Tag: Motorcycle

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!

Maruata to Playa Azul – 20220406

Today I rode from Maruata to Playa Azul. It was only about 3 hours of riding and most of the day was some curvy stuff. Nothing too bad and the roads were in good shape. I said goodbye to my buddies who were all laying down in hammocks waiting to go out lobster hunting later. It is a veeeeery lazy town where not much ever seems to happen. But it’s quite gorgeous.

Ridin’

There’s a bunch of speed bumps along the way but it was probably my single favorite day of driving so far. The road kept taking me up to these high beautiful overlooks of the beach ahead. I stopped at a restaurant on one of these overlooks and ordered some fried shrimp which was absolutely delicious. The ladies working there were sweet too and there was a tiny kid in this cart who laughed a lot when I tried to talk to her and shake her hand.

Asleep on the job

While I was eating there I met a biker guy who had his girlfriend on the back. They were from CDMX and we chatted for a little while. They said they were going to Playa Azul and I looked it up and it looked like a decent place that I might want to go to as well. So I set it in the GPS and on the way out the biker gifted me some straps for my motorcycle that are waaaaay better than mine. They have clips that are easy to put on and off and are way more secure than my bungies.

This guy was great and gave me some free straps

2 hours later I was in Playa Azul and found a decent hotel. It’s called Hotel Maria Teresa and its super nice and only 600 pesos for 1 person for the night. There’s a nice pool and a safe place to park the motorcycle.

I took a nap, walked around and found a place where I bought some delicious fried fish. I then headed back to the hotel for a boring night of trying to get a couple paperwork and planning things done tonight.

Puerto Vallarta, Manzanilla, Maruata! – 20220405

Once I got back from work I spent a few days hanging out in Puerto Vallarta. There isn’t much to note on it other than that I love it a lot less than the first time I came into Puerto Vallarta. While it is beautiful, I can feel now how different it is than the rest of Mexico and how the locals are exploited by tourism there purely for money. Driving out of Puerto Vallarta I felt dirty and the air tasted fresher as the city disappeared behind me.

Leaving Puerto Vallarta

I drove down to Manzanilla where I stayed in a gorgeous spot called Tikituk for 700 pesos. I walked around Manzanillo which is quite small, met some Canadians eating dinner and then grabbed a beer and watched a pretty amazing guitarist do his thing.

In the morning I said goodbye to Dennis, the owner of Tikituk and we chatted for a bit. He’s an amazing dude who built all the cabins himself and just wants to go travel again. He talked about getting a motorcycle and riding like I am.

I left around 10:30 and started driving for Maruata. I went by some absolutely gorgeous places on the way. But one of the negatives of the trip is I can’t just stop somewhere and hike and explore around or someone might make off with everything I own. There were quite a few beaches that I would have liked to have stopped at and walked all over.

River scrimps
Some river scrimps that I ate on the way
Some fires engulfing the road on the way

I arrived at the cabins in Maruata at 4pm and had a little bit of trouble finding it. I asked a local and he pointed me in the right direction. They are some cabins up on top of a hill. I arrived and walked around and couldn’t find anyone there. Finally this kid showed up and walked me to one of the cabins. Nothing had been set up or cleaned. It was pretty gross but the view was absolutely spectacular and it only cost 300 pesos. It probably has the best view of anywhere I have ever stayed. It’s called cabanas Don Cheme.

On top of the world
My fave fruit

The town of Maruata is incredibly interesting. When I arrived the guy told me to wait for the owner to show up but when he still hadn’t after an hour I started walking down to find something to eat. I rode around town which seemed to be a series of countless restaurants on the beach but not a single one was open at 630pm. Each one kept telling me to try the next one. I ended up buying some cheese and crackers to take back.

I got back to the base of the cabins where there’s a little bar thing and I sat down there near some dudes who were trying to pull some fruits out of a tree. I ordered a beer and soon the guys started asking me about the motorcycle.

Drinking a beer and eating whatever this fruit is with my bud Socrates

They gave me some of their fruit which looked like huge peas but was very slightly sweet. All in all it didn’t have much flavor but it was worth trying. I chatted with them for a bit especially with a guy named Socrates. He had some of his kids there which were all interested in me and doing the thing where they hover around me but try not to make eye contact. This is most certainly a place that few gringos show up to.

I gave them some of the cheese and crackers and they looked soooo happy. The owner of the cabins finally showed up and cleaned the room out so I headed in there and tried taking a short nap that turned into a long one. The ocean noises were so soothing.

YUMZ

I woke up and walked back into town around 9pm just to see what was going on. It was dark and not a lot going on. There’s this one little fair toy thing in the center that all the kids were playing on but that was pretty much it.