lostCANADIAN in Mexico

Rolling down the highway, covered in sweat and clouds of dirt dragged up from the roads by approaching trucks, we blasted down the highway as the heat exhaustion and dehydration caught up with us.

Fortunately we bumped into some other adventure riders through one of the many towns we passed. A good time for some lunch, we pull over to make introductions. Our new friends Dylan and Angie are doubled-up on a big BMW 1100GS, both having come from San Francisco and aiming for Costa Rica to start a new life. Their entire lives packed up in a few bags, I envied them. We shared a few tales, some tips and each went our separate directions. I wish them the best in luck, it's always nice bumping into other travellers out in the middle of nowhere.

Back on the road, feeling rejuvenated, we had a new destination for the night. Our new friends recommended a new little place about eighty miles down the road that was right on the beach and very cheap. Sounded perfect. We raced on to find this secret location and ended up down some wrong rock paths. I took another spill, as once again Mihai sped off alone into the wilderness. Impatiently waiting for his return, little did I know of his own demise as he made it to the bottom only to get stuck in deep sand. We clearly were in the wrong place. Eventually coming to the rescue, Mihai helped me lift my inferior offroad bike and off we sped, worn and exhausted once again.

The heat is a continual curtain, drenching our bodies in sweat. My body has been taking a real beating lately, my health quickly deteriorating as I become shambles of my former self. My bike is almost a mirror of myself, having two broken mirrors, a broken blinker, a patched up radiator that causes overheating, duct-tape as a replacement for a radiator cap, lacking good braking capability, and my right front fork has pretty much leaked all of it's precious fluid as well, leaving me little control in right curves. Staying alive and on the road is becoming a real chore, but just another challenge!

Passing through the beautiful resort of Ixtapa, a completely different world to us, we kept going long into the darkness and finally made it to Puerto Lazaro Cardenas, but Mihai suggests we push the next twenty kilometers into Playa Azul because it sounds nicer. Why not? Let's tempt fate some more, in complete darkness we push onwards with visors open because we can no longer see through the dirt and grit of our helmets. Bugs and rocks narrowly missing our eyes as we struggle to see the road ahead through clouds of dirt, we push onwards and make it... into complete slums.

Playa Azul is a disgusting, poor and very rundown little beach, complete with intimidating looking locals that in comparison make us look extremely rich. A bit intimidated, we pull into a hotel and settle down for the night. Not afraid of much anymore, we set out into town for a quick meal and chat up with the locals after we drank down three beers each, of course! With the dehydration of the road, it doesn't take too much to get us drunk... passing out in our hotel without AC, we sweat and dream of the toll road and beautiful roads back inland into a cooler temperature....