Holy Topes!

Streets of Barra de Navidad in the morning.

Fish Monger

We were kind of planning a day off in Barra de Navidad to update the blog and get some laundry done. We managed to get it all done before noon so we headed out for Playa Azul. What an awesome motorcycle road that was! There were lots of hills and corners (lots of 2nd and 3rd gear for anyone who cares) and nice views of the ocean. Hwy 200 in Mexico seems to be the rough equivalent to Hwy 1 down the US West coast. We're not making time but we're getting to see a lot of rural areas as well as the smaller communities. Playa Azul is a popular area for Mexicans on holiday and it was very busy. We're eating lots of seafood washed down with appropriate liquids and it's really good. We're finding that if we go to the places where all the locals are eating we get really good food and service for very cheap. 60 to100 pesos for breakfast of coffee, juice, fruit, toast and eggs to your liking.

View from one of the very few road side stops.

After Azul we thought we'd head for Acapulco thinking it would be easy to find a hotel somewhere. Also it wasn't far so we'd be into town in good time. It looked to be about 370 km or so. Easy. We stopped for a drink somewhere around 3:30 and figured conservatively that we'd have another hour. I have never seen anything like it! The traffic downtown was bizarre! I had to laugh many times because it was so outrageous. Intersections were jammed with everybody doing what they thought they had to do to get through traffic. We were right in the middle! Horns honking and everybody cutting everybody off. Traffic lights were useless. Not a cop around. Really wish I had a helmet cam. We managed to get through downtown onto the south side of town and it looked like a hotel area along a beach so I led Neil down there. Wrong. More gridlock. By this time the bikes were over heating in the 35 degree heat. We toughed it out and got through that but now it was dark and the only hotels we could find were either full or too scary. I have to admit I was a bit uncomfortable walking down some dark alley in a marginal area. Somehow Neil spotted a hotel sign so we pulled in. $950(pesos) for the night. Crap. We looked a little more but ended up going back there. Turned out it was a good move. We got a decent room with air conditioning. The owner and his son also opened up the back gate so we could park the bikes in the safety of his back yard. He also lowered the price to $900. And he also volunteered his son to go with us in a taxi to get dinner. We had to draw the line there. By this time it was after 8 pm so we had chips and beer from the local OXXO store for dinner. The hotel owner even wanted his son to go with us to the store to keep us safe. Nice neighbourhood.

Find this in the dark.

Safe and sound

Good-bye from our new friend.

We headed for Puerto Escondido in the morning and found a room at a reasonable hour. We were all toped out by then anyway. In case you don't know, topes are speed bumps in every populated area. They're in every village along the highway. Every once in a while they throw one in at some random location just to keep you on your toes. We're also finding that 400 km in the heat, traffic and topes is about all you want to do. It's also so busy with Mexicans on holidays that getting a room at the end of the day can be a chore. We're paying premium prices right now but we're hoping that will end soon, in Guatemala hopefully.

Along the road to Escondido.

After taking a break in the 35 plus heat.

View from near the restaurant in Escondido.

The Escondido area is famous for surfing and the Mexican Pipeline comes in a few beaches down the road. No sightseeing pictures of that, sorry. Maybe try National Geographic.

Tonight we're in Bahia de Huatula. Another resort town but we got a room for two nights because we need to change our engine oil after cooking it the other night in Acapulco. Also, we'll be guaranteed a place to stay on New Years Eve. More blog in a day or so.

                              Felize Ano Nuevo! 
                                                                                                (or something like that)