We have since moved on the Puerto Escondido but here is a quick account of the events leading up to that point.We finally arrived in Mayto and found our destination, El Rancho Sol y Mar, roughly two hours south of Puerto Vallarta. We learned of the ranch from Christine, our host in San Carlos, who had worked there for a few months. The ranch is completely off-grid and is a self-sustaining, eco-friendly education center and RV park, although I don’t know how you would get an RV to the place, the road was a difficult, sometimes paved (probably about 30 years ago) and other times dirt, hour long drive on a dual-sport motorcycle! Good luck getting your motorhome there unless you have some sort of crazy, 4X4, monster truck motorhome. Unfortunately, there didn’t appear to be anyone around. So, we decided we needed to check with the two motels nearby and find a room. The first, Hotel Mayto, offered us a room for $350P or a campsite for $240P. The second motel “el Rinconcito” was a little cheaper because they had a room where the A/C wasn’t working and we opted for it while we searched for the caretaker of the ranch. The owner of the Rinconcito was on vacation with his wife in California and the motel was currently being run by their kids. Joe, the son, was awesome and his sister, whose name I have forgotten, was equally hospitable. They had grown up in the U.S. and both spoke English very well. They had a fairly well stocked “tienda” or little store and you simply wrote down in a spiral notebook what you had consumed. Everything is run on the honor system! The Rinconcito is situated right on Mayto beach, very secluded and very far from standard tourists. It offers very little in the way of modern amenities, but that is not a prerequisite for Dex and I. If you’re interested in seeing more about El Rinconcito, Google it… “ Rinconcito Mayto beach.”
That evening whilst relaxing under the palapa by the beach we met Mark, the new caretaker for the ranch. He had just arrived the day before from San Miguel. Mark introduced us to Dan, the owner of the ranch and we asked Dan if there was anything we could do in exchange for a room for a few days. He immediately agreed and put Dex to work pulling weeds and I set off to finish running conduit, wiring, switches and installing light fixtures and ceiling fans in the guest quarters. Four hours of work a day in exchange for the use of the facilities. That was fine by us. We filled the rest of our days exploring the nearby fishing village (and purchasing fish for dinner), taking advantage of the beach, hanging out with the few other guests and chatting, cooking meals with Mark and basically being bums. Dex managed to find a girl to woo while we were hanging out on the second night and quickly made friends with Cynthia, the cousin of Joe, and we spent the evening on the roof of the hotel watching the sunset, looking at the stars and watching a thunderstorm roll in from the ocean. Our time in Mayto was HOT and HUMID but very enjoyable nonetheless. If you are looking for an out-of-the-way place to relax and truly experience Mexico, this is a great place!
After a few days in Mayto our wanderlust was begging us to move on and find our next destination. We packed up, said our goodbyes and off we went, making our way east, towards Mexico City. We were forced to backtrack a little because the roads don’t always go exactly where you want to go due to the mountains, but after a few hours we were again trekking through new territory. We had decided to try to make it Guanajuato, upon receiving advice from Dan and Mark, but fell short of our destination that day due to impending darkness, and decided to stop in Salamanca for the night. We again found a AutoMotel and checked in. About a block from the motel was a casino and Dex, obviously, had never been in a casino or gambled before so we decided to take the opportunity to make this his first. We settled into our seats at a video blackjack table and decided we would either double our money or lose it all and get out. I started with $200P and Dex with $100P. At the end Dex had lost his and I had won enough to cover his loss and we decided to call it a night. On our way back to the motel we passed a Karaoke bar directly accros the street from our motel and we decided we would try our hand a one song before call it a night. There, we met a very nice older gentleman from China who could sing like an angel and listened to him belt out a few songs in English, although he spoke very little English, and then we butchered “Burning Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. The bartenders loved us all the same and gave us our first good luck charm, a gold cross on a small chain which I have hung from one of the hand grips on the motorcycle.
The next day we left Salamanca in the morning and completed our journey to Mexico City but not before taking the opportunity to stop and absorb the glory and immensity of the pyramids at Teotihuacan. We arrived at Teotihuacan fairly late in the day and unfortunately we were not provided much time to explore the sight but we were happy to at least see it in person, truly amazing.
Upon arrival in Mexico City we contacted Roxana, our Couchsurfing host, and drove to her house to wait for her to get off work. Roaxana is a terrific person. She opens her door to almost any Couchsurfer in need and while we staying with her she also hosted a girl from South Korea (Bokyung) and a girl she had befriended whilst hosting her previously, Becca, from Australia. Bokyung was in Mexico City for a couple days then flying off to Lima, Peru and Machu Pichu. Becca was catching a connecting flight from Sao Paolo, where she had gone to watch the World Cup soccer for a week, to Puerto Escondido. We really enjoyed hanging out with both girls and doing some sightseeing with them. We went to the ruins at Tula with Roxana and Bokyung one day and visited the Museum of Anthropology with Bokyung on another. Roxana writes copy for the local TV news station and thus works from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekdays so Dex and I would tour the sites by day, cook dinner late in the evening and hang out with Roxana. At one point there were all five of us staying at Roxana’s apartment, which is probably about 250 sq. ft. The kitchen is about the size of a bathroom in an apartment in America and has no countertop to speak of. This made it a real challenge to prepare dinner! Dex and I slept on a futon-type-fold-out-bed and the three girls all slept in Roxana’s bed, all in the same bedroom/living room. There were three rooms in the apartment: Bedroom/living room, bathroom, and kitchen. Luckily everyone got along very well and we made it work.
I would like to take a moment to talk about driving in Mexico. Driving in Mexico is challenging, to say the least. One must constantly be on the lookout for topes, potholes, rockslides, fallen trees, sinkholes, unmarked intersections/roads, other vehicles, pedestrians, and animals. Now, when I say animals, I mean animals of all shapes and forms. Thus far on the road we have encountered: lizards, birds (two of which I have taken a direct hit from), goats, sheep, cows, horses, burros, dogs, cats, chickens, and bugs. Animals are everywhere and the shepherds graze the cattle, burros, horses, goats and sheep in the ditches so they are always very close to or on the road. Back to Mexico City. Driving in Mexico City adds another element of danger to the scenario. Drivers in Mexico City are completely INSANE and complete ass holes! It is nearly impossible to get a Mexican to do something quickly. That is until you put one behind the wheel of a car. Once behind the wheel, there is not one second, nor one inch to spare. If you are the first vehicle stopped at a stoplight, you are expected to display the reaction time of an NHRA Top Fuel Dragster driver leaving the line when the light turns green or face the fury and horns of every person stopped behind you. When on a motorcycle you have to protect your lane constantly or a car/taxi/bus will take over your lane and squeeze you out. Whether that means running you off the road or into another vehicle, they don’t care, if they think it will help them get to their destination one second sooner (which of course it does not). Lines on the road, traffic signs and stop lights are merely suggestions to these people. It would seem that there is a complete disregard for others, their personal property and their safety. When you add these hazards to the poorly/non maintained roads it creates a veritable obstacle course of monumental proportions. I would not recommend riding a motorcycle in Mexico City unless you consider yourself an expert and even then, it is EXTREMELY dangerous. With that said, I am happy to report that we were not involved in any traffic altercations while driving in Mexico City, although there were several close calls.
Anyways… We were especially fortunate to have Roxana as a host, not just because she is a generous and hospitable person but also because she lives in an excellent neighborhood in which to make your base camp while exploring Mexico City. Roxana lives in Zona Rosa and if you consult any travel guide, ie. Lonely Planet, Fodors, Trip Advisor, etc. you will see that 5 or 6 of the top sightseeing destinations in Mexico City are within a 5-10 minute walk from her apartment in Zona Rosa. I might also point out that we felt very safe while walking the streets in the area. The people are friendly, everyday people going about their everyday business and there is an unbelievable police presence. Not three minutes would go by without seeing a police car/truck and every building has a security guard posted 24/7 at the entrance, 3 or 4 guards if it’s a bank! We were even able to park the motorcycle on the street overnight for several nights without incident. Granted, the security guard for our building was never more than 15 feet away from the bike.