Mazamitla to Ajijic

Once again we decided to modify our route slightly and skip our planned visit to Tapalpa and head for Ajijic instead.

At the motorcycle show in Calgary, one of the booths was promoting motorcycle tours in Mexico, based out of Ajijic. I stopped to talk to Lynn, one of the owners, and told her we planned to be in her area in March. She kindly gave me her email adress and asked us to stop by.

Ajijic (pronounced ah-hee-hic) in an attractive town located on the shores of Lake Chapala, about 50k from the outskirts of Guadelajara and only 35k from the international airport. It has interesting mix of residents within a wide economic range, both Mexican, Canadian and  US citizens. The gringo influence is definitly evident but it is not overpowering, as it is in Puerto Vallarta, for example.

We are staying in a B&B, run by a relocated Texan family, located in the older part of town. It is very comfortable with all the amenties one could expect. The town is typical of older towns in this area, narrow cobblestone streets and plenty of character.

The Adobe Walls B&B

As I mentioned, one of the reasons we stopped in Ajijic was to talk to Lynn and her husband John to get a better understanding of their business. Graciously, they invited us over to their lovely home, showed us their bikes (all BMWs), and explained their business to us. They are well organized, with new, well maintained bikes and experienced guides. Their location is definitely an asset. Easy access by international flights, beautiful county side, winding roads, almost perfect year round climate and proximity to some of the most historic towns and landmarks in Mexico.

Their biggest impediment to business is the misconception of the degree of danger that one assumes while in Mexico. The ironic part of this concept always makes be smile...  The amount of risk one assumes by simply riding a motorcycle is exceedingly higher than the risk you assume by visiting Mexico! Riding in Mexico adds very little to the risk, but it adds immensely to the experience and the pleasure.

If anyone reading this is interested in more information about the tours go to www.ridethesierra.com Lynn or John will be glad to answer any of your question.

Tomorrow we are heading back to Sayulita where we will stay for a week trying to pickup a bit more Spanish.


Marley... Here is the photo of the peacock in the restaurant Gramma told you about. We didn't get his name. What do think it is? Also here a picture of a cool car.

Peacock in "The Garden Restaurant"

Patzcuaro to Mazamitla

We left Patzcuaro about 10 am for a 235k ride to Mazamitla, the next of the Pueblo Magicos. The road looped east around the lake though scenic country side and was newly paved.

All was going well until we realized that we had made a wrong turn about 40k earlier. Unexpectedly, we had intersected the main expressway from Mexico city to Guadelajara, unfortunately our planned route was suppose to be paralleling it to the south.

Once we figured out where we were, we decided to jump on the autopista for about 80k. This reroute added about 55k to the route but not much extra time. We are learning that even 235k is long day. By the time we intersected the autopista we calculated that we were only averaging 45k per hour.

On the coastal roads, the towns are generally located between the highway and the coast but inland the secondary highways go through the middle of the towns, hence travel is slower.

We arrived in Mazamitlan at 4pm.   6 hours on the road with really only one stop to figure out we where and have a drink. It was a long day. Luckily, we quickly found a nice hotel, freshened up and walked down town for a beer and a snack.

Mazamilta is a pretty town, located in relatively lush and scenic county side. The elevation of town is at 2200 meters. The economy is generally agricultural in nature, including forestry, fishing and service related businesses. It is also the location of secondary residences of Guadejara based families who want an escape from the city.

Caleta to Paztcuaro

Leaving Caleta behind us, we continued south down hwy 200. About 60k down the road we turned inland on Hwy 37 and started climbing into the Sierras. The 2 lane highway is in good condition but with a fairly rough seal coat. It is a contuously winding road and progress was slow. 

We were on the road for 100k until we intercepted Hyw 37D, the pay road. Normally we avoid the pay roads but it took 2 1/2 hours to cover the first 100k of Hwy 37 and with almost 200k to go we opted for the pay road for the remainder of this days ride.

The 100k on 37 was an interesting ride though. There was hardly any traffic And only a few small settlements.  However, about 1/2 way along 37 we reached the large and busy town of Arteaga. After over an hour of concentration though the continuous turns, it was time for a break. We found a place to park on the main drag through town and stood in the shade with a couple of Coca Light and watched the action. Trucks and buses mixed in with a 14 year old guy blasting up and down the street on dirt racing quad, 3 chica as on a scooter cruising for chicos and a constant stream of pedestrians crossing the street, picking their way though the traffic.

If this scene wasn't interesting enough it was accentuated with the arrival of a convoy of Federales (national police force). They came driving down the street led by an armored truck with large calibre machine gun mounted above the cab. The fellow manning the gun dressed in black with bullet belts over both shoulder. (nice affect) Several others in the truck also were carrying huge automatic weapons. All were wearing full riot gear and some wore black mask. This vehicle was followed by several other militay type enclosed armoured vehicles, both uwith an officer manning a machine gun from the top turret.

We were resting long enough to see them come back down the street in the other dirrection.... An obvious show of force. All I could think was... if only I could take a picture?  But something told me that might not be good idea.

When we finally reached the junction with the pay road,  we topped up the tank at a local gas guy, and jumped on the autopista. The posted speed limit is 110k but like most other speed signs here, it's only a suggestion. We stay near 110 but were constantly passed. This road is a 2 lane limited address road with a breakdown shoulder on either side. This shoulder is also used by slower moving vehicle to allow other vehicles to pass. Technically the road is only 2 lanes but since it wide enough for more than two, why waste the space, seems to be the mentality. It not uncommon for the vehicle being passed to move a little right and the approaching car to move a little to allow a for a passing lane down the middle. From what we observed the car in the middle could easily be cursing along at 160k.

We arrived in Patzquaro about 4pm. The city is at about 2200 meters  so the is plenty of vegetation, pine trees and blossoms on some of the deciuous trees. NormalH temperature here vary from 5c to 25c. This is one of the oldest cities in Mexico and has a well preserved downtown area that operates much as it did a couple of hundred years ago.

When we arrived it was very busy, but it was holiday here yesterday and many of the tourist were here for the weekend, most from the state capital Morelia. Today is much quieter. I'm writing this sitting at a cafe under the stone arches covering the side walk in from of our hotel.

Even though this is fairly touristy area, there are few non Mexicans. Therefore prices are very reasonable by Canadian standards. We have an extremely nice room that includes a full breakfast for less than $40. 

Today we took a day off from travel to catch up on the laundry and bike maintenance. Besides.. They have great iced moca frapacinos at this cafe.

Tommorow we head north to Mazamitla, another of the Pueblos Magicos. After that we are visiting with a Canadian couple that run motorcycle tours out of Ajijic. I met them at the Calgary motorcycle show.

Comala to Caleta de Campos

Caleta de Campos is in Michoacan state. The state is well known for it's rugged coastline. The road winds continuously along the coast line. There are some spectacular views of the small and large bays and mostly isolated beaches. There are a few small hotels and campgrounds along the way, but not many. We stopped at a very nice campground / RV Park about 50k north of Caleta. It also had a few cabins for rent, a very nice pool and restaurant. However, the campground and all RV spots were empty! Not surprising really, given that some parts of Michoacan are hot spots of drug gang activity.

The reason we were headed for Caleta was to see a lot that had been purchased by a gal from Vancouver that we befriended in Sayulita. 

One of the disturbing things that we noticed along the Michoacan roads was the increasing amounts of garbage distributed along the road side. Other parts of Mexico have been working, quite sucessully, to reduce this problem but in and around Caleta garbage disposal is huge problem. After checking into the hotel in Caleta we walked down to the beach. One gets used to the disarray in Mexico but we found Caleta very disturbing. It might have had something to do with the two dead dogs left rotting on the side of the road! It was obvious that Caleta is not a prosperous community.

The hotel we stayed at was nice enough, but we were happy to leave Caleta early the next morning.

Barra de Navidad to Comala, Colima

We had planned to go into Melaque the night before last to attend the San Patricio celebrations but after talking to few others we decided to pass on it.

All week there have been activites, now and then, on the stage in the town square. It looked like groups were practicing for something. Friday evening we found out what it was all about... Celebrations for The start of spring (primavera) festival. This event lead up to the crowning of the festival queen.  The younger kids were very cute.

Today we left Barra and on the first of Los Pueblos Magicos... The first town one our route is Comala, Colima. It is town a small town in the hills south east of Barra. 

On the way here we kept to the back roads and circumnavigated Mazanillo, a medium sized coastal tourist destination. Most of the places we passed through were unremarkable. Our pace was slow and it was hot and hazy.

Comala is a pretty little town with cobblestone streets and a very pretty central plaza. Nearly every building in this town is painted white. 

After finding a hotel we walked to the plaza for lunch. We picked a busy restaurant in the shade, sat down and ordered a beer. Sundenly food started arriving on the table??? The waiter must have read our puzzled look and explained that as long as you orders drinks, they will keep bringing you food. All the meals in this place as similar to appetizers (call botanas) and you can special order certain ones if you like, otherwise you get something different when you are almost finished what you have on the table. The catch is that beers are 35 pesos instead of the normal restaurant price of 15. Still a good deal for us though.... We had 3 beers and all we could eat for about $8. Canadian. 

We just had a short siesta and we are heading back down to the plaza for the entertainment.

El Dia del San Patricio

Street in Barra de Navidad

We had been in Barra de Navidad for almost 4 days now. Barra is definitely quieter that Sayulita. It has a laid back retirement feel. Most of the  Gringos here are older retired people taking advantage of the great weather, friendy people and the low cost living. 

I was told that it was nearing the end of the winter tourist season, hence the lack of visiters. The exception is Semana Santa, the Mexican Easter holidays.  In The two weeks around Easter this place will be filled with Mexicans vacationing at the coast.

Beach at Barra


Our Spanish courses are going well. Linda is in group of 3 and I have a private lesson, only because there is no one else at my level right now. Time and location for our classes vary from day to day. Sometimes we meet at Bonnie's house, sometimes on the beach, depending on what is being taught. 

Beach at La Manzanilla

Yesterday we rode the bike 1/2 hours north to La Manzanilla, (not to be confused with Manzanillo, a city 1/2 hour south) a small town on the coast. At one of the little resaurqnts on the beach we stopped for a plate of ceviche and fresh lemonade (no cervazas because we had to ride back). Ceviche is fresh uncooked seafood marinated in lime juice, usually diced and served mixed with peppers and/or onions. Ours had slices of avocado on top. It was served with baked tortias (tostados) and it was delicious. So was the lemonade.

Today is St. Patrick's Day and the next town up the coast is named San Patricio. (for those who are familiar with this area, this town is on the south side of Melaque)

As you might guess from the name, March 17 is a big day for the town of San Patricio. In fact the has been a parade and fireworks in San Patricio every night this week, but tonight is the big wind up. We are planning to catch the bus there this evening to take in the celebrations. Hofully I'll have some interesting pictures for the next posting.

Sayulita to Barra de Navidad

Once again we delayed leaving Sayulita. While preparing to leave on Sunday morning, I discovered that the new rear tire was extremely low on air.... only 10 psi. Since it was Sunday and the MC shop in PV would be closed we decided stay in Sayulita one more night. We carry a 12 volt pump so we decided to wait until Monday, over inflate the tire slightly and ride into PV to return to the shop to rectify the problem.

Shortly after discovering the problem, I inflated the tire to the recommended pressure (41 psi) to try to determine how rapidly the tire was loosing pressure. I was surprised that by evening tire did not loose any pressure at all. I surmised that the probable cause of the low pressure was that the tire was not completely seated on the rim when it was mounted but it seated itself when ridden. 

Monday morning, the tire pressure was still normal, so we packed up and left Hotel Diamante for a 275k ride south. 
 
Every time we travel though Puerto Vallarta we are stuck by the amount of development since we first came here. In 1971 PV was a small fishing village up aginst the mountains at the south end of the bay, Bahia Bandaras. The airport had just been upgraded and the only paved road was from the airport to the village. 

Now it is a metropolis that has gobbled up surrounding villages and it extends from one end of the bay to the other. High rise hotels and condo stretch along the beach front. Sam's Club, Walmart, Costco, time share sellers, children hawking cheap dolls, overpriced accommodation and restaurants... all covered with a hazy layer of smog that hangs over the the low lands around the bay. 

However, there are jobs in Puerto Vallarta that don't exist in the smaller villages nearby. The population of Mexico has grown much more rapidly that it has in Canada. In the 1960s the population of Canada was roughly 20M and the population of Mexico was roughly 30M. Since then, Canada's population has increased to almost 35M while Mexico's population has almost quadrupled to 110M.

Enough about this... The ride to after leaving PV climbs up into the hills for 100k or so before returning to the coast or Costa Alegre (the happy coast). We are now settled into the Hotel Posada Pacifico in Barra de Navidad. It is an inexpensive family run hotel a couple of blocks off the beach. Unpretentious and friendly or cheap and cheerful, as the Brits would say. $25. / night.

Barra (as the locals call it) is a quiet laid back town at the south end of a beautiful 5 mile long beach. At the north end of the bay is located the sister town of Melaque. Melaque is the larger of the two and is the centre of commerce.

Barra is much less "anglified" than Sayulita, probably because it is bit more off the beaten path. Tourism is down dramatically here. Therefore it is less expensive. We met a fellow from Kelowna that has an apartment in the hotel that he has rented for the season. He is paying 4000 pesos per month (c$325.) He had to add bit of furniture that he will leave behind, but nevertheless quite a good deal!

We are staying here for 5 days and taking some Spanish lessons. We have been walking quite a bit but my knee is irritated and swollen. I've been popping vitamin I but the swelling doesn't seem to be improving. Today I decided to try to catch up on the blog and park myself at an outdoor coffee shop while Linda cruises the shops.

We are meeting our teacher at noon. Linda is nervous about the lessons but really she is doing quite well.

Hotel Diamante, Sayulita, Nayarit

Just a few words about Hotel Diamante... It's a small (20 rooms) family run hotel a block from the beach on north side of town, a 10 minute walk to "el centro". The rooms vary in size and bed configuration. They not fancy but they comfortable and couldn't be cleaner. Teresa, her husband Andre and two assistants keep the place spotless. 

One feature we enjoy is the kitchen / dining area. It is used by Teresa and the family as well as the guests. Not only can you economize, if so inclined, but we enjoy the social interaction with the other guests, owners and staff. It soon feels very much like home. Also, Teresa serves fruit and coffee for the guests in this area each morning. This area is also close to the pool. 

Another area of the hotel we enjoy is  the large common area balconly overlooking the street. There is another small kitchen, tables, couches and chairs, it is great place to relax, read, blog or do some travel research one the free wireless network.

Aslo there is an economical  laundry service at the hotet. Prices range from $35 to $75 per night depending on the room and number of persons.

There is only one road coming into Sayulita. To reach the Hotel Diamante, take the first right (Miramar) after reaching the start of the boulevarded street. Drive 2 blocks. It is the orange hotel on the corner of av. Del Palmar.

In Sayulita

We made it! The plane even landed ahead of schedule at 2:55pm. The bike was at the storage facility and started up with no problem and we were at our hotel in Sayulita by 5. We went to our regular restaurant /bar to catch up on the latest local news.

This morning the first item on our agenda was to find a place that could mount and balance the new rear tire which we brought with us. Initial inquiries of a few locals told us than Vallarta was the closest possibility but no concrete suggestions.  I had researched the internet and had located a Suzuki and a Honda dealership so the plan was to ride into Vallarta

While getting ready to leave Linda noticed a pickup truck with motorcycles and Kawasaki logos. It had stopped at the corner by the hotel. I ran out and talked to the fellow. They were in town to do some promo work during the long board surfing competion. He told me that their shop in Vallarta was open and the mechanic was on duty so I loaded up and headed for his shop. I recognized the street name from my earlier research and realized that it was located close to the other two shops. 

Thanks to the GPS, once again, I managed to locate the shop in busy traffic and poorly marked oneway steets. The staff in the store were excellent and knowledgable. I started out in Spanish but the staff spoke good English so that simplified things. After determining metho of payment and the price I went for a walk round the neighbourhood.  

It turned out that Linda's glance from the balcony this morning was quite fortunate. Both of the motorcycle stores I had located on line were no longer in business or perhaps they had moved to a new location. 

By 2:15 I was back in Sayulita with a new tire mounted.

Tomorrow we will ride to Barra de Navid where we plan to stay until next Saurday.

The Next Leg... Pueblos Magicos

We are off on the next leg of the Multiple-leg Motorcycle Trip. The plan is to fly from Kalispell to Puerto Vallarta, pick up the bike from the storage unit and spend a day or two in Puerto Vallarta. We are taking a rear tire with us and we are hoping to find someone to install it in PV before heading south to Barra de Navidad. 

We are planning to spend a week in Barra, taking another Spanish course. Then to follow a route down the coast to Caleta de Campos, then head inland to visit a few of the "Pueblos Magicos", Paztcuaro, Santa Clara del Cobre, Mazamilta, Tapala, Comala and Tequila. This takes us on a route north to Sayulita, where we plan to stay for another week studying Spanish. Following the visit to Sayulia we will ride north to Mazatlan and catch the overnight ferry to La Paz on the Baja. We are flying back from San Jose del Cabo and leaving the bike once again in a storage unit.

If all goes according to plan we should be back in Fernie for a few days skiing before the end of the season.