Richard and Fricka: Day 6 Heroíca Cárdenas

I went to sleep with the accpetance of having lost my gps but thankful I was in one piece and Fricka was in good condition. Chalk it up to the hazards of travel, remember: never bring something you are not prepared to lose.

While prepping my bike what do I find? My gps lodged between the right cylinder head and the fairing. Who knows how long it had been there but that is a very hot part of the bike and there was barely a scratch on the cover. I must give a huge endorsement to the Garmin 60 cx.

What a great way to start the day! With my gps in hand I rigged up a new system to make sure this whole problem did not happen again.

I had already mapped out my route on paper so I headed off to Villahermosa to go through Frontera to the coast. I was so exicted that I go though a few hours of driving and realized I really should find something to eat. Saw an interesting place just east of Frontera and pulled in.

all for 40 pesos, less than 4 dollars

Refueled and ready to go I stopped off at the Pemex a kilometer or so down the road to do the same for Fricka and we were off.

The state of Tabasco is known as "El eden de Mexico" and you can tell why. It is a richly fertile place that is quite beautiful.

I was quickly out of eden and onto the beach, the state of Campeche. My first stop, La Isla del Carmen.

While sitting in traffic I hear someone yell "Bien viaje" I look over and see a man with what appears to be his wife and two kids in a silver nissan 4 door sedan looking at me smiling. I respond "si, tus pais es muy bonita". From my bad accent he responded, "do you speak Engilsh?". I said yes and we chatted a bit waiting for the light to turn green, turned out we were heading in the same direction, toward Merida. He mentioned he had a motorcycle as well and complemented Fricka's looks (she gets all the attention). As the light turned we bid a farewell and I zipped off.

At the toll booth exiting the island to the east guess who comes up behind me? That same guy I talked to earlier. He asked if I was hungary, I had eaten a few hours ago but was ok. He was a bit insitent and brought up seafood so my ears perked a bit. I asked him if he knew of any good places around here. He wasn't sure so I let him pull ahead of me to ask the man in the toll booth. We met up on the other side of the tolls and he said "follow me", so I did.

We ended up at Resaurante Marin right next to the beach.

I quickly got the feeling that I was going to be his guess but just in case I wasn't, and partly because I thought I was, I ordered one of the cheapest things on the menu, cerviche.

Jugo de Jamaica is the drink

Turns out the man's name is Mariano, he works repairing oil rigs, and is currently working out of a port in Tampico. He was down this way to take one of his sons to a hospital as he wanted to become a doctor, the other wanted to become a pilot (which Mariano prodded him for as being a "lazy" profession). We had a great time over food and drink just chatting about life, hopes, and dreams. I got his email afterwards and we have continued to keep in touch.

I continued up the coast hoping to find a hotel south of Campeche but had no luck. In Campeche they have a lot of what we consider "cheaper" hotels, Best Western, Holiday Inn, etc., along the coast and they charge the prices for it. Being the aimless wanderer I am I started picking random streets to drive down in search of a hotel. I ended up finding a great spot at Hotel Ideal, cheap, secure for Fricka, and pretty nice amenities.