My Own Back Yard

Ive been riding North through Mexico for the last four or five days now.
I decided to take the pacific coastal rout since it´ll be easier than going through all of the mountains of the central route. Ive done both routes before, so it makes little difference on that front :)

And so, I started off in Guatemala and wound my way to the boarder and then headed down toward the coast on a bit of road Id not seen in my previous travels... But that was "not to be"! it seems because within an hour I started to notice a strong earthy smell in the area as I rode along, and fifteen minutes after that, I knew why... There was a large land/mud slide that had cut the road... Actually, it was still very actively flowing with mud and rocks being washed down of the jungle hilside in a continual stream of slurry... All of course being fed by the torrential downpour that I was currently riding through!
There was simply no way through, and not likely to be any for at leat a day or two...

So, it was back the way I came and through the mountains for a while longer before I could get down to the coast on roads I had already traveled :)

And, once I was there, I rode quietly along my way.
For the first half day or so, it seemed I was in "The land of a thousand Topes" (speed bumps) and progress was slow and tiring with a constant supply of roadside dwellings and thus speed bumps every couple of hundred meters... For three or four hundred Km!!

Then it slowly changed and the Topes faded out and I was now in "The land of a thousand curves"... I remembered this section of road from my previous trip andf it was REALLY nice riding :))
And it was this time too, but I have to say it was a little less enjoyable because I was all tired out from the speed bump riding... It was at the end of a very long day (12 hr in the saddle), and to top it off I was on the edge of running out of gas!... But it was never the less great fun, and there were no "chicken strips" left on my tires at all as I carved my way through the curves with barely a glance at the surounding coastal views...
Id have to say this is the second most enjoyable section of road riding in the whole trip... Several hours of very "sporting" curves :)))

And the day finally came to an end and I managed to find a road-side gas stop to get me through to the next town where there was a gas station... And then I found a dingy little hotel to flop my spent body down in and spend a sweaty and uncomfortable night getting only mediocre rest for the night :) ... But it was a good day none the less :)).

And this morning I was up and on my way again.
And now the curves were finished and Ive moved into another region Id call "The land of a thousand Plantations"... Plantations everywhere, with all the "usual suspects" of coconut, banana, mango, papaya, and lemon etc.. Its actually mostly pretty dull riding today, but its made more so by the heavy haze of sticky salt fog that is all along the coast here. It makes everything clamy but not actually wet, and the clammyness is exagerated by the hot tropical feel of things anyway... Visibility is down to about four or five Km, and I have to stop and clean off my helmet shield every two hours because it just becomes a blurry mess with the salt.

And so, I am making good progress along Mexico's Pacific coast... Actually, I think they should probably call it Mexicos "Resort" coast since there is a constant stream of large resort towns/cities every few hundred Km for its entire length. Huaitulco, Acapulco, Ixtapa/Zehuatenejo, Manzanillo, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas...

But, Im not particularly interested in the resorts or the beaches at the moment...
But then again, Im finding that Im not that interested in much of any of it!... It seems that Ive been sort of "inoculated" to just about all of it for the time being... Ive been through here more than once...
I remember when I was first heading South from Canada, and then I crossed the US/Mex boarder for the first time into this "exotic land of the unknown"... It was all very exciting and challenging back then.
But, now, on the other end of three years of riding my motorbike through the Americas and visiting fifteen different countries, each with its own "colours and flavours", I have to say that "good old Mexico" seems pretty ordinary to me... Almost like its "my own back yard" :)

Yep, I think its time this trip comes to an end... Im ready for a change :)