Gender feminism sends me to south america

[Parcero]

You need a trailer. Maybe one of those small ones with only one wheel. Swap out the factory tire for a knobby and it would look good with the KLR.

I am enjoying your report. I hit Mexico today.

Originally Posted by kramnamhoh

yes...i do have a lot of sh%t!! Remeber though, I have two small duffel bags extra with dress clothes and dress shoes, etc so I can go out dancing and on dates on this trip. I am also of the mindset that if you have room, you should bring it.

If i make it without breaking the KLRs rear subframe bolts, then all will be good.....

[kramnamhoh]

Rough mountain roads….The backroads are rough and very twisty. It takes a very loooong time to get anywhere. The wonder that is the overloaded KLR completely loses it’s rear brake on the downhill of the first mountain pass. The roads are lined with tall weeds and bushes, so you can’t see what is around the corner. It might be a rock in the road, a broken down vehicle, a herd of cows, who knows. It’s a balancing act between caution of what is around the corner, my cooked rear brakes, my desire to get to my destination, and the fact that I like to go fast around corners.

[kramnamhoh]

I pass through palm trees, grassy hills (ala California), desert scrub with large cactus, high mountain pine forests, and oak tree covered hills in a relatively short distance.

[kramnamhoh]

Buy your chips here. Another of the many people selling things or begging for money at many of the topes.

[kramnamhoh]

The small towns can be really difficult to navigate through. The only signs that are there usually direct you to the center of town. The problem is there is never any signs to direct you on your way out of town. Most towns are a maze of one way streets and rough cobblestones. They repair the road by hand, which looks like it really sucks.

[kramnamhoh]

- I look for a hotel for in downtown Jipilquin for way too long. The festival of Guadulupe (which is some sort of celebration of their ability to make noise all night long--- damn Mexicans like to make noise) is going on and they town is packed with people. I decide to try the outskirts of town, and found a motel. It must be mid-range hotel cuz they include toilet paper and a prison quality steel door, but not hot water for a shower. All this for only $12...I’m worried about bike security…so I locked my bike to a scaffolding in parking lot…hope it’s there in am. My Spanish sucks …I cant even order food without translator on phone though I manage to get beer and chicken tortillas (both really good).

[kramnamhoh]

the prison quality door at my motel...how reassuring....

[kramnamhoh]

I still have a KLR

[kramnamhoh]

Started the day riding in fog!! Where is the warm mexico sunshine. And it’s cold!! I have my heated gear on high, and the heated grips on high, and I’m still getting cold. I wasn’t expecting this. I’m happy I have heated gear, or this would really suck.

[kramnamhoh]

Lunch on the road. Bill, this was such a great idea. It tastes really good, and is quick.

[kramnamhoh]

Went to Paricutin volcano, or at least I tried to at first. I stopped at the Pemex station to get fuel and get directions to Paritcutin. The fuel transfer engineer says “si” and points toward a small town. While I’m leaving a man waves at me and yells “Paricutin”. I give him the thumbs up and keep on going. I ride the mile or so into town on really rough cobblestone roads, and slow down to look for the way to the visitor center. Almost immediately I hear hooves on the rocks next to me. WTF? The guy from the gas station is on a horse riding next to me.!! I didn’t exactly go slow to get here. He must of rode all out to catch up to me. I stop to find out what he wants. Turns out he wants to guide me on his horse to the volcano. I tell him no thanks, that I’ll just ride there, and off I go. I wander around the town for awhile in a maze of dead end one way streets, and end up back at the town square. It’s a tourist destination, right? How about a sign or two? Anyway, the horse guy is at the town square, so I pay him to guide me through the maze to the visitor center.

[kramnamhoh]

The “visitor center” is actually a closed restaurant on a hill overlooking the valley with the Paricutin cinder cone, the lava flows and the remnants of the church. I can see that the church that I want to see is on the edge of the lava flow next to a road and some houses. I ask a different guide if I can ride the moto through the roads to the church (with extensive help of Jibbigo Spanish-english translator on my ipod). He looks at the moto and me skeptically and says “si” We negotiate a price by writing different numbers on my map. Eventually we get to about $3 to guide me out there on the bike, and about $3 for him to watch the moto while I walk to the church. So off we go. We are on a hill, remember? The way down the hill is a mix between a four wheel drive road and a mule trail. It takes all the dirt biking skill I have and then some luck to keep the overloaded KLR upright going down the hill. I realize about half way down that it’s going to be impossible to ride back up this. Oh well, I made it this far, and I’ll worry about how to get out later. Church first, tow truck later.
Once in the valley, the roads turn to soft volcanic ash/sand. I’m getting a great workout trying to keep the front end from washing out, and keeping the KLR moving forward. Come on ME880 cruiser tire, dig into that sand with your wimpy rain grooves.

[kramnamhoh]

It’s a fairly long winding route out through the valley to the church. The horse trots and kicks up a cloud of dust for me to follow in, while the KLR gets really hot hauling itself through the deep sand and rocks. I get the feeling of being very alone riding out here. I have a guide that I’ve paid all of $3 to watch over me. I’m on KLR that barely can make it, so I can’t run away from anyone. I block that thought from my mind, and keep plugging forward.

Finally we get to the church area. The road goes to within a 100 meters of the church. There is a taco stand there and covered parking. I’m off to the church, while my guide watches my stuff (I hope!!).
The church remnants and alter remnants are impressive. The lava flow buried the town, but these two parts of the church remain.

[kramnamhoh]

I see a small car there. I know that car didn’t come in the way that I did. So, there must be a different way out. Yeah!! Another guide that speaks better English gives me directions on the easier road out. It was such a relief to find pavement.

[kramnamhoh]

I come across the first part of a small town where there is a bunch of tires and concrete laying in the road blocking one lane (imagine that!! Crap in the road is common here in Mexico.) A little further there is a gate across the road (looks like a railroad crossing gate), with normal citizens manning the gate. Weird, I expected some sort of government official at the gate. There are sandbags and concrete rubble and tires all around blocking things to one lane. They wave me through and off I go into the small town. In downtown, there is an abandoned, junk yard looking truck blocking my lane. The other side of the road has more concrete and junk yard looking stuff blocking it in places too. There is some sort of sign hanging on the abandoned truck. WTF??? This is not good at all. I am way off the tourist path,on a mountain backroad, in the area where the drugs come in from Colombia, in a town that has a gate on the outside of town, and junkyard remnants blocking the road. I’m not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling here. I stop to quickly take a photo, all the while thinking I need to get the f#ck out of here. I look around while taking the photo and all people there have stopped what they are doing and are looking at me. All of a sudden, I am really regretting taking the back roads through the mountains. I sooo want to be back on the tourist path right now. C’mon, overloaded KLR, don’t fail me now. It’s time to go….fast. On the way out of town, there is another gate with sandbags, rubble and it’s all blocked down to one lane. Adios, scary little back woods mexico town,….