Into the Unknown

Adios San Pancho

Leaving San Pancho after three weeks was a little like leaving home but it is now into the unknown as this is as far south that I have travelled in the past. Monday morning bright and early I set off down the coast along a scenic but very twisty road with incredible views of the ocean, interspersed with sections where the road is forced inland. This is the dry season and dry it certainly is with large areas that have either just been burned or where fires were actively burning. This is a normal cycle in this part of the world before the rains transform the landscape into a green oasis.

La Gasolinera

Roadside hotel

Two and a half days with over twenty hours sitting on the saddle brought me to the town of Acapulco, home to the legendary cliff divers. 

This was a spectacle I first heard about when I was a kid and always wanted to see this spectacle. I had been told that the Hotel Mirador that overlooked the cliffs could be reserved for just 1000 pesos ( about $55 ) whereas the walk in price was nearly three times that - what a deal and look at my room

The cliff divers of Acapulco ( or actually the town of La Quebrada ) perform a few times during the day and twice at night with spotlights. This was truly an amazing sight with the divers firstly scaling the cliffs, spending quite some time praying at the shrines at the top before launching themselves 135 ft ( 35m) into the ocean below. Large ocean swells push into the narrow channel below and so timing of the dive is critical as the depth of the water can vary more than 10 ft. Get this wrong and the result is not pretty, however I am told that in the last 75 years not a single diver has died -I guess the patron saint they pray to is damn good at his job.

Look carefully there is a guy diving off backwards

From Acapulco I had another full day of riding through numerous little towns, all hot and dusty with the average number of topes ( see early post) or speed bumps being 6. I Thought of trying to count how many of these I encountered in a day but gave up at 200 after first hour. I am extremely pleased I had the suspension rebuilt on my KTM just before I left home as it certainly has been put to the test.

Photo 

This night was spent at Kassandra’s in the  Laguna Chacahua National Park which is protected area of mangrove swamps. I took a trip on a launch with Capitan Miguel ( who looked like Michael Jackson ) but the bird and wildlife viewing was not anything very awe inspiring. At one point we got the boat stuck in a tunnel through the mangroves and Capitan Michael had to climb out and pull us through the tight spot between the dense undergrowth. At this point I asked him about the crocodiles to which he answered, somewhat nervously - “ No hay” ( none here)

A little rustic

From Chacahua I took an beautiful twisty, turning narrow road into the mountains with the ultimate destination being Oaxaca. This was a distance of only just over 200 km ( 125 miles ) but is took me the best part of the day. The scenery was stunning weaving high into the pine covered mountains before plunging back down into a valley where coco nut palms thrived only to be repeated again after passing through a agricultural small village.

 This went on for hours which was not only physically tiring and mentally exhausting as there were a lot of tour busses returning from a pilgrimage to the town of Juquila. Yup, tour busses on these little roads took up nearly both lanes and if encountered on a hairpin curve they did take up the entire roadway. I had planned on stopping in Jaquila to see the mission there but the town was crazy as this is still considered part of the Easter period where religious fervor reaches a crescendo. ( for you South Africans this would be like trying to visit ZCC over Easter )

This is where the trip got a little strange and admittedly a little frightening. I came into a small village and like always the vehicles ahead of me would need to slow down for the topes, giving me the perfect place to pass if there were no cars coming in the other direction.In this particular village I performed the usual maneuver but realized that for some reason the truck at the front of the line was completely stopped so luckily I was going very slowly when a police roadblock suddenly appeared in front of me. I immediately had guns brandished in my face and extremely agitated Federales shouting at me. It was only then I saw the reason for the tense situation. Just off the side of the road, face up was a man lying in an ever increasing pool of blood. It did not look like he had been hit by a car as there was not a vehicle close by so I can only surmise that he had been shot. I had no way of finding out what was going on and thought it unwise to try and take a photo.

I was unable to understand if the police were shouting at me to pull over and stop for being in the wrong lane or they were shouting for me to keep moving but to get on the right side of the road. I inched my way forward but kept moving hoping I was doing the right thing - seemed to work and I slowly picked up speed and got the F*** OUT of there!!

The remainder of the ride was uneventful but I was a little shaken.

Coming into the town of Oaxaca and its very busy streets brought my mind back to the task at hand of finding a hotel where I could spend the night and make sure my motorbike was safe. Like magic the Hotel Tipico popped up near the center of the old town and in no time at all I was parked, checked in ( $18/night) and back out walking the town

What a fantastic city with over 30 churches and a very rich colonial past with some amazing architecture, beautiful plazas and a spotless downtown central district. There were street performers, food sellers, sidewalk cafes, people strolling in the evening and generally a wonderful, fun loving vibe to the place

A good nights sleep and and early morning brought me back on the streets to find a breakfast of a bread roll with chicken relleno, this followed by some very good coffee had me ready for a day exploring. I took a cab out to the the pre-hispanic ruins of the city of Monte Alban, built by the Zapotecs starting in about 500BC. This was an important religious and administrative site for over 1300 years. I hired a guide and the two hours that she took to show me around this enormous site was the best $25 I have spent on the trip so far. I started by buying a guide book but soon realized that trying to understand what went on here through those 13 centuries was going to take a little more than the normal Luck tour.

Monte Alban

I expect to spend a few more days in this area before setting my sights on the Guatemalan border