12-26-09 Catemaco

While in Xalapa over Christmas, the only other traveler at my hostel was Marcos, a friendly German hippie.  He had been traveling throughout Mexico for 6 months and recommended I go to San Cristobal de las Casas, a two day ride into the state of Chiapas.  He said it was the best place he'd been in Mexico yet.  During his description of the city he never once mentioned drums, drugs or handmade jewelry, the three vices of all hippies.  Because of this I took his word and pointed the bike towards San Cristobal on the 26th.

I rode to Catameco the first night which is in the Center of Mexican cigar country so I indulged in one of their creations while sitting on the boardwalk watching the sunset.  Another gringoish looking guy came over and asked where I was from in an accent I didn't recognize.  He was Venezuelan but had been living in Vancouver for quite some time.  I asked him what his plans were while down here.  "I go to ride to San Cristobal de las Casas." "What do you mean ride?" I inquired.  "I riding da motorcycle to Costa Rica." And so our friendship began.

My place in Catemaco that night was ok; the mattress felt like it was stuffed with corn stalks and diapers though was oddly comfortable.  The doorways have been getting gradually lower and lower the further south I go and today had my first of what will be many run-ins with the door jam in the bathroom.

Luis and I decided to leave Catemaco the next morning and ride to Palenque, some 7 hours in the direction of San Cristobal.  It was fun riding with somebody and also safer.  We'd take turns leading, watching out for the topes, dogs, people, bundles of sugar cane, rocks, pigs and potholes, but Luis still managed to hit a magpie with his windshield.

On the ride we came across numerous packs of kids who had made their own speed bumps out of dirt which the cars would then compact.  They would then place a vine with some colorful trash on it across the road then pull it up as we were coming to make us stop and hopefully buy some of their fresh fruit.  This didn't seem like the safest thing to be doing for us or the kids, for that matter.  Frequently after passing one of their fruit stops we'd see several old vines that had been dragged down the road by an impatient driver.