Mad dogs and a very surprised Englishman

After leaving Guadalajara I'd spent a couple of days in Morelia with a slightly upset stomach, probably more to do with my mostly peanut diet in the last few days rather than any local delicacy.

Morelia had suffered a grenade attack the Monday before I arrived and seven people had been killed, the result of some organised criminal gang trying to demonstrate how much power they have, sadly. It seems unthinkable that anyone could disrupt the Independence celebrations which mean so much to these people. I guess that is why the criminals did it. I wasn't sure what to expect but aside from a massive military and police presence, life went on as normal.

Heading south from there I'd decided to try to reach Taxco, a small mountain town that used to be the heart of the silver mining industry in Mexico, now wholly dedicated to tourism. On my daily stop for petrol, now a routine, I'd managed to find just about the only pump attendant in Mexico that spoke a few words of English, and between us we had a good chat in mangled Spanish and English about my trip. I'd passed the 10,000 mile mark since Vancouver that morning, and spent about a minute trying to get 16,000 kilometers into Spanish, which made us both laugh.

I'd seriously underestimated the time it would take to reach Taxco, as the roads were basically winding mountain roads that would frequently go through small towns. Each of these towns would have dogs roaming the roads, and donkeys tied up to trees and left to feed on the grass there. I amused myself for at least half an hour with the idea of "leaving your ass at the side of the road", a sure sign I am losing the plot :) However the dogs were totally bonkers, and I got chased clean out of town on two separate occasions. Either they don't like the bike or I'm starting to smell like a cat.

Sadly one of the results of their wandering in the road is a lot of dog road fatalities. At one point a dog almost ran under my front wheel while I was trying to avoid him so I can see how it happens. But closer to Taxco I saw a dog lying in the road and was starting to feel sorry for him when the taxi in front of me sounded his horn and the dog got up, and trotted off looking most disgruntled :)

I reached Taxco in the dark, breaking a rule I'd set myself before I'd even left home. The first thing I noticed were the Volkswagens. I'm certain that there would be less at a VW convention. Basically every single taxi was a Beetle and every bus/minibus was a VW camper. And there were many. I found an hotel and it looked like it would have had a decent view, if I'd arrived in daylight. Room 101 - kind of binary, I liked it.

After virtually no sleep because of the noise - Taxco is like a miniature New York City - I got up and took a look out from my balcony, and sure enough I could see way down into the valley below. What looked like a hummingbird was visiting a fruit tree just outside.



I left Taxco with absolutely no idea where I was headed, for the first time on the trip, so I doubled back on myself slightly before turning back south. This took me through some reasonable roads not far south of Mexico City, packed with locals on Fireblades, GSXRs and other cool sportsbikes. I'd pass a bunch and they would flash their lights, sound their horns, or wave. But the best thing happened at a fuel station in a town called Cuautla.

I'd pulled in to get a fuel station coffee and had been sipping for about a minute when the first person came over for a chat. Both he and the second person spoke good English, although the second guy flatly refused to believe I'd done 16,000 kilometers from Alaska on my own. This went on for some time, people would come over whilst I tried to finish my coffee. Eventually, a young lady came over with her camera and asked if she could take my picture which was embarrassing but somehow secretly delighting. After she'd taken a shot of me and the bike, I asked if she would like to pose with the bike, which seemed to make her day. Then the rest of the family came over and we had little daughter on the bike, crying her eyes out despite my best efforts to get her to smile for the camera. I was trying to get her to say "queso", much to her Dad's amusement. Whether he got the joke or he just thought I was nuts, I'll never know. For the second time on the trip I was annoyed that I hadn't brought a pocket camera, but I wasn't going to unpack mine in front of everyone so all the pictures ended up on her camera.

I rode away grinning from ear to ear, and headed south towards Oaxaca. Occasionally people would wave from cars, or ask me if I was from Canada (as I have a Canadian sticker on the bike, I guess). What a friendly town. Somewhere over the course of the last couple of days I had at last found balance in Mexico. The driving and roads were still horrific, the humidity barely tolerable, and my Spanish hadn't improved, but you accept all that and then whatever happens on top of it is the real experience.

I got as far as Huajuapan, on the road to Oaxaca. I wouldn't have written about what happened next, only I can imagine it giving certain people a good chuckle. I found a hotel on the very outskirts of the town, which I thought would be good for a bit of peace and quiet. It was the sort of "auto hotel" that has a little garage and the room is over the garage. Anyway, there were a few girls and whilst I was asking for a room I couldn't help noticing they seemed to be smirking. I figured it was my bad Spanish. They asked if I wanted to see the room and I agreed, basically stuck my nose in and it looked and smelled clean so I said I'd take it.

It was actually a good while later when I started to notice little things - there was a mirror on most walls, and the ceiling, for instance. The ceiling mirror had a light switch and red neon lights. What I'd assumed was a handy open cupboard area had steps up to it, and a central pole. It also had a little light switch. There was a nude painting on the wall, over the door so I hadn't noticed at first.

It was obviously some sort of dodgy hotel/strip joint, and when the penny dropped those of you who know me well will know how embarrassed I was. Others will just have to imagine ;) I started to think it was a good job I hadn't ordered room service.

After a couple of uneasy hours I managed to sleep ok, although I was woken at dawn by cockrels crowing and donkeys braying. Heading south to Oaxaca, the roads wound up into the mountains and at times would run across a ridge line with beautiful views on both sides. Small trees had replaced the scrub and cactus of the last couple of days and the soil was an intense, dark red. The winding road would have made for a great ride on a sportsbike, if it wasn't for not knowing if there is a dog, donkey, rockfall or (at one point) collapse in the road around the bend.

That's all for now, meantime have a peaceful day.

Fraser.