June 10th, 2009 I

I left the house all packed... The Black Pearl packed with Tent, Sleeping bag, 2 Gas canisters, Clothing and all the necessary gadgets... My friend Erick Flores accompanied me out of the city on his 350cc Royal Enfield, to the nearest town close to Tlajomulco de Zuñiga.

It was a wonderful day to begin the trip, the first rain of the season had just hit the night before.. On the way out of the city my friend Erick had an accident, it turns out that at one of the down hill curves was loose dirt. I made the turn first, Erick following right behind then just when I looked at my side mirror all I saw was a cloud of dust and Erick sliding towards the edge of the curve on his back...

I pulled over right away and luckyly his motorcycle hit a small mountain of dirt which prevented them both from falling over into a small cliff... His motorcycle just suffered minor scratches, as for Erick his pants tore and left hand glove ended up with a hole in it... We were shaken by the accident, relaxed a bit and then laughed about it...

It always helps to laugh a bit after you had an accident I think. At this point we decided that it was better for Erick to head back to Guadalajara and I should continue with my Journey...

I have to admit this was a sad moment leaving a great friend behind...