What a Birthday!Thank you all so much for your lovely wishes!!! I really had a great birthday. Sascha woke me up at sunrise with a kiss and a coffee. A big plate of fresh mango was waiting for me already and later on he prepared a delicious breakfast with bacon and eggs. From Pam I received a wonderful shirt out of her great shop-collection.It is not naturally having all that happen on a journey so I really appreciated the location and Sascha’s effort – I love you my dear! For the dinner we prepared a delicious fresh fish together and enjoyed the sunset view on Pam´s terrace with a glass of wine.
The lovely time with Pam in Todos Santos ended with a great day swimming, packing and a dinner in a place with Cuban live music – it was time to say good bye…
On Monday the 27th August we left Todos Santos and drove to La Paz to take the ferry which should bring us to the mainland of Mexico. We reserved the trip via telephone and were curious if everything will turn out right. The Ferry (TMC) guys were all very professional, spoke fluent English and were extremely friendly. Very quick all the required documents were done. We had to go on an scale and WOW we were surprised how heavy we are: Sascha and the bike 430kg and Kerstin and the bike 330kg! Holy sh…!!!
The ferry is a cargo line; only people with a vehicle are allowed. Therefore it was packed with truck drivers and we were the only foreigners. The ferry left at 6pm and we knew the trip would take about 16 hours. Everybody was nice and super super friendly. They even provided us cool drinks and introduced us to the cantina (dinner and breakfast is included in the trip). The weather looked calm and the sea flat – perfect as we would need to find a spot on deck to sleep. With the sunset we saw some dolphins playing around and a big turtle before it turned dark. We found a spot in the wind shade which looked perfect to us to set camp and sleep. So we settled, had one or two sips Tequila and watched the stars. We dozed when we recognized dark silhouettes of some sea birds floating in the sky above us and we thought: wow how wonderful is that!!! But I needed a last pi before real sleep and when I went up I recognized that the whole platform and of course as well us, our mattresses and sleeping bags were full of bird shit!!! Sascha went to research if there is maybe a better place and so we moved everything in the middle of the night. At least we had some sleep. We woke up with the sunrise and could see dark clouds and lightning at the horizon above the mainland but luckily it stayed dry where we were. We went up to pick a coffee and breakfast, pack our “shitty” stuff together and having a shower (yes they do have warm showers!) when we recognized all the dolphins jumping around and diving under the boat. All in all we had a very good time on the ferry. Everything was clean and in a good condition and all the people has been friendly and helpful. As scheduled we arrived in Mazatlán at 10am. We packed the bikes and were sweated in a second and we left the ferry while gesturing `adios´ to everybody as quickly as possible.
We left Mazatlán towards east into the mountains driving the old Ruta 40d. What a difference! Suddenly everything was sooo green and mellow. The road was in a good condition and was climbing up the mountains passing little pueblos, villages, with friendly smiling and waving people. The air became more and more fresh and it was the first time since a looong time that we were not sweating anymore while driving and even not when we were stopping – how pleasant for a change. The Ruta 40d is called as well `El Espinaco Del Diablo´ (The Devils Backbone) and is a real pleasure for motorcyclist cause it is providing awesome views and the 2000 turns are magnificent. The road lies almost entirely over 2.000 meters above the sea level and goes eventually above 3000m. And the best we were driving it nearly entirely alone!
Somewhere in the middle at about 3pm we crossed once more one of the several police or military checkpoints. So far we cannot say anything negative about them. They always have been friendly often even smiling and were waving us through. From time to time they are asking where we are coming from and where we are going to but not much more. Usually I am driving in front with Pepe as a pillion (you remember the Teddy bear we found in Canada) with open helmet and saying `!Hola! Buenas Dias/Tardes!´ with a big smile! It seems to work J and if they start to ask more I am just saying `no intendo – hablo un pocito espaniol solo´ with a bigger smile (if possible).
Now the sky became dark and suddenly it started to rain. It seems every day at around this time thunderstorms are coming up here in the mountains. Brrrr… the first time since a long time we started freezing and had to search for additional cloth. In a little village called `La Ciudad´ (the city!) we stopped with lightning and thundering all around us. We found a place renting out cabanas and negotiated a price for the night. When the rain stopped we had a look around for food but have been unlucky – maybe it was too early or just the wrong day of the week, who knows we dint find anything…. Anyhow the next hard rain was coming in and we bought some beers and went back to our cabana. There we cooked delicious pasta with chili tomato sauce and parmesan. Sitting under the shelter of our terrace we enjoyed our food and beer while watching the lightning. Knowing we will sleep dry and warm under heavy wool blankets was a big advantage… what a change! Early morning we woke up to continue. The clouds were still hanging low in the mountains but after having coffee the sun came out.
After a nice ride through the mountains at around 3 to 4pm thick clouds came up and rain hit us again; so we skipped the plan to camp in El Parque Nacional Sierra de Órganos. A little bit further on the `Pueblo Magico´ Sombrerete is located. We checked in a Motel and spend the rest of the day exploring this beautiful place. We walked around, found a real good foot place and enjoyed the friendly atmosphere until sunset; just when the next thunderstorm came in we were back and had a good and DRY sleep.
The next morning we were not really sure how to continue. We used the possibility of an fast internet connection and booked a Airbnb in Zacatecas. Not so far away and made a contact for Couchsurfing in Guadalajara. In Zacatecas we negotiated a good price for two people in an old amazing villa. When we entered the building we could smell the history… and we moved into the suite with a gigantic balcony overlooking the whole town… WOW! We enjoyed the rest of the day walking around and visiting as well a beautiful church `Temple of Fatima´ where the priest welcomed and invited us hearty to visit it.
Close by is La Quemada an archeological site situated and we took the chance to leave all our valuables at the AirBnB and went there the early morning. We were the only visitors at arrival. The site is made up of numerous different sized platforms built onto the hill and it is one of the places visited by the Aztecs in their migration to the basin of Mexico, where they left their elderly and children. We spent about 3 hours climbing the mountain and the hundreds of steps and adoring the views and the peace of this place. For that day we caught enough sun and we used the afternoon to clean our mattresses and sleeping bags from the bird shit which we got on the ferry ride. The evening we walked around downtown and found a Mexican restaurant full of oddities. Later on we joined the musician groups on the streets – funny smiling singing dancing people all around!
The road going south to Guadalajara is a big straight red line on our map. We only have a map with a very big scale and we had no idea how the road would be like. We expected these 370km will be pretty boring but pretty soon it turned into a beautiful winding road through the mountains and we really enjoyed the ride. Just before we reached the Guadalajara a gorgeous view on the `Salto del Nogal´, a 105m high waterfall welcomed us.
We stay with Ernesto, a Couchsurfing place. He is a fabulous guy and living with his German shepherd dog in a little flat at a spectacular place. Such a Buena Vista, outlook!!! One evening we explored the city and we can tell you with the sunset the whole city becomes a `theater´; everywhere artists, dancing groups, musicians and smiling and laughing faces – a fantastic atmosphere! Ernesto and his friend Eva took us to a Mexican breakfast. It had a breathtaking view to the valley with the Rio Santiago. They introduced us all the traditional Mexican breakfast specialties. We learned a lot and that is actually the reason why we love Couchsurfing from time to time. You are with the locals and you learn so much about tradition, culture, food, language, the location, fauna and flora… Today we will meet another friend of Ernesto, a motorcyclist who travels a lot as well. We are curious to hear about his experiences. He can give us maybe good advice and suggestions where to go and what to see… Once again we do not have a clue yet where we go next J sooo many beautiful places around…
Until then we are `working´ on the update in our office with this unique breathtaking view surrounded by all kind of birds, many hummingbirds, butterflies and iguanas
