San Miguel de Allende

Leaving Guanajauto was tough. The road to San Miguel de Allende (SM) took our mind off GTO very quickly. The road curved upward rising above the town until we were left alone with green twisting mountain roads. It cooled off quickly and we were forced to stop to add layers of warmth. For many miles the road twisted and ascended until we reached the plateau. From there on it was business as usual. Dodging dogs, livestock and farmers. Unfortunately for me nausea grew in my belly.

I don´t remember exactly but the ride took us about 4 hours. We cruised into SM in the early afternoon and without too much trouble found the Alcatraz Hostel we were to stay at.

Just a soon as we got there and were assigned our room I collapsed fully clothed in my bunk. The next 16 hours I fought extreme nausea and wished I could vomit and get it over with. At one point in the night (parental supervision required) I attempted to relieve the gaseous pressure in my gut but to my dismay release something else instead. Without being too graphic let me say that after you´ve had to change your shorts once, farting from then on becomes an adventure.

To Alfred´s credit he brought me bananas and bread and checked on me through the night.

The next morning came and ¨voila¨ I was back! Seriously, I felt fine except for a little weakness from hardly eating anything the previous 24 hours.

We set out for breakfast with a couple, the man from Detroit, MI (my hometown) and his wife from the Czech Republic. This was my first real look at SM. OK, first impression, not impressed. It looked like an old Mexican town. Kind of quaint but nothing to plunk down 200k on my dream retirement home.

The night I was sick Alfred was busy making friends. Two ladies, one a soon to be ex-pat from San Antonio and the other a young lady for one of the Atlantic provinces of Canada wanted to visit the ghost town of Mineral de las Pozas. I was feeling much better and up for adventure so we unloaded the bikes and off we went.

The town of Mineral de las Pozas (Pozas) was a silver mining town and when the silver dried up everyone left. Now there is a town close to the old site which while run down is making a come back. Gringos with art galleries and money have discovered the place and are beginning to make a difference. This is not a bad thing the locals are poor and can use some help.

Riding up into the dry hills we began to see the shells of old Spanish buildings. A large compound on the left, buildings which may have been a church or a hospital on the right. A small town just abandoned.

We sneaked into one of the largest compounds and before long were greeted by a small middle aged couple who were obviously locals. They turned out to be the care takers. They allow camping on the site and only take money if the owner is in town. They told us that at night campers can here the screams of the indigenous people who were tortured by the Spanish. This couple scratched out a living by raising goats, mining for gold and who knows what else. They took time out to show us several mine shafts and explained as much as they could. So poor and so nice to us.

A darkening sky and clouds overhead prompted us to make a hasty retreat. Our concern that rain would make the steep stone streets slippery (tongue twister) turned out to be unfounded. We navigated our way through town without a problem and headed back to SM. On the way back I was able to show off my soccer prowess when gusty winds shot a soccer ball across the highway which with a million and one shot I kicked the ball back towards the yard it came. Mind you I was going around 65 mph when I shot my penalty kick. Bend that Beckham!

Before retiring to the hostel we made a stop at the Mega mart. Fridays are often a time to cook together at the ¨rock¨so we decided to grab food that we could grill. One kilo of shrimp, several red snappers, green onions, chilis and rice sounded like the beginning of a party. Topped off with wine, tequila and beer sounded like the beginning to the end of a party.

Alfred was the fire master (being from Texas he thinks he has a God given gift for BBQ) while I prepped our feast. Most everything got a simple marinade of fresh (from the trees in our courtyard) limes or lemons, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. It wouldn´t be Mexico (our Mexico) without a good rainstorm so true to form a downpour began while I hovered over the covered grill cooking while my front side roasted my back side was getting soaked.

We had a feast so we invited the owner and several others to help us eat. Good food, good tequila and great people made this day the best yet.

While SM didn´t impress, the people we met at Hostel Alcatraz did. We´ve met some great people from all over the world on our trip but we had the most fun with these folk. Thanks to each of you for making our time there so great.

The hostel itself is a great place to rest and for bikers it couldn´t get better. We were able to park our bikes in the secure courtyard. If you´re in SM and on a budget (or not) check in, you won´t regret it.

We left the next day on our way to Mexico City (D.F.). You´ve got to stay tuned for that story. It´s a wild ride that I hope my writing will be able to convey. Until next time....