Liu's Motorcycle Diaries: Mahahual to Playa del Carmen

Not only were we saddened by the fact that we had to leave the beach, but we were dreading getting back on the bike in the heat by the time we checked out this morning. Nevertheless, we had a schedule to keep and that included dropping off the bike at a storage unit in Playa today. We decided a few weeks earlier that since we only had two months left of full time employment, and we had reached the bottom of Mexico, we would park the bike until we were ready to leave for our trip full time in July. This was kind of a bummer for us, but we knew that time would fly by and we'd be back before we knew it in July.

We drove back the same way we came down (since there is only one route to take) and this time stopped for lunch in Tulum. We hadn't had food in Tulum yet since 4 years ago, and were shocked to see some of the prices on the menu's. We chose a lunch special that came to about $3 something per person, and made it inside the restaurant just in time to avoid a light sun shower.

Saying goodbye to the beach..

After lunch we stopped by Riviera Maya storage in PDC to make sure it was a place we would feel comfortable leaving our bike. It was off the highway and on a wide, dusty piece of property, so we were questionable about its safety. However, we met with Ted, the owner, and he assured us the bike would be just fine in the back. He showed us where the bike would be stored and the security around the lot. Actually, another BMW same year and type as ours had been parked there for some time as well. We made plans with Ted to store the bike for two months, paid him, and scheduled a pick up at our hotel later that afternoon. We were going to come back to leave it there after dropping off and organizing luggage, but Ted was going to PDC with his truck anyway.

We checked into our hotel, showered after a long, sweaty day, organized our luggage, leaving behind things we didn't need for 2 months and packing things we did need to take home. Ted showed up about 2 hours later with a pick up truck and two small ramps and told us to drive it on up. We were a bit discouraged since we both had never driven up a skinny ramp before, but somehow, we got the bike up. Eric walked the bike up on the left side of the ramp while the bike was driven up the right. Ted stood behind the bike pushing, while I turned the throttle for gas on the right. Eric and I had little faith that the bike would make it up without falling, but again, somehow, it made it.

Room

The ramps (remember Eric walks left, bike rides right, I turn gas to the right, and Ted walks the bike up from behind). Total redneck fashion.

We waved goodbye to our bike and promised to see it again in 2 months.

As it was our last night in Mexico for a while, we decided to go out to eat, and then to a popular bar afterwards. We ate fish tacos and fried shrimp at a very reasonably priced beach side eatery, and then had a drink at Fusion, a beach side bar which had a band going and later a fire/dance show.