so there is these guys at the top of the mountain, legit fee to go down to a resort (its saturday) and to get to the bottom takes one hour (it's 3 pm) and they assure us there is no way out to Zacatlan, the map shows one, Garmin GPS shows one, then a couple in a car come up the hill and agree there is no way out "no salida"

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if it was before noon it would have been a good ride down and back up just because, but due to the time we doubled back kind of!!!

we saw a different road which the guys said we could go on, we ended up in a tiny village, not even on the map, at a fork in the road we stopped and this little old lady came out to talk to us, she told us there was no way down we needed to double back...i wish i had a video camera, she said (in spanish) where do you want to go? not here right, nobody comes here! and then she giggled like a little girl and smiled at me showing me her gold teeth. I don't think she had ever seen gringo tourists in her village. And yes she was about 4 feet tall

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looking back this was the sign heading back

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doubling back down the mountain dirt road

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our new destination was Pachuca, found a hotel called Los Banos...yes yes i know what it means, but it doesn't really :lol3

anyhow the roof access was open and this was the view of the city

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bikes parked inside the lobby

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amazing clock tower in the main square

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the city at night

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and the absolute weirdest thing of the day, a guy playing bag pipes, sounded Scotish from a distance but as we got closer it was mariachi music...try and get your head around that :mbounce:

BAGPIPES, scotish music only :rtfm:


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och aye the nooo...great pics ...keep 'em coming!!!

:)


.

Fantastic pictures Paul.You can quickly get lost around there.:thumbleweed:Safe riding looking for ward to the next pics. Barry:runaway:

This morning Andy T and I split as we left Pachuca, he headed off in the direction of Guatemala, searching out the shortest route, me on the other hand; I will be in Guatemala but first I am riding in the direction of Belize

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As I left this morning riding solo for the first time in a week it felt strange as last time I was riding alone in Mexico (even though I was with a group) I was chased by the cartels for about 40-50 miles and a friend was kidnapped. (If you hadn’t read about that its in my other ride reports, not going into that at all in this thread.)

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Anyhow its kind of like re-finding my comfort zone, as I left Pachuca I rode about 40 km’s out of town towards Tulancingo and then my GPS locked up completely whilst trying to recalculate it stuck on 50% for an hour. Everything else worked (speed/ elevation/ compass etc) so I had a paper map, not the greatest one and a compass…so my heading was southeast to Vercruz.

I got turned around a few times in Tulancingo but eventually found my way out of the one way system heading southeast to what I thought was the road to Zacatlan…wrong, I was on the road to Cuautepec which is basically a dead end unless you have a good map or a GPS to find the small back road out of town, all I found was dead ends. Now add to this Andy was the Spanish speaker of the two of us. I asked for directions, but it really didn’t help, still found dead ends!

Then bingo the GPS kicks back in and points me in the right direction, I have it set for no toll roads and it sent me down an unassuming road a right turn off the 130 that for 20 k’s or so was very cool (signs showed it was the Ruta 2010 anniversary route) skirting the side of a mountain looking down into the rain forest below, then it took me downwards, the paper map agreed and off I went. I rode for maybe two more hours thru some very small villages and was eye balled a lot, there was a VERY strong police presence (more than I saw in Pachuca the night before for a city of about 1,000,000) for such small areas, but I was headed in the right direction towards Poza Rica south of the 130. My mind was working overtime, as I rode, not surprisingly but the road condition for the most part was very good until I went from 8000 feet down to about 1000 feet and then it was a mix of black top and gravel and dirt, with a river crossing thrown in for good measure which turned out to only be about 8 inches deep

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I got caught in very heavy rains so decided against hitting Xalapa (I’ll catch it on the way north) and headed for the ocean. I finished the day just north of Palma Sola in a small hotel in MAr Azul on the ocean for 195 pesos and had a fish supper.

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The guy that owns the place is called Manuel and every time I hear that name because of growing up in England it makes me think of this - Fawlty Towers, too much butter on those trays. And my Spanish is at about the same level as Basil

I CAN NEVER GET VIDEO'S TO SHOWON THIS SITE SO HERE IS THE LINK - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uszo8w9G9GM

Talking to Manuel, he asked which route I took, he frowned when I told him about the small villages and the route i took, he said good to see you got here!

Those little villages used to be bad but now the bad guys have blended in with the good guys…and he left it at that, but then said from here on south its all good, not sure if that made me feel better or not? So I locked the bike against a concrete pillar and turned in for the night

Left Mar Azul headed to Veracruz and then Catemaco�I left the hotel and got some insider advice from Manuel on how to avoid the toll going into Veracuz by taking a side road at Salmoral which would come out right after the toll, he said find the road that goes between the river and the train line. Not difficult to find, just follow the taxis!!!

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if you sell bananas you have to have a yellow truck!!!

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Riding thru Veracruz I got a nail in my rear tire that shredded the inner tube, luckily I had another and it happened right next to a motorbike repair shop�coincidence?

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So I figured I would let them do it as next door there was a tire repair shop so it would be quicker than me getting out all my repair stuff�now remember here my Spanish is almost zero.

So I pull out the inner tube and it�s the wrong size!!! This is the second one I have got that was wrong but in the right box, last time I had a 12 inch instead of a 17 inch, this time it was a 17 but 17 x 4 not a 17 x 5.10 like I needed. Luckily there was a spares place across the street so I got a new one and a new spare. Tubes were about the same price as the states 156 pesos� each or around $12

My old tube got to hang on the tree of shame; it�s the one on the top, split right down the middle

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When the tire was put back on the sidewall expanded creating a bubble, small but it was there all the same, it�s a Hiedineau with only 2000 miles on it.

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I stopped for gas and a Ford Ranger that�s seen better days pulled up with a cow n the back, I�ve seen mini trucks with Llamas in the back in Argentina and a horse in Mexico before but never a full grown cow�.add this to the reasons not to ride south of the border at night�just think if that thing took a dump as the truck was moving!!

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So I carry on and get to Catemaco, the rain was intense most of the day and I ended up in a hole of a hotel (hotel campestre) for 200 pesos, I had to move rooms as the first one, the wall started leaking from the heavy rain and the floor became a swimming pool.

I did have a video but can't get it to load via smugmug??? The video is nothing on how it was really raining as the trees blocked almost all of it, but it gives you the idea of the place. I did fid a better place for the same price on the main square but they had no parking and wanted me to leave my bike two blocks away on a side street � nope!

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Once the rain stopped I went out to lube the chain and noticed the bubble has grown considerably so now tomorrow its time to try and find a new tire, Hiedeneau�not impressed. I got it from Revzilla so hopefully they will stand behind the product even though I can�t return it for obvious reasons

It was a morning and night for firsts come to think of it�

The rain that started at 3 pm carried on with its torrential downpour until about 2 am. Heavy enough and loud enough to keep me awake, then at about 4.30 � 5 am I get to find out there is a small farm behind the hotel, there wasn�t a smell to let me know, maybe the rain stopped that but it sure as well didn�t stock the dam rooster screaming its lungs out every five minutes, which then woke not only me up but what sounded like lambs and goats as well

So the first first!!! I was packed and ready to go by 6 am but I was stalling for the sun to come up, 7 am came around and still no sun�I took off in the dark � yes, yes I know the first rule of adventure riding don�t ride in the dark � got it, send the adv police out for me

Next, first�Army check point, I�m in southern Mexico I had expected quite few of these but this was pretty simple, open that bag, undo that zip, what�s inside that�off you go. No photos of that obviously

After that I stopped to look at the rear tire, it was getting a lot worse so I definitely needed a new one, I headed into Tabasco and surprise there was a Yamaha dealer.

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Now another rule of adventure riding, in a foreign country if you need something and its right there in front of you, and you need it, buy it, don�t think it maybe available again down the road.

They had a 17 inch street tire, not what I wanted but it will have to do�I started to remove the wheel and help out the guys at the dealership with the included price of a tire change with my new tire 1100 pesos BTW

While this was happening up front in the dealership (unknown by me) the Metzeler tire rep had shown up, the manager told him about my problem and he called literally every shop in Tabasco that stock tires and only found one other for 3000 pesos��see�buy now is the rule, and it was confirmed

So if you find yourself in Tabasco and need something, the manager speaks perfect English and is more than willing to help overlanders

Now it was time to ride along the coast headed for Campeche and another first for this trip, a Tuktuk in the way as usual as I was trying to go over a tope he swings a hard left for no reason and nearly takes me out!

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so here's the little ride around the gulf so far...

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Here�s a rainbow and guess what�s at the end of it�frigging rain that�s what � lucky charms my ass!!!

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Into Campeche and the Hotel Campeche right on the main square and the bike goes in the atrium outside the room, sweet. So just as the sun was setting I went out and took a few night shots, tomorrow morning I will do the rounds with the camera

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...on another note; interesting looking around while you are sitting at traffic lights in Mexico, never know what migh be standing there :evil

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A fish and chips.:typing[1]:

Lovely - keep em coming fella!

no newspaper though!!!

so you must be back home by now living vicariously thru me again...how is it being back in the real world?