lostCANADIAN in Mexico

We must have taken a wrong turn somehow along the route, but it was definitely one of our better moments of getting lost! We were trying to get onto the fifty seven but ended up on the fifty eight, which locals told us would lead to the fity seven. Well it did, eventually - but it was a very long and one of the most exciting detours to date!

A long winding road slowly lead it's way through fields to monstrous towering mountains in the distance... and as they loomed nearer and nearer our hearts soared with the beauty that would soon surround us as our bikes leapt forward eagerly. Never before have I experienced such exhilerating riding in my life, through winding roads, that twisted left and right on the edge of high cliffs that dropped down hundreds of feet... lush green forests were blurs around us as we twisted the throttle and pushed our bikes through these narrow roads, passing trucks that barely moved, and barely clinging to the very edges of the mountains. Almost every corner we passed by were clearly marked as "Curve Peligrosas" which means dangerous curves, none of which came close to challenging the remarkable agility of our bikes as we nearly touched our knees to the ground. Man could not own this land, it was so completely untamable and for this reason I loved it even more. A few scattered villages in the low plains were the only signs of human life. Ever watchful above us were eagles, chasing after us with curiousity.

Out past the mountains we hit the praires again, full of such a variety of cactae and small lizards darting to and fro. We pulled over to get a few shots of the canyons and would constantly glance behind us with longing at the mountains.... they would always be remembered in my dreams.

Finally on the fifty seven highway, we were not far from San Luis Potosi when I noticed my other mirror was finally breaking off as well, out came the duct tape for a quick repair and now I could even say my bike looked cheap! Long fields of cactae passed by us on either side of the highway as the sun drifted lower and lower, and then came the shacks surrounding the highway on either side, complete with begging children, starving mothers and fathers attempting to sell everything from dried snake skin to eagle feathers. The poverity in this country has never been so profound until this moment. We couldn't stop, or wouldn't... It would have depressed us too much.

Hitting a city of this size always confuses us at first as we try our best to find a local affordable motel and settle in before exploring the city, and after asking some local gas attendants, we locate a really nice place called Potosi Motel. Not only do we get our own little garage to park the bikes, but we get separate bedrooms, for a cheap twenty eight dollars! We throw a coin to determine who gets the bigger bed and off we go for dinner in the small lounge attached to our motel. We haven't had much luck finding any internet cafes, and if we have they are always closed as there is no real official work hours in Mexico. People take siestas when they feel like it, shut down and maybe if we're lucky they will return to reopen, sometimes they just take the rest of the day off. ¡Que Sabes?

We searched and found a few, of course they were all closed until the mañana. Oh well, our parents will have to worry another day. We tried our best! We managed to find ourselves in town during a big festival, complete with dancers and fireworks! We enjoy the show and head back to the hotel. One more beer in the lounge and get some much needed laundry done.

Our fear of mexico is definitely disappearing as we are getting used to the local customs and the people. Our ability at speaking spanish is getting better, or perhaps we're just getting braver. Either way, we love it here in San Luis Potosi, enough that we'll be staying the following day as well.

Just before finally drifting off, I can recall Mihai mentioning his desire to do some offroading, little did we know the surprises waiting for us the next day....