Crazy dogs, tacos and exotic bugs

Sometimes I wonder why I hurt my butt on an unfriendly saddle five hours a day, knowing I will eat the same dull meals and can’t expect a shower after sweating all day. It happens, weirdly, often when it rains, facing a strong wind or a big climb. However for the first 1200 kilometers in Mexico we had none of that, but what a boredom !

We needed a break and it happened in Mazatlan, for a week of doing nothing not much. We met Peter Smolka, german cyclist who started a new trip. He cycled more than 200.000km in 25 years, three times less than the pope of touring Heinz Stücke but still impressive. He, as well, did the first world tour with a hub gear (made in germany !). Time to say goodbye to our new friends, and we keep going south, following the coast. We spend christmas in a pineapple field and new year’s eve on an empty beach with a restaurant close to it.

The next days are not really more exciting, but we slowly get closer of Guerrero, the state where 43 students had been arrested by the police in september 2014 and handed over to a local crime syndicate and killed. The event got local and international coverage and showed everyone the ubiquitous corruption between the local politics, local police and drug cartels. Travelers and locals advised us not to go there. When you consider it from a closer look, it all happened in Igualpa which is closer of Mexico City than Acapulco. Should everybody stay away from the capital as well ? I don’t even speak of the ubiquitous presence of federal police since the abductions, the area is probably much safer than it used to be.

In the Michoacan state, west of Guerrero, local indigenous populations are painting support slogans on bridge for the students and the fight they carried.

Still alive to testify, it seems that we were right. The biggest challenge of those last weeks was to avoid dog attacks. Lethargics like their owners, the sight of a cyclist wake them up instantly. We are used to, ready to grab the stick and kick their truffle if needed. More exotic, we met our first tarantula. One the road, it’s alright, but when one decide to crawl between my feet when I have my breakfast…. Panic ! Rock > Gravity > Splatch. We learn a bit too late that this one is harmless for man and is a protected species. Double splatch, sorry Brigitte.

We found another exotic beast in Acapulco : bugs, Volkswagen. They are everywhere, thousands of them (blue and white taxis, roadsters, ramshackled, new) and we found no reason for it. The city itself doesn’t present much interest, the seaside resorts aren’t our cup of tea.

The south of Mexico reconciled us with the country even if we had no crush for it. South beaches are virgin and wild and mexicans are warm people with who it’s easy to start a conversation even with a stammering spanish. The ubiquitous police presence is reassuring and we never felt any danger. We regret the roads are full of trash and rotten dead animals. At last the food is very boring, tortillas, quesadillas and tacos, same fight. It’s like offering sweat french crêpes, salted one, small or folded. In the end it’s just a crêpe. Small consolation, it’s good.