Monday May 27, 2013
I had planned to leave Guanajuato Saturday morning. I packed, moved my things to the lobby, moved the bike to the street, and discovered that the battery was dead. Oh well.....get it out of the bike have it charged and I will be off by 11:00. I take the battery to a shop and have it charged but it is dead and will not charge. So I get the bike back in the lobby take my gear back up to my room and go shopping for a battery. It is Saturday afternoon and business are closing down for the weekend and it is becoming clear that there is not going to be a battery this size in Guanajuato and for the first time not speaking Spanish really is a problem.
Saturday evening I go to a restaurant that I like and sit with my laptop and post to two forums Horizons Unlimited and Adventure Riders about my problem and ask for suggestions hoping someone would help translate and help me find a battery. Sunday morning I had an email from a Mexican guy who was not in Mexico at the time but he suggested I post my problem on a Mexican forum with about 400 motorcyclist from all over Mexico. The forums name is Grupo Touaregs. He said many of the members speak english and he was also a member of the group. Well last evening my cell rang and a man who identified himself as Maroo offered to pick me up at my hotel in Guanajuato and drive me to Leon and find a battery and bring me back to Guanajuato. He had learned about my problem from a friend who had seen my post on Grupo Touaregs. At 9:00 this morning Maroo and Marlenne, Maroo's girlfriend, picked me up at the hotel. We dropped Marlenne at the University of Guanajuato and set off to Leon. We found a battery and returned at 3:00. I had a great day, Maroo showed me much of Leon and I have a new friend. One of his goals is to see Alaska, and when I told him that I had spent three months touring it on this same bike last summer he was hooked.
This was the first curve the Universe has thrown to me on this journey. I trust it will not be the last. This is one reason I find adventure travel so interesting…the people that are on the same path as I, the places I see, the difference in cultures, and maybe the most interesting is the fact that there is so little difference in people.
Tomorrow I will again attempt to depart Guanajuato. Until then here are some photos from the past few days.
It's parade time again....there have been parades almost every day this week, but this is Saturday and there are lots more people in the centro.
This band set up in the market and played for hours. This couple danced for hours.
My new friends Marlenne and Maroo.
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