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In my preparations for my trip around the world I decided to do Central and South America first. And in planning for that I somehow ended up buying a brand new Triumph Tiger Explorer XC. I have never ridden a motorcycle before but thought “what the heck.”               I’m now in 14 days into my trip and have a little bit of time now to start writing about my experiences on my motorcycle. This post starts with the day I entered Mexico. Day 1: Nogales to Yecora, Sonora Hot from Nogales to about Tonichi (via Hermosilla) on hwy 16. Roads were good. From Tonichi to Yecora the road gets very curvy. I mean really curvy. It was great riding but there were a lot of obstacles in the road such as rocks and trees. I don’t know if this was due to a recent storm or if this is normal. Stayed at the Las Brisas Hotel. The restaurant was not operating and in fact I couldn’t find any restaurant in that town open at night. Also, met up with 2 really nice couples also taking their bikes to Argentina (andbeyond). One couple is from British Columbia and the other from England. They met on a motorcycle trip in Alaska a few years back, became friends, and are now going to travel the world together. How great is that!               Day 2: Yecora to Creel A full day of nothing but curves. I think this must be the curviest road in the world. It goes on for a couple hundred kilometers (I don’t think I’m exaggerating but I didn’t keep exact track). Again a lot of obstacles in the road. However that did not take away from the fun of riding that road. Just be very careful. Other than the obstacles the road is in very good condition overall. Took hwy 23 towards San Juanito and stopped at the waterfall in the national park there. It was definitely worth the side trip which didn’t take more than 30 minutes total. Got very wet this day as it rained for 2 hours straight up to arriving in Creel. Stayed at the Hotel Korachi. I really liked this place. I got a cabana which was 300 pesos which I enjoyed.Met up with my new friends whom I met in Yecora as they were going to Creel as well and we had a nice dinner together.                     Day 3: Creel to Guachochi If you look at the map this looks like a very short day of riding but the curves just don’t end. By this time I’m looking for some straight road but none was to be had. Having said that, it was a great ride through the Copper Canyon. Although it wasn’t a long day of riding it wasn’t short either. Day 4: Guachochi to Bermejillo This day was not good. The plan was to go to Durnango via hwy 45. It rained hard most of the day. From Parral south on hwy 45 towards Durango there is a stretch of 40 kilometers of road construction. This may sound like a temporary situation but it is going to last for many, many more months. This is not like any construction I’ve seen in the US. They created a temporary dirt road next to the highway that is being constructed. Particularly in the rain this was treacherous. Even without the rain atbest it is slow going and bumpy. After that I thought it would be smooth sailing even if the rain made it uncomfortable. However, just south of the junction with hwy 30 the road is washed out. Thinking the dirt road to the side was like the one where the road construction was, was a mistake. This temporary road was pure clay and in the rain it was like an ice skating rink. After .2k I dropped the bike. This is a remote area with not much traffic. I got lucky and got help but had to turn back walking the bike for .2k in nearly impossible conditions. Do NOT try this route unless you know it is very dry. Once back on pavement I took hwy 30 east to Bermejillo. I would highly recommend the hotel I stayed at. The owners were just awesome; so nice and so helpful. They even gave me a bucket of water and brush which I used for 2 hours cleaning up my bike.               Day 5: Bermejillo to Durango A short ride with a late start as I was still recovering from the previous day’s ordeal. Stayed atthe Hotel Paso Real. This hotel might actually be too dirty for some (all the others were very clean). However, I found it to be okay and they let me park my bike indoors which was nice. An old man there spoke good English and was very helpful. I’d stay there again. In the evening it rained and it made this church particularly pretty.                     Day 6: Durango to Zacatecas Nothing to report on the road here. Straight and boring (compared to what came before). I will be in Zacatecas for 3 weeks now attending the Fenix Language Institute where I hope to learn a great deal of Spanish.

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