Day 10: visiting the ruins at Palenque and to Campeche (387kms)

Next morning we were awakened by howler monkeys. This followed a dubious night cacophony from the neighbouring campers. (Those same campers then told Nathan that the monkey symphony couldn't possibly be real and must be taped sounds of lions and tigers!)

My first experience at Mayan ruins was impressive. The Palenque site is well worth a visit. The cluster of a palace, temples, games field, aqueduct, and funerary pyramid was situated on the side of a steep jungle hill. We spent some time slowly wandering around early in the morning before the crowds got too heavy.

We had a swim in the pool and a light lunch and then hit the road for Campeche. We didn't have a specific destination intended, but thought there might be something interesting around the ruins at Xpujil. One of Nathan's headlights burnt out and so once darkness fell we stopped in the town of Becan. There was a roadhouse in town, but also a place to camp. We chose the latter and it worked out perfectly as it was more like a family homestay than an impersonal campsite. Our hosts prepared a quick meal of sandwiches and coffee and we ate with them and some friends al fresco. Nathan then fixed his light in the carport and I went to bed early.

Day 9: through Tabasco to Palenque, Chiapas (514 kms)

Next day, Sat 5 Nov, we got a slightly later start, around 8:30. Nathan was feeling under the weather. The road from Roca Partida to Catemaco was the best so far: lots of twisties, a challenging combination of narrow tar and gravel/dirt, plenty of elevation changes and either through a jungle canopy or along the Gulf. Once we rejoined the main highway, we made good time through the remainder of Veracruz and then Tabasco state. At one point, we were passed by a BMW RT with Guate plates and then later saw two groups of 4+ bikes heading north.

Mexico is a country in a hurry to develop. There are Pemex gas stations being built and roads under construction everywhere. Somehow this was most notable driving from through Veracruz.

Just before dusk we reached the turn off for Palenque in Chiapas. Tomorrow we'll visit the Mayan ruins near town.

Day 8: along the Costa Esmeralda to the Costa de Oro (487 kms)

Encouraged by our ride out to Tamiahua, we took another detour at the end of a long day of riding through Veracruz state: out along a tertiary road to a town called Roca Partida. We spoke to a few locals and determined it would be fine to camp on the beach. Neither of us was particularly hungry, but a cerveza was nice. As night was falling, it looked as though it would rain, but it was only the sea moisture piling up against San Martin volcano. We stayed dry all night.

Day 7: via Tampica to Tamiahua (612 kms)

We left Montemorelos at dawn and came across the scrub land and down to the coast at Tampico. The wind gust were the main feature of the ride. We were heading for south of Casitas, trying to make up some time from yesterday.

Once we came to Tampico, we followed the highway through town instead of taking the bypass. It took a long time, and we got lost. It started to rain once we were clear of the city and we stop to adjust our gear. Stephane from Montreal was having a cerveza in the roadhouse. He was riding a KLR solo south, with no rigid schedule. He was not enjoying rainy season. We pushed on, but soon it was threatening to get dark. So we took a tertiary road out to the coast planning to camp on the beach. It took a little longer to reach the coast because of the quality if the road, and so once we were reached Tamiahua it was fully dark and still raining. We found a hotel run by a man called Rene. We both really enjoyed getting off the main route, the bikes are made for that kind of riding.

Day 6: Laredo to Montemorales (450 kms)

Nathan and I learned some good lessons today: what to do when you get separated (the guy behind should stop and wait for the lead to return); how much to trust the maps in my GPS in Mexico (not a lot). In the former situation, we involved the police. In the latter, we ended up on an animal track. It was still a good day of riding but more dramatic than necessary. By comparison crossing the border was forgettable. We did get cool stickers to put on our windows.

After losing Nathan, I found an off duty police officer called Carlos (actually he found me) and he then helped me find Nathan. Carlos had lived in the US until a year before and was one of the "new generation" of police. He was genuinely worried for me and worried that I would misinterpret his assistance. When we were reunited, we invited him to dinner. He was hesitant to accept; he didn't help us for his own benefit. Anyway we all went for a big dinner of fajitas. Carlos told us his plans to take steroids and get bulky, to acquire a pitbull, to post a new profile photo to Facebook with his new "cowboy" police uniform, and of his love for his gun.

Day 5: Texas (~900 kms)

I arrived in Laredo around 6:30 pm, set up camp and did a little shopping. Nathan still hasn't arrived so I came to a McDonald's to squat on their Internet and see if he'd sent me any messages.

The day of riding was enjoyable but relatively uneventful. It felt like the first day of the trip in some ways since the weather was warm and the landscape was different than anywhere I'd riden before: west Texas scrub.

I did a range test on my bike. I recently changed the gearing after running out of gas twice on the ride with Chris to Labrador this summer. I now have 415kms on a tank at an avg speed of 108 per hour plus an extra 1.5 liters of fuel in a can, so nearly 450 effective range. That's about a 25% improvement.

Highlight of the day was stopping for BBQ for lunch. I ate outside in the back. The only other people were an older white couple and a black man having a heated conversation. I didn't catch everything but the gist was that the couple wanted to borrow some money from the man. It was a kind of bridge loan and it seemed to be required because the couple had been the subject of a scam or needed to sell their home quickly or both. In any case they seemed resentful and bitter. The man was trying to assess how likely he was to get his money back, but it came off like he was unsympathetic to their situation. I spoke to him afterwards and he was the owner of the BBQ place as well as two others nearby. He had finished college, been drafted into the army, done 18 months in Vietnam, survived and come home to start the business. He told me: "Nothing's free in life." Maybe he was worried that I thought he was preying on the old couple. It was excellent BBQ.

Day 4: Florida Gulf Coast to Lafayette, LA (919 kms)

Great day today. Good weather, scenery, a long ride and lots of time to explore. Also passed through Alabama; this is the 49th state I've visited (only AK left - maybe next summer?) and 47th I've motorcycled through (only AK, UT and HA).

The morning started along the Gulf Coast on US 90. At first the towns were small, remote and a little rough. Once I came to Panama City it was busier, and fancier. There's an air base near the town and as I was driving through two war planes took off with after burners on; without a visual and with ear plugs they sounded as though my bike was falling apart beneath me. I must have looked half crazed to the other motorists as I was looking around frantically for the source of the noise.

Along the way I observed a number of signs, which is a kind if pastime on moto trips:
- a sign with an image of a mother bear and her cub crossing (didn't know there were bears in Florida);
- "Primitive Baptist Church";
- "CEO shrimp for social security prices";
- property for sale signs, a lot of them;
- "Live Tiger Exhibit";
- "Many accidents involve trees" (this one was a complete non-sequitur and featured an image of an auto wrecked into the trunk of a tree); and,
- "Live Wrinkle Free...BOTOX".

I pulled into New Orleans around 4pm. The streets were relatively quiet and it seemed like a lull in the action particularly since it is Halloween. I remember watching an episode of Treme that profiles Halloween in NO and how it is second only to Mardi Gras in the extent of the party. I hung around for a while and it didn't disappoint.

The other thing I do to pass the time is by trying to think of song about the places I'm passing through. Glenn Nuotio's song about Biloxi occurred to me when riding through that Mississippi town. I heard a jazz band play When the Saints Come Marching In (they must be sick of that one) which I'd hummed earlier in the day. Steve Earle's song about the roughneck who lives in Lafayette was ringing in my helmet when I rolled up to my motel there for the night.