The article below was written on Monday 1-2-2006. It has taken me 2 days to find another workable Internet connection so that I could send it out and get those photos uploaded.
I am now alive and well and staying at the very nice Best Western Centro in Monterrey. Monterrey is quite modern, and this Best Western is excellent, especially since I spent last night at a $25/night no tell motel (complete with the Christian sign-of-the-fish and the Playboy Channel in English!) in the boondocks maybe 65 miles from here. That was after rejecting the previous town's best hotel -- no matter how you slice it $19US per night is not a bargain when there is no air conditioning, the plumbing is a suggestion, and all of your neighbors look like they have been working in the fields during the day.
All kidding aside the last two days have been great riding and have gone a long way towards restoring my enthusiasm for Mexico. I now realize that I got routed down two days of unusually tough roads that could have been avoided by a change in route. More to come later.
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Howdy y'all -- I'm trying to update my photos at http://www.fototime.com/inv/310309400F90334 but the Internet connection is slow. Beyond slow. So hopefully by the time that you read this the deed will have been done. I've shot something like 500 photos, but only the cream of the crop (yeah, right) are presented here.
After three days of hanging around Tampico I finally found Paradise. Or close enough, anyway. The Playa Madero. Interestingly, all of my tour books give it less than great reviews but either they have not updated their listings for the last several years or no one bothered to travel north on the beach strand because there is the beginnings of a tourist resort here. Neat place.
I have found my Canadian buddy Henry's clean (according to him) hotel that he gets for $6.50 a night as well as the $75/night hotel that I stayed in. There is a little bit of everything here, and a very broad spectrum to match any taste or style. Nice places, traditional low-budget Mexican places, and a beach where the authorities will allow gringos to camp out on (hear that RVers?). This place has a lot going for it.
I would love to hang here, and in 20/20 hindsight wish that I had found this place before I spent 2 days hanging downtown, but no matter. It's time to get the wheels rolling again. Heading back north with the idea of exploring closer to Monterrey. Chat with y'all later!
To track down ol' John go here: http://www.star-traxx.com/TripReport.asp?TripID=597865010
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PirateJohn
www.PirateJohn.com
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