I rode with the ‘Gladiadores’ from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta on the free highway. It was a pretty trip and we rode it without incident (which is more than I can say about the minor incident the weekend before). We all stayed in a discount hotel in downtown Puerto Vallarta for the weekend and then I added a couple of days for myself to kick back a little. We spent some time at the beach, some time at the rally, and finally ended up on the Puerto Vallarta malecon by midnight. There was a live ‘wanna-be’ Marilyn Manson band playing at the moto rally that was almost saved by the girls tattoo contest; but not quite. It’s amazing where girls put tattoos these days! Again, where’s my damn camera? Tibieron (a cool hermano del Gladeadores) won the men’s tattoo contest primarily due to the size of his fan club. I am glad to say his tattoo was on his arm. Later that night we parked our bikes along the side walk on the malecon and made it our own space. Hectors trike had a stereo competing with the music from the adjacent night clubs and the traffic. Some of the guys really surprised me with their ability to dance. They pulled in a number of girls off the street and swung them to the Salsa and the Curumba??? Of course I was supposed to do the same but I had a sudden sense of incompetence. Tibieron would say to me ‘C’mon, do your job!’ I managed to stumble through a couple of dances. One Latino lady was absolutely amazing. I think she could have been on ‘Dancing with the Stars’. Angelo turns and says to me ‘She’s not counting!’ It was really funny! She finished her dance, gave a few hugs and kisses, and off she went. I ended the night with some tacos from a street stall just outside of the hotel at 3:00 in the morning. The Gladeadores all rode back to Guadalajara that Sunday and I rode solo from there.
I rode down the coast from Puerto Vallarta to Manzanillo stopping at a number of gorgeous beaches and small
towns including Tenacatita, La Manzanilla, and Barra de Navidad. La Manzanilla was my favorite spot on this leg of the trip with its quite beach and awesome sea food. The road was pretty clear of traffic with easy curves and good pavement. The tierra varied from lush vegetation to scrub dessert. All of the spots I stopped at were very laid back and almost void of any tourists. This was good and bad as there weren’t many people to support the local economy but then I could practice my Taekwondo without attracting too much attention. From Manzanillo I turned inland to Lago Chapala via Colima and then on to Morelia. The landscape changed quickly from lush to salt flats and finally pine forest around the lake area. From Chapala I rode through the mountains and stopped at a very traditional town called Mazamitla.
It reminded me of the towns I visited years ago in Nepal. The city of Morelia is defiantly worth a visit. The city is much smaller than Guadalajara but the architecture and sites were equally impressive in my opinion. I thought the selection of restaurants and bars were better situated and more plentiful within the historical areas than in Guadalajara. All the best sites to see were within walking distance of my hotel and it didn’t take long to find some small clubs playing good live music on the first night and a rockin nightclub the next night. Where the hell was Sjoerd! From Morelia I headed back to Mazatlan via Tequila. Tequila is a neat town once you get off the highway. There was a Christmas parade and free tequila samples in every store. From there I rode back to Mazatlan to catch the ferry to La Paz where I planned to pick up the van and return with it to Puerto Vallarta. When I returned to La Paz my nightmare from hell started with Aduana (Mexican customs). This !#%^&*&% situation forced me to return all the way to San Diego with the van and motorcycle before I could begin travelling on the Mexico mainland with the van. It ended up costing me about 4,000 km of extra driving, un dolor en la nache (a pain in the ass), and a few pesos too! And the worst thing is it cut into my blog update time… I had to remind myself that the journey is the important thing as every day has a new destination. More on this story in my next update.
By the way, I am near Mexico City now and hope to make it Coatzacoalcos on the Golfo De Mexico to see if I can find an old friend of mine that I worked with a few years back. From there I will head down the Yucatan coast and into Belize. I am healthy and doing just fine in case you were starting to wonder.
