In most years we haven't started riding until January because it's usually too hot inland. Not this year! Eric suggested a short ride to El Quelite for lunch.
First off we had to take an alternate route because the El Quelite bridge was washed out in August of 2021 by hurricane Nora. The small town of El Quelite also sustained damage. The new bridge is under construction and supposedly about 3/4 finished. It is part of an important north south route commonly called the free road in contrast to the toll road.
We had to take the grey route which Google maps show as taking only 6 minutes longer. Just above where it says 49 minutes we left the toll road on the detour which took us back to Marmol and then the free road and on to El Quelite. The detour road is not meant for the heavy traffic that has occurred over the last year and except for a few related areas is in terrible condition. Many, many potholes. Needless to say it was more than 6 minutes longer!!
Above you can see what happened to the bridge. Local people are driving through dry areas of the river to get south but not us on a motorcycle!
I did not take any pictures on the road as I was hanging on and lifting off the seat where necessary! When we arrived in El Quelite it was packed with tour buses and tourists which was not good for us. The street is rough cobblestones with a smooth center strip which we could not get to with all the traffic. The bike is heavy at 900 lbs and with me on the back and a slow speed Eric had his hands full. Very easy to drop the bike in those conditions. Once again too rough for pictures.
Here we have arrived at the very quiet Los Arrieos restaurant at the far end of town over a small bridge.
Parked.
We always eat here if we come to El Quelite. It is quiet and lovely outside. There are small motorcycles zipping by and the odd horse too.
They provide many extras here..tortilla chips, fresh cheeses, salsa and small round gorditas which are tortilla like with cheese. First we each had a cerveza and snacks and then we ordered lunch. The same waitress served us and she has been here for at least 10 years. She stands outside aways away in case you need anything.
Eric ordered camrones (shrimp) rancheros or in tomato with peppers. Refried beans and tortillas.
For me..tortilla soup.
When we finished eating the waitress brought us a small sweet pudding....again complimentary. Total bill including a 20% tip 400 pesos and well worth it.
A passing visitor in a hurry to get somewhere!
Very speedy and eating bugs as he went.
The restaurant. It is very large inside with many interesting features. At this point it was time to retrace our route. Luckily the main street had cleared out and was quiet. We got to go straight down the center where it's smooth. We got home about 2:30 and we were beat. A good but not very relaxing ride!
http://travelinginrvandlivinginlasvegas.blogspot.com/
That is the restaurant we had lunch in the very first time we went to ElQuelite. If memory serves and it not always does, their banos were most interesting to visit. I agree with you that Carol does great blogs on ElQuelite, Mazatlan and many of the small villages that surround Mazatlan.
ReplyDeleteHi..you're showing up as anonymous..who are you?
ReplyDeleteDo not know why I showed that way, Kathy. I put my name in but ????? Sorry.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding problems commenting on other blogs as well..let's blame blogger as I haven't changed anything. I just wondered because it sounded like someone I knew. Thanks for commenting!
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