Monterrey, Mexico
I finally made!
And now after two PB&J tortillas, a thing of crackers, about a
gallon of water, and a dip in the pool I finally feel human again.
Don't get me wrong, today's journey wasn't bad by any means, but a
few complications really made things difficult.
The alarm went off
at 6:30am this morning and after pressing the snooze button a few
times I finally got up and got going. One of the best things about
riding a motorcycle is that it makes a great supplement for my usual
half pot of coffee. Driving to a bridge 20 miles away after hearing
how quick it was to pass there I realized my first mistake of the day
while pulling up to the toll booth. While I had done my research and
made the effort to get out to the right bridge I had unfortunately
forgotten that with bridges come tolls. So after a quick U-turn to
the amusement of all working that day I made the 20 mile drive back
to an ATM. After all just like the previous day's drive there is
absolutely nothing out there!
By the time I got
back to the border I had already driven 67 miles and my day had only
just begun. Crossing the border though was relatively easy. I knew
what I had to do and with my broken Spanish the only difficulty was
waiting in line while melting in the unconditioned rooms. About an
hour later I was free and made my way happily into Mexico.
From what I saw of
Mexico today, the northern border region is a lot like Texas' border
region: a whole lot of nothin. I cruised for a while figuring out my
way as I went following the simple signs for Monterrey and in no time
beautifully peaked mountains started springing up and I knew I was
getting close. To put it middly I was incredibly nervous about
driving for the first time in Mexico not really knowing what to
expect, but as the miles (or kilometers now) ticked by my comfort
level.
Beyond overheated,
tired, and drenched in sweat after arriving in the third biggest city
in Mexico the fun began. Picture any movie you've seen of Mexican
city streets. Basically the city chewed me up and spat me out. Its
my firm belief that on the zig zagging criss crossy roads pilled high
with heavy footed motorists Mexican drivers have as little idea of
how to get to there destination as I do. They'd cut into lanes, try
and crowd me out of my own, and basically move whenever and wherever
they want freely whether I was in there way or not. To make things
worse, after getting into the city the simplified signs so easy to
follow before arriving quickly changed into a big blurring of
incomprehensible directions. It honestly must have taken me at least
90 minutes to find my preferred hostel in a never ending saga of
wrong turns and frustration. Even better after arriving at the big
blue dot on my google maps app I then realized that the hostel had
been closed down and no others had any vacancy. Unable to continue
in the heat, hungry, and craving the idea of heading back for home I
managed to find a super secret deal from travelocity.
For $50 US I got a
room at the Comfort Inn including a pool, breakfast in the morning
sure to rival my previous “Continental Breakfast”
disappointments, and all the AC I can handle. Now I'm in a much
better room, have figured out where I'm going tomorrow and are ready
to relax! Unfortunately today was much more expensive then I had
planned. I had known that Mexican highway had “high” tolls but
just how high they were I only figured out after forking over $20 for
one of them today. Anyway, I'll try and avoid them tomorrow but to
my delight I'll be staying in a $10 per night hostel in the old city
of Zacatecas. The plan is to stay there for a couple nights to
conserve money, and finally see some of the sights Mexico has to
offer. There is a church only 15 minutes from here, but in the nasty
streets as dark approaches I think I've had enough sight seeing and
missed turns for one day.
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