HondaVsTheWorld Alaska to Argentina on a 24 year old Honda C90

Great thread Sean!

We had the good fortune to share a lunch with Sean while he layed over in San Francisco. We also felt privledged to be called Nitwits...

Rock on Sean!

HaHa..
Hey Rick, cheers for posting here... had a great night hanging out with you guys.

Cheers for your generosity, i was worried me beast was going to through you off outside the hotel in Loreto, I could see you were struggling with the raw power. Nevermind, someday you be able to ride a real machine .

take care
..
and remember we have 1 up on you. To Mexicans a frozen margarita sounds similar to virgin margarita



QUOTE=pluric;18088403]I just got back from Baja last week. While in Loreto I ran into Sean. Had no idea who he was.
I was in riding gear and he asked what I rode and where I came from. I'm acting like
"All the way from Salt Lake City, Utah". I ask him the same.

Holy shit! I couldn't believe it. Ireland then Via Alaska on a Super Cub!!!!????:eek1:eek1:eek1

I told him I had to see this. So he walked me over to his ride.



I was still in shock. I know what these bikes are like to ride.
....
...

All I can say Sean is better you than me riding that thing.

Honestly, you have my contact information if you need help with funds to ship or travel with
please contact me. I'd be more than happy to help you continue your journey.
Ya crazy Nit Wit.[/QUOTE]

haha ..Cheers Jim...remember it was some grumpy old man on BARF that called me the NitWit...I shared the story with RIck and the lads, they thought it was hilarious..

Loving Baja.. time for Mexico proper very soon

Kee her lit...

Thanks man!!

didnt think anyone was reading it to be honest, it was languishing down at the bottom of the pile!!..I started doing some video bogs.. must get the up too... thanks for the prompt!!

Cheers lad!..

Hi Guys,

I've been messing about with videos for the last while and neglecting writing.


Here is 14 minute video of my trip between El Rosario and Catavina down the Baja peninsula. Found a great campsite so decided to explore the area and camped there for the night. Great spot.

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http://www.youtube.com/embed/wJFtvvXN1oU

Another video of my 2 days at Kuyima Camp in Laguna de San Ignacio Baja Mexico.

What an amazing place, very tough ride there and back for me and Burrito, corrugated, rutted , sand and dirt road. With only a couple of inches of suspension travel on the front make its a little uncomfortable to say the least.

Parked it rather embarrassingly twice on the way back home.. each time it felt a little pathetic... the front wheel being sucked intot he sand on the side and the bike parking its slef on the side, with me doing a head over heels with a nice soft sanding landing..

i guess it was good practice for a real off haha



http://www.youtube.com/embed/b_Vurwv86rk

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/b_Vurwv86rk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://www.youtube.com/embed/b_Vurwv86rk

We are still watching with envy Sean, I just backed way off on that parasite Facebook. More ride/food/local beer reporting needed.

This was a couple of my favorite days riding and exploring despite it raining. I was loving the sense of freedom despite getting rained on and not caring in the slightest. Heck I was on an adventure! Hope you like it!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GFxymLhfBws" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://youtu.be/GFxymLhfBws

So the updates from the most exciting leg of my journey so far in respects of challenges, security risks, culture changes, music and food has been lacking in my blog. I have become a bit lazy on the writing front and have become selfish with my time, sometimes seeing the blog and website as a pain in the arse. But at the same time loving the emails of encouragement I receive on a daily basis from strangers, and of course the narcissistic curiosity when I see how much people are finding the website and finding inspiration in this dumbasses trip across the world.

There has been over 20,000 visits to the website, over 100,000 page views and another 13,000 views on another forum that I sometimes post on. Seems like there is an army of people out there itching to read about adventure travel.

As of March 18 the bike and I have covered 9530 miles.

Baja has been a great introduction into Mexico proper. Baja has so much to offer on all fronts, beautiful pristine beach, awesome desolate desert environment, unmatched marine wildlife, great food and really friendly people.

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So lets pick up where I left off..

My frst stop out of Ensenada was San Quintin. I arrived pretty late. Its not a pretty town to say the least. I decided to go look for a free place to camp, but turned down the wrong road and was about 10 miles down a sand road with farm land and barbed wire fences on each side. Still feeling a little apprehensive about my early steps in Mexico I decided to turn back and look for a cheap hotel. I found one at a cost of 200 pesos. Approximately 12 euros. The bike was smelling of gasoline so I gave the carb a wipe to try to remove some of the grit and sand that had acculated on it. I decided to leave it out side the door and promised to check her over in the morning. In the morning I came out to a little puddle of petrol on the ground. After a while of messing around and tightening the float bowl screws I was confident that the leak had stopped and I hit the road.

Never one to miss an opportunity to explore a little side road I explored off piste and had a little spill.

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I reached Mama Espinoza's in El Roasario. I camped there that night and set about dismatling my carb to locate the problem. The filter and float bowl were clean as a whistle. However there was dirt evident across the gasket. I cleaned it up and put it back together. The leak was gone so I hit the road the next day.

The next day saw me enter the boulderfield North of Catanvina, I had intended to get to town to pick up some supplied but I found the most amazing campsite amongst the boulders down a side road and decided to stay.

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The next day I left to get some supplies and refuled at the side of the road from Jerry cans. The fuel guy showed my the card of another Irishman that came through earlier in the year. Tony Mangan from WorldJog.com. It just so happened that I had doanted some money to Tony before I left Ireland. Which as I rememeber at the time Tony was in Baja California at the time when I donated him the money. Small world and our paths cross in a round about way.

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I pressed on toward Guerro Negro and met 2 Mexican motorcyclists. We met on a patch of dismantled road with a sign reading "Deviacion". Which in my mind at the time was only two T's away from total devastation.

Umberto and Jose Luis were so enamored by this lone fool on his little bike that they felt the need to buy me dinner. A gesture that would be repeated some miles down the road by my amigo Rick.

Umberto was a strange mixture of a macho cop and and an alternative medicine practitioner.. I called him a Hippy Cop, he laughed and didn't protest. So he remains the hippy cop in my mind. Umberto offered to host me in Queratero North of Mexico City should my bike bring me that direction. Thanks Guys!!

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While in Guerro Negro having breakfast the next morning, I spotted a Mexican guy checking out my bike and taking a photo. He came in to look for me. Jose not having much english and me not having much spanish manged to find common ground and have a laugh despite either one of us having the vaguest notion what the other was saying.

At one stage he offered me a place to stay and I laughed and walked off. He caught up with me beside my bike and asked *another person to translate. He had offered the local fire station as a place to stay should i need somewhere. I had no plans and always willing to see where fate might lead me I agreed. After all who would turn down the*opportunity*to sleep on the cold concrete floor of a disused fire station? Jose pulled out a rubber matt and said "sleep here". Perfect I thought, its always the unusual places I sleep I find the most interesting. Jose was a Volanteer Fireman and the building was used to store equipment rather than being an active firestation. Nevertheless I was glad to be staying there and I had thought about repeating the scene from "Backdraft" on top of the fire engine if only i could lure Rebecca De Mornay back into the fire station.*Jose gave me the keys to the place and left, sating he would stop back later with a nut and bolt from my rack which I required.

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Alas I never slept there *as Jose returned later and insisted I come back to his family home. I could only presume like every good husband he had to Ok it with the Missus before dragging home a complete stranger.

I stayed at Jose's 2 nights and had a great time with his family. Beuna gente. Muchas gracias Jose y sus Famillia.

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Whilst at Jose's I done a spot of whale watching and met George a lady travelling in a little VW Camper. We would bump into each other a couple of times through Baja.

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I reached a spot where i had to decide west into the Sierras or south to San Ignacio.

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I headed south....

San Ignacio is a beautiful quite colonial little town that has been built up around a natural sping and is an oasis in the dry Baja desert. It is the site of one of the many Mission Churches built by the missionaries in the 1700's to convert the heathen's to catolosims while displaying less than admirable respect for his fellow human beings in the process.. oh those catholics (i am one by default), " Reminds me of those lyrics by me homeboy Damien Dempsey: " with bible in one hand and the sword in the other. They came purify my land of my gaelic Irish mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers".

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While in Sam Ignacio I witnessed a big event in Mexian culture a *Quinceañera. The 15th birthday, the *a girls coming of age party.

It was a very grand affair with a lot of ceremony ans very elegant.

In a nut shell
Church
Plaza
Girl dances with girls
Girl dances with each boy (giving them each a test drive I assume)
Girl Choses her date
Dad puts on her new highheels shoes
Dad dances with Daughter
..Much dancing and drinking ensues

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I spent a few days in the village, it the nicest village I've come across in San Ignacio, I camped at a site near the lake and had my daily bath their.

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On Monday I hit the road to Laguna de San Ignacio. I had heard the road was pretty bad. There was the option of getting the shuttle bus. But I opted for the cheap option, not realising the road before me. Heck I had tackled the Haul Road to the Arctic Circle and survived so the road to San Ignacio should be a piece of cake. Like most things in life everything is relative, a bad road in the good old US of A is very different from a bad road in Mexico. It was a 50Km trip to the lagoons a 25 km of that was on corregated, rutted, sand and rock. It was a tough ride out there and my box had popped open during the process and things flew out. Thankfully my laptop stayed put but it was a bit of a scare.

I found most of my stuff back up the road a short distance but I was missing my camp stove. Crap i thought, it could have fell out anywhere. Just then a 4x4 pulled up and and rolled down the window and said. "know anyone who wants to buy a camp stove" .. hmm yes... I know just the man thanks you very much. No money exchanged hands they knew it must have been mine.

We hit the lagoons and I was honoured to be sharing a space so close to these magnificant mammals. We were not having much luck with the whales approaching our boat. I had heard that they were attracted to music so I gave them a few bars of Raglan Road, I defy anyone to not like that tune. The whales, a mother and baby came very close to the boat but stayed out of touching distance. I didn't try to hard to touch them as I was happy just to be there.

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After the whale watching i got talking to Paula one of the workers at the camp. She was very friendly and a pleasure to talk to. I told her of my attitude to traveling never having a plan and practically doing everything on a hourly basis, and that sometimes I get caught up in indecision not be able to make a decision which way to go. She told me I should flip a coin. Why didn't I think of that before I thought!. When in doubt and there is no a clear direction for you to follow put your fate in providence and see where it takes you.
The next morning I got up not sure what I should do, hit the road aftar a great day of whale watching or go out again. I flipped a coin. It said I should stay. So I did and what an amazing day I had in store. I asked the camp if we could have an English speak guide and they appointed Paula our guide for the day so we were able to pick her brains on Whales.

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I bade farewell to the camp and Paula, and she had left secret lunch for me which she had hidden in my helmet for the journey back out the road and gave me a piece of sage. Thanks to Paula and everyone at Kuyima Camp at Laguna de San Ignacio.

Muelge

I headed out the road and made it to Mulege and ended up staying meeting an Alaskan, who liked the idea of travelling on a scooter, so he gave me the use of his home for a couple of days and we went out on his boat dolphin to view to local wild life. We saw some dolphins but unfortunately there were no chicks on the beach that day.

Not far out the road form Mulege there are some beautiful beaches. I stopped at a few of them but each time I was diappointed, there were all these RV's and there 4x4's.
I rolled into one beach and saw this stout guy with a big grey beard waving to me in a enthusiastic manner. I decided I better investigate, I pulled over. Enter Glenn.

"wow man, its you, I've heard about you, you're famous"..he said. "Ha what me?" I said. He said his friend had told him about my trip and had been following it. Wow too weird. He said if you are looking for a campsite with no RV's and thats a little quiter you should come to our beach,*Escondida. Glenn was reading my mind. Glen and Pete had come from North California in their pick-up truck, camping gear and also their two Honda Trail 90's.

I spent the few couple of days at Escondida, with the guys hanging out on the beach, swimming, eating drinking, and a bit of kyacking.

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Glen was rather funny individual, he had a pun for every situation and when he got going it was hard to stop, but they were generally funny so no one did.

It was great to meet up with these Honda enthusiasts and what a coincidence to bump into folk with Honda 90's.

When I left the guys gave me an escort up the road and Peter made me a shell necklace for the bike.

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Thanks guys pleasure meeting you!

I headed on toward Loreto I was pulled over refueling I thing but in the end I had a congregation of 3 different groups of bikers standging aroud scrathing their head in disbelieve at my overlanding 90. "your fucking crazy" was repeated many times.

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I travelled into Loreto and scoped out the town for camp sites, there seemed to be no problem camping on the beach, so figured I'd see what the town has to offer.

Whilst in Loreto I bumped into a guys called Rick on the side of the street. Rick had been travelling with two of his friends on KTM's, BMW and A Yami Tenere. We got chatting and of course the subject leads on to "what are you riding?" Rick's jaw nearly hit the floor when I told him about my choice of ride. We went over to survey the equipment. After some chat which included my stories of bathing in the lakes and beaches for the last few days Rick offered to buy me dinner later in exchange for some road tales, I agree and we parted company, but Rick came to look for me and found me in the plaza, he had walked up to the square in his socks to find me. *He gestured to come with him. We walked to the hotel reception and he booked a room for me. "Wow" it really*wasn't*necessary I protested but he insisted and the idea of a hot shower and comfortable bed suddenly seemed very attractive to me.

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That night we went out and I shared some of my road storoes with the guy and a good few laughs.

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Whist in the hotel I bumped into a young guy on his bicycle, he had got a puncture and had a though days cycle. we chatted for a few minutes the next day and he headed off. I wasnt sure what I would do that day. After a while checking out the town I got the urge to hit the road so*I decided to jump back up on the bike and try to catch up with my Italian amigo. I figured he had probably made it a good 70kms down the road by the time I *caught him. My estimation was right. I found him setting up his tent outside a small roadside home/restaurant.

He name was Aladdino a very interesting young man. He had set off travelling nearly 6 months ago like myself and had cycled from LA to Baja. He was the only cyclist that I've seen on my journey that carried not one, but two fishing rods. We had a good chat that night Aladdino had grown up in a camper van with his parents on the road. They had traveled all around the americas and europe. Alladino was largely 'home' schooled by his parents and is definitely a student of life. If ever there was a more rounded young individual, self aware and aware of the possibilities of life beyond your 9 to 5 this was him.

The next day I got up not sure which way to go. Aladino had his mind made up he was heading south. I was not so sure.

I saw a dot on the map 45km off on a side road. It was called Agua Verde. There was only one way in and one way out (apparently). *I knew nothing about this place but I liked the sound of it and I didnt think there would be anyone in RV's down there so I figured it would be pretty nice place to check out. Then again I thought I should be moving on, I was spending a lot more time in Baja than I had anticpated. Plus the the front suspension bushes were not the best. I decided once again to put my fate in providence and flip a coin.

That was it to Aqua Verde it was....

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What a crazy mental road it was into Aqua Verde, it was dangerous and challanging, but i loved it. Throughour most of the journey *the road dropped away to one side, with a drop of over 100ft in places. Meeting traffic on this road at a corner would not be nice.

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When I arrived I met up with some American lads in their fully kitted out Toyoto Landcruise. We hung out for a couple of days and they were great company. We went abseiling/rapelling, spear fishing and cooked at their camp.

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After that It was to Todos Santo, where I bumped into Carlos, a guys who had travelled eastern europe on hi Vespa back in the 80's..

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more to follow..

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Glad to see you still rolling along Sean,keep it coming! How is the bike holding up?

Hey, that Rick guy in Loreto sounds like an awesome guy.

Keep the posts coming.

YOU ROCK MY SOUL!!! your trip is very inspiring

Cheers LadyCruiser.... just havin fun!!!!!

I pulled into Todo Santos and sat in a bar having a cold beer. Just then a lady came up to me and "said are you the guy travelling the world the Honda 90. "Hmm I guess so" I said. She said "Wow I've heard about you". She had read some posts on the Bay Areas Riders Forum. A few members of which were kind enough to host a lunch and a few beers for me on my way out of San*Francisco. This was the 3rd or 4th time I hade arrived in a place and people had said they had heard about the crazy Irishman on the 90. Word was spreading it seemed!

[caption id="attachment_1116" align="alignnone" width="224" caption="BARF Rider "]<a href="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5183.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1116" title="IMG_5183" src="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5183-224x300.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="300" /></a>[/caption]

While sitting there another guy pulled up in his 250 cc Endure bike. He was in his 60's i guessed. His name was Carlos. He was very excited to see the bike and said he was a fan of long trips on small bikes. He believes it's the best way to travel. Carlos had travelled through eastern Europe on a Vespa during the fall of communism*during the 80's and had some interesting stories himself.

[caption id="attachment_1117" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Safe and sound in casa de Carlos"]<a href="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5206-Medium.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1117" title="IMG_5206 (Medium)" src="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5206-Medium-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>[/caption]

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Carlos invited me to crash at his house. So i decided to take him up on his offer. He was an interesting character to say the least, Italian born and spent a considerable time in California. He was a great cook and liked a glass of wine like most Italians.

I told him about a movie I wanted to see in the Todos Santos Film festival. It was a film about indigenous tribes and their customs in Mexico. He said he wanted to go, after all that was something he was very interested it and after some very*intellectual*insights on the subject of the customs of these tribes Carlos says "Cool, lets do it, maybe I should bring my fart machine too".

I sniggered and looked at him, then laughed hard because he was serious and was quite excited at the prospect of upsetting some pretentious arty toffs with a few well timed farts. Which I thought was hilarious. He followed by saying "hmmm.. maybe I should bring my fart spray too. I haven't tried that yet!"

Well anyway after the movie in which some indigenous Mexicans go in search of*peyote*the hallucinogenic cacti, and after rubbing a feather in the lambs blood the mystic holds up the feather and declares;

"My feather tells me we should look over there, to the left, beside the thicket for the peyote"

Wow, very accurate I thought I must get me one of those feathers..

"..And also over there to the right"..he followed.

Ah the feather may not have been so accurate after all but he was certainly a wise man.

After the movie we discussed some of the self righteous arty gringo types and how some of them were a bit snotty; Carlos looked at me with a smile and says.. "I wish I had brought my fart machine.."

I enjoyed my time with Carlos, and perhaps my fart machine tale doesn't do the man justice as we had some very interesting conversations on lots of other topics. He just had a pranksters*way about him and enjoyed upsetting the norm. Thanks Carlos!

While at Todos Santos I also made a trip to see an Earthship. A house built from recycled tryes, earth, cans and bottles operating off the grid.

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I then headed to the south of Baja and stayed in San Jose del Cabo and met some very nice people and then it was on back up toward La Paz.*I made it as far a place called Los Barrilos and decided i'd camp there, after a while poking around looking for a free spot to camp I wandered in to a RV park, and who should be camped there only my amigo Aladino the*Italian*cyclist. It was such a great campsite I decided to hang out for a few days and hang out with Aladino.

<a href="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5246-Medium.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1124" title="IMG_5246 (Medium)" src="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5246-Medium-300x224.jpg" alt="Aladino, with his bike and fishing rods" width="300" height="224" /></a>

The world travellers Aladino and myself attended a dinner in the evening and were toasted the guests of honour at a large 26 person gringo dinner in the park. We also attended a chilly cook off where myself and Alladino took advantage of all the free food that was on offer.

After that it was back to La Paz to prepare for the mainland. I decided while there I would do a food blog, and after a greedy day of samping all sorts of food I became sick. I'm not sure what it was, it might have been the goats face that I ate, *but I had Muchas*problemas.. A bout of Montezums revenge as they say or the squits to most people.

Thankfully *I met a great Mexican girl called Rebecca who helped me out a lot. She went shopping for me, bought me fruit and juices, helped me change my ticket for the ferry and was great company. Thanks Rebecca*you were an angel.

The Mainland
I borded the Boat of the Dead and anchored the bike down. That night I slept outside under the stars while crossing the Sea of Cortez, it was a*beautiful*night and the stars were out in force. On board I met some Mexican bikers, who invited me to stay with them in Mexico city. Thanks guys

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[caption id="attachment_1138" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The morgue on board"]<a href="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_53201.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1138" title="IMG_5320" src="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_53201-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1139" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Morning world..."]<a href="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_53231.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1139" title="IMG_5323" src="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_53231-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1140" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Mexican biker buddies.."]<a href="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5328.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1140" title="IMG_5328" src="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5328-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>[/caption]

My first main stop after the boat was Tepic. I pulled into a shop to get some food. When I came out I saw a Mexican guy called Manuel eyeing up my bike. He was a photographer and owned a small business where my bike was parked.*We had a long chat which included some talk of my clutch. I was very happy with the way the clutch was working, it had proven its self over the last few weeks. He said he could get the plates for me if I wanted anyway. Hmm great I thought no time like the present I suppose. Within minutes we were flying through the streets of Tepic trying to track down parts. Manuel wheelieing his motorcycle down the busy street as we went. We got the parts in a local shop, then Manula said

"do you want someone to put them in".

"No" I said I'll do it later myself, "how much would that cost" I enquired.

He rang his friend and told me they would have it done in 2 hours and its would cost 150 pesos, about 9 euros!. Wowsers thats pretty cheap. "Ok Lets do it", "but I want to be there to oversee the whole process". I've had bad experiences with mechanics in the past, and wasnt just going to trust my bike to just anyone.

In the end they were a great bunch of lads and done a great job. I bought them some donouts and hung out in the garage and worked on the bike with them.

Job done... Clutch plates are changed!!!!!

Incidently I compared the new ones that went into her, to the new ones I tried to put in San Diego and the were indeed a combined 1mm thinner!! So I am glad I didnt put those cheap shit ones in.

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[caption id="attachment_1142" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Gracias amigos!!!!"]<a href="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5342.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1142" title="IMG_5342" src="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5342-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1143" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Manuel the wheeling photographer biker...Thanks a lot Manuel to you and your brother.."]<a href="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5343.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1143" title="IMG_5343" src="http://hondavstheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/IMG_5343-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>[/caption]

I was in much pain that evening in Tepic and had been the previous day also, my ass was killing to put it mildly. I stayed in a Hotel that night to have a nice comfortable bed and a hot shower, were I made my Captian's Log update from.

<address>"The Captain's Log. Star date 13.3.12. Location Tipec Mexico. In the interest of giving the full gammoth of my experience I write the following. Not for the squeamish.
Implications following the bout of Montezumas revevege have been experienced over the last few days and have manifested themselves in some serve pain and bleeding. I believe there are some Clingons present in the lower quadrant. I have purchased medication in attempt to put a stop to the Carnival season below and prevent a further infestation in the wormhole. These Clingons have been known to bite to prevent them from exiting the wormhole. (tears in eyes). I will relay results soonest, as you can imagine the Captain may be more keen than others"</address><address>*</address>The next day I got up and went for breakfast in a little restaurant and jotted down the following, trying to get away from my ride report style scribblings.

<em>Sitting in the central plaza having a coffee people watching can be a nice experience but next time for breakfast go down to a busy local street, where things are a little more grotty, rough and ready, more real even, and more representative of life in the area you are visiting.</em>
<em></em>

<em>This morning I sat in a cheap little open facade restauant and was treated to a glimps of Mexican life and the machinations of a little city. I have done this many times but today I was more pensive and more aware of the goings on. The barbeque smoke of the carne asada hanging in the air against the rising sun, local enterprising people selling breakfast snacks from insulated boxes, the delveries to the local businesses and watching a young man struggle with his barely managable load of coca cola bottles. The ladies sweeping the street, the ocassional beeps and honks of the taxi drivers making their way through the streets as an old lady stumbles to her knees under her load and gets up with a big smile on her face slightly embarrassed.</em>

<em>This is life, real life for the people of Mexico and for the vast majority of people that inhabit this planet, its not watching the opulent folk in the plaza with thier latest fashions. No this is of no interest to me, but of course I like to do it occasionally. But I cant think what my memories might be from such as situation? Perhaps the mischievous smile in the corner of my mouth as the carefully crafted image of this fine lady with her Prada handbag unravels in front of me as she stumbles on a cobble, composes herself and gives the cobble a rasping glance..</em>

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After my breakfast I got my stuff together and headed for Tequila...

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Throughout my life I had been searching for Jesus. I found him working in a Hostel in Tequila.

I was in a lot of pain and discomfort while in Tequila, but I was trying to put on a brave face and get on with it, but things had got very bad.

Unfortunately for me Jesus in the Hostel didn't have the same healing powers as his name sake, so I resigned myself to seeing a Doctor.
I went to the Hospital Loreto in Tequila and met Doctor Luis Loreto at the door. He arrived at the door in his bathrobe with a piece of toast in his hand.*I started explaining in my best spanish that I was not well. Once I got the the part of the <em>squits</em> he paused looked at his toast and gestured for me to come in.
I waited for a few minutes while he finished his breakfast and dressed himself.

He brought me into his treatment room/0ffice. In these situations with limited language you cannot beat around the bush, try to be polite etc. you have to get straight to the point to make sure you are understood. I said I have mucho pain in my ass and there is some blood. He understood that alright.

After some examinations he asked me to get up on the table with a knowing smile sencing my*embarrassment. Keen to get it over and done with I got up pulled my trousers down a little and buried my face in the pillow awaiting the*inevitable*examination. "No senor, pull your pants up and turn the other way please". *Damn it! How*presumptuous*of me, I had been in a similarly *presumptuous*situation before with a lady. . It was a little*embarrassing.
After the prelim examination I did indeed recieve the*inevitable*butt examination which I had been dreading. He had also proded up a supository which had me in severe agony.

"No words required.."
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The doctor sencing that I was somewhat traumatised after the ordeal exited the room and switched off the lights, and left me there like a rape victim to ponder my thoughts and wallow in my shame.
He returned after 15 minutes or so with a big tin basin of water and instructed me to pull my pants down and sit in it.

"What just sit in the bucket?"

"Si".

"In the middle to the room?...,what here?.... just like that?".

"Si, Si" he continued

Most of this was not actually conveyed in words but embarrassed glances and wide open*frightened*eyes on my part.
Oh well needs must I suppose, I was in pain.
I pulled my pants down and lowered myself into the bucket. "Ouch!" "agua caliente!".
How*embarrassing. He left me there sitting in the "bucket" for a good 25 minutes while he went about his business, coming and going and me the gringo just sitting *in his office in bucket with my pants around my ankles. How degrading, how*embarrassing, but I had lost all dignity and*sense*of pride over the last few days and all I wanted was relief. I thought how*strange*this must look. I was laughing at the situation myself and the doctor too, he knew how I was feeling. At one stage he sat at his desk doing paper work, while I sat on the floor in a tin bucket. I couldn't bring myself to make eye contact with him or to make small talk. I felt like what I imagine a dog might feel like when you make eye contact with him while he's dropping one in the park. "Stop looking at me!this is*embarrassing*enough"

"No words required.."
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Dr Luis later went into the adjoining bathroom area to wash what I presumed were medical instruments, presumablely for use on me. I could hear them *being tapped on *the sink. After a while I said , so what happens next? in spanish. Que pasa proxima? (i think). He looked past the door so I could see him and he said something. I'm not even sure what it was, it was more the patches of shaving foam on his face and the razor in his hands I was fixed on. He had been shaving. Oh well I had*interrupted*his breakfast all the same!

After the bucket incident he instructed me to get up on the table again. I stepped up*reluctantly* again pulled my trousers down a little and lay face down again.
He said, "turn around" in spanish, *Damn it I had done it again!! *its not exactly like I have fond memories of the last ocassion but I know where it hurts and its not in the front!

He proceeded to carry out some other abdominal examinations.

After I was issued some supositiores, some fiber, anti parasitic*medicine.

When i returned to the hostel I recounted the story in my best spanish to Jesus the hostel owner and Carlos his friend. I said what happened to much laughter but I said "Pero el es muy simpatico tambien". Trying to say that despite my ordeal and what the Doctor subjected me to that he was nice Doctor. Jesus said

"Si, Si, pero, el es muy gay tambien......"

Ekkk, hit the breaks. What, You mean a gay dude put his finger in my butt!

"Siiii"

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"argggh"

Much laughter was had at my expense..

In the end it took another visit to Dr Loreto and some new drugs to help my problem. I spent the next few days sitting in a bucket of hot water 3 times a day back in my room at the hostel. I had*inflammation*of the anus, following the squits*apparently*made worse by my two days riding in*sweltering*heat without a shower, due to the overnight boat and then my camping the following night.

Despite Dr Loreto being as gay as Christmas, he was extremely professional, a genuine nice guy and a good Doctor. Old school health care at its beast, he done everything from examinations, filling the bucket,*administering*drugs, getting me drinks. Thanks Doc

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So as I*finish*editing this I have left Tequila and I am now in*Guadalajara. I am feeling much better and am on the mend. Perhaps you are not really interesting in reading about my health issues but, this is reality with a long trip such as this and there is no point in sugar coating anything. Also, maybe you are surprised at my being so candid about my experiences, but if you can't laugh at your own misfortune, well, you are taking yourself too seriously and you remove the right to laugh at others people's*misfortunes, which I like to do*occasionally* ( but only when nobody get hurts .. or maybe gets a little bit hurt).. like a skate border doing the splits on a railing..

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haha... yeah awesome guy.. rare for an american haha.. nah.. cheers mate!!!!!