September 23rd Zacatecas to Guadalajara

Isn't life funny, I should have guessed that the Hotel Paradiso was not what  it's name suggest, but the fruit they left me and the price of the room I feel guilty being critical of them. I wasn't really being critical I just mentioned that the Wifi was poor and the TV reception also - apart from that the Hotel was fine - if you also forget the noise, but fine, oh and no air conditioning. But basically fine, I think you get my drift. I stood in the car park loading my bike at took the above shot of Zacatecas. I did the WiFi was bad but the Hotel I am in now tops it - more of that later.
I thought today would be a lovely easy day, I was on the road by 10 and thought I'd be in Guadalajara by 2pm. Why I wasn't was difficult to fathom. Oh my first stop after 20 miles to buy a biscuit and hot chocolate - it was surprisingly cold in these parts 20 degrees. I topped up with petrol, which didn't take much as I emptied the petrol from my US petrol container the  night before - It was brilliant can't wait to show it off to other gadget freaks. It has a pump action, so when turned upside down and pushed hard against the tank filler rim, it empties immediately - no pouring needed. The second stop was totally unscripted and took me by surprise.
Along the motorways you often pass through Police Checkpoints, (I think every State has one). As I'd passed through quite a few and never seen anyone stopped I thought they were merely for show and just meant jobs for the boys. As I entered the State of Jalisco driving slowly through the checkpoint the officer waved me on, so I started to accelerate, but out of the corner of my eye another officer made the same gesture. I thought, what lovely friendly coppers, you wouldn't get that back home, when I heard loud voices from beyond, that definitely sounded like a command. I pulled into the very last bay, of which there were many, and saw a policeman running from some distance towards me. He was obviously sent to deal with me because he was the fittest and youngest - the others made me look slim and not bad for my age. He jabbered at me in Spanish and I replied with my stock phrase 'No hablo Espanol, hablo un poco . There was a look of contempt and frustration on his face that said 'What are you doing here if you can't speak Spanish?' He asked me where I was going, which between us we made sense of, where I was from - which he didn't make sense of (I think he thought it was a US State - might be if Trump gets elected!) and because he felt he needed to gain authority and control (which he definitely was losing) he asked to see  my drivers licence. Now my actual licence is hidden under my bike seat and I really didn't want to be unpacking all that - so I went to a more accessible place where my £5 Post Office supplied International Licence was kept. I showed him this then there was a smile on his face, he recognised the name of the issuing authority based in London. 'Are you from London?' he asked, now I know he wanted me to say yes and I knew if I said Cornwall we'd go back to the frustrated and  contemptuous face, which I didn't want. So I gambled and replied 'Yes, nearby' knowing that he probably wouldn't get 'nearby'. 'Ok' he said and this time gave me a more assertive hand gesture which I took to mean you can go. i accelerated cautiously and slowly, half expecting to be called back any moment - but he didn't. Thanks Kid!
 The rest of the journey through this very European looking countryside was uneventful. For the first time this country didn't feel alien. There were fields with cattle and crops growing in well managed pastures. The area was green and reminded me of the small farms you get in parts of southern France. The European theme continued as I entered Guadalajara, the City is massive and cars are bumper to bumper moving very slowly through congested roads. I could have been in Madrid, Athens or Rome, it had that feel - though the drivers are much more disciplined and have greater self control than drivers in these places. The last 10km to the hotel took an eternity.  I found the hotel relatively easily and was ensconced by 4pm in the room and set about my daily ritual - shower/wash clothes, hang up and start recharging the devices and checking emails. Well, in order to write this blog I am sat in the doorway with iPad perched on a clothes drier facing in the best possible place to pick up a signal - to give you some ideas how bad it is, the two small pictures above took 40 minutes!!
An after thought, there may be a theme developing in my choice of hotels, while writing this blog I was literally shaken from the noise coming from outside - My first thought was, 'It's one of those bloody volcanoes'. I ran to the window to find out and this is what I saw......

Look closely - Yes it is a Helicopter
(This took 5 minutes to download - though I was hanging out of the third floor window on the landing!!
Sweet dreams to all those night Owls and Good morning to the Larks, I'm off for food