Christmas in Gringolandia

Whenever I mentioned San Miguel de Allende to the locals in the previous towns, they referred to it as Gringolandia. It is true that I saw more white people here than all the other towns combined, but it is a beautiful city with a thriving art scene. Our hosts, Doug and Brianne spoiled us with amazing accommodations  as well as a ridiculous amount of delicious food. It's also great to see Sarah as well as Alison and Rob. 

3 wise men of San Miguel de Allende.

We followed this procession through the streets. Each night, Mary and Joseph wander the streets looking for a place to stay and are turned away until Christmas.

Nativity in the Jardin.

Off to Morelia, where the cathedrals are amazing.

The governors palace had great murals, this one on a ceiling.

Chillin' at the palace.

Eating at Los Pioneros. Muy delicioso.

Zacatecas

Zacatecas is a great city. I spent 5 nights there at this hostel. Our host, Ernesto, showed us the city. 

The view from the terrace of the hostel. These colonial cities have beautiful churches and quaint centers with narrow streets and amazing architecture. I met a lot of great people in this town, including travelers from around the world at the hostel and some great local people. 

I took a tour of the silver mine, which was the economic basis of the city for hundreds of years. This is the entrance and we descended 4 levels. The bottom 3 levels are flooded. The tour was great although my Spanish is still not good enough to catch much of the information. I am going to attend a school soon so I can communicate better. I really feel like I'm missing lots of opportunities to learn. 

We took a cable car from the hill where the silver mine was located to this hill. It was high above the city and provided quite a view. 

Lunch on the road near Dolores Hidalgo. This place was a lot of fun and the food was delicious.

These guys talked to us for a while. People here are very nice and are generally curious to hear about the trip and my impressions of Mexico. I don't have to lie. It is a wonderful place.

El Espinazo del Diablo

 The road from Mazatlan was probably the most amazing motorcycle road I've ever ridden. Some call it El Espinazo del Diablo (The Devil's Spine) and others El Camino de Tres Mil Curvas (Road of 3000 Curves). They are not exaggerating. Around every curve, you might see a bull, pigs, donkeys or a truck using most of your lane. It was only 200 miles but I was bushed when I arrived in Durango. Here's a link to a video of a bike on this road:  http://vimeo.com/15886038

Breathtakings views when I could take my eyes off of the road.

This was at the summit. They are building an enormous bridge that is supposed to cut the travel time by 2 hours but likely won't be as exciting.

It's much drier on the other side of the summit.

My hotel in Durango. It is very beautiful inside.

Every place I stay seems to find a creative spot for La Bestia Verde.

This is right next door.

Unfortunately, when I was parking her, I broke the "kill switch" so she would not start. I wheeled her into the lobby and did some online research. I didn't feel comfortable with the ideas presented so, in the morning, I asked the people at the front desk for help (after writing down a page of translations that I thought I might need). The man called a motorcycle shop and in 20 minutes, they showed up at the hotel. Next, I got on the back of this bike:

while the driver pushed my bike (with his right foot) with another guy on it through the busy streets of Durango. Creative but a bit scary.

After a short time, all was fixed. They were a great bunch of guys and Othon spoke fluent English, which made the situation go much more smoothly.

Othon is 2nd from the left. The young man on the right was the mechanic and Reemberto (with the bandana) owned the shop and is the Comisionado Nacional of a motorcycle club. 

Have You Ever Seen the Rain

In Mazatlan. My first impressions of Mazatlan were not great. Sat next to an obnoxious American real estate agent at a restaurant. After a couple walks around town, I'm warming up to it though. As I'm writing this with my window open to let the warm breeze in, you Minnesotans, Wisconsiners and Iowans are in a blizzard. Another 10 Hail Mary's again tomorrow I guess. 

The ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan was interesting. I went to "bed" early so missed a bloody drunken brawl in the bar. Not much sleep though in the chair with guys playing pop music behind me.

Mazatlan has a nice Malecon

with beautiful sculptures all along it.

Old buildings everywhere.

My next career move.

Definitely not a career for me. Can you see the diver?

Worked out at the gym.

This house needs Clayton's golden touch.

La Paz Rocks

 Later today, I will be leaving on the ferry to Mazattlan. I will miss La Paz. What a vibrant, cosmopolitan small city. I've spent a lot of time with my new U.K. friends David and Jill (http://travels-with-nancy.blogspot.com/). They are great people. I ate amazing food every day. The highlight was definitely the day we swam with the sea lions and whale sharks. The sea lions would come up to me in the water and play. The whale sharks were immense. I didn't capture any good pictures of either because I was in the water but you can look them up. So far, Mexico has been great. Very friendly people and I have felt safe at all times. I have seen almost no U.S. citizens, probably because of the fear that has been spread through the media. More on this later.

Our guide Arturo (on the right) and Taka, a Japanese man that did some diving while we were snorkeling.

The island we went to was called Espiritu Santo, a national park. It was very beautiful.

A baby sea lion playing near our boat before we jumped in the water with them.

We ate a delicious lunch on this beach.

My room at the Pension California. It was a bit spartan with no hot water but for 220 pesos per night I could hardly complain. I didn't take many pictures in La Paz, sorry. Off to mainland Mexico.

Insomnio

 It's very early here but I couldn't get back to sleep. Loreto was a nice fishing village and I stayed in the Posada San Martin and had dinner with a nice couple from the U.K.at Super Burro. Walked on the beach with no shoes.

The courtyard at my motel in Loreto

I watched a few shore fishermen. Many of them didn't have a pole so they casted by swinging the bait around like a lasso. 

Loreto was the capital before a hurricane in the 1830's.

Another beautiful old mission.

A rest stop on the road to La Paz. I got a coke and a snack and the bathroom was a out in the pasture.

I stpped in La Paz and this guy (Ed) was parked nearby with a newer KLR. He told me about the motel where he was staying and I got a room there also. 

Shortly after I arrived, two more Canadian bikers showed up. The four of us went out to dinner on the Malecon. It was Saturday and the town was jumping. Much fun had by all. 

On my second day in La Paz, the people I met in Loreto showed up. We went to check out the ferry terminal and went to a nice beach on our bikes. Today we're going on a boat to swim with whale sharks (I believe they are the largest known fish) and sea lions. 

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Heuvos con Chorizo

My first rest stop in Mexico after the border. Ice cold Coca-Cola. The border went smoothly and I actually had to go back and get my tourist visa because they just swept me right through.

The beach at San Felipe. Mucho frio said everyone. It was rather cold and windy for the beach.

My digs in San Felipe. Very nice and almost empty. In fact, the whole town was pretty quiet. I'm guessing they rely on U.S. tourists and there weren't many about.

Another rest stop south of San Felipe.

Then the road got hairy. The last 25 miles to San Luis Gonzaga were on a very rough road. I met two Canadians on cycles and they said that the road was part of the Baja 1000, which was run about 2 weeks ago. I helped a family fill up their tires with my compressor. They had let the air out to get unstuck from the sand. 

The reward. I stayed in the nice place called Alfonsina's with good food and a simple room on the beach. I could hear the waves all night.

Then more grueling road through some mountains. I'm parked on the only 20 feet of pavement I saw for 70 miles.

In the middle of nowhere is Coco's Corner. Coco wasn't here today but this guy told me some good stories. He said I was the first person he saw today. Not surprising since I didn't see another vehicle on that road that morning. 

The mission in San Ignacio. This was a beautiful town. Literally an oasis in the desert, I saw real trees for the first time in weeks.

My hotel in San Ignacio. The only thing the sign said was "hot water 24 hrs" and this proved to be false.

Breakfast in Mulege. I've been living on Huevos con Chorizo for breakfast and fish tacos and other delectable seafood for dinner.

These shrines are everywhere beside the highway. Most of them aren't in as nice a location.

Inside the shrine.

Today's ride was the nicest so far. It's been windy almost every day and the terrain was amazing. Twisties through mountains and occasionally a glimpse of the Sea of Cortez.