"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover". Mark Twain

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Estados de Sinaloa y Nayarit

I been slow to update the blog. I may have fallen victim to that nice, easy and laid-back Mexican pace or perhaps I've simply gotten too lazy between ride..In this posting I'll provide a few tales of my excursions of the past month.

January 01, 2007 arrived with a hang-over following a good time and to many of those $20 Pesos beer at Frogy's a favorite Gringo Bar in San Carlos. Within a few days following the new year I packed-up the moto, bid farewell to the good friends I made in this community and rode out of this touristy town. The destination for this day's ride would be Alamos. This small community is located in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains an oasis of cobblestone streets and restored colonial mansions with lush courtyards. Many of the crumbling old mansions where recently purchased and have been restored to their former glory. This town of 8500 has been declared a national historic monument. In 1683 silver was discovered in this area and Alamos soon became a boom town of more then 30,000 one of Mexico's principal 18th century mining centers.

After a two day visit in Alamos I left this community and road the 530 KM along the toll highway Mex 15 to the city of Mazatlan. I arrived in Mazatlan at 4 PM and located a RV park where I set-up camp. This northern section of Mazatlan is a large tourist area where huge hotels / condo lined the beach. A number of RV parks are home to snowbirds who traveled here in their land-yachts. I would remain in this RV park for 3 days where I met many of the friendly residents who were very interested in my adventure. Life in this environment was very laid-back - It would been easy to remain in this setting and enjoy my visit. However on Friday I made plans to ride east into the mountain to the city of Durango. When I checked my e-mail that day I had received a message from Nick and Lesley – riders I had met at the Horizons Unlimited meeting in Nelson BC in August, 2006. Their message indicated they were also in Mazatlan some 16 KM away from my location. I was able to ride across town and find them at the Hotel Siesta – it was great to reunite with them and share more travel stories. This couple is from England - they've shipped their motorcycle to Halifax and commenced their three year around-the-world tour in July 2006. Learn more about this very interesting couple and my good friends http://www.pooleglobaltrek.com/


Nick and Lesley were in Mazatlan to participate in the Spanish course provide by the Centro de Idiomas a local training institute – learn more about this program http://www.spanishlink.org/ - I was also interested in participating in this program and was also able to enroll in the Monday morning session. This course is an intense Spanish program for beginners which consisted of five hours of classroom sessions for five consecutive days. It was extremely difficult to sit and focus for the duration of this program after all these months of simply letting the mind wander off in all directions. In hindsight it is great to have completed this training which has provided a foundation to enhance my limited Spanish. However that week of training would rate as the most demanding five consecutive days I've experienced since I started this journey in June, 2006.

When I enrolled in the Spanish program I relocated from the RV park and moved into a hotel in the historic section of this beautiful community of Mazatlan. This region of the city provides a mixture of cosmopolitan restaurants, bars and art galleries against a backdrop of well-preserved colonial edifices and cobblestone streets. I throughly enjoyed my stay in this coastal city of 328,000. Once again it would have be very easy for me to park the bike and remain in this city for the next months. But on I must ride - I bid farewell to my good friends Nick and Lesley and I set-out for city Durango.

Highway Mex 40 from Mazatlan to Durango is approximately 310 kilometres of spectacular mountain riding over the gorgeous Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains. The winding road through the mountains is positioned significantly higher than most of the mountains peaks in this range so the rider is provided with amazing panoramic views of forest covered mountains and everywhere the views are stunning. Most of this highway is a series of up /downs and very tight curves and switchbacks which proves to be a blast to ride and the view is always highly scenic. Portions of this highway was dynamited out of sheer rock to provide access to this part of these coastal mountains. Spectacular - Terrifying - Memorable. That WOW feeling has once again returned - This has to be one of the top motorcycling and scenic roads of North America. In one area known as El Espinazo del Diablo - Devil's Backbone the road crosses a nine kilometre narrow bridge of rock with near vertical drop-offs on both sides. There are also some scary parts which occur when you are going into a blind switchback corner and are just ready to pitch the motorcycle into the curve you see an 18-wheeler coming the opposite way but as he swings wide and taking half to two thirds of your lane as well as all of his. Then you are just barely able to squeeze around him.

I completed this amazing ride in the city of Durango. As I rode into this city of 457,000 I considered making my way to the inner city to find accommodations. As I proceeded through the city, traffic became very heavy as we progressed through a series of one way streets. At this point I altered my plan and returned to the area where I entered the city. At this location I had spotted two motels. I rode off the road into one of these establishments which was totally enclosed by a 3 metre high concrete block wall. A young lady approached me and asked if I required accommodations to which I responded positively. She stated the cost was $240.00 Pesos ($24 dollars) and asked if I'd like to see the room. I assumed I misunderstood the cost and ask if she'd write the numbers out for me. Wow the prices is certainly right - lets have a look at the room. This room was attached to a garage where I could store the bike overnight. The facility was recently constructed, the room had nice décor, a large queen size bed and the washroom facilities were very clean. I paid the young lady, removed and stored the bags from the bike and off I went for dinner. When I returned later that evening I settled into my room, showered and started flicking through the TV channels. Much to my surprise there were two hard-core porn stations. At this point I realized I had booked into a Love Motel. Apparently these facilities provide couples with a room to rent by the hour - stash a car – take care of business and move on. In my case I wasn't going anywhere til morning so I settled in for the night. Other then the mattress on the bed was very hard (not intended for sleeping) these accommodations were great and the prices was very reasonable.

Following breakfast at a nearby Taco stand I set-out to once again ride the incredible mountain pass and return to Mazatlan. I made a number of stops along the way to take photo's and admire the view. At one stop I hurried to get back onto the road ahead of a vehicle which was quickly approaching. This vehicle eventually caught-up to me and I determined is was police car a member of the Policia Federal. I remained ahead of this vehicle for a number of kilometres but felt uncomfortable with this arrangement and soon I pulled-off to the side of the road - to take photo's!! Once back on the road within a half hour I approached a line-up of parked cars. There had been an accident and the police officer who had been following me was now directing traffic. I slowly made my way to the front of the line – with a hand signal I was requested to advance – as I approached the officer he stood in the road and told to stop – he looked me in the eye and with his hand at chest level palms facing down – he moved his hand up and down and with a heavy accent stated “Slo – Slo” - To which I responded Si Senior as I rode off. It wasn't long before I had overtaken all those vehicles who had been in the line-up ahead of me. A blast it was - an awesome ride this highway provided as I make my way back to the coastal community of Mazatlan.

My next destination would be San Blas which I reached by traveling in a southerly direction from Mazatlan. The tranquil ocean fishing village of San Blas provides the traveler was a real taste of Mexico. Although there is a small presences of Norte Americanos this community is not considered a tourist stop. While I rode along the cobblestone and dirt street exploring this community I located a hotel where I would spend the next 3 nights. These very basic, clean and comfortable accommodations c/w secure motorcycle parking would cost $130.00 Pesos / $13.00 dollars per night. The first evening I strolled over to the Plaza Principal / town square. The plaza comes alive in the evenings as adults and children gather to socialize and play in the square. It was interesting to sit-back an observe the activities. This community also has a number of very nice playa / beaches which are popular with the surfers and the boogie board community. These playa / beaches have palapas restaurants under which one can lounge and enjoy good food and drinks.

It was in San Blas where I encountered a very interesting individual. I met Chris one evening in the Plaza Principal. Chris now lives in his native Norway. He was educated as a veterinarian and spent most of his adult life in the USA. When he retired he single-handedly sailed his boat a ketch across Atlantic from New Jersey to Norway. He's traveled extensively in northern Canada and canoed many of our northern rivers. At the age of 83 he travels solo from Norway to visit children in USA. From Arizona he travels solo by bus to Mexico where he spend the winter months prior to returning to his home in Norway. I was very impressed this mans approach to life and the independence he displayed ... A very interesting man and a true gentlemen he is...

From San Blas I rode to town Ricon de Guayabotis. In this community I met-up with Paul who is from Edmonton. I first met Paul in Nogales Arizona where we had dinner together the evening before we crossed into Mexico. A week later we once again crossed paths. Over a couple of beer in San Carlos we talked about sharing an apartment at some point in the future. So here in Ricon de Guayabotis we've rented a two bedroom condo c/w kitchen - living room. This newly constructed complex is located one block from the beach – the rental cost is $460.00 Pesos per night / $23.00 dollars each. A great place to kick back for a few weeks.

One evening Paul and I went to a beach restaurant / bar known as Tequila Willy's. Here we purchased steaks which we BBQ on a large grill. In this crowded area I recognized a voice that sounded familiar. When I examined the individual – I wasn't sure if I knew this person. But then I heard his spouse call him by name – Bingo.. This person was Reno Cyr – I had worked with Reno in a power generating station a number of years ago. I had not seen him over the past 12 or more years. Reno and his family now live in Northern British Columbia and were in Mexico visiting for the week. A very pleasant encounter it was.


Alamos' Catedral Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion was built between 1786 and 1804.


The national historic monumental city of Alamos as viewed from El Mirador.


This northern section of Mazatlan is a large tourist area where huge hotels / condo lined the beach.


The view looking north from the balcony of the my room at the Belmar Hotel in the historic section of the beautiful community of Mazatlan.



This rocky prominence is home to El Faro / lighthouse which overlooks Mazatlan's harbour.


Mazatlan provides a mixture of cosmopolitan restaurants, bars and art galleries against a backdrop of well-preserved colonial edifices and cobblestone streets.


It's off to school I go..


The narrow streets of historic Mazatlan.


These VW beetles were produced at Volkswagen de México in Puebla. The production line was shutdown in September 2004.


The sun drops into the Pacific Ocean and provides a spectacular sky. As viewed form the balcony from my room at the Belmar Hotel.


Highway Mex 40 a spectacular mountain road over the gorgeous Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains.


Sections of highway Mex 40 was dynamited out of sheer rock to provide access to this part of these coastal mountains


The road through the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains is positioned significantly higher than most of the mountains peaks in this range so the rider is provided with amazing panoramic views of forest covered mountains and everywhere the views are stunning.


Crossing another significant landmark – Tropic of Cancer.


The scenic Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains.


When seeking out accommodations my trusty stead must be provided with secure parking. Here it is safely parked in the courtyard of the Siesta Hotel. It is a strange feeling to ride through the hotel lobby past the reception desk into the courtyard.


This diver perched high on the rock ledge await the wave action to raise the water level in the pool.



One of the many works of art along Mazatlan's ocean walkway.


Down the hill around the bend and into the jungle.



Plaza Principal and Cathedral of San Blas.