Chihuahua, Mexico

I had read and been told a number of times to get out of the border town and once twenty or thirty kilometres into Mexico it was much safer. I rode through the border town of Ojinaga and decided on the Route 16 that had no tolls. I wasn’t really sure of the distance to Chihuahua city but I had been told that the toll roads add up and I was keen to get on a smaller road. It was already getting late in the afternoon and I assumed there would be some small towns along the way so off I went, found my way to the 16 and headed into the hills.

  I’ve never used couch-surfing.com before but decided to put up a profile and find someone to stay with, getting information about Copper Canyon. I made a request with one person and listed it to go to others in the area. Antonio replied and said he could help out. I contacted him by email and arranged to get there on Sunday afternoon. After my time at the border, it appeared to be less likely that I would arrive in Chihuahua city tonight. My US phone credit had expired, I had no Pesos, it was Sunday afternoon so I was unable to contact Antonio.

  The road rose quite steeply into the hills and the twisties started. The road was rougher than in the US 

and there were less barriers at the side of the road, making me ride with increased caution. Eventually I reached the summit and a huge circular valley opened up beneath me and the road continued around about half of the perimeter, dipping into part of the valley then rising again out of the other side. The scenery was stunning and I was enjoying Mexico from the first road.

  The road continued on and I rose further into another range and as I got higher the sun became lower. The land was sparsely vegetated dry desert and the last of the sun’s rays were throwing shadows and shading on the slopes of the hills. I wound around bends to the right and the left, thoroughly enjoying the ride and there was no other traffic on the road, making it more special. However the light was fading and I still did not know how far I had to go to get to Chihuahua. I rode through several more ridges and valleys and finally I came to some habitation in the form of a scattering of houses and a petrol station. 

  I needed to fuel up so I stopped and met some people, one of whom could speak English. He told me that it was only forty-five minutes to Chihuahua and if needed there was a closer town called Aldama, with hotels, but he suggested going on to Chihuahua.

  I took the advice but probably should have asked about accommodation nearby because ten minutes up the road was a sign saying 100kms to Aldama and 140kms to Chihuahua. There was another rise then a valley and that was largely the end of the twisty roads. In this section the straights were long, directly across the plateau, which was good because I could do a lot better time to my destination. The twilight was getting darker but it seemed to be lasting a long time. It wasn’t dark, but the sun had gone and it took a long time for the light to fade. In fact by the time I reached Aldama there was still enough light to find my way to one of the hotels, commonly known as a ‘love’ motel.

For $15 it was a bargain and had a comfortable bed, shower and no smoke detector, so I was able to light my stove inside, boil some water and have dinner. Ziggy had a carport with a heavy vinyl curtain to give her privacy. 

I had heard about these motels as a good cheap way to have secure parking for the bike. The TV had five channels, four of which were snowy, poor reception channels and the fifth was clear as anything…porn!

  Without Internet, I had no hope of contacting Antonio so I turned in straight after eating and slept my first night in Mexico.

The next morning was clear, chilly with blue skies. I only had forty kilometres to Chihuahua so once organized I rode west with the sun on my back. Troy from Texas had told me that every town has a centre plaza and it is a good strategy to ride into the centre where one could find banking, food, accommodation and more. I rode into the centre and missed the square and became caught up on some one way streets. I finally just stopped to look at maps and the only parking space was actually a taxi zone.

  A taxi driver walked up to me and I prepared to be told to move. Juan Antonio's face broke into a big smile.

‘Hello, where are your from?’

‘Australia. You speak English.’

‘Ah yes. From Australia. That’s great, what are you doing here?’

‘Travelling. I’ve just started a three year trip around the world.’

‘Around the world! All the way! How long have you been in Chihuahua?’

‘I just arrived and I need to find some coffee, Internet and a bank.’

  Juan Antonio showed me to a café not ten metres away, the 7.21 Café, and had a few words with the woman serving. She turned to me and asked in English what I wanted to drink and eat. She made the best cappuccino I had had since Australia. Hubby hogged the camera lens though

 Over the next three hours I found longer-term parking, ate, banked, bought a SIM card for my phone and did larger and larger circles away from the café to orient myself. Chihuahua isn’t a large city so it was easy to not get lost, and I found the main square! It is a modern city which seemed as western as anything in the US, but a bit Spanish as well.

I phoned Antonio and explained what had happened and a couple of hours later he was able to get away from work and meet me in the city. I followed him home, only about fifteen minutes in traffic, and pulled up next to him in the garage, as he closed the garage door behind us. At that point we had a chance to introduce each other properly and chatted briefly. He showed me inside and I was met with a beautiful smiling woman named Norelise, Antonio’s wife of two months. Norelise was beside herself with excitement and wanted to see the bike. We walked into the garage and I’m sure her jaw hit the ground. 

The next few hours was spent talking and getting to know each other. They were so welcoming and wanted to do everything for me. They brought me food and drink and asked all about where I had been and where I was going. There were a million questions. We connected immediately and with their fluent English the conversation went from travel to family to philosophy and more.