Cruz Grande to Puerto Escondido, 200 wet miles
We woke up to rain pounding down and knew it would be another wet day on the road. Our goal was to get into Puerto Escondido, a supposedly nice little surf town. Given the number of mosquitoes in our hotel room we packed up quickly and hit the road.
Today even more it seemed the people are getting darker and looking more like native Indians. The towns are getting poorer and the speed bumps more plentiful. Mike actually said ‘I’m starting to hate Mexico because of these speed bumps’. There are so many because there are at least 2 in each little village, and you pass by a little village almost every few kilometers it seems. All day long it’s ride, stop, struggle with not scraping the bottom of the bash plate on the speed bump and go. Other than the speed bumps there seems to be much more livestock in the road as well. Among the list of farm animals I noted in yesterdays journal, I also notice some turkeys today. Lots of pigs and lots of donkeys just chillin’ in the road. The pigs are too busy eating to notice the cars around them and I think the donkeys are just kind of stupid!
On the other side of things, because there were several towns we crossed through there was a lot to see. Just as we passed over into the next state region Oaxaca, there was a road block for a teacher stike. I guess the teachers in Oaxaca aren’t being paid…so there was this giant setup with nails in boards and the whole deal to keep cars from going through from 10am to 3pm. We rode through about 11 but somehow much talked some of the guys into letting us through. It was great, although I’m sure caused a bit of frustration to the truckers and other people having to wait another 4 hrs; there was a whole lineup of cars on both ends. I asked Mike the translation for ‘good luck’ to say while we rode through, just to keep everything thinking about the cause and not the fact that we are getting through the road block! Seemed to work!
We passed another road block today, but it was a boy and his dad herding cattle down the road. They were working it, although I have to admit, it didn’t look very organized.
A couple of the towns that we rode through I took out my camera and was taking pictures of the kids as we passed by. They just ran away and into their homes, Mike said it’s because he read that they think white people are going to steal their kids down here. Hmmm…strange! I guess I better not scare the kids anymore. I’m sure we do look a little scary with our dark helmets on and our crazy blue bike.
It rained throughout the day, but I think it’s lightening up a little as we head south; at least I hope. We passed through small patches of sunshine and didn’t get rained on as much today.
We made it into Puerto Escondido today around 2pm. It’s a really nice little surf town with a Mexican downtown side on the hill and a gringo downtown by the beach. Plenty of gringo’s here, but what I like about that most is the food! Yes! Mike and I ate spaghetti Bolognese and garlic pizza last night! Wow! What a treat that was…so tasty and refreshing to not have tacos again! We found a nice hotel a little further from the beach with a big air conditioned room and NO MOSQUITOS! After our big dinner we sat in our room and watched a movie on TV; so relaxing.
We’re going to stay an extra day here to get some R&R and things done. Laundry, bike maintenance, look into shipping our camping gear and internet. We need some time off the bike as the last few days in the rain have been quite stressful and tiresome.
Today even more it seemed the people are getting darker and looking more like native Indians. The towns are getting poorer and the speed bumps more plentiful. Mike actually said ‘I’m starting to hate Mexico because of these speed bumps’. There are so many because there are at least 2 in each little village, and you pass by a little village almost every few kilometers it seems. All day long it’s ride, stop, struggle with not scraping the bottom of the bash plate on the speed bump and go. Other than the speed bumps there seems to be much more livestock in the road as well. Among the list of farm animals I noted in yesterdays journal, I also notice some turkeys today. Lots of pigs and lots of donkeys just chillin’ in the road. The pigs are too busy eating to notice the cars around them and I think the donkeys are just kind of stupid!
On the other side of things, because there were several towns we crossed through there was a lot to see. Just as we passed over into the next state region Oaxaca, there was a road block for a teacher stike. I guess the teachers in Oaxaca aren’t being paid…so there was this giant setup with nails in boards and the whole deal to keep cars from going through from 10am to 3pm. We rode through about 11 but somehow much talked some of the guys into letting us through. It was great, although I’m sure caused a bit of frustration to the truckers and other people having to wait another 4 hrs; there was a whole lineup of cars on both ends. I asked Mike the translation for ‘good luck’ to say while we rode through, just to keep everything thinking about the cause and not the fact that we are getting through the road block! Seemed to work!
We passed another road block today, but it was a boy and his dad herding cattle down the road. They were working it, although I have to admit, it didn’t look very organized.
A couple of the towns that we rode through I took out my camera and was taking pictures of the kids as we passed by. They just ran away and into their homes, Mike said it’s because he read that they think white people are going to steal their kids down here. Hmmm…strange! I guess I better not scare the kids anymore. I’m sure we do look a little scary with our dark helmets on and our crazy blue bike.
It rained throughout the day, but I think it’s lightening up a little as we head south; at least I hope. We passed through small patches of sunshine and didn’t get rained on as much today.
We made it into Puerto Escondido today around 2pm. It’s a really nice little surf town with a Mexican downtown side on the hill and a gringo downtown by the beach. Plenty of gringo’s here, but what I like about that most is the food! Yes! Mike and I ate spaghetti Bolognese and garlic pizza last night! Wow! What a treat that was…so tasty and refreshing to not have tacos again! We found a nice hotel a little further from the beach with a big air conditioned room and NO MOSQUITOS! After our big dinner we sat in our room and watched a movie on TV; so relaxing.
We’re going to stay an extra day here to get some R&R and things done. Laundry, bike maintenance, look into shipping our camping gear and internet. We need some time off the bike as the last few days in the rain have been quite stressful and tiresome.
Great road conditions in Gurerro
Mexican school uniforms
First non-palm tree in days
Typical transportation in rural Mexico
Hola old lady...
Vaquerito
The stampede that caused Mike to knock Adam off his bike
posted by Pedro and Maria at 4:00 PM
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