After a nights rest in Lazaro Cardenas I left the State of Michoacan, entered into the State of Guerrero and made my first stop in Zihuatanejo. The big Z was pretty cool but not nearly as cool as it was when the Shawshank Redemption posse was mending boats on the beach. I found some friendly locals that I ended up chewing the fat with for a spell before finding my way to a small outdoor restaurant that was decorated with firefighting memorabilia donated from Mexican, US and Canadian fire departments. The fuego connection and grubbing down in a sweet little place that made me feel right at home was an unexpected treat. I was also able to reestablish communication with Ben who, as I said before, took a more scenic route through Michoacan and was heading to Acapulco where more friends awaited for his arrival and who were keen on me to join them.
Acapulco is a pretty big place and my travel path took me straight through the heart of its weathered but busy urban center and Old Acapulco, past Bahia Acapulco and the main strip of towering hotels along its beaches, to an overlook where I caught a distant glimpse of the beautiful Bahia Puerto de Marques and then further south and west towards the airport and the more tranquil and rustic beaches on the southwestern edge of things – Playa Gloria (you won’t find it on Google Earth). It was nice to set up the tent for a few nights, enjoy a sparsely populated beach, share meals with a family and make a few new friends in the process. I also took a day to change my oil and filter, gave my chain a good cleaning and lube session and a good onceover.
With body, bike and mind set, I rolled solo down the coast for about an hour to Marquelia. There I found cheap digs in a hotel where I washed off three days of beach sand and some motor oil, chowed down at a café, rapped with some locals and then enjoyed a nights rest in a bed. In the morning I pointed the bike south with Puerto Escondido between the cross-hairs.
Somewhere between Santiago Pinotepa National and San Jose del Progreso, I ran into a couple cats on bicycles that I had met about a month ago in Northern Baja’s southernmost town of El Rosario. Paul (http://paulbayfield.webs.com/apps/blog/) and Kenneth (http://adventureaid.se/) have been traveling together since crossing paths in California and after riding all of Baja and damn near all of Mexico’s Pacific coast, they were still charging south and doing it with a smile. After getting reacquainted and finding that Puerto Escondido was a shared destination, we haphazardly planned to meet up for a beer in P.E.
Puerto Escondido: Home of the Mexican Pipeline (surf not Halliburton) and apparently reunions.
The whole gang of Paul, Kenneth, Ben & me acquired lodging at Las Olas for few days as well as some quality time on the beach and quite a few cervezas . It was awesome to have two sets of travel amigos all hang out and enjoy Puerto Escondido. Charlie don’t surf and nor to I (not yet anyway) but, the beach is sweet and being able to walk across the street to the sand and ocean is where it’s at. I hadn’t spent much time with the biking bros back when we first met but I remember thinking that they were pretty cool dudes and having spent the last few days in their company, I’d have to say that they are definitely good peeps. The only negative from P.E. it that we are all parting ways – Ben is heading down the coast and crossing into Guatemala and on to El Salvador, Paul & Kenneth are also heading south and then over to the Yucatan, and I am rolling up to Oaxaca and then over to the Yucatan as well. Hopefully, we will all meet up somewhere down the line but if it ain’t meant to be, it was a pleasure. Cheers Amigos!
