Bisbee, Arizona to Banamichi, Mexico

We took a longer (but flatter) route from Sierra Vista, AZ to Bisbee, AZ where we spent a couple days resting and prepping for our venture into Mexico. Andy got his bike needs met (a new rack was delivered via air mail to the historic Copper Queen Hotel) and we got to camp in a gulch outside of town. In Bisbee, a historic artist community, we dined at Dot's Diner where we met Charlie - a pie chef extrodinare and avid (retired?) cyclist who crossed the United States twice. A wonderfully engaging time was spent with this tall libertarian who detested corn syrup and had squatted in the desert for 7 years before the city bulldozed his abode. We got a late start on our intended departure, so we waited another day and crashed at Charlie's.

The following morning we sped down the mountain from Bisbee, around the lavender pit mine and down into Naco, where we crossed the international border that has the distinction of marking the largest income disparity among any two neighboring nations in the world. There was no hastle to speak of at the border, besides having to find someone to give us our visas then having to find a bank to pay the $21 fee, then returning to get a stamp. We changed our monies, purchased phone cards and headed out down the freeway toward Cananea. We almost made it as far, despite the enormous trucks that occasionally didn't give us quite enough room. We had some adrenaline pumping moments riding the very last inch of pavement between a speeding semi and a large ditch. Alas, it was getting late as we approached Cananea, and we decided instead to inquire about camping at a farm we were passing. The farm was actually part of an Ejido named after Emiliano Zapata, a very important anarchist figure in the Mexican Revolution. We were greeted with some dismay and much hospitality. We described our intention of biking south and asked if there was a place we could camp. The offered up a palapa (pagoda?) which served us well. We wanted to boil some water for dinner, so they started a fire in the barbecue in the palapa using (to much dismay and protest on my part) plastic bottles to get it going. The younger farmworkers and a cousin who worked in the mines of Cananea hung around, played Frisbee with us and hung around some more. We're quite the attraction here.

We left the next morning to get on the Sonoran River route which we will take for the next two weeks or so. This road is amazing! Few vehicles pass through, the pavement is good and the views breathtaking. This is a historic route as well, being a path which the colonial Spaniards took to spread their missions. We have visited many small colonial towns at this point and have found them to date from around 1640-1648.

We camped outside of Bacoachi after the best day of riding I've ever had (mostly downhill) and then went on toward Arizpe where we were faced with our first serious, sustained climb of the trip - El Puerto. The view from atop was incredible and the ride down was pure elation. We got into Arizpe late (what a climb!) and decided to spring for a hotel ($25 - not bad), a decision that turned out to be a great one for a few reasons. First, the shower was worth that much. Second, we got to spend our first Saturday night in Mexico visiting a historic plaza, less historic bars and even a Mexican Wedding. This was quite the party - the whole town was invited by the groom's father, and it seemed like everyone turned out. The band played super late and we had many many drunk old men talk to (at?) us in a super friendly and social manner, unfortunately we didn't get much attention from the ladies. Oh well...

Through the grapevine, I heard of some hotsprings just outside of town so we packed up our bikes despite our Tecate hangovers and rode a kilometer or two to the bridge and dirt road described to us by locals. We found the place eventually and were greeted by some suprised looking locals at a small house near the spring. They said it was fine if we wanted to camp in the canyon but didn't really understand why, it being a cow pasture and all... Well, I've camped in cow pastures before, but this one is beyond compare. The sonoran river valley was majestic, with cliffs and rock outcroppings full of pipe cactus towering above us. The hot spring was not really what we expected, but we enjoyed it none the less. There was no tub in which to soak! It was used as a shower. I spent some time clearing the drainage and scrubbing the tub, hoping to plug it up and soak, but the leaks were too much to fill it.

We spent an extra rest day in the canyon and then took off on a fast but challenging ride to Banamichi, where I sit in the most beautiful, artful, recycled hotel I've ever seen. A two night stay here was offered by Andy's father as he is friends with the owner and we are enjoying it thoroughly. Last night, Bill, the owner, had his doctor friends over for Tecates and we ended up having quite a blast and a taco eating competition ensued between Andy and one of the doctors. Luckily for Pxl, one of the guys, Carlos, is a dentist in Aconchi, our next stop, and he offered him quite a deal to fix his broken teeth. We'll be heading out to Aconchi tomorrow to have a real soak in some fantastic hotsprings (so we hear).

Check out the photos I uploaded to flickr.