At Daniels Hotel in Guadalupe

Ok so Daniel's so cool, I had to give him a dual cameo! In the morning after an epic day (many more of those to come!) and staying at his hotel, I packed up and sat down and had breakfast while we talked.


Turns out he lived and worked in Mexico City for 30 years at an auto plant. It was all union, and sounded like he made a pretty good living. He has two sons still living there, but they don't do that kind of work I don't think. In fact though his English was a little rough, it sounded like the auto industry had been effected alot like ours, probably because they were making parts for ours! And like here, Toyota's and Honda's became the hot sellers. And like everyone seems to acknowledge, and he said,"they are good cars".


So he accepted a buy out and came to Guadalupe (a couple hours north of Veracruz) to own and run his hotel. He said while there are things he likes about Mexico City, like the fact you can get anything you want there, he doesn't miss the noise, pollution, or the traffic. It is so bad there pollution wise he said that you can only drive your car so many days a week, to help reduce smog. "20 million people" he says with a laugh. So he goes there one or two days a month on business stressing he comes back the same day, never stays. He likes it where he's at, he looks around and says "this is quiet, and peaceful". I would agree except being right on the main highway for Eastern Mexico with all the trucks gearing down as they enter town 20 hours a day is not exactly serenity. But I know what he means, for the most part it does feel pretty good. A small town feeling, though main street Mexico is a little different then main street U.S.A.

He also tells me that most of the farm workers in Mexico make about a 100 pesos a day, or about $10, for a long day of work (actually at the current exchange rate thats about $7.50 a day). He explains that is why there are so many Mexicans trying to get into the U.S. Of course thats not news to anyone. I worked for years off and on on some friends apple farm in Michigan helping them with harvest. If it wasn't for the migrant workers their crops probably would not get picked. I got along with most of them quite well, many of them were illegal, but really had nothing to lose. They didn't speak English, were living day to day, and really didn't have much of a future outside of the next job they could get. I did feel for them, many have been and still are exploited to some degree for being in a vulnerable position. I am a U.S. citizen and did work on farms off and on for awhile. The thing is you usually could never get any kind of health insurance, never get overtime, no matter how many hours you worked, and could never qualify for unemployment because so much of the work is seasonal. It is hard enough for an American to make a living working on a farm, you can imagine what its like as migrant worker, legal or illegal.

Of course this isn't to say all farms are that way at all, and things have improved a lot in a lot of different areas, pay wise, benefits etc. I guess I talk about this because like I said I have worked with migrants in the past, and understand a little of their situation, and being in Mexico and listening to Daniel talk of workers conditions reminds of what many of them face and why they risk it all to go north.

When I was in Texas I read an article about some Nicauragans that made it to a border town with the U.S. and were basically held against their will in a house. They had paid to be brought north, and were treated little better then slaves. They finally broke out of the house and ran into the village asking the locals for help. To many of the residents credit they banded together to hide them in their house away from their jailers and and the local authorities. In fact when the local authorities came to load them on a bus, the townspeople yelled for them to not get on the bus, that the local police were involved as well. So they didn't and stay'd with the townsfolk, apparently too many of them for the police to tangle with.

What happened after that I'm not sure, but I think it got the attention of national authorities who came in and took over. Only two of the "jailers" could be found, but they were to be put on trial with perhaps some of the local authorities. It was actually a heroic tale of the townspeople standing up for others against local corruption. A reminder again of how things can go in for alot of these people.






Its 8:30 in the morning and I can already feel the heat and I am soaked. It has gotten progressively hotter as I have come south. This morning feels more tropical then the last.

I am grateful for the rest and a safe place and the conversation. Daniel tells me there was a motorcyclist thru not too far back doing the same thing I was doing, though he was heading to Argentina. I say I maybe back thru in 5 weeks, and hopefully speaking better Spanish, we both laugh.


I ask him for a picture and we exchange business cards and email addresses. The nice thing about coming back is I'll have references on places to stay, and not to stay. Hotels will be a constant companion in my writings and travels at this point. For the most part they are have been safe and clean. I have had interesting contrasts in hotels. Some like Daniels have a cross and a picture of Jesus in their lobby, and the feeling is good about the place. Other places the owner greets you with a shot gun in his hand, one has faith in god apparently, while the other has faith in a weapon. Personally without making it a religous thing, I feel better about the guy with the cross (like Steven in Texas or Daniel) then the guy with the gun. Go figure!



For anyone travelling thru and wishing to find Daniels place, or contact him, his email is dbeniteze@hotmail.com ( I hope this is right the second e was hard to make out in his writing) and his place is The Hotel Sarita which is in Guadalupe about two hours north of Veracruz on 180. Of course the town is not on the map I have, but his place is the first hotel on the right as you come in from the north. I can only tell you its about an hour at least, south of Tuxpam, good luck!

Mexico day 2, A day at the Races

After the first day I thought I was going to be able to make good time in Mexico. The reality of just how hard this trip could be, and how much I have to learn about travelling down here became obvious.

As I said in my last log I stopped about 120 miles north of Tampico on the Gulf Coast my first day. In the morning I headed out and got close to Tampico looking for the highway heading to Veracruz, the next big city doen the coast. As I got closer to Tampico there was suppose to be a road going off to the right that went around the city and headed south. I got the first turn right with the right sign, but then my problems with directions began. Often with Mexican Highways the highway going into town is numbered the same as the highway going around the town. In the U.S. if a freeway runs thru a city, it will be the main number of the freeway like I 35, any alternative routes around the city will be like 35w, or 35e. You know that it will hook up with the main one eventually. In Mexico not only are both routes the same number but if you take the one going into the city your a hundred more times likely of getting lost because while your first exit might say Veracruz and you take that, your next exit to Veracruz will not say Veracruz, it will say the name of another town which is likely not even on the map. So there is no way of knowing the exit or turn you just passed was the one you needed. It may or maynot have a number on it, or sometimes it may have the highway symbol, but there's no numbers in the symbol to let you know what road it is. Good maps are hard to find, and even good ones can have the wrong highway number on them. In fact I remember going into a gas station, pointing to my map, and saying Mexico. and the lady thought I was asking for directions to Mexico City. No matter how much I pointed to the map, and said Mexico she just didn't understand. I gave up some such attempts of communication after that.

So this leaves you with asking directions from someone who dosn't understand a word your saying but if I can pronounce the name of the city right, or show them on a map of where I want to go, they can at least, thru gestures (sometimes wild ones!) at least get me a couple of turns closer. One of the things I do feel badly about is not speaking the language. Most people have been very helpful and have try'd to understand what I was asking, it was just too hard to communicate. But I kept trying. Thru sense of direction, asking for directions, intuition, trial and error, I have gradually made my way along. I have gradually gotten better at it, but unless you have really detailed maps, which I'm not sure you can even get, or in my case afford for every country I'll pass thru, you just have to really pay attention.

The things that have slowed me down the most on this trip, and not necessarily in order are: getting lost, speed bumps, construction zones, roads that should be construction zones, heavy traffic with trucks all slowing down for these speed bumps, toll booths and really just bad roads. There also is an endless amount of small towns you go thru, like every 10 to 15 miles, you have to slow down because they have huge speed bumps. Sometimes 10 or 20 in a row and you have to come to a complete stop to get over them. Many times their not even marked so you have to pay attention. I don't know how many times I was cruising along and had to just about skid to a stop because of a speed bump. Many of them I would bottom out on their so big. Mexico has found the perfect answer to not having traffic lights out in the country. Bumps you can't ignore!

Also these speed bumps are a center of local commerce. Since everyone has to almost stop to get over them, street vendors selling fruit, water, flavored water, anything really will all come up to your vehicle and try to sell you something. This is pretty common in Mexico and Central America, street vending between cars. All this adds to the fact that getting cross country quickly in Mexico is not possible on the roads. I've learned making good time on this trip is going to be more the exception then the rule. And I guess really, making good time is a matter of perception really, here it means something different then in the U.S
In Mexico you can have just great stretches of road and be cruising along at 60, for about twenty minutes. Then you either run into a town, toll booth, bad road or something. In fact so much of the trip and in a sense, the tropics are like that. What ever is happening, good or bad, it will change. If not in minutes, probably in a few hours. You can be going along in the morning making great time, and in the afternoon find yourself in a thunderstorm surrounded by trucks going 5 mph for an hour or two. Followed by a great road, clear skies, and beautiful scenery, until the next change.

If you could make an overview map of Mexican roads you would probably find an equal amount of good paved roads to an equal amount of construction and roads that need repair. This is a guess of course since I've only been on 1200 miles, but then throw in the towns, speed bumps, toll boothes, mountain and city roads and I would say maybe a third of any cross country trip could be spent going more then 50 miles an hour.

So I'm just north of Tampico thinking I took the right road, and I did but somewhere there is another major highway heading south to Veracruz, that I absolutely can't find. And I have a pretty good sense of direction (that usually lets me know I'm lost) and I also was a cab driver at one point for 7 years. I'm using every skill I know and I can't find this road. Its funny just before my first toll booth someone pulls up next to me and points to my back tire, I can't figure out what their saying and they drive on. Someone else try's to tell me something too. Again, what a treat to speak the language of the country your in! They drive off too. So I come to my first toll road.

A word about these toll roads. One is their not everywhere in Mexico. In fact if you look at the map their spread out and concentrated only in certain parts of the country. Second you would think like in the U.S. a toll road would signify controlled access, good roads, and high speeds. To some degree all of these are true. They also mean construction zones, terrible roads, alot of stops, and really can be expensive. Like in some cases I might have spent 6-10 dollars to go a hundred miles. But the vast majority of these toll roads were on the central east coast of the gulf where there is only one highway for the entire coast, all the way to the Yucatan from what I was told. Not only was this some of the heaviest traffic I ran into in Mexico, it was where all the toll roads were.

Ok so I stop, pay my first toll which is 20 Pesos or something (about a $1.50) and then pull off at a little stop to the right. A guy comes out and tells me I have a chain dragging from my back wheel. Thats what the other drivers were trying to tell me! Its my lock I put on at the hotel the night before which I forgot was on and I drove off an snapped it. I'm not use to locking it up I forgot it was even on. I was lucky it didn't do any damage to the bike.

So I thank him for that and I decide to push my bike back to the hut where they have a restaurant. He helps push me back. One thing here is when people offer to help you, unasked for, they still expect you to pay them something... I think I gave him two Pesos or something later, he wanted five.

I went in, ordered my first breakfast in Mexico. My Spanish lacking, I had to think quick! My mind raced back to my time in Seward and the Seward Bakery. Ouevos Rancheros, fried eggs with rancheros sauce and refried beans with tortillas. I used to eat that all the time when I lived in Seward, Ak. and thats good, because I will be eating them a lot now. And of course bottled water to drink.

Ok so I'm on my way, I drive about 20 miles and realize I'm on the road to Mexico City. The place with 20 million people, clogged streets and pollution. The one place I don't want to go and get caught it. It could take days to get across that city. So I turn around and back track back to the only place I could have lost the trail. On the way back I see them towing an SUV away after driving straight into the back of a semi tractor trailer loaded with concrete bricks. The car was scrunched up in half and the trailer wasn't even dented. It was a good reminder, but really I didn't need any. Drivers down here for the most part drive fast Very simple... drive fast. Its like its so impossible to make any kind of good time going anywhere that when you can drive fast, they really drive fast, where ever possible

So I'm back to where I was and began making a wide loop south into the city hoping to find the highway to Veracruz. Reason says it has to be out there. One good thing about Mexican roads is there are so few that actually go long distances that as long as your heading in the right direction you have a chance of finding the right one, or only one. However here I'm simply getting deeper and deeper into a big city and all the traffic. And I know I'm not where I want to be. Not unlike driving in a big city anywhere else, your afraid of missing a turn, or being in the wrong lane, this was no different. All I could do was follow the traffic and finally find a familiar sign, unfortunately it was for Victoria, the way I had just come from, but at least I wasn't lost anymore.

I finally stopped at a gas station and got the usual hand gestures after showing them my map and saying Veracruz. Puente (spelling may be off) is Spanish for river, it has been the one direction I heard many times. Go over the river and hang a left. Ok I got you. So I take that left and suddenly I'm approaching that same toll booth again. The same lady takes my same $1.50 again (20 Pesos) and looks at me like you again. I explain I'm lost and looks at me like, thats no good. I agree and drive off. I take the same exit I did before, but this time I stop at another gas station. I get the what becomes usual, and good for me because at least I understand it, over the puente (river) and hang a left. This time I got it and I'm heading in the right direction. This happens to be a toll road as well, I pay, and then it turns into a construction zone and I'm stuck in the middle of these trucks, in the hot sun waiting to go somewhere. The road is grooved hard gravel and I'm having a hard time even holding the bike up straight. And I'm just sweating, I have no sign yet telling me this was the right turn just my sense of direction, I'm out of choices, and I did cross the Puente as I was told to do, so this has to be it. And here I just wasted nearly two hours and 40 miles at least, going in a big circle.

The trucks start rolling and finally we hook up with another main road. I just follow them but quickly enough there's another y in the road. No sign, nothing. I take a right and end up in a small village. Now before I get lost again I turn around to go back to the y, and guess that the left is the right way. Guess! How many times will I do that. Well it is and eventually hooks up with the main road coming out of Tampico heading to Veracruz. The one I was looking for to begin with. If I come back this way I'm going to follow that road right into Tampico and find that damn thing. And probably get lost again!

Ok so now heading south absolutely not wanting to get into any big cities anymore, you just waste time and their too confusing. But I feel I've already wasted a good part of the day getting this far. The road now is slow and winding, no breakdown lane for most of it, and lots of trucks. This is a road that should be approached at 45 to 50 miles an hour. Yet everyone including trucks are going seventy. I just let them pass as best as I can and if there's the slightest chance of a successful pass before the next turn they will try it. To say this is stressful driving is an understatement. No time to enjoy the road, scenery, or anything. At one point we come upon a tanker truck that is half off the road, with no shoulder there's not a lot of place to go. Its at a 45 degree angle and in danger of tipping over. Probably ran off trying to avoid someone coming the other way. Traffic amazingly slows down for this event, but only for a moment.

I notice the Police drive by non chalantly and seem to have more important business to attend to. There is really no traffic control or flag person or anything else happening to help the situation, and the Police drive right by. Now I don't want to say anything about the Mexican Police for so far they have left me alone. But I have yet to see them do anything, and maybe this is a sign of a good policing, but I have my doubts.There is a small building in most villages that is located at the end of town which is the Police Station. They are often parked out in front watching people drive by. I have never seen them pull anyone over, in fact the craziest drivers often pass them with no response. They never arrive on a scene of an accident, direct traffic or assist. Like I said I havn't seen them do anything, which may make them the perfect police, I don't know. Later down the road there was another accident which looked more like a fender bender. This was the third accident of the day I saw.

At one point I crossed a small bridge south of Tampico and stopped on the bridge to take pictures. It was a big river that had some big ships docked in it and also small flat bottom boats the locals use for fishing. Many of the houses were built right on the water front. Someone came up and wanted to talk about my bike but I said I didn't speak Spanish, that was that unfortunately, and they walked away.

Its interesting with so many of the small towns, once you get off the highway, the roads are more like cobblestone streets, or brick, very narrow, and you realize the villages themselves can stretch for a long way back with no street signs or anything. A world known really only to the locals, and the hardy traveller who ventures in. I don't think its so dangerous as much as rough on the bike and a waste of time looking for something, with no landmarks or street signs, even if you did know the language. So if you feel like a spectacle on the highway going thru these towns, which I often do, imagine how it feels when you do venture into the heart of these villages, you feel your going somewhere no bike has gone, or gringo may have ever gone.

I got to a town called Tuxpan later in the day and wanted to get something to eat. I got into town ok, ate something at a restaurant on the water front, took some pictures, tried to head out of town to look for a hotel and promptly discovered I was lost again. The third time that day. I stopped and asked for directions and got the proverbial over the Puente, (river) again (thank god there isn't any woods to go thru!). And finally found my way out, but was about ready to turn around and go back again after 20 miles when there was a sign for Veracruz and another toll road. At least I was on the right road. It seems these feelings of relief and at least I'm on the right road again are always short lived. Soon to be replaced by the next challenge.

I was determined not to drive past dark that night, but again not having good maps to go by and not knowing whats really out there, I ended up driving well into the dark on very narrow roads with trucks roaring by me at seventy mph while I looked for a hotel.

At one point I came around a curve into a residential area or something and there was probably 40 or 50 teenagers in their school uniforms (all the girls wear skirts, knee high socks and dress shirts and the boys wear dress shirts, ties and slacks, almost like Catholic school use to be here), all walking along this narrow road in the pitch black with trucks roaring by at 60 mph a few feet away. I couldn't believe it. To have a school outing on a pitch black highway........or whatever they were doing I have no idea. In ways death seems a closer a companion here, and maybe in ways that makes it safer. There's no room for errror for many of these people. Me either...

I had already seen one dead donkey on the side of the road, and with most of the livestock apparently having free range (they give a new meaning to the word free range down here) you can find anything anywhere at any given time. Even in the middle of a big city, on a two foot median between two lanes of traffic you can find a horse grazing.

Also in this part of Mexico in every village I came to I kept seeing the same looking dog come out to greet me. It kind of looked like a cross between a greyhound and a hound, kind of a skinny mutt. It was like the same DNA had been passed down in these villages for hundreds of years. Each dog looked exactly the same! Either that or the dog was running ahead of me and beating me to the next village. Which at the speed I was going was very possible!

So then it began to rain. With hardly any place to pull over and my new goggles not doing well, plus I had to get some rain gear on, or get soaked. I had no choice but to pull over with my emergency flashers on, in the breakdown lane and hope I didn't get run over. I did manage to get my jacket on and start moving again but it was raining so hard and I couldn't see anything with the oncoming lights, and like most of Mexico, there was no place to pull over. No where.

I kept moving a little and I saw a bus stop with its cover on it and I thought about going back to it and spending the night there, but of course there was no place to turn around, I was really almost beat at this point, like I was overmatched. I looked up ahead and I could see some lights in the distance, like a mirage I was hoping they were town lights, or they could be just more truck lights coming at me. Then I realized they were town lights and as I made it to that town, the first hotel on the right I pulled into. No shopping for the right place tonight!

I asked the guy for a room for the night, he said 250 Pesos which is about $20, and I could park my bike in a fenced area under a roof in back so it would be safe. It was just what I needed. His name was Daniel and spoke reasonably well English. After unpacking and taking a shower I went down stairs to talk with him. He and a truck driver who had stopped for food, (many of the hotels have restaurants in them, which often just amount to a kitchen and a place to sit down, I don't think many of them really have hours, if someone wants something to eat, somebody will make it for you, and usually for just a few dollars) both helped me figure out a way to avoid going into Veracruz the next day, wasting time, and getting lost. Daniel drew me an extensive map around the city, complete with toll roads, their costs, kilometers between towns and exits, everything. It was an impressive map, something told me I would soon be lost again! He really tried to help me and it was a good map. And it really did help but just then I was getting lost just looking at it, and had to go to bed. He wanted to make sure I understood it.

In case Daniel reads this, it did help, but of course at one point I ended up heading towards Mexico City, lost again and had to turn around. Its like the biggest city on the planet, and until you get far enough south of it, one way or the other, its going to suck you in on a road.

At this point the way my day went with being lost for almost 3 hours, the construction, the heat, the accidents, the mountain roads in the rain, I was seriously considering turning around and coming back to the U.S. I was thinking of Greg Frazier the guy whose book I have who road around the world 5 times. In one part in Brazil he says he thought that Brazil was going to beat him. I felt that way at this point. That maybe Mexico was going to beat me.

Daniel owner of the Guadalupe Hotel

But I also knew that as difficult as this was, and was going to be, there would be things that I could do to make this trip a little easier. Learning the language would certainly help. Doing it once and getting thru it would teach me a lot for my return trip. Trying to get better maps may help. Not being on too tight of schedule, having more time to make the trip, gear adjustments, there are things that could be done to help with all this. But either way, it was going to be a challenge. For now my day at the races was over and I could get some rest.

Mexico (the first days are the hardest days)

 

Well that's what I thought, its from a Grateful Dead song, Uncle  John's Band. The next line is "cause when life looks like easy street, that's when there's danger at your door".

 

The first day was very good. It took about an hour to get into Mexico itself. The border customs for Mexico all spoke English, my permit for my bike $30, the permit for me $23, both for 30 days. They asked if I had a credit card for the bike permit, I just went along with everything not knowing, and said yes. This going along with everything can get to be quite expensive as I learn later. So they put it on the credit card, if you don't turn your permit in on the other side when you leave, they will charge you import tax for the full value of your bike, very expensive. So you need to turn this permit in as you leave the  country and you'll get that $30 back. Unless you use a credit card, they just keep it. This is what I was told at the border upon leaving, "oh you paid by credit card, too bad".  Lessons learned.

 

 

I do have to say something about Brownsville Texas before I move on. When I think about  travel, the hard stuff that one has to deal with, mainly ones own fears of other people, situations, and the unknowns, that do come with it, especially when traveling abroad. And often the pre-judgements we make about others and their situations, which sometimes helps keep us separate and safe I suppose in our own heads, or maybe just makes us feel better about ourselves gets confronted time and time again as I travel thru a place like Central America.

Not speaking the language well, standing out on a bike, I am in ways continually being put into situations that can make me uncomfortable, or feel that I am threatened in someway, even though I'm not (my spidey sense would tell me if I was!). It on some level is my ego that is being threatened. For someone like me who is rather self conscious at times, and likes to keep a low profile (when my ego's not in charge), not attracting attention to myself, this trip I soon realized will, on a continuous basis test my resolve, and also will  provide opportunities to maybe look at myself differently, as well as others, and get beyond some of my preconceived ideas and judgements. Which to me personally is one of the great and constant obstacles this world faces on a daily basis in finding our common ground and being able to understand each other and be able to work together. The "they and us" philosophy, only keeps us separate and a barrier to understanding each other, and being able work together to begin with. Often a way of thinking that keeps conflict and also the possibility of war in place. As someone once put "separation from self, others, or god is the source of all suffering." And to me understanding a powerful tool for overcoming these separations. And travel a great path to understanding. And in the final analysis as any good spiritual teacher will tell you, there is no such thing as separation. Any separation is an illusion of self, we are all one. That is a constant reminder to me as I travel to different places, and again a constant challenge to be felt and seen in so many different ways as one travels.

I miss opportunities everyday here to meet new people or share something of myself and culture. To ask a local to take my picture, or stop when someone waves to me and just say hello, even though we may not understand the words, the feelings are universal. The opportunities many, some days I will just try to wave to a hundred people maybe, or be open to that one time where we can break down some boundaries and share common ground. But I first have to be aware of this separation, and push my lazy side to stop and see. To not just go, go, go, ignoring what is going on. ( a guy who rode his motorcycle around the world in 16 days, and slept in ditches comes to mind!) Or to react out of fear simply because someone is different, or I don't speak their language.

As Dr. Greg Frazier said who has been around the world 5 times on a motorcycle, what he remembers most and what its about, is the people. Connecting with people.

Oh yes about Brownsville ( I just needed to say all that because some , me included, wonder about the sanity of this trip at times), in this case my prejudgment (which I'll be dealing with the whole way trip), was that it was just a dirty border town and a place to just get thru. Well I found it very clean and a good place to rest up for awhile before going into Mexico. And while I'm not a big fan of strip malls and chain restaurants, for a tired traveler needing to find things quickly with limited time, familiarity is a good thing. Add the pleasant weather (in the 70's), the gulf coast near by, and things like the wild life preserve and San Padre Island, I did find it a nice place to rest and spend time.

So onward. After getting into Mexico and going thru customs, it was not too hard to weave my way thru Brownsville's neighboring Mexican city Matamoros and begin heading south. Now this did seem like  a dirty border town. With a lot of traffic, pollution and rough roads. And like other parts of Mexico, it looks like nothing new has been built, or even painted for 50 years.

So I avoided cattle grades that were in the road, one having a 6 inch wide section with an apparent bottom less hole to avoid which would have crushed my bike tire and sent me sprawling. I found the main route 180 and 101 out of town and headed south into the interior of Mexico.

I had heard there were check stops within a 30 mile range of the border. Sort of a filter to catch whatever customs didn't I suppose. There were 3 of these police check points. The first one checked my passport and vehicle permit for the country, the officer was very professional, spoke English and told me to have a good trip. At the other two stops they just waved The area here was very flat, there was a huge single engine plane that was crop dusting out in the field, probably corn, but I didn't recognize a lot of the crops in these fields. In fact a lot of the fields looked freshly tilled with nothing in them. Later this farmland gave way to more of a high desert look with wide rolling vista's but with nonstop vegetation and undergrowth, but no sage or tumble weeds, probably 3 or 4 foot high. It looked impenetrable, like you couldn't possibly do a hike to any of the surrounding ridges or bluffs. It also in ways looked a lot like Montana or the western U.S., except for this thick blanket of vegetation that covered the ground.

 

 

Out here too, there were very few side roads and no place to pull over to take a photo or just rest. I was to find most of Mexico like this. Not set up for us Tourista's at all, especially out in the country. If your looking for a rest stop with all the amenities, or like I said, a place to just pull off and rest or take a picture, their very few indeed. Often just to take a picture I would have to risk stopping in the breakdown lane, take a quick picture and get going again. These lack of places to stop, anywhere in the country, influenced a lot how many pictures I took and of what. And many of the roads in this part of the country were just dirt roads heading out into the middle of all this wide open land. I thought if I knew the language better, had a different bike designed for gravel roads and such, and the time, exploring these nameless roads in the interior would be an adventure in itself, and probably quite dangerous. There are definitely  places to avoid down here.

I filled up with gas about a hundred miles in at Mexico's state owned (I imagine) fuel stations. Gas is priced by the liter, but I think it came out to about $2.50 a gallon. Gas in Texas was down to $1.93 a gallon! They are called Pemex, and they are everywhere in Mexico. Not knowing the language they were sort of my life line across the country. There I knew I could always get my gas and water, and maybe a snack or two. There was always one or two attendants waiting to fill you up. I have yet to run across a self serve station. So far finding gas has been easier then finding water. Water has been a constant problem since I left Mexico. Since you can't drink anything out of the tap, everything has to be bought in bottles. And with the Pemex chain, or some of the other chain stores in Mexico like Oxaco, you get a feeling that no one has tampered with it. The health nurse who helped me with getting all my immunizations told me she had order a bottled water at a Restaurant on Easter Island one time, and the lid was not sealed, and she drank it anyway and then had to go to a hospital in Australia for several days she was so sick. So as I noted earlier I'm not a big chain store fan, but down here the chain stores usually offer some kind professionalism and security. Of course that was in Mexico.

Also in Mexico there are armed military personnel everywhere. Sometimes doing traffic stops, checking for drugs and weapons, or even stolen artifacts I am told. I have yet to be stopped, they just wave me thru. But it is a little unnerving to pull into a gas station that has 10 armed soldiers standing everywhere and have to pull my bike right into the middle of them all, get off and walk thru them to go the bathroom. I'm not sure if a greeting is in order here, they never say anything to me, and I just go on my way. And again I'm not sure what they are guarding against. But the reality is most countries in the world have a much more involved military presence in local areas then the U.S.

I drove till after dark which I didn't want to do but did find a hotel that was just out of a small town about 120 miles north of Tampico, one of the large gulf coast cities in Mexico. It seemed reasonably clean and away from things as to be safe. If I can I usually try to find a hotel just outside of town as to avoid leaving my bike out where there is a lot of foot traffic. Most hotels down in Mexico and Central America either have a garage for your car to be parked in or like the one I'm at now, have 3 armed guards walking around with shotguns guarding everything. You feel like the president walking outside and always having security by you. I am still not sure what they are guarding from, but maybe I don't need to know. Anyway while this hotel had neither a garage for my bike or armed guards it was safely out of town. It was 280 Pesos for the night. 10 Pesos is worth about 75% of a dollar as far as I can tell. So if you pay 100 Pesos for something it is about $7.50 American. Or in this case if you multiply 280 by .75 you end up with about $21. This $20 to $25 range is what I paid most of my way across Mexico.

 

 

Hotels in Mexico all had t.v., some with cable some not. Most had air conditioning, or at least one that blew air and looked like it might work. Some had toilet paper, some had hot water, all had towels and soap. Some had door locks, some had actual garages which was your entrance to your room as well, having to close the garage door to secure yourself for the night. And no that didn't lock either. All were basically clean with usually just a bed and few furnishings. No pictures on the wall, nothing that could be stolen. Few had remotes for the t.v. They were all just very basic rooms, clean, usually safe, and not all that cheap really, but lodging is a constant adventure so stay tuned.

Another phenomenon of Mexico and Central America is the practice of burning. Often entire fields along the highway,  or ditches are cleared of brush by burning, using the road your on as a fire barrier. Usually the undergrowth is green enough and probably not going to get out of control, often you would drive into a cloud of smoke from village to village. Or one time I could see smoke from miles away, a big fire out on the plains. By the time I got there it was a huge brush fire, scorching acres of earth, stopping at the highway I was on. And of course not a soul in site. I guess it would burn out eventually, there was simply nothing out there to destroy, and there would have been no way to stop it had they wanted to anyway. I wanted to take a picture, but of course there was no place to pull over.

The first day I drove about 250 miles into Mexico and had I not left Texas about noon that day I could have made better time. The roads for the most part were very good except one 10 mile stretch of construction, I was able to drive 60 or 70 mph most of the way. At this rate, I thought I should be in Guatamala in few days. But then again, "when life looks like easy street, that's when there's danger at your door".

 

 

 

 

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