The Life of Brad: Nov 28 - 30, 2011, Day 49 - 51, San Pedro Tapanatepec, San Cristabol

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DAY 49 – San Pedro Tapanatepec, Temp 32C down to 20C (450/8375km)

An 11 am start and down Ruta 200 sort of along the coast even though you don’t get to see much of the ocean until Salina Cruz and that’s only for a fleeting minute or two. PTO Escondido to Santa Cruz Huatuico, sweeps, tight shoulders, wide cornering trucks and lots of little towns with some jungle and river views. C7R5T4V6

Lunch spot on the way and David's
Monster BMW GS 1200

“Oatmeal curves” was the new word created by my new riding buddy David Fait out of Phoenix, Arizona. Pebbly corners that would be better if they were smoother.

On from there to Salina Cruz (Mexico`s Oil and Gas Port), nice road with some ocean views. C4/5R7/8T3V6/7.

Mexican Condos on the side of the
highway in the middle of nowhere

Just before Salina Cruz you can see the ocean
and Oil Rigs.

Cab drivers waiting around
on a hill side

Lined up trucks to get oil to the masses

Ranchers station

And then there was WIND! I guess it’s better to not know that you will be going through a Wind farm for about 60km before you start your day. At least it wasn’t raining and the views to me of windmills and mountains are spectacular. C4/5R6/7T3V7.

Windmills after passing Salina Cruz

Wind Mills means side leaning

Beautiful cloud capped mountains in the distance,
tomorrow`s destination.

Sunset on the road in to San Pedro

Stayed in San Pedro Tapanatepec at La Ribena which was good value($12 each with hot water, cable TV, no WIFI).

DAY 50-51 – San Cristabol, Temp 20C-26C-8C night (250/8625km) $4999 mark!

What a day! Up the mountain to San Cristabol. First 40km once crossing the Chiapas border was perfect! Brand new pavement not even marked with lines yet (no photos as it was too fun)! 8R8T2V8

On to Cintalapa on basically a straight line still looking at great mountain backgrounds. C2R7T2V7.

Get off the road little dude

Vulture's Road kill Take Away

A not so common sight, but a good
reminder to ride during the day

Nice

Our free hwy crossing the pay hwy

After making one wrong turn in Tuxtla (1 million people more than I expected) we finally got back on track and headed up the twisty and intoxicating road to San Cristabol. Perfection for the eyes as we stretched through the mountains in to the high villages along the road side watching the daily activities as the people gathered wood and various other pieces needed to run their daily life. Could have stopped on this road all day, but San Cristabol was too close so we eventually made it to town. C7/8R6/7T2V9.

View of Tuxtla after climbing away from it

You can`t see from the angle, but on each side of that
road is at least 100m cliff.

Just great riding with a view

Dido

Cool looking town at the top of the
mountain, Navenchauc, just before
San Cristabol

Somewhere to San Cristabol

Enjoying the view

San Cristabol can be easier to get around, but not if you have a moto and want to stay in the centre with all the tourist action. Tight one way streets can develop a headache while trying to get your bike to a hotel you just passed, urgh. I think it was about 3 hours to figure out where and how to get to where we were trying to stay. Hotel Posada Jovel ($16 for a shabby room or $32 for one with the fixings and hot shower, one night of each for me). Regardless San Cristabol was cold and reminded me of cold nights in NZ minus the humidity. Oh, and the parking is two blocks away which I imagine is the norm for most hotels as the curbs are very high (flash floods) so it’s tough to get a bike in to the hotel anyway.

Traffic lights...

It’s a nice enough town with cobble stone streets, churches, and a decent restaurant and bar scene. For how touristy it is it really isn’t that expensive. Don’t go in the winter unless you like 26C in the day and 4 deg C at night with no heater.