It was a beautiful day as we waved goodbye to our host Gabriela, her partner Ben having left earlier to teach a French class. We really enjoyed the time with them and were invited back to stay. Though tired from our late night at the cantina, the generosity and embrace by the locals we'd shared left us quite filled...
Adios Gaby!
Durango was our destination, this time taking the “cuota”, or tollway, in order to make time north. The high desert air was crisp despite the bright sunshine as the miles fell under our wheels.
Out of hunger and boredom, we stopped in Sain Alto for a butt break and some street food - always the best food btw - before pushing on for Durango under the descending sun.
Our adopted friends Fanda and Kaćka, whom I will from now on refer to as “the Glimmer Twins” because I’m tired of waiting for the "ć” to come up when typing, and also because they change their names in each country, had stayed in Durango a month earlier in the midst of the Pemex fuel hike protests. They were unable leave for a few days, due to the gas stations being shut down by protesters over the 30% jump in gasoline prices.
That price increase is noticeable ,compared to my previous trips. Typically Kim's 1200 costs about 300 pesos - roughly $15 US at the current 20 pesos per dollar rate - and the GSA closer to 550 pesos when empty. Other than gas, prices in Mexico are very cheap right now... Three street gorditas and a Coke are roughy 40 pesos which is about $2. Cokes, or a bottle of water, are roughly 8 pesos which is 40¢...
By the time we rolled into the big city, it was late in the day and hotter than hell. Being such a large town, I had no idea where are the main plaza was and couldn’t see any church towers, so I trusted my GPS to get us to "Durango Centro”. Of course that was foolish, and we ended up in a crappy neighborhood with nothing but endless, broken-down little casas after idling in traffic for what seemed like hours. We were crabby-ass beeotches, hot, tired, sick of smelling diesel and starving. A hamburguesa stand on a corner seemed an answer. We were the only patrons and of course they had music blaring intensely, in combination with some incredibly loud jackhammer compressor on the street. By the time we were finished we felt like we had the crap beat out of us.
The sun was setting but the heat was not. On my Google maps app I spotted what appeared to be a large park with a revolutionary sounding name so I figured that must be close to the center. We eventually made it through non-stop stop and go traffic, relieved to get off the bikes. The unfortunate thing was it was getting late and we had no hotel, an all too common experience...
As we sat on the bikes, Kim searching for hotels on her phone, an older couple walked quickly across the street to us. They did not speak English but made it very clear that they wanted to welcome us to Durango. It was a very nice gesture and their smiles and kindness lifted our spirits. As Kim continued her phone search, I walked through the large plaza and over towards the church looking for hotels. In this location I knew they'd be pricey, however, adjacent to the iglesia I found a nice hotel with a room rate of $20 for a couple. I asked about parking for the motos and the reception girl pointed to the interior lobby.
Feeling like a caveman who'd just killed a small dinosaur, I was excited to find Kim again. We fired up the bikes and rode a block or so, turning into the pedestrian area and riding to the hotel door. Though I’d read of it being common in foreign countries, it was kind of fun riding a motorcycle into the lobby of a nice hotel for the first time.
The hotel room was right on the front, facing the church with a good balcony and great view. It felt so good to cool off and chill out before heading out for an evening stroll. Kim did point out that we were now directly by the church’s bell tower and sleep might prove a challenge.
The plaza was a beehive of activity, some form of political protest or something was going on for hours on a loudspeaker. Due to the intensity of the orators, I wasn't sure if we would be witnessing another revolution in the plaza or if it was just a “whatever” moment. It's always interesting in Mexico. In any case, it would just be something to watch with a cerveza and a taco.
We decided an ice cream was a good solution to counteract the heat of the day, and managed to spend almost the same amount of money on two fancy ice cream cones as we did on the hotel room. Despite getting killed by tourist prices on the street, we enjoyed an evening stroll in the park and down the promenade. There was a street band playing for tips, doing an amazing job playing Beatles music with some Creedence Clearwater thrown in.
It turned out to be an evening we both enjoyed, compensating for the afternoon's brutal heat, traffic and fatigue. We were also quite pleased to find out that the church bells stopped ringing at seven. Woo hoo!
