First News From My Adventure

I love Mexico. There's something about this country that makes it rich, unique and absolutely fantastic. I can't really explain why, but this place is home to me.

After a short flight but a layover that took in excess of 8 hours, I boarded one last plane in Mexico for Mazatlan, late in the evening. Not sure when I would reach the seaside resort city, I decided that I would either spend one night there or hop straight on the bus to Los Mochis and sleep on the road. I'm cheap like that; traveling at night makes me save on hostel nightstays.

So I got to Mazatlan about 1:00 in the morning and headed straight for the bus terminal. Lucky strike; there was a bus leaving for Los Mochis 40 minutes later. Sweet! Paid my dues, left my gigantic backpack under the bus' belly and climbed aboard, to find an old mexican farmer half-slouched over my seat, snoring happily.

I somehow escaladed him and slithered through to my seat without touching him, which seemed to impress a mama sitting over on the other aisle with a baby on her lap. I grinned and winked, she smiled back.

Since my bus buddy was so comfy being all over the place, I thought he wouldn't mind if I used him as a pillow, so I layed against his shoulder and quickly fell asleep. What felt like 15 minutes later, I heard "something something pasajeros, something something Los Mochis". What?!? Already?

I jumped off the bus. It was dark. 6:15 am. I sat on a bench to try and recompose a little, just long enough to realize I'd just missed the Bahuichivo train, El Chepe, by 15 minutes. Bummer. Next one is Tuesday morning. Ah well.

So I found a little hotel in town that lets me stay for 25$ a night and I spend long days walking around the pretty bland town of Los Mochis. I guess I needed the rest, because after 24 hours of straight travel, I went to bed yesterday at 6:00pm for a nap... and woke up at 10:00 this morning!

So that's it for now, I'm just wondering around town, enjoying 1,70$ taco meals and fresh fruit. I'm also told they have awesome seafood in here, so I might just give that a try, too.

I don't know if I'll be able to keep you guys posted from the Canyons. But if I can find an Internet connection in Urique, I will.

Before I head out, I just wanted to tell you that relief efforts are well underway for our Raramuri friends. Aside from people like us who gathered donations for food, I heard that last year's CCUM champion Will Harlan and Caballo himself have started projects to build cisterns to gather water for the raramuri gardens, so that next time there's a drought, the impact won't be so dire. I can't wait to be there myself and lend a hand.

Until then, happy Monday!