December 15th 2023 – Durango, Mexico

Darkness settled over Batopilas on our last night in town when the locals started to gather in the central square. We noticed that several of the small shops closed early. It turned out that everyone was preparing for a parade to arrive. From what we understood it was something related to Christmas.

It was well into the evening before the sound of car horns honking announced the arrival of the anticipated parade. It consisted of all kinds of decorated vehicles packed with festive people.
Food stalls were erected while a service was performed in the church. It seemed like the whole town participated in the festivities. The reveling continued late into the night.

I went to pay Juanita in the morning. She had previously told me I could use my credit card. It turned out that what she meant was that I could do a card transfer. It turned out that none of my 4 banks allowed card transfers to Mexican credit cards. She then provided me with an account number so that I could do a bank transfer instead. All well and good except that all she had for me was a blank stare when I asked for a BIC/SWIFT number. I ended up having to deplete my cash stash to pay the bill.

Eventually we took our leave and followed the river out of town, retracing our steps from a few days earlier.
It took the better part of 2 hours to climb out of the canyon.
We traveled at altitude through the mountains all afternoon.

30 kilometers before reaching Guachochi we pulled over at a cliffside shrine to have a closer look.
A scrawny puppy greeted us cautiously. When it realized that we didn’t mean it any harm it pressed up against us desperate for company and physical contact.
The poor dog  was obviously close to starvation. We had nothing to feed it. I created a bowl from a coke bottle and poured some water from my camelbak. It greedily drank everything I got.
It was heartbreaking to leave it to an almost certain death, but we didn’t see any other options – we couldn’t bring it with us on the bikes and even if we could – where should we take it?
It was a harsh reminder of how you sometimes have to make a stone of your heart and accept your role as an observer when you travel far from home.
Katrine was on the brink of tears for the remainder of the day and I don’t think either of us will ever forget the encounter.

What we have taken away from the experience is that we now always bring dog food. If we ever meet another starving dog under similar circumstances we can at least allow it to feel full one last time – and maybe buy it time for the right people to save it.

In Guachochi we stop at a couple of hotels before finding one to our liking.

Again I ran into payment issues. The place didn’t accept credit cards. The owner suggested card or bank transfer – again I was met with an empty stare when I mentioned BIC/SWIFT. In the end we had to find an ATM and get cash. The ATM charged an exorbitant fee to hand over any money.
It’s now on my shortlist to figure out how to best/cheapest go about spending money in Mexico – credit cards are not to much use outside the bigger towns/touristic areas.

Our hotel was located opposite the church on main street. The town was dressed up for Christmas and all around us people prepared for something.
Singing voices, accompanied by church bells and fireworks, flowed from the church  while food stalls were set up all along the main street. It turned out that we had arrived at another Christmas celebration.
The balcony at our hotel provided us with front row seats as a parade of traditionally clad dancers came up the main street.
A couple of local drunks joined the proceedings. Especially one of the drunks appeared to be a royal pain in the ass – bumping into the girls dancing and slapping at them with a leather belt. It puzzled me that no one intervened. That was until a pistol dropped from his back pocket. A sharp reminder that you have to tread carefully when on foreign turf.

Back at altitude we woke to a cold morning. Perfect weather for an early walk to the nearby waterfalls.
We picked up warm homemade burritos for breakfast at a small grocery store. They were rather spicy and good at fighting off the chill.

For some reason I didn’t have high expectations for the day’s stage?
I was about as wrong as could be.
The roads were fun to ride and we were introduced to some of the most impressive vistas on the journey so far.

At one point while taking a break 3 gentlemen, who turned out to be son, father and grandfather, came up to us to chat. They owned a nearby ranch and looked the part. We had a long chat about bikes, dreams, cattle and drought. By the end of the conversation we received their contact info with stern instructions to reach out if we ever needed any kind of help while in Mexico.

I had similar low expectations to Hidalgo Del Parral where we had decided to spend the night. Towns with accommodation are few and far between in this part of the country. To me Parral was just a dot on the map at an appropriate location. Again I was in for a pleasant surprise.
iOverlander guided us to a hotel smack downtown with secure parking – and I mean secure like a courtyard with 5 meter high walls crowned with broken glass and a locked solid steel gate.
Parral turned out to be a bustling but charming old town. We strolled around taking in the atmosphere.

At the square, by the equestrian statue of General Pancho Villa, a local dance school was preparing a Fandango show. After a closer look at the largest bronze sculpture in the world we took a seat and watched the dance show. It was good entertainment.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped by what should be the best taco shop in town.
Everything looked good and the quesicarnes didn’t disappoint.
The guy taking our order turned out to be the owner of the business. We started talking. He planned on taking his family to Europe in 2025 and had a lot of questions. When we were ready to leave he refused to receive payment for food and drinks. Instead he provided us with his contact info and a sincere request for us to get in contact if we ever needed any kind of assistance while in Mexico.

Back at the hotel Katrine hit the sack.
There was no heating in our room so I settled down in the hotel lobby next to the woodstove to edit pictures and write my journal. Everyone coming and going greeted me politely.

At one point 2 gentlemen initiated a conversation. The young man (my age) was the stereotype of a weathered cowboy. He had recently returned to Mexico after having worked as a cowboy in California for 35 years. The older gentleman was his new boss – a local ranch owner. The latter was very interesting in my story. By the end of our conversation I received an invitation to come stay at his ranch (mi casa su casa) and his phone number with instructions to call him if Katrine and I needed any kind of help while in Mexico.
We had made plans for the coming days, so the invitation will have to wait for now.

By long last we experienced a somewhat boring riding day.
We left Parral early. After about an hour’s ride on curvy roads through hilly farmland, we hit a section of Fed. 25 that is arrow straight for almost 100 km. Perfect conditions for listening to podcasts.
The riding became more interesting as we drew near to Durango. All day was spent between 1.500 and 2.000 meters altitude. It never got really warm.

We had booked an apartment for 3 nights in Durango. I had found it at booking.com It was the cheapest and one of best rated places in the city. Nice combo. Luckily it turned out to have earned the raving reviews fair and square. It’s a super comfortable small apartment in a 1 year old building situated in a nice neighborhood.. Everything is good quality and very functional. Some of the facility highlights are private parking, a fully equipped kitchen, free (good) coffee and  free laundry. We live on the 3rd floor with access to a rooftop lounge with BBQ and a view over the city. All of this for less than US$ 35. Beat that Motel 6.

Before we covered the bikes I checked the engine oil. Mine hasn’t been using any oil since the rebuild in Colorado and runs better than ever. Katrine’s also runs great but since the last oil change it has been using some oil. No oil in the airbox luckily, so it most likely burn it. There is no reason for concern just yet, but it’s something to keep an eye on…

With the bikes tucked away we went shopping, to fill up the fridge for the next 3 days. We have mostly stayed “home” and sorted out practical stuff. Katrine has been busy with finding a place for us to improve our language skills. We have now signed up for an Intensive Immersion Spanish Program in Guadalajara between Christmas and New Year. We have rented a room near the school and are looking forward to having a long term base during the holidays.

We have also found time to explore the neighborhood and visit the rather impressive local gym.