I will continue this one later.........OK, NOW I'M BACK......

The ferry from La Paz, MX. (pop. 200,000), was a huge modern ferry - escalators, elevators, restaraunts, bars - compared to the much smaller, slower ferry from Guaymas (pop. 130,000). As an example, this ferry could easily hold 100 loaded 18 wheelers, and a few hundred cars. It took 5 hours to cover slightly more distance while it took the Guaymas 12 hours to cross! (For my sailing friends, it moved at 40 kts, vs. 13 kts.)

We sailed at 1600h and while I was sitting on deck enjoying the warm sun, I was joined by a really nice Mexican girl also travelling alone back home at the end of her 3 week vacation. She helped me a lot with my route planning, suggesting many neat non- tourist beaches SE of Acapulco, in the Peurto Angel area. She said on these sort of hippy beaches you spend the nights on hammocks, and with a full supper and breakfast it's only 20 pesos...approx $3CAD...I can't wait !!

We had supper together and parted company at Topolompampo (pop. 7,000) which is mainly a commercial seaport for the city of Los Mochis (pop. 200,000). It was dark (2100h) by now, and with no place to stay, I decided to break the first rule which is, DO NOT TRAVEL AT NIGHT and try the 30 kms to Los Mochis in the middle of all the traffic leaving the ferry. Well it was a rather uneventful, slightly stressful 30 min. trip on a divided highway to Los Mochis, where I found my usual cheap hotel...200 pesos...and spent the night.

200 pesos (divide by 7.5 for $CAD, or 11.3 for $USD) is about the cheapest you can get a reasonably clean room in northern Mexico.

My next major stop would be Guadalajara (pop. 2,000,000), a 2 days ride, S and E, but I would have to spend the next night in Mazatlan (pop. 350,000). Mazatlan is a really pretty city. It's Mexico's main Pacific seaport for fishing and trade, as well as a prime resort centre with 16 kms of beaches, and Latin America's largest fleet of commercial shrimp vessels...guess what I had for supper enjoying the cooler on shore breeze from the ocean in an open outdoor beach resto after a walk down the beach and watching the sunset?!?!

A very popular way of preparing camarones (shrimp) or most seafood for that matter, is called "ceviche" - a cocktail of raw seafood, marinated in lime, and mixed with onions, chilies, garlic, and tomatoes, and served cold in a tall soda glass...it' SOOO good!

Usually I spend the final hour before lights out preparing my route and plans for the next day.

The next day would take me S through Tepic, then SE up to Guadalajara. Here is what my travel guide said about the route from Mazatlan to Tepic, "...mostly 2 lane with heavy truck traffic. Stretches of poor surface. The last 120 kms are thrilling enough to recall the carnival ride you'd like to get off, but can't till it's over. Imagine duelling semis (18 wheelers) racing, passing at top speed on a narrow 2 lane blacktop road. The pavement has sharp edges, 4 inch dirt shoulders and a 20 foot drop off into vegitation on each side. The semis swerve into lines of traffic with the rear ends of trailers "snapping the whip", leaving cars barelling over and down below!
In the span of 120 kms, 4 semis were seen rolled over with their wheels up, plus a few cars and a few burnt out hulks with police wizzing by, unable to pull off the road to render aid. Be prepared, drive in daylight with a full tank of gas, and pray you don't get a flat....there's no way to stop, or no place to pull off. When it's all behind you,you will feel an exhilerating appreciation for well being.......OR you can take the new 4 lane divided toll autopista!"

Well, not yet having lost my sense of adventure, I opted for the more "picturesque" old road.

I only saw 3 upside down semis - one, loaded with the best tomatoes you ever sank your teeth into, blocked traffic for almost 1 hour - and one wrecked pickup truck...it was quite a ride beginning the climb from the coast into the Sierra Madre foothills of Tepic and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the Tepic sign!

From Tepic to Guad. I passed through Tequila (pop. 22,000). Yes, the same town and region where all the tequila comes from. Fields of blue agave, the cactus like plsnt from which tequila is distilled stretched for miles. To control the quality, Mexico allows the blue agave to be only grown in this region, the state of Jalisco.

While in Montreal, through this site, I contacted the "Motolatino.com" and I recieved many generous offers for help, tourist info and lodging. In this area - Guad., and Mexico DF, I heard from Miguel Ibbera, fromMexico DF, Alberto Lopez and Humberto Moro, from Guad. Miguel, of the Revolucion Motorcycle Club., wrote to me often about my plans and urged me to visit Mexico DF, despite much reading that said to stay out of Mexico DF as a tourist with a motorcycle. He offered lodging and 24/7 companions from his club to ride with....WELL, again I could not say no.

Using Miguel as my "point man", I emailed him from Tepic and he arranged for Angie, the leader of the women's moto club in Guad., to meet me just outside Guad., and escort me in to the city center where I would meet Alberto Lopez who would put me up for a few nights. Everything worked like clockwork and by 2100h I was in Alberto's home with his mother, sister, and brother.

They are all the most generous, warm, and hospitable people you would want to meet. They opened their home, "fridge", and hearts to me. By 2300h I had a shower and was asleep.

The next morning, after a great breakfast, Alberto took me out to "see" Guadelajara, a really beautiful clean city.

.............more to come............

We rode together on my bike and spent 3 hours walking in "el centro" up and down the Plaza Tapatia, a beautiful combination of both modern and very old structures including the beautiful old Cathedral of Guadalajara, the construction of which began in 1558. Perhaps this inspired me to buy the book, "The Da Vinci Code (Fred, I have some questions for you) in a nearby bookstore. We returned to Alberto's for lunch, typically at 1500h, while supper is generally a light snack. After lunch we went to "Parque Mirador Independencia" about 3 kms from the city centre that ends literally at a the 2,000 foot cliff of an amazing canyon, Barranca de Huentitan, with a river flowing at the bottom.

...........more to follow on Guadelajara.....it's now Tues, 6 July......