Jan. 2 – San Carlos to Puerto Escondido

2009 January 4
tags: ,
by joe

No hot water in the AM (despite the advertisement), so while Levi slept in I walked to the central area of this tiny town.  There were three horses tied up next to the bikes.  Stopped for a fresh OJ, and talked with a young man from Chicago who is ‘hitch-hiking around the world’.  Stopped at a farmacia to see about getting a laxative, but could not communicate what I wanted.  Picked up a razor, though, to try to keep from getting too wild looking in the days ahead.  Without my beard and with my hair cut short, I look completely different.

Levi was now awake, so we headed out and spent some time working on raising his rear shock.  Roped the back-end of the bike in a tree to take off the weight while we pounded on the adjuster with a screwdriver and a rock.  Back to the farmacia with dictionary in hand, and this time I got what I needed.

This was a nice hotel, with a beautiful courtyard and a nice pool.

Left for Puerto Escondido; 10,000 topes;  hard on brakes, transmission, chain, clutch, everything, including rider.  Out of Guerrero state and into Oaxaca;  lots of military checkpoints now, but they do not even look at us.

After gassing up in Pinoter National, Levi’s bike starts running poorly and stalling out at low RPM.  It is extra hard for him with all the stop-and-go.  We make Puerto Escondido early, but instead of some internet and beach time, we strip his bike and remove the carburator.  He rides around and gets supplies, and by then it is dark.  We had a ‘Dominoes’ pizza for dinner, although I am pretty sure that Mr. Monahan back in Michigan didn’t get a cut of the cost from this vendor!

Hotel was OK;  once grand but now a bit run down;  nice pool that hadn’t been cleaned in while, and no toilet seat (now seems to be the norm).  After dinner we disassembled the carb and cleaned it.  Discovered that the spark plug was loose to the point of almost having worked itself out completely.  Many loose and missing screws/bolts.

Levi found an unlocked WIFI hotspot by walking around the area with his laptop; he spent two hours sitting on a curb outside the hotel blogging and doing email.

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