up for around £5. In Mexico I have to first of all find a town that has a computer shop, then locate the shop, then try and explain in 'Spanglish' what I want (and it can't just be any keyboard it has to be compact enough to fit into the bike pannier) and then pay an exhorbitant amount for a piece of Chinese plastic, just so I can tell you all what a great time were having! Shit I'm developing GOBS..Grumpy Old Bloke Syndrome, anyhow on with the Blog.......

From laptop to tabletop

The run down from Loreto to La Paz was fairly uneventful, the stretch leaving Loreto along the coast road has nice views over the Sea of Cortez but it all too soon turns to familiar desert terrain. As I said in the last post we were hoping to get onto the Mexican mainland before the Tropical depression out in the Pacific decided to head our way so we needed to catch the ferry to Mazatlan that evening. We finally found the ferry terminal but before we could buy tickets we needed to get the Temporary Vehicle Import Permit (TVIP) for BOB, this is documentation to say that have brought a vehicle into the country and the permit must be cancelled when you leave or else you're in deep stuff. You get and pay for the TVIP at the Aduana which is the equivalant of Customs, we could have done the paperwork in Tijuana but the Aduana is not always at the border and in the case of Tijuana the office is in the city itself and we didn't want the hassle of riding through Tijuana at all, so we chose to get it in La Paz. The Aduana in La Paz is conveniently located in the ferry terminal buildings and after 45 minutes and a wobbly credit card moment we had the permit and booked ourselves onto that evening's sailing to the mainland. One note of warning, make sure before you leave the Aduana that all the details on the permit are correct. We have heard horror stories of incorrect vehicle identification numbers or wrongly typed names resulting in vehicles being impounded, fines (did I say bribes?) or worse still, having to return to the original Aduana to sort the problem out.

BOB's immigration papers

The ferry crossing takes approximately 12 hours but apparently it never leaves or arrives on time but 'hey' we were on board and the Sea of Cortez is as still as a millpond. Unfortunately the Pacific Ocean isn't, the voyage was fine until we sailed past the tip of the Baja peninsular and then came under the influence of the ocean swell. It didn't stop us sleeping, but I was concerned that BOB had not been strapped down by the cargo guys and was now rolling about on his side somewhere below decks. The doors to the vehicle decks are kept locked and no one is allowed access after the ferry sets sail, but at one o clock in the morning I found someone who could understand me and assure me that the bike was secure.

Sunrise on the La Paz ferry

We awoke early for breakfast and then went on deck to watch the sunrise and Sue caught a glimpse of her first wild dolphins.

The dolphins would head straight for the side of the ship and then disappear underneath only to surface on the other side.

We were one of the last off the ferry and had planned to stay in Mazatlan that evening before leaving for Durango the following day so we found a hotel with a pool and kicked back for the rest of that day. Mazatlan has quite a pleasant beach area but is frequented ocassionally by the cruise ship crowd, they descend on the town for the day like locusts and then at three o'clock in the afternoon they leave en mass for the next port. If you happen to be in the resort at the same time it's assumed that you are also from the boat and must run the gauntlet of local touts and traders.

When we got our injections before leaving the UK we didn't bother to get any malaria tablets, one reason was there was so much confusion over which type was best and the other reason was cost. I had read numerous reports on the side effects of the various brands of anti malarial tablets and each brand can have a detremental effect depending on the individual. Chloroquine appeared to be the most stable but also one of the mildest in terms of preventative properties. The cost in the UK would be somewhere around £60 each for enough to see us through the problem areas and quite a few people suggested buying them in Mexico or the States when we got there. We had no luck in the States as the cost of a consultation with a doctor was too expensive but when we were in Mazatlan we paid £1.13p to see a doctor and get a prescription and £3.97 for all our tablets!

The road to Durango took us through our first real jungle and up through the mountains towards the Central Highlands, the road is called the 'Devil's Backbone' although the actual Devil's Backbone is a series of cliffs about halfway to Durango.

You don't understand, it's a jungle out there!

Isn't she pretty......still.

More mountain views.

The variety of wildlife increases with lizards in the road and butterflies like folded sheets of A4 paper but the jungle encroaches right up to and in some cases over the road leaving no room for error on the hairpins or when passing oncoming vehicles.

Double whammy, Truck on the left, goats on the right. HIT THE GOATS!

And sometimes the big boys come unstuck!

Along the way we crossed the Tropic of Cancer.

The start of the Devil's backbone.

The view from El Espinazo del Diablo (Devil's spine)

We stopped at Salto for fuel and a coffee, I managed to secretly film this military patrol as they took a lunch break. Everybody was busy eating except the guy at the back of the truck who had his eye on me.

Go on Sue hold this bug to show how big it is....it's dead, honest.

Durango is a bustling colonial city with a network of one way streets that the GPS failed to get to grips with, we managed to navigate by riding parallel to our destination route and hoped as some point it we would get us back on track. Dan in San Diego had recommended a number of hotels in Mexico most are close to the main square or city centre which is great for sightseeing but not so great on our riding stress levels!, we ate dinner that night overlooking the plaza and cathederal seated on the balcony of a first floor restaurant which was very romantic but unfortunately the food failed to live up to the occasion.

Isn't she pretty, what a guy!

Overlooking the square.

Note to self..must get an iron.

Durango Cathedral.

It started to rain at some point after we went to sleep, but I was awoken not by the rain but by somebody (in the context of this story somebody is actually pronounced somebastard!) belting the living daylights out of a drum kit. I am not musically gifted enough to determine whether or not what I heard was actually skilled playing or just someone out to piss people off....he suceeded with me!

The next day was an easy run to Zacatecas, a town founded by the Spanish over 400 years ago after discovering rich veins of gold and silver in the surrounding hills.

The Teleferico (cable car) to El Cerro de la Bufa.

The view from above Zacatecas.

The convent on top of La Cerra de la Bufa (formally an asylum).

We also took a tour of the El Eden mine, one of the first and most productive mines in the area which was declared a world heritage site in 1993. To read about the mine go here:

http://www.bestday.com/Editorial/Mina-El-Eden/

"No of course you don't look silly in that hat"

One of the original vaults is now a subterranean nightclub.

I had to get a shot of this! it's what the well dressed men of Zacatecas are wearing..or, how I looked in 1974.

Zacatecas Cathedral

More Colonial Architecture.

Yes, I know the fountain is coming out of the top of my head.

A safe way to practice your Spanish.

The Entance to the Aranzazu Chapel.

Inside the chapel,

Aranzazu Chapel

Just another driving hazard in the city.

Loreto Chapel.

Another church

And another

From San Luis Potosi we headed for Xilitla to see 'Las Pozas' the gardens created by Edward James an eccentric Englishman who became attracted to the area as the place to nurture his obsession with growing orchids, one year a severe frost killed his whole collection and from that moment he set about creating a surrealist garden out of concrete. The man was obviously as mad as a box of frogs but there is no denying that his work over almost 50 years has left a legacy that is only now been recognised as an architectural marvel.

Before arriving in Xilitla we stopped to view the falls at Tamasopo and had lunch in one of the local cafes, the great thing about eating in places like this is if you can't explain what you want then you simply go into the kitchen and have a look in the pot.

I'll have some of that and one of them......

Downtown Tamasopo.

Tamasopo Falls.

You get the idea.

You won't look so tough in a burger

Xilitla is a small hilltop town in the middle of the jungle we arrived in the afternoon and had been given the name of a hotel by Dan in San Diego, unfortunately it was Sunday and all the streets around the square are blocked by market stalls. As you can guess the hotel we were looking for overlooks the square and hard as we tried we couldn''t get near it, in the end we gave up and found the nearest one with a room. Xilitla is not on the list of must see tourist locations and as such the quality of the hotels leaves something to be desired.

Overlooking the town.

Main Street Xilitla.

At least BOB was comfortable.

Concrete beds and mine had a plastic matress cover, did they think i was going to pee myself?

We settled in for the night and planned to have an early start to Las Pozas in the morning..........