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.

Mexico, a country whose many people in US told us it’s highly dangerous : kidnapping, murders, drug mafias, etc. Unfortunately, we are naturally curious. This time we are quite happy about our homeless look we could maybe avoid some trouble that way! Who would want to rob us, seriously? We are just afraid about the bicycles that are very good looking, especially compare to the chicos ones.
Once in the country, some Mexicans still say we have to be careful while some others laugh about that. In the meantime, there are more and more military trucks full of heavily armed soldiers along the road. We feel like a tension. But when we talk with the local police, they always reassure us : as a tourist we don’t risk anything. Some even want to take a picture with us.

All Mexicans try to warn us about the road security, always with a good example of a dead cyclist, hit by a truck last week/month/etc. The roads from Nogales to Ciudad Obregon are in poor condition and quite narrow but we are use to it. In that case you better cycle in the middle of the road. A cyclist on the side, you can push him when you take him over, you just risk a small scratch on your car. But if he is in the middle you need to go over him and maybe break your engine cooler, you loose a lot of time… So, we impose ourselves. The highways are far better after with a large shoulder in 95% of the time.

But the landscapes are worst and worst. The US desert worth a look but the mexican one is disapointing. And wild camping is quite difficult. In New-Zealand, we used to camp in the middle of the villages but here.. we don’t dare it yet. We prefer to hide our orange flashy tents for now and go over the barbwires, which is not always easy with a 60kg bicycle. Sometimes, we have the surprise to discover a giant black snake around the campground or get the visit of small scorpion and get surrounded by thousands of cactus. The nature is our friend!

We break a flat tires record these last two weeks. We have an average of 1 or 2 per day. We got more flat tires during this period than the rest of the trip. However, we both have Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. The police have cleaned the country but not the highways.

We eventually reach Mazatlan after 15 days where we’ll rest for a while. We don’t know yet what to think about Mexico for now. We are absolutely not afraid by the dangers everybody promised us, the militaries are the symbol of an ending war with the mafias et which has never really concerned the tourists. We more and more break the language barrier with the locals who are very friendly once they know you are not… American!

We expect a lot more fun of this country.

When you run out of glue, your have to try unorthodox experiments.