Tag: Bikepacking

Motorcycle Ride from Puerto Escondido to Shroomtown – 20220427

After checking out one last little surfing beach in Puerto Escondido, taking one last barf at surfer culture, I got packed and started driving for Oaxaca. My plan was to get lunch in Mazunte, drive through Zipalote, and then spend the night in San Jose del Pacifico. And that’s just what I did. At Zipalote I began the long climb in to the mountains as I felt the heat of the sun begin to subside on my back.

Puero Escondido

As I rode into the mountains I felt my heart lift. I could feel the humidity increase on my face, the temperature chilled my hands and nose, and my eyes absorbed the vibrant colors of the jungle, plants, and waterfalls everywhere. My nose screamed with joy at the fresh mountain air.

I was so happy to be in these little mountain towns again. I checked into a cabana at Cabanas Rancho Viejo that cost me 1100 pesos and went into town and got some Thai food which wasn’t too good. San Jose Pacifico is littered with mushroom murals on almost every building. It is known for it’s magic mushrooms during rainy season. Word is that they feed it to kids sometimes.

The cabana ended up being one of the coziest places I’ve ever stayed. As it got quite cold at night they put a huge fireplace in the middle of the room stocked with a lot of firewood. I spent the whole night reading to the glow of the fire with the flames baking my face snuggled under a blanket.

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So Cozy

Look at how cozy this is

From Guadalajara to Puerto Escondido and On! – 20220426

After recovering from my quinceñera hangover I booked a flight back to Puerto Escondido. I flew over, took a taxi to my hotel, and went to grab a coffee and wait for Sam, who was watching my motorcycle, to wake up.

Everything in Puerto Escondido is made for foreigners who are there for surf lessons so at the coffee shop I ordered, “the big wave” and an espresso. I soaked in the surfer vibes and got high on caffeine.

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Puerto Escondido

Cafecito

Sam messaged me eventually and I went to pick up the motorcycle and I picked up a bunch of Coronas for him. We popped open a couple coronas after noticing they were the tiny ones. I put the bike back together and we chatted a bunch. He is a super interesting dude from Switzerland that I would hear about again down the line.

Sam the man

After leaving Sam’s place I stopped by a welder where I would buy a fat steel washer and the guy welded it on for 100 pesos. The BEST $5 I have ever spent in my entire life. I was having so many issues with the kickstand sinking in and the bike falling everywhere I put it. Now I can essentially I was a little worried the added weight would pull it down while riding but I have had 0 issues with that.

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Best $5 I’ve spent

Gorgeous weld

Puerto Escondido would mark the last city on the Coast I would be at for a long while. I had followed coastlines one way or another all the way down to Puerto Escondido. It was one of the big reasons I had started the motorcycle trip to begin with. A ridiculous amount of people had recommended it to me over the years and it had floated high on my list of places to go.

I had initially thought I would pretty much just drive down and live there for a few months, and then drive back. But my trip was slower than I had anticipated, there were too many other places I liked on the way, and the looming end of my 6 month permit pushed me to go further. I also just did not love Puerto Escondido as much as I thought I would. This trip has made me abundantly aware that I love tropical mountain rivers a lot more than beaches. I find beaches to be pretty good places to read and drink an espresso and I always find myself wondering what the hell people do after that.

So from Puerto Escondido I would set my compass inland to the world of monkeys, warm streams, and enormous shady trees.

Marquila to Puerto Escondido – 20220409

My stay in Marquila was pretty damn nice. I stayed at a hotel called Las Brisas for 300 pesos which had some really friendly owners. After I got in I headed to the river where people were playing soccer and swimming. I swam and talked to a Mexican family for a while.

Some kiddos playing soccer on a riverbed

I noticed driving through Guerrero that there are all these dudes with guns at all the speedbumps with cans asking for money. I have no idea what the deal was with them but I talked to a guy at the town at night and he said they were friendly. They all just gave me the thumbs up and I rode on.

Marquila had an event going on where they set up a bunch of telescopes to see the moon which was awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever actually looked at it like that before. It was meant for kids but I signed up for it anyways. It was something political as if the governor did it to make people in the small villages like him

I was only told after taking this video that being near those colorful houses is horribly dangerous

Finally after much riding I arrived in Puerto Escondido. Only to find out the person I was going to leave the bike with wasn’t actually here! They were in Ciudad de Mexico, I don’t know how I got that wrong.

The ride from Marquila to Puerto Escondido was a little rough. Lots of road bumps everywhere and big trucks and buses on tiny roads. Lots of police with guns on the back of trucks. They don’t seem to care at all that I have no license plate on the motorcycle. No one has ever asked.

Ever seen a stray pig before?

I stopped at a nice place along the way for some tacos and I changed the oil along the way. I saw a big empty bottle that I was able to use to put the old oil in and then put the new stuff in with a new filter. But I started riding and there was oil spraying on my foot. I had to tighten down the bolts to the oil filter more than I felt comfortable but it got me to Escondido. I’m pretty happy about that, but a little nervous about the next oil change.

Yumzzz
This could have messed me up bigtime

I met up with some cool couch surfers and we explored around the town a bit and ended up at a Mexican pool party which was really just a bunch of dudes around a pool and we played some cards before going home.

Tomorrow I need to get a covid test and drop off the motorcycle and go back to work!