So after cruising past convoy after convoy of military trucks, I finally arrive in Patzcuaro. I find the hotel easily and pull up in front, shut off the engine, and through the ear plugs faintly hear something is not right. I look down and el Churro is pissing on my leg (Problem #6). Now, at first I think my battery has exploded and it is acid as it is coming from the same location, so jump off the bike expecting el Churro to go up in flames.
I eventually realize it is coolant so pull one bag off out of the way, and see a woman watching from my hotel, Hotel San Pablo. I explain I already have a reservation, which probably disappoints her as she thinks she has another guest due to my predicament, as the hotel is empty since tourists don’t show up for a few more days. I ignore the mess and check in, figuring I am here for a few days I will figure it out later, I need to walk round and find some food, obviously. The hotel didn’t have parking, so maybe el Churro was just trying to look undesirable to any would be thieves knowing he would be in that spot for the next several days. Now I have made this comment before, but parking in the street is never encouraged, and there are parking garages all over Patzcuaro, so be better than me and park in the garage. Ultimately el Churro was fine, and he kind of had both my hotel, and the hotel across the street watching him, but I am sure when they said they would watch it they just meant they would be sleeping with the door/window shut oblivious to any potential theft going on outside.
I paid something like 75 a night in a hotel that usually charges 10-30USD, and the internet was atrocious, but the location is great. Luckily I didn’t come for the internet, and find Patzcuaro to be very nice, and the locals were extremely friendly. I arrived a few days prior to dia de muertos, where most seem to come the day of, and leave the next day. I stayed a few days after as well, and enjoyed seeing the town prep for the party, the chaos that ensued, and then see it return to normal life on the lake, as opposed to just rushing in and out.
When I finally work on el Churro I make all kinds of friends, it is always hard to pull out a tool and fix him without the distractions and conversations. This time it is an hour from putting my tool set on the ground, until I actually crack the 1st bolt as a guy started talking to me about el Churro. This guy was 34, had been working in Cancun for a year protecting the tortoise eggs, which I respect. He mentions how they stayed on an isolated beach for two weeks at a time, and had to fish for their own food. They would have enough water for the project, but always ran out of food early on, and it was miserable. But he understood the importance of his job, and seemed to enjoy his time there. Now he was traveling Mexico, and at 1 point lost his phone and wallet. Then days later he lost his backpack…he was really travelling light now, I was a bit jealous. He had to get by from strangers mostly, yet never asked me for money, he just wanted to talk. I did offer my spare moto gloves since it is cold there at night, but he wouldn’t take them. I think he thought they were my only pair, and I didn’t mind as I want to give them to a motorcyclist to protect their hands anyway. Others stop and go during this time, but eventually I look over el Churro and replace the lost coolant. The problem is not immediately evident, I will need to dig further at a later time. It could be a broken thermostat, radiator cap, air in the system, broken fan/thermo switch, and even an issue with the water pump, the list goes on. Oh well, we will just leave you on the street, if someone steals you I don’t have to fix you, that is what you get for acting up like this Churro.
As dia de muertos rolls around, the town fills up, and the main roads are just a parade of 1 car after another inching along as they enter town. Many streets in town do not allow street parking, so it must take them forever to get settled in. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for the actual celebrations, the main attraction being isla Janitzio, and the cemetery on the island. THOUSANDS take the boats over, and I read of people queuing for hours late the next morning, like 4am late, just to get back which does not sound like fun to me. The people believe that on this day the dead come back to visit, as it is the easiest time for them to return from their world to this world, or something like that I never claimed to be an expert. They decorate the graves of their loved ones with flowers, provide fruits and snacks, and some drinks, including beers for when they arrive from the long journey. Now if any of you A-holes leave me fruits and veggies I will haunt you in your sleep, I want to see donuts, and pizza slices hanging from my grave. Anyway it is a festive time rather than a time of mourning, as they see this all as the continuation of life rather than it ending with death. I decide I need to see it, so walk over to the boats which takes about 40 minutes leisure pace from the hotel, cutting down random streets rather than talking the main road which has a nice sidewalk so no reason for others not to go that route. I get there around 4pm which I think is early. I am not sure what it will be like but know people don’t really start going until nighttime, as the party probably doesn’t take off until 10pm or later. I plan on leaving at 8 if it gets crazy, but wanted to see it after dark. My god I sound like a 70 year old man, just complaining and avoiding everyone.
At the ticket booth, they tell me that I can’t get off the boat today, tomorrow I can come back and get on the island with a new ticket, but not today, that would be unsafe due to covid. I guess like the tourists, covid is also only here for the day, and tomorrow it moves on. I skip buying the ticket which is 100 pesos today, and the same price the next day when I can actually get off the boat and explore. Seems like you should give the people a discount so there is incentive to take the boat ride when everyone is here in town, but not my problem. I am not upset about not seeing the island, when life gives you lemons, buy a torta! I then head back to the celebrations in town, where everyone is out having fun and kids are dressed in their Halloween costumes, but aside from the mass of people you wouldn’t even know it was dia de muertos in town itself. I think about riding out around the lake as the small towns may still be doing their celebrations, but also think the masses might have the same plan, and don’t want to be sitting in traffic with el Churros current problems.
So we wait a day or two, and then take off around the lake. It’s a nice easy drive, though I am often met with cows in the road. There was also guy ridding with precision despite having the most crocked rim I have ever seen, but overall it was just a loop around a nice lake. You do get lake views at times, but the majority of it is more the immediate surrounding area, which is still interesting. I did ride around some of the small random pueblos, several times following a paved road to find it dead end as a driveway. I do the same in San Jerónimo Purenchécuaro which was large compared with the other pueblos, but didn’t have anything going on so then make my way to Quiroga, which was full of people and movement. El Churro and I cruise down the main drag, but traffic is heavy, so I watch the needle climb closer to red on the gauge as he is starting to get to hot. We pass a bunch of food venders, this place looks pretty awesome, but with the heavy traffic and Churro getting hot I decide it is not the best idea. continue on and look for a place to pull off, but it’s packed everywhere. I finally turn down another busy street and pull over for 10 minutes to let him cool down. At this point I am pretty warm as well, and have all my moto gear on so decide it is to far to walk to whatever those booths were.
Once el Churro had calmed down we proceeded to make our way home following the lake to the next pueblo, Tzintzuntzan. It is here due to the traffic that el Churro decides to overheat again. This time I park by a guy making food, I don’t make the same mistakes twice. I order up a couple delicious seafood tortas, and quickly order up another two. Its getting close to dark now so I jump on Churro to head home, but 500 feet later I find the local cemetery, all done up with the flowers and enough people around where I decided to stop and check it out. Now, for those who have followed my blog for awhile, I have made comments about how I look Mexican, or blend in with the people…it should be obvious this is sarcastic. So here I am standing in a cemetery looking like a storm trooper with long ass rockstar hair and motocross boots. And if you didn’t know, many of the graves here are just mounds of dirt….so watch your step! As the cemetery is divided by the road, I can hear a band on the other side celebrating, or maybe practicing for the upcoming football game. There were a small number of people on my side, and a few kids coming around asking for money, and giving the spiel on whatever happened there in the town, as it has some ruins which I did not visit. Walking around a graveyard in a foreign country taking pics as the only gringo, in all the gear is strange, but there were enough Mexican tourists were it really didn’t feel like a big deal, as weird as it all is.
I wait a couple days to make sure covid really left, that sneaky bastard, and after an easy hike up the nearby mountain for an aerial view of Patzcuaro and the lake, I make my way back to the torta lady, I mean the boats. There is hardly anyone around, and I need to wait on the boat for more people which is great, as I can buy some ice cream snack to wash down the torta. Eventually the boat is full enough for us to leave, and we finally make our way to the island. The guy cranks on some fantastic tunes, and I wonder why we sat in silence for the 30 or so minutes before departure, but realize it would probably have killed his battery. Worth it my man, these tunes rock.
About 3/4 of the way across the lake the driver gets up and starts looking at the rear of the boat, sits down, gets up, starts grinding gears with his shifter thingy….yes, something is happening, I love when this happens. He shuts off the motor, turns it back on, grinds some more gears, but it doesn’t seem to be working so he shuts it down. I am sure I am the only one on the boat who is excited for this break down, we may not make it to the island, but here is some adventure! I am about to offer up my services, sir I am an expert at breakdowns…when another boat comes to save us, yay! They exchange a few words, probably sees me and decides we are not worth saving so pulls away, boooo. Eventually the captain gets it running again, and we finally arrive on isla Janitzio.
There is a main path up the island which is full of vendors selling their crap, they must have lost a ton of money this year from the closing of the island. Once you get through the calle of crap you arrive at the top where they charge you a small fee to enter the plaza, which also includes admission up the statue. I wouldn’t originally have gone up as the queue gets huge, but there is no one up here aside from 2 other tourists, and a bunch of local kids playing, so up I go. It’s a decent view, and I head back down buying some delicious treats and a peace offering for el Churro along my return on the calle of crap. I have said it elsewhere, but el Churro is still a wild steed which needs to be tamed. Maybe now he will start behaving.
This table was LEVEL
Keep acting up Churro, I have options
