At last, we are at the beach and then we get sick…

The road from Durango towards Mazatlán, called ‘el espinazo del diablo’ (the Devil’s backbone)  is one of the nicest roads we have ridden so far. The first few kilometers suck because you have some kind of grooves that run in the length of the road and that make the bike wobble a lot when you are taking a turn, but after that it’s heaven. The scenery is breathtaking, the surface of the roads are good and you have one spectacular corner after another. It was so nice, that we had to force ourselves to stop from time to time so Seb could take a picture.

IMG_1985

Enjoying some relaxation in the mountains.

IMG_1994

Doesn’t this just take your breath away?!

IMG_2000

It was time to cross the tropic of cancer, now we are headed to the equator next…

IMG_2001

At one point, a trucks axle broke in the middle of a turn, so the truck blocked the whole road, fortunately we were on the bikes, so we could pass them with ease and continue on our way.

IMG_2002

We decided not to go to Mazatlán, but to stay in a small town not so far from there in an authentic Mexican hotel with a nice patio and enjoy the fact that we could sit outside for the first time in our shorts and t-shirt.

From there on, we rode in the general direction of Tepic and we could either take the cuota (toll road) or the libre (free road) so we decided since we weren’t in a rush to take the free road. The road itself takes a while longer because you pass through all the villages, but you can still keep a good paste and do some distance. At one point, you had a cool view of some sort of wetlands and you can see the cuota right below.

IMG_2029

The two roads cross from time to time, so you can decide halfway to switch if you wanted to.

IMG_2030

After a few weeks of cold, we slowly started to feel the heath of the lowlands and it was time to kick off our boots when we stopped, just to get some airflow to our feet and to let our feet cool down a bit.

IMG_2031

In the end, it wasn’t cool enough for Kim with her pants rolled up, so she took them off and put herself in her flashy summer thermal underpants from KLÍM.

IMG_2037

In the evening we arrived in the small town of San Blas, along the western Mexican coast and we decided to treat ourselves to some real luxury. The hotel we stayed at was very well maintained, it was located right next to the beach (you could see the ocean from your room) and it had a swimming pool. The downside was the price of 700 pesos a night (off season price because otherwise it was 900 pesos a night), but hey in Europe you still get a crappy room for this price, so in the end the price was right considering the location and we were the only guests there so we had the place to ourselves!

IMG_2039

Ah, time to relax and enjoy the cool water in the swimming pool.

IMG_2042

After a few weeks of snow and mud, the heath outside and the coolness of the pool were a nice change for both of us!

IMG_2072

They had some para gliders hanging around nearby and they had a lot of youth riding around on their small bikes and on quads on the beach.

IMG_2074

They have some amazingly colorful flowers near the ocean and they smell great.

IMG_2075

This place should have been one of the highlights of our trip, were it not that you had these annoying sand fleas that kept eating us alive the whole time and were it not for the fact that Seb started getting sick around that time. The first night we were there, he kept throwing up half of the night and this kept Kim awake also. When we opened the door to our room, the fleas came in and they kept both of us awake during the night and on top of that Seb got an infection on his respiratory system which made him cough violently all night and which also kept Kim awake half the night. The hotel itself though was heaven, the swimming pool was a nice place to cool down and you had a nice seating area outside where you could relax even though the sand fleas made such a mess out of Seb’s legs. We had a nice long walk along the beach and had a nice chat with the guard of the hotel who kept an eye on the bikes all night long. We ended up staying two nights to try and recuperate from our first sleepless night, but the second night, some people climbed the fence and knocked on our door at 1 o’clock at night to ask us where to could get a room. Our friendly security guard was nowhere to be found and it turned out that you could just push open the gate even though there was a lock on it…this made us sleep a little less secure the rest of the night. We told the people to just move in to the room next to us and pay in the morning, so they did.

Our last sunset at the beach for a while.

IMG_2090

IMG_2093

In the morning we had a hard time packing the bikes again and leaving because we knew that we would have to leave the ocean behind us again for a while, so with a small heart and a coughing Seb, we took the bikes in the direction of Guadalajara where we would meet up with chef Luis. Luis is a local top chef and the owner of a very nice and fancy restaurant called Talento and he got in contact with us through facebook and invited us to come and spend some time with him, so we couldn’t refuse! We had made an appointment at 4 in the afternoon, but because the libre road was very slow, we decided to take the cuota for once (and never again!). The road is very fast and nice, but it is probably the most expensive road you can take in the world. The small bit we did cost us more than 300 pesos (more than 20 Euros) and so we will probably try to avoid all the cuota roads from now on.

In the end we made it to Luis in time and he offered us lunch in his restaurant and we were treated as guests of honour. We had some appetizers, a few main courses and to round everything up, a big slice of chocolate cake made out of Belgian chocolate…it was all to die for! All the things you can eat in his restaurant are a things Luis invented himself and they are usually a combination of Oriental and Mexican food.

IMG_2105

The place looked very modern, the food was amazing and the staff were super friendly. Luis spoiled us to death from the first moment we met him, even though we hadn’t ever met before.

Luis, his friend Liz and Kim.

IMG_2108

After lunch, Luis took us to his apartment just outside the city, gave us the keys and told us to feel at home and relax! That first night, Seb’s respiratory infection got worse and Kim started getting down with it also, so when Kim started coughing, Seb woke up and visa versa. Next day we went to the pharmacy to get everything we could to beat the cough and just hope for the best.

In the meanwhile, we found out that we had way to much stuff with us this time, so we decided to use Luis’ hallway to sort out some stuff and we got rid of a lot of it. We gave some things to Luis, including Seb’s dry duffel bag from Wolfman, because Seb found out that he didn’t like riding with a duffel bag behind him, Kim on the other hand loves it and uses it to relax a bit while riding. A complete gear review will be part of the next update.

IMG_2112

We had passed the 6.000 km’s on the bikes, so it was time to give them their oil change. Normally Seb does this himself, but because the bikes are new (for the warranty) and because we were a bit sick, we decided to take them to an official Honda dealer for their service. They changed the oil and they gave them a quick wash, so the bikes are ready to rock and roll again!

IMG_2115

Luis recommended a real authentic Mexican taco place to us that was cheap and amazing. You could get 5 different types of taco, you could get freshly made drinks made out of very strange combinations (including parsley and red beets) and for dessert you could get freshly made ice cream in more than 30 different flavours! This all for less than 200 pesos total! The place is based on total honesty because you have to go and order your tacos, they come and take your order for the drinks and after you have finished eating, you have to go to a guy to pay. All this time, you can just walk away and no one would notice it and at the cash register, you have to tell the guy how many tacos you had, because no one keeps track. It is refreshing to see a place still in business when it is totally based on honesty, however Luis told us that a few people do take advantage of this and just walk away without paying, but the owner says he doesn’t want to punish the majority of the people for something only a few morons do.

IMG_2125

IMG_2128

There’s even live entertainment!

IMG_2135

IMG_2137

IMG_2139

IMG_2141

 

Since Luis is a total workaholic, we didn’t see him a lot of the time, but he made sure we had everything we needed and when he was there he was a sweet and cool guy to talk to. We even met his sister Marifer and she was very sweet and kind.

Most of the time we spent at Luis’ place, we were sleeping because on top of the respiratory infection, we both got a high fever and this made us weak and sleepy. One night we slept for more than 14 hours straight (well between the coughing of course). But today Seb finally had enough strength to venture out again for a couple of hours into te centre of Guadalajara.

IMG_2142

IMG_2149

The Policia Federal is also there to keep an eye on security:

IMG_2152

There’s a huge indoor market in Guadalajara where you can literally find anything:

IMG_2156

IMG_2157

Some fresh meat perhaps?

IMG_2158

IMG_2159

IMG_2160

Hmmm…

IMG_2163

Viva La Revolucion?!

IMG_2169

 

 

 

Jan 16 2015

13 COMMENTS
  1. maar schattekes toch ; ik hoop dat het intussen weer wat beter is en gelukkig zijn er nog heeeel lieve mensen in de wereld hé
    Luis ziet er uit om te knuffelen hahaha
    dikke kus
    xxxxxxxxx

    01-16-2015, 8:52 am Reply
    • Hallo world-bikers,
      Al meer dan 6000 km op de teller … en hoe doen de machines het? Hopelijk zijn de bestuurders volledig hersteld want ziek zijn op de moto is geen lolletje. De foto’s zijn indrukwekkend en geven aan de thuiszittend toch een het gevoel een stukje mee te reizen. Hier in de Limburg gaat alles zijn gewoon gangetje. De Amerikaanse griep maakt hier haar opwachting zeggen ze dus geen contact meer met ” Strangers”. Het gaat jullie goed en laat ons verder genieten van jullie wedervaren. Kusjes van Jean en Monique en ne poot van Jem.

      01-18-2015, 11:03 am Reply
      • SEB

        Hey Monique, bedankt voor het berichtje. Tja, die griep, daar hebben we er ondertussen al meer als een week mee kennis gemaakt! De Amerikaans griep in Mexico… 🙁 We zijn terug op weg maar nog niet volledig ok, we kunnen momenteel niet meer aan dan een 250km op een dag… ach ja, het zal wel goed komen zeker?!

        01-19-2015, 1:26 am Reply
  2. Prachtige foto’s en reportage ! Hopelijk gaar het al een beetje beter met de gezondheid ! Maar get ziet er toch naar uit dat jullie genieten,en dat lijkt me het belangrijkste..Take care and be safe 🙂

    01-16-2015, 9:42 am Reply
  3. mum

    hope you’re both fine when reading this: my poor kids … and no mum around to kiss you better !
    I agree with mam en pap that Luiz seems to be a very nice chap: so nice to see that there are still fantastic people around the world who recognize other fantastic people (= both of you !).

    01-16-2015, 2:01 pm Reply
  4. Weer fijne foto’s! Eindelijk de zon en dan ziek worden!!! ‘t Kan beter!!!!

    01-16-2015, 7:13 pm Reply
    • SEB

      Ja da’s waar… we hebben kennis gemaakt met de Amerikaanse griep in Mexico… hahaha!

      01-19-2015, 1:22 am Reply
  5. I feel so honored and lucky of having you at my place that I’m sure that I got the best part of the deal 😉 I got so enriched just by listening your nice conversation and adventures that I’m sure that I’m the fortunate one. Too bad that you were sick and that the final days I ended up sick too, but shit happens. You just made a friend for life. Take care and while in Mexico let me know if I can help. I’m officially a member of your mailing list, tweeter and Facebook. Keep in touch, ride safe and keep the adventures coming! 🙂

    01-17-2015, 10:13 pm Reply
    • SEB

      Es la vida, amigo! But we’re glad you invited us, that we met and that our sick time was a bit less stressful than it would have been otherwise. Gracias por todo!

      01-19-2015, 1:24 am Reply
  6. Jan

    What a great trip! I own a 2013 CB and I´m from the Czech Republic. All the best on your adventures guys!

    01-18-2015, 7:46 pm Reply
    • SEB

      Hey Jan, thank you, fellow CB owner! 😉

      01-19-2015, 1:26 am Reply
  7. Guadelajara is known in Mexico for the beauty of the Ladies. So Kim had to be there too ! Thanks for the pics and the interesting stories ! Hope the cough problem is soon solved ! Jean-Louis

    01-19-2015, 12:57 pm Reply
    • SEB

      Aha, is that true? Then it would explain a lot! There were indeed some crazy beautifull girls there! (except Kim of course)

      01-20-2015, 4:01 pm Reply
LEAVE A REPLY

standardPostTransition
Perhaps the network unstable, please click refresh page.
Wandering Souls