Mexico
5000 miles
Mexico will give us our first taste of being isolated. It will throw every riding condition at us and test our skills.
Starting in Douglas at the Mexican border, we head east to Agua Prieta, then south to Janos, Nuevo Casas Grandes and into Paquime.
Paquime is North Mexico’s most important and interesting archaeological site of ancient adobe buildings.
We then hit the trails and head SE. Passing small the towns and villages of Hausabas, Sahuaripa, Tonichi, Agua Caliente, and after over 350 miles we reach the coastal town Guaymas.
Here we will hop a ferry across to Santa Rosalia to ride the bottom half of the Baja Peninsula.
Heading west through the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve to Bahia De Tortugas, we take the coast road south into Iaguna San Ignacio to hopefully catch some sighting of whales and a much needed swim.
Keeping off the pavement as much as possible and winding from one side of the peninsula to the other we round the bottom through Cabo San Lucas, San Jose Del Cabo and back up to La Paz to get the ferry back across to Los Mochis.
Heading north to the not yet so well known, but rather larger than the Grand Canyon is Canon del Cobre (Copper Canyon) This will offer some great dirt riding all the way to Creel and back down to Abascio.
Continuing on backtracks south, we pass Sextin, Santa Maria Del Oro, Ramos, and make a stop at Durango.
Following the train line we go south to Durango. I know it made no sense to me either!!!
Anyway, now heading SW towards the coast along Hwy 40, an extremely windy road to reach Mazatlan.
Along the coast we hit Tuxpan and Tepic and then inland to Tequila!! ?
Tequila is the largest Tequila export area in Mexico. I can see a headache coming on already.
Just south is the busy city of Guadalajara and its beautiful Cathedral on Plaza de Armaz.
Flanking the south bank of Lago de Chapala, Mexico city is our next stop after some more rough roads and the towns of Jiquilpan, Jacona de Plancarte, Zacapu, Morelia and Toluca.
Mexico’s City outskirts, offers us our first Aztec experience at Teotihuacan. Meaning “the place where men become gods,” and is one of the most impressive cities of the ancient world.
North bound we stop off at the more famous ruins of El Tajin near Poza Rica, and head to the coastal town of La Guadalupe on the Gulf of Mexico.
We stay on the coast as far south as Vera Cruz, then SW through Cordoba, Nogales, Tehuacan, and stop off at Oaxaca.
Oaxaca is renowned as being best preserved and most charming of all Mexico’s colonial cities.
We head towards the fishing village of Puerto Angel, directly south of Oaxaca along Mex-175.
Hooking onto Mex-200, the road takes us along the coast up to Salin Cruz, around Laguna Superior, and onto Arriaga.
Heading inland and north east past Cintalapa, Ocozocuautla, Tuxtla Gutierrez, San Cristobal De Las Casa and Ocosingo.
We make a refreshing stop at the Agua Azul, the most beautiful waterfalls in Mexico.
Then Palenque ruins, which has some of the best preserved sites of the Maya tribes.
That brings us to the end of our Mexico leg as we head sw through Tenosique and on to the Guatemala border.
