Just south of Palenque is the small town with big ruins called Ocosingo. I stayed in a hotel called Esmeralda Ranch. The owners of this hotel are from Iowa and invested a lot of money in a ranch next to the Tonina ruins. Unfortunately, the Zapatistas decided to target the ranch and invaded it. Today, the ranch sits idle and still held by the Zapatistas. The ranch was rated one of the top ten places to stay by Lonely Planet. Now they are starting over in a hotel in the center of town in Ocosingo. Although, I didn’t get to actually meet the owners the staff were very pleasant.






Just outside of the town are the ruins of Tonina. A very impressive site but with very few visitors it was a pleasant change from the tacky tourism that pervaded Palenque.












From the top of the ruins are great views of the valley.












I was surprised to discover that Ocosingo is famous for its cheese. So deep in Chiapas and Zapatista territory I had a meal with cheese and wine.



I also picked up my first groupie!

I buzzed down the tollway from Veracruz to Villahermosa, a town worth avoiding, then it was on to the state of Chiapas and a visit to the ruins of Palenque

You´re are greeted by a military checkpoint upon crossing into the state of Chiapas from Tabasco. Every town had police roaming around with machine guns, the topes (huge speed bumbs) were the worst yet– both in number and in size, and the scenery was much more lush, green and mountainous. It was also extremely humid. I was expecting cooler temperature with the increased altitude, but it was one the hottest days of riding since I left Baja.



The next day I visited the Palenque ruins.



The current theory for the demise of civilization here is simply over use of the natural resources– sounds familiar…

February 23, 2007: Arrived in San Salvador riding my badly stretched chain.

Just arrived in this lovely city.

From Taxco it was an enjoyable ride through the mountains on nice roads.




I explored Puelba but had to leave the next morning, although there is a lot to see in Puelba and it is a UN World Heritage Site. I had a good time just eating at the street side food vendors.









From Puebla it was a long boring hot ride to the coast for Veracruz. I elected to see Veracruz and skip Oaxaca because many Mexicans told me Veracruz was really worth seeing. I wasn´t that impressed but it does have a nice zocalo where things get interesting after dark.

By the time I arrived in Taxco it was dark and I had misplaced my guidebook, leaving me totally lost in a city of one way streets climbing up and down the hillside on a holiday weekend. It took a couple of hours but I finally found a cheap hotel with parking, but I wasn’t told about the steep road to the entrance that started right on a sharp curve on the main road through town. After several mis-starts I gunned the engine and made it up the hill, just barely able to turn into the entrance of the hotel.



I enjoyed Taxco, although the main attraction is the silver shopping. There is plenty of good food and friendly people. The action focuses on the zocalo and the church, of course.









I spent a lot of time walking around checking out the market and all the silver stores.



There were some excellent regional dishes, the names of which escapes me.

I will be making regular posts updating my position. My larger posts are posted days after the fact so don’t get confused.
Thurs Feb 15= leaving San Cristabol in the morning for the Guatemala border and Huenhentango (sp?).

The next day I went for a Sunday morning ride with Pepe and his friend to meet some other riders. There were a lot of riders and everyone was going to Oaxaca and wanted me to come along.









Make at Pepe’s house we talked and ate lunch before it was time for another sad farewell. Pepe’s house had a lot of character. They bought the land and built the house completely from Mexican materials.



The three amigos before my escort out of Toluca and off to Taxco.

Toluca is a industrial city west of Mexico City. There are no major attractions but I had two good reasons for going there. A large BMW dealer is located nearby and my trucker friend lives there. It was hard to leave Morelia, because of the friends I had made but I was already in Mexico over one month and yet to get south of Mexico City! The tollway got me to Toluca in less than three hours but finding my way through the city to the BMW dealer took another hour. Still I was at BMW of Toluca (Lerma Motors, in Lerma just west of Toluca at 47.5k on the westbound side) with plenty of time before the Saturday closing time of 2:00pm.


I called my friend Pepe and sure enough within the hour he was walking through the door. I was in a neighboring store called Sport Cycle shopping for a new pair of gloves, because my fingers were completely gone after Baja using summer weight Revvit gloves. They also had a mint 96 BMW on the floor that Pepe was checking out.




I then spent an enjoyable day with Pepe and his lovely wife and daughter. They took me to a real authentic restaurant where the tortillas were made from blue corn and lot of garlic was used. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. Toluca is not a real tourist town but I was impressed by the small botanica garden in the city.



In the evening they took me to a quincera party– this is a party to celebrate a girl’s 15th birthday. This is partying Mexican style!

Patzcuaro is a town that is praised for its beauty. On the Lonely Planey forums is frequently mentioned as a place to go if you have extra time. It has a wonderful zocalo, which I’m told is the second largest in Latin America and sits next to a lake with several small islands. Unfortunately, according to the guidebook the lake severally polluted may not exist in 50 years because of river diversions. Still, it is a very nice town to kill a day, but probably more fun for couples who can enjoy the cuteness factor. Oh, Patzcuaro is also famous for its ice cream or what the call Paster de Nieve, which at first I thought was some sort of frozen pasta. For some reason I forgot to get a picture of the stuff, though.









It is a pretty town, but I was bored after a couple of hours, most of which was consumed by getting to a certan lookout point for the picture of the lake. So, I started wondering around the food stalls and plaza eating my way around.

Sliced coconut with lime and chilli pepper along with coconut juice in a bag.



They eat this with– guess what– chilli, cheeze and lemon juice.






Really small mangos on a stick or flame cooked corn. Yes, eaten with chilli and lime juice.

I spent two weeks studying Spanish in Morelia. If you are looking for a decent sized city with real Mexican flavor I strongly recommend Morelia. Also, Baden-Powell Institute, was a great school. I lived with a great family and really felt at home. Actually, didn’t take a lot of pictures but here goes.


Actually, my arrival to Morelia did not go well. There was a student demonstration that shut down many of the roads and I was driving around the city for several hours trying to get to my hotel. A week later I took my bike into the centro because I wanted some picture with the motorcycle cops. The cops were riding Harley Sporters or KTM 640. However, there was another demonstration, this time even worse, completely shutting down the centro.






In Morelia they have some great food including their version of Gatzpacho. It’s not what you think, but rather a large cupful of fruit with chili. lemon juice and salt.






On my last day of school we headed out to the market to practice our culinary vocabulary.







I also found a very good motorcycle shop just before I was about to leave. He was selling all makes from Harleys to BMWs in stock on the floor.

I continued down Rt 200 along the Pacific Coast, but the road grew very tiring. Dogs were everywhere, it was hot and humid, and most of the time you couldn´t see the coast anyway.
On my way out of Puerto Vallarta I met a group of local riders out for a Sunday ´ride to eat´.



I stopped for a night in the small beach town of Cayulita. If you really want to get away from it all this is one place for you.






Continuing south along route 200.



Besides dealing with the road, another problem was finding a place to stop and eat. I finally stopped at this place where I think the woman just cooked out of the back of her home.



Before heading inland I continued south to the coastal city of Zihuantanejo (say that three times fast). It wasn´t my kind of place although it was highly recommended. The combination of heat, humidity, and tacky tourism convinced me I had to head inland for the mountains. So I the next morning I said ádios´to the Pacific Coast and headed for the mountains.



Just managed to squeeze my bike into the entrance.



Ahh, higher altitudes and cooler temperatures.




My initiation to the Mexican tollway was to just about run out of gas. I mistakenly assumed there would be regualar Pemex stations, but I was running on reserve when I bought gas out of a plastic container here.



It was nice to be on a nice straight well-paved road for a change. I decided to use the space of a pull-off to do some chain maintenance.



Just as I am finishing up a truck driver comes up to me and wants to check out my bike and take my picture. It turns out that Pepe is an avid rider and lives in in Toluca where there is a BMW dealer. So we exchange info and plan on meeting after I finish my Spanish course in Morelia.


Can you image driving a double trailer in Mexico!!!



I was driving east bound from the Pacific Coast along tollway 37, making very good time for a change. I was also close to the city of Patzcuaro, a town famous for its beauty. Well, one missed turn and a long mountain road and I was lost. Signage in Mexico is really bad and even my gps didn´t help because the maps on them are not very accurate. I was on a road that was so steep and curvy I was afraid to turn around. It soon started getting dark and I just kept hoping a town would appear somewhere. Around 6pm I entered the town of Huacana just as my fuel reserve light came on. Boy did I screw this one up. There were a lot of astonished faces as I drove around the zocalo looking for a hotel. I finally went up to a police officer and after a group consultation I was given a scooter escort to a local hotel.


Later in the hotel I met a Canadian working for a drilling company. He was so happy to be able to talk English we spent hours drinking and talking. He said my map was just about worthless and clued me in on the fact that the Mexican maps Guia Ruija are excellent and sold in most OXXO stores.






For a town in the middle of nowhere there seems to be some action going on.




So the next morning I continued south (the direction I was actually going the day before) and got on the tollway again at a town called Nueva Italia, because it was a much faster route than going back through the mountains. Some nice roads here but very few places to pull over for a picture.



Let´s try this again, except I´ll go straight for Morelia.

Actually, before I went to Puerto Vallarta I stopped in San Blas. I enjoyed San Blas so much I stayed for three days. It’s not for everyone but it is a cool place to stop and rest for a couple of days. It is mostly a Mexican tourist town but the expats who are there are not the typical people you find in the better known locations.


I was told that 20 years ago the area was so popular the beaches were lined with tents and campers, but now the main draw is the boat tour through the marsh.



Iguana sun bathing. I later found out that in parts of Mexico it is served as a delicacy.








They have a small alligator farm where they breed and release them into the wild.









San Blas beaches today.









San Blas zocolo in prime laid back mode.



This new bar is the main reason I stayed in San Blas so long. I didn’t do a lot of drinking because of health issues but I met a lot of interesting people here. Just to give you an idea: the owner is a self proclaimed ‘wise guy’ from Brooklyn, one bartender is a German woman, and the other bartender is a former bullfighter.