Huatulco to Tapachula, almost the end of my Mexico adventure

 And you can't do that without a glass of fresh orange juice and a nice view. 9 am, 31 degrees already.

 stunning views, and lots of butterfly along the way

 Sorry for that!

I checked in at the comfort inn, an expensive hotel for this area, 50 euro's but what a sunset. Tonight I am going to learn everything about the border to Guatamala. Wish me luck!

on to Huatulco, for a nice little break

 So I woke up early! 5 am and I could't sleep anymore, angry still about the police and about my glasses. Better hit the road, go to Huatulco and get some time in the sun

I pass all these little towns, most of them not really special. But I like this one. I am very aware of police now, but I am sure if they want to, they can stop me.

Not very clear, but I call this helmet face, you can see the white bits, were the helmet is. Tomorrow I drive to the border, let's see what that has install for me.

from Playa Azul to a place not to remember, But the police in Acapulco, I will!

 I stayed in Playa Azul, a strange little town with nothing and then this big hotel, I think there were only for guests and maybe 100 rooms. Very strange indeed.

 Sunset in Playa Azul, nice swimming water

 On my way to Acapulco, for lunch

 Plenty beetles

 I took this picture just after I got pulled over by the police for making an illegal turn. That wasn't true, I noticed the sign and pointed it out to them, but still, I did something wrong. They took my driving license and started to talk alot to each other. They came back and told me I had to go with them to the police station, wait there till 5 and then I could pay. But it was only 2. Or.... I can pay them on the spot and I could be on my way. I argued a bit, but as they had my license, what can I do. So I payed half the fine in cash and off I went. A bit pissed off, but hey, a reall mexican experience, right. 10 minutes later, I got pulled over again, I crossed a line I wasn't supposed to cross. Everybody else did it, but I was on a motor. Having learned from the previous event, I didn't give my license, so they decided to impound my bike! So I pay again and that was Acapulco for me. What a shame, that the only trouble I ran into in Mexico is caused by the police.

My stuff, minus my normal glasses, they are still in Playa Azul. I also make mistakes!

The mexican riviera, with my first mechanical breakdown! On the helmet that is

 My camelbak in the fridge in Puerta Vallarta, it was nice and cold until mid day.

 Now that is security for me, right in front of the front desk

 I will call this butterfly alley, it sounds nice, and it was, but I did get a lot of them on my windshield. Sorry for that.

 Coconut trees

 My spot for lunch, I wanted to have it at the restaurant, but as the ship, this restaurant was also not very fortunate. So I had some cookies and a coke instead.

 Some of the views. It was a great road to drive, up and down hills, along the coast. As for my breakdown, I have a flip up helmet, that is very nice to get some extra cooling in these hot climats. One of the hinges broke and now it won't flip anymore and my see trough thing is also loose on one side. I will try superglue tonight and otherwise I will have to remove the whole part. That is not nice, as it is handy to have when it rains. I am looking now for a replacement part, any suggestions are welcome. Tomorrow I continue down the coast, passing Acapulco for lunch!!!

As

How the devils spine almost broke mine, Durango to Puerto Vallarta

 The road from Durango to Mazatlan is called the Devil's spine. If you google it, you will find a lot more pictures, I was to busy driving. This road started of nice like above.

 I passed some towns

 A lot of timber shops along the route, that also means a lot of log trucks, tricky to encounter, as they go about 10 km/h up hill.

 And then it turned into a 150 km stretch of no straights, only hairpins, steep mountains, big drops and lots of trucks. At the end of the road, I really needed to stop, as my head was spinning and couldn't handle any more turns. It was a great drive, maybe the best winding road so far, but a bit too long to do in one go. There are many rest stops along the route, but why should I make use of them? Now I know.

 After that the climate changed into tropical and so did the surroundings. A great drive to Puerta Vallarta, now I finally have an overnight here! What to do.

I am staying in Hotel Rosita, down town and this is the view from my balcony. Not bad for 60 dollar. O, and my bike is parked insight the building, in front of the lobby. Now that is secure! Tomorrow I drive towards Acapulco, I don't think I can make it, I can only do about 500 km a day. But that is ok, plenty of nice places along the road.

Durango, a short drive

 So today I drove to Durango, a short drive of just over 400km to visit Jen, a mutual friend of Jules. The drive wasn't very exciting, but still nice, I drove trough many little villages, all with a lot of sleeping policemen. Something you really have to get used to, they are rather big!

Jen, thanks for having me over on suchs short notice and only for one day, I hope to be back so we can explore a bit more of Durango.
In the back ground is a church and this is on the roof of their appartment block, very nice. Tomorrow I drive to Mazatlan, via the devils spin. This is a technical road with lots of turns and twists, should be fun. I get to see the ocean again, after 4 weeks of being inland. Can't wait to go for a swim!

The only was is up, I guess

 My hotel room in the dark. The oil lamp was there, and also the matches, so I decided to get romantic. What wasn't there in the beginning, but is there now, is the big black smoke mark on the wall. Sorry for that

 These doorknobs are about knee hight, not sure why.

 Luckely most of the first part of the track was in the shade.

 The sunny side

 Stay on the wood and look in the distance, the only way across this bridge.

 Almost there, couple of corners, some construction, what can happen!

 This can happen! I had to wait about half an hour so he could clear the big rocks, the smaller rocks I had to clear with the bike.

 I made it, on to Hidalgo del Parral

The scenery changed as well. This was an adventure that went well. Not sure if I would do it again. If anybody else wants to do it, hurry up, they want to have the road build in 2013!

Creel to Batopilas, what was I thinking!

 Right, Copper Canyon, one of my highlights of the trip, I read about, saw the pictures of it and this was one of the things to do. It seemed like a good plan at the time. The first 60 or so km from Creel are amazing, not 50 meters straight and very little traffic.

 O, and a very, very blue sky!

This donkey was looking at me in a funny way. He knew something I didn't

 Never mind, I continue over nice roads, with great views.

 No worries here, still asphalt

 Why are these guys sticking dynamte in the wall? This was the end of the road, they are making the road right here!

 This is from the top, 42 kilometers of this stuff. No problem for a nice light dirt bike, but for a big bmw fully loaded, different story.

 The bridge to Batopilas, I made it! And I was happy, 35 degrees in the shade!

 This is where I spent my afternoon, with my little spanish book

 My hotel room

one of the two reading/relaxing areas of the hotel. Here I could sit and think about tomorrow. The road into this town, is also the road out! But the place is nice, once you get used to it. I must admit the culture shock from the states to here is rather big for me. I have been to Mexico before, but this is a total different Mexico compared to Playa del Carmen or Puerta Vallarta. Give me a couple of days, and I too will be washing my clothes in the river! Tomorrow I drive up the hill!