Meanwhile, deep into Mexico ........"You can eat for free as long as you drink beer??"

After another very long and tiring ride avoiding potholes and wandering cattle, I arrived at Hidalgo Del Parral. This is the place where Pancho Villa was killed, but apart from that It`s also a place where you can get a half decent cappuchino and a lovely plate of bananas and ice cream (thought I`d vary my diet a bit).

After checking in to the Hotel Turista (it seemed appropriate) I wandered around and found a nice little bar as it was past “beer o`clock”, and it was here that I was introduced to the delights of Negra Modelo which has since become my Mexican beer of choice! Feeling a little more refreshed I headed for the Centro.

Whenever I arrive in a new town the best way to get orientated is to head for the central Plaza, once you`re there you can easily find you`re way around most towns.

As with every other town I`ve visited in Mexico, Parral (as it`s known) has some beautiful churches and many other buildings of historical significance, so I whiled away an hour or two before heading back to the usual e mail/skype/blog routine.

Tomorrow would be another day on the road and another destination.

DURANGO

Up before first light, I programmed the GPS for the city of Durango and set off in the half light of a cloudy morning. It was going to be a 6 hr. ride so I opted to spend some of it on the toll roads. In Mexico, as on the continent, there are many toll roads which are usually faster, more direct and can be expensive if used often, or you can use the "libre" (free) roads. I was planning on taking a “libre” road initially, which looked fairly direct, but the manager of the coffee shop I`d spoken to the day before warned me that not much traffic used that road and it would be ”safer” to take the toll road.

There followed an incredibly dull several hours of riding where I was stopped on many occasions and money was extracted from me for the privilege of riding on the beautifully maintained and virtually empty roads! God give me some twisty roads!




I`d planned to go to Durango because of a contact I`d made online. Stephen is an American who works in Mexico as a geologist for a mining company and also rides a Kawasaki KLR 650. He`d offered to meet up with me and show me around if I had time.

I was looking forward to a bit of company, but first I had to find my hotel. I have been following a guide written by another member of the internet biking community. Sjoerd Bakker is an expert on Mexico and has ridden there for years. In that time, he has researched cheap hotel accommodation specifically for motorcyclists. This time however, my GPS looked confused! I was miles from where I should have been and had to resort to asking for directions.

“Perdon, puede decir mi, donde esta La Hotel Bugambilias por favor?”

A couple of people scratched their heads, but a man on a bicycle seemed to know where to go and agreed to lead me there. So for the next 15 mins I followed at a crawl through many tiny streets wondering whether he really knew where he was going.

I`d built up quite a sweat by the time we pulled up outside an unnamed hotel. Amazingly he`d found it! I offered him some money but he refused, waved and peddled off.

After checking room availability, wifi connections, and secure parking, I was directed a ground floor room and was told I could park my bike right outside the door!

I`d been having huge problems with my mobile phone, it just wasn`t co-operating so I left a skype message for Stephen telling him where was and went for a wander around. This was wandering with intent as I`d discovered once again that the promised wifi wouldn`t work! I tried 5 places that were recommended none of which worked. I finally asked a policeman on duty in the plaza and located wifi in a local cafe where I spent several hours, eventually having to eat something I didn`t really want (again!) just to justify using their wifi!

I`d just arrived back and was chatting to a man in the car park who had noticed my bike and was asking me about the journey when a Kawasaki pulled up and Stephen introduced himself. I didn`t feel too bad when he said it had taken him ages to find the hotel aswell, and he lives here! He took me downtown to a really good restaurant and very kindly treated me to dinner,

“Think of it as my contribution to your journey!”

Refusing nothing, I thanked him and accepted his offer. Over a few beers and superb tacos, he gave me a fascinating insight into the Mexican society he was now a part of. It was a really enjoyable evening and he asked me to drop into his office the next day for a coffee and he would help me with my route planning. Somehow, I keep bumping into extremely generous and helpful people!

ZACATECAS

The next day feeling a little more rested after two days off the bike I headed for the town of Zacatecas. I`d heard it was a lovely city and it also had a nice sounding name! Up to now, although I was riding in the rainy season, I`d been fortunate to avoid any serious downpours because of my early starts. It tends to rain in the afternoon and evening. As I pulled into Zacatecas the skies looked very threatening, so I hurried to a hotel not wishing to spend too much time searching for a specific one.

“Tiene un habitacion para esta noche?”

“Si”

“Tiene internet – wifi?”

“Si”

I checked in, and after skyping, sorting e mails and showering I suddenly felt totally drained. The strain of early starts and 5/6 hrs riding everyday was beginning to show. What I really wanted to do was just lie down and rest for a few hours, but there was a city out there which needed exploring, so I dragged myself up grabbed a bite to eat and jumped in a taxi to the “Centro Historico”.

Zacatecas is a World Heritage site and the streets of the old town are cobbled and narrow, full of fascinating little shops, bars and crowded markets. As I wandered around, not really knowing where I was, but still confident I could find my way back to the plaza, I noticed it suddenly going very dark. The storm that had been threatening all day was about to break. It started with gentle rainfall at first and then quickly became a torrential downpour with thunder, lightning, the whole works!

I ducked into a small side street cafe and watched as the street turned into a river within minutes. Which was all very well, but I was wearing a t shirt not a raincoat and it didn`t seem to be abating any time soon! As it got dark, I decided it might be a good idea to get a taxi and head back. Unfortunately, half of Zacatecas decided the same thing. Struggling to hail a taxi where I was, I walked in the rain for about 20 minutes avoiding the advances of a strange young man who was keen to share a taxi and take me to a local porn film. I eventually lost him at an intersection and found a taxi going my way.

Boy did I need a beer when I got to my hotel!

“Quisiera una cerveza, por favor!”

He just shrugged and shook his head! What! No beer? This hotel was clearly not all it looked on the outside. Not a good end to the night. I was too tired to go out again, so just collapsed into bed and decided I needed to stay another day to recover.

The following day I got into town early to beat the inevitable thunderstorm and had a better look at the town. I decided to treat myself to a nice meal that night as I`d seen what looked like an expensive Argentinian restaurant not far from my hotel and I had a real desire for a glass of red wine, and just a change from the normal food I`d been eating. I was right, it was an expensive restaurant (relatively speaking), but I thought what the hell. A couple of beers, half a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and a lovely piece of salmon later, I felt distinctly more mellow and relaxed than I had been for a while! That night another huge thunderstorm woke me up, but I was hoping it would pass over before morning.

LEON

Woke up early again and had packed up the bike before sunrise. As dawn broke and the last few drops of rain subsided, I rode south towards my first Mexican couch surfing experience. Here I was to meet Luis Nunez who lived in Leon about 4 hrs. ride away.

Leon is one of Mexico`s biggest cities, so relying heavily on the GPS I was relieved when I finally arrived at the address he gave me. After unpacking and a quick check of e mails, Luis decided to take me for a tour of his city. First stop was lunch. He`d told of this amazing place where you can eat for free as long as you drink!!! Sounded like Shangri La, so I told him to take me there with all speed. What a brilliant place. You could actually spend all day there and eat as much as you wanted – just keep drinking beer. After 3 beers I was beginning to like Leon a lot and my new mate Luis was really good company. I was eager to learn as much as I could about the history of the place and particularly the Mexican revolution and Luis was a mine of information, but time was moving on and we had a lot of places to visit. We took the bus down into the centre where Luis had arranged to meet his friend Miguel and from there we went around the all the key historical sights, which of course is very thirsty work. Happily, Luis knew of another superb place to sample a beer or two (two as it happened). This was a bar themed on bullfighting which is extremely popular in Mexico. No sooner had we sat down when more food arrived! Gratis! I was really warming to this concept.




We drank beer, ate food and listened to the "Mariachis" (bands who play typical Mexican music on request) for an hour or so when Luis suggested we go to another bar which had a good reputation and had live music until late. Who could refuse?

A bus and taxi ride later we arrived at a very funky, lively and loud bar, filled with groups of young Mexicans, all of whom seemed to be on a mission to out drink each other with shots of Tequilla. More beer and snacks followed as the band took to the stage. I`d been so preoccupied with the day`s entertainment and Luis`s company I`d forgotten how tired I was after so many days on the road, but by midnight I was beginning to wilt a little. Feeling the difference in the years between me and the average person in the bar I told Luis it was probably time for me to go as I had another big day riding. I felt slightly guilty as both Luis and Miguel would no doubt have partied until the early hours! Only a few hours later, and I was again awoken by claps of thunder and torrential rain. Before 7.00 a.m. I dragged myself out of bed and packed the bike. A light rain was falling as I thanked Luis for fascinating couch surfing experience and rode off into heavy city traffic for the relatively short ride to San Miguel De Allende.