Blending in with the locals

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When I finally got off the bike at the hotel in Tampico, I was on the verge of dehydration and drenched in sweat. The temperature had been in the high 30's since my departure from La Pesca at 8 AM.

I refuse to ride without my gear on so I am quite an oddity out here. I will admit that when riding to dinner or somewhere local, I refrain from wearing my riding gear (other than my helmet of course which is always on my head). After I got checked in, I quickly removed heavy jacket and riding pants and headed straight for the pool. I then got myself a drink and retired to the room to catch up on my email, etc. As I lay in the comfort of my air conditionned room, I looked over the room service menu and considered staying in. But I quickly grew a pair and perused my Lonely Planet guide for a restaurant recommendation. Now Tampico is a pretty populous city, it has Mickey D's, Burger King, Subway, Applebee's, TGI Friday's and a Walmart owned restaurant chain called VIP's (oh yeah, a Walmart too). I would have felt like quite the fraud had I given in to one of those choices. Furthermore, they are all on the main drag on the edge of town.

To avoid dissapointing myself, I chose correctly and rode the bike into the city centre to find Restaurante Elite, as per the guide book. The GPS got me there but seems blissfully unaware that the city is full of one way streets. Garmin also never got the memo on a number of pedestrian only streets. Nonetheless, I found it and found an indoor pay parking lot with a burly (by Mexican standards) security guard for $14 pesos and hour (just over a dollar). I first walked through the city's central square and then onto the pedestrian mall where I found my restaurant. I followed the guide's advice and ordered a local beef dish that was quite tasty. They must get a few travellers because the waitress didn't even bat an eye at my crappy attempt at Spanish.

After my meal, I walked around the area for a bit, the square was bussling with people, vendors, shoe shine boys and old men who I presume were gawking at the school girls in their uniforms... Just telling it like it is. Years of wearing a uniform have left me somewhat unaffected by the stares of others, but even I couldn't ignore the fact that I was the only person (a) over 5' 11" in height and (b) of pale white complexion who spoke very little Spanish. Needless to say I made an impact with Tampicans who happened to be downtown that day. I am also getting lots of looks while on the bike (geez, I wonder why) and get a sense that people are curious but too shy or polite to ask me anything.

I retrieved the bike from the parkade in exchange for 21 pesos and intended on riding to El Walmart, just to say I did. But the sky was menacing and the wind was picking up and I had no desire to get caught in a storm.

I headed back to the hotel and sat under an umbrella by the pool which is where I find myself now.

As a side note, I forgot to mention in my previous entry that while driving to Tampico I happened to pass a Suzuki Swift with Ontario plates. Being starved for conversation consisting of complete sentences, I pointed at the Maple Leaf on the back of my helmet (this was met with a thumbs up from the driver) and signalled for the car to follow me into a parking lot (this was met with compliance). The couple, from T.O., were driving to Oaxaca, south of Mexico city, where they will live for 6 months. Although they had been to Mexico before, they had never driven there and were finding the experience quite entertaining.

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Comments

[Shelley]

Great photos and entertaining story Pat! It makes me want to head out of town and hit the road! Oh well, my turn is coming soon! :-)

[Wolf]

The Snow's gone
Hi Pat, swing by our house on the way home and have a good soak in the hot tub. You'll need it by the time you come across the border and enter the frozen waste land of the north.