Baja Mexico, Southern Mexico and Central America

[OceansHi]

I have continued my adventure which I call life. The motorcycle has allowed me to do this and Horizons Unlimited gives people like me a voice.

Last summer I started on a 18,000 mile (RT) from Seattle to Tierra del Fuego. This is not as loopy as it sounds as I have been doing things like this all my life. My first job after graduating from Albany Law School was to go to work on an oil well (BP #1 the discovery well ) in Prudhoe Bay Alaska. Then I was a Park Ranger in Mount McKinley National Park and finally a Legal Services Lawyer in Kodiak Alaska. I represented Aleut Indians in Fish Processing start ups (coops). After that I took a great interest in Mountaineering and got thoroughly educated in that field through the Seattle Mountaineers. That led to 15 years of really great climbing.

As time wore on my knees and such wore out and that led to my love affair with motorcycles and in particular duel sports (KILR 650s) to be more precise. Two summers ago I went to my 50th High School reunion in Rochester, New York and camped out most of the way. I liked this so much I thought I would go bigger in 2013 and hence the idea of Tierra del Fuego was hatched.

Well, I got as far as La Paz, Baja Sur, again camping out most of the time. Honestly, for me it was Nirvana. The sights and sounds of Baja are rugged beyond compare yet so beautiful. The problem was the heat. The summer before I traveled through Iowa and Nebraska. I was lucky to make 100 miles per day because of the heat and wind. But Baja way surpassed that. I concluded that I left in the wrong month, August. I should have waited until November. Anyway the heat was so bad that it about did me in. This all occurred in Baja Sur (South). So when I got to La Paz I decided to store the bike with a friend who understood. He is the amateur champ of the Baja 1000 motorcycle race. Well I then hopped a Ferry to Mazatlan and proceeded to Central Pacific Mexico where I spent about three weeks In a beautiful bungalow overlooking St Augustinillo Beach. The Bungalo is part of the Las Hamacas Resort run and owed by Ron Chauvin. Honestly one of the most beautiful beaches and settings in the world. My experience there would be worth a short story or two if I had the talents.

Next I bussed to Oaxaca the food capital of Mexico and rightly so. Rick Bayless of Chicago's Fontana Restaurant has put this place on the Mexican foodies map and he made the right choice especially if you are a carnivore. I might had it is also the center of the chocolate universe and you can even stay at the Chocolate Hotel for $20 per night. And there are so many other things you can do there.

Next I was on to San Cristobal de las Casas. This is where I earned my Jack London spurs. San Cristobal is like no other. The Music scene I think would put New Orleans to shame. Wonderful! Jazz, Rock, lounge and Latino. The problem was two guys tried to roll me as I left an ATM machine. Well they were not bigger than me so the game was on as was my voice. “AYUDA” is the one word that you must learn in Spanish. It means HELP! and I kept saying it over and over again and as loud as I could while at the same time trying to pound my way out of this predicament. It worked. I landed one punch on the little guy and that put him out of commission for about 5 minutes. They rest was holding on to my wallet until the cops arrived. I thought things were going to get better and I guess they did. The two guys lied and said I owed them money. Next we were taken to the local police station and the thieves repeated their assertions. Of course since I was an American the cops threw me in jail and that is where I spent the next six hours. I had forgotten one very important fact. Police expect you to pay for their service. So after investigating the case and determining I did no wrong the cops clanged on my jail cell and said we know you did nothing wrong so if you pay you can go. At this point I paid.

By the way Mexican jails are as dirty and as filthy as one might imagine.

Anyway not to be dissuaded I undertook another adventure with a very incredible guy I had met in he Hostel I was staying at. (Coletas, which I highly recommend). His name is Tumoc Beto and a little family history might be in order here. Tulmoc's great grand father fought with Emilio Zapata in the early 1900s. I am no expert on Mexican History but it is my understanding that if you wanted to be on the side of justice you fought on Emilio's side. The family tradition was taken up my Tumoc's father. Beto the elder fought on the side of the Zapatistas of the Chiapas mountains surrounding San Cristobal. In fact he became somewhat of a hero. Again a bit of history. Think of the Zapatista uprising by the Chiapas Indians as Southern Mexico's civil rights movement as we experienced in the United States in the 60s and 70s. The Indians were treated like dirt or worse. They got organized by the local priest who ultimately was assassinated. But they were able to mount very effective resistance and ultimately partial victory. Better roads, schools, and mostly respect that they are human. Issues still on the table are about 8,000 Zapatistas in jail.

Anyway I hooked up with Tumoc. We became friends and drank and played a lot of pool together. One day he asked me if I wanted to go to the mountains and help deliver some food, supplies and most importantly the book WHERE THERE IS NO DOCTOR. I could not have been happier and actually would have paid him to go on a trip like that. So after about two hours of Tuc Tucs and busses we made it to the trail head. Of course my heart was pounding with anticipation and I was not to be disappointed. After about one hour of slippery mountain slopes we made it. The village was as rustic as you can imagine. One electric light bulb, chickens and pigs and oh my! Rather than drone on about these observations which I could and if you are interested you can see pictures of all this on my facebook page. Suffice, it was an incredible adventure for someone like me and I thank the powers that be for allowing me to experience this.

Well that was the end of my adventures in San Cristobel but there is more.

My next stop was Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. Guatemala is one of the most beautiful and surreal landscapes that the good traveler will ever see. It is hard to explain. The hills are not hills yet they are not mountains either. They are like a land scape painted by Paul Gauguin except with a slightly more delicate touch. It is something once seen will never be forgotten. And corn! Corn is God in Guatemala. It is every where. I know they have other crops but I just did not see any.

Lake Atitlan is beautiful but I only spent two days there. I did buy some gifts for my daughters, son and wife and a really cool necklace made by an apache from North Mexico. I wear it all the time now. I also bought a really cool Guatemalan Fedora. When I put it on and with my new necklace and Guatemalan shirt it seemed like the whole town released a collective sign which said "now that Gringo knows what he is doing". It was fun. Any way I got out of Atitlan alive and also scored some really good Marijuana.

The next destination was Antigua Guatemala. There are special places on earth and Antigua is one of them. I recommend La Adventurer Hotel where I ensconced myself for the next three weeks. At $18 dollars per night one can afford this. I also signed up for a Spanish language class and Salsa lessons. Its hard for me to concentrate anymore so the lessons were cool and I did try but I think serious learning days are over. Still I would do it again because the type of lessons I take are called immersion lessons. You actually do things like go to the market, parks and festivals with your teacher. So it is a good idea to demand a pretty teacher. The Salsa lessons were a blast. " Uno, dos, tres, cinco, seis, siete." No "quatro" because that is the number you turn on. Anyway the instructor was a beautiful Guatemaliana. Plus my legs were getting tired and I had run out of my heart and anti cholesterol meds and was starting to feel the pain of all this glory.

Anyway Antigua is unbelievable and Guatemala was the seat of one of the greatest civilizations, the Mayans. Next time I am going to spend more time on the Mirador Plains where the Mayans had their great cities.

I have a bit of a tendency to over do and this trip was no exception. Hence it was off to El Salvador and more specifically Playa el Tucco. This place is a surfers' mecca. From all over the world they come and there are a lot of them. However, if you are not a surfer I would not recommend it. The beach is designed to kill and maim people. It is covered with back slippery rocks about the size of large grapefruits and they are impossible to walk on unless you are really young or in remarkable shape and even then you are taking a chance of a broken ankle or worse.

There are some great boutique Hotels In Tucco and other features that do make it quite interesting. One thing I did learn is that surfers are crazy. I thought mountain climbers are crazy but they might have learned that from the surfers. The feature of this beach for surfers are the waves. They are consistent and well formed. But that is it. The beach sucks, the water is murky and can be filled with big logs that come down the two rivers that border this Pueblo and yet they come and love it. I say more power to them for if there is anything that approaches the untamed spirit it is the Mountains and the Oceans.

Well, that is about it. As you may have figured out by now, and after about 38 years of law practice, I am taking up a new profession. My new company is called Travel Nomad Inc. and I am now officially a travel writer and Photographer. If you made it this far I am truly appreciative as this is the initial launch of this endeavor. I hope to soon set up a blog, homepage and tweet account.

I have not figured out how to monetize it yet but so what and who cares. It will be fun.

Alan F. Hall JD

[eseiberlich]

Alan,
Enjoyed your Journal. Something that helped me was MatadorU. They have travel writing and photography classes. They also show you how to make money with a blog. After 38 years as a cop, I needed something to help my writing not to sound like a police report.
Ride safe
Eric