Smoke

Today was SMOKEY! The people here burn their trash on the sides of the roads, in the street and anywhere it collects. It is sad for me to see the earth treated this way. Of course, the smoke is highly toxic as there is burning plastic and whatever else in the fire. I’ve been holding my breath as I travel past the smoke.

Jay and I are in the Peurto Escondido area. We’re actually around 200 Kilometers west of there. This area has a population with an African heritage. Apparently, escaped slaves moved here a long time ago. There is also story about a wrecked ship that left some African people here.

We’re moving in and out of jungle and desert now. There seem to be more burros and horses on the sides of the road, but they seem to do a good job of keeping in the grass.
Jay and I are exclusively traveling through. Our typical day consist of getting up before dawn and leaving at the first light. We then eat one meal during the day. When the shadows get long, we find a cheap hotel. Once we get set up in the hotel we go out and find dinner somewhere. Then after dinner we write our journal entries, update our blogs and check our e-mail.

We typically fill up the motorcycles with gas about 3 times a day, though we only use about one and a half tanks. We never know when the next gas station will be so we tend to fill up every 100 miles. We’re averaging 300 miles on these roads. When we were on the toll roads, we were averaging 400 miles or more. We’ve been passing many old vehicles, trucks, scooters etc. And of course we’ve been passed by those zealous speed demons. All in all, Mexican drivers seem fairly courteous, and there have been a few dangerous and rude drivers.