Courage is to step outside the comfort zone!

Enjoy, live and love.

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/67.html



From Tapalpa, we head eastwards further inland. We've been really blessed with sunny weather on this trip, normally it rains all throughout our previous trips. The ride takes us through a lot of farmer's fields and as we approach Uruapan, the geography changes to a tropical jungle, large leafy trees line the roads. We've crossed into our 7th state - Michoacan - supposed to be one of the most beautiful states in Mexico.


From desert cactus back to leafy trees


Spying lunch at the "food court" in Uruapan


Beautiful bass walking the streets looking for a gig


Downtown streets of Uruapan

Neda went hiking through El Parque Nacional de Uruapan, which is right inside the city. It boasts many white water rivers and waterfalls throughout its area, with rainbow trout swimming freely through its waters.


These kids would dive if you gave them a few pesos at El Parque Nacional de Uruapan


White water rivers in El Parque Nacional de Uruapan


Updating RideDOT.com in our very nice habitacion

We're staying a few days in the city in a great little casita, run by a Spanish couple who know the the area really well. They've given us some amazing recommendations for places to see and things to eat. Uruapan is the avocado capital of the world, and the fields we passed through on the way in were avocado farms!


Amazing guacamole!


Art gallery inside an old converted fabric factory

On Sunday, while we were coming back to our casita, we saw the housekeeper leave and we asked where she was going. She told us she was going to watch "los luchadores" in the town square. We thought "luchadores" had something to do with a lightshow or fireworks? From the Spanish word for light? When we went down to the square to see for ourselves, we found out "Luchadores" means wrestlers!!! OMG SO COOOL!!!


The town square is filled to capacity to watch the luchadores

So apparently, the WWF or WWE or whatever they call it in America, got its inspiration from Lucha Libres, a very popular Mexican sport founded in 1933. The wrestlers wear colourful masks, which would explain the popularity of all the masks being sold in the souvenir stores all over Mexico. Matches mostly consist of Battle Royales, tag teams or trios, such as the one we were watching today.


As with any wrestling match, there's a lot of this at the beginning...


...followed by a lot of that


This little girl in front of me wasn't very impressed. She was more interested in my camera. SO CUTE!

The crowd was chanting, "Tecnicos! Tecnicos! Tecnicos!", which I guess was one of the teams. So we got into the action, and joined in the chants as well. The locals standing around us thought that was hilarious, as it was obvious we had no clue who or what we were chanting for. Later when we got back to our casita, I looked up "Tecnicos", and it turns out that in any match, there are the good guys, "Tecnicos" and the bad guys, "Rudos". The Tecnicos play by the rules, have the better skills and moves, while the Rudos rely on breaking the rules to win.

While the cheering was strong for the Tecnicos, the crowd went absolutely crazy when the referees got into the action, getting a move put on them by one of the Rudos (or even a Tecnico!). Such a good time! We found out that these wrestling matches happen every other Sunday!


Somebody's gonna get hurt reel bad...


The greatest insult is to be unmasked in public by another wrestler

At this point I realized that we were watching a live action Saturday-morning superhero cartoon. So:

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/68.html




In 1943, a fissure opened up in a cornfield just outside of Uruapan. The farmer and his wife watched as ash and stones erupted from a small hole in the ground. A week later, that fissure grew up to be a volcano measuring 5 stories high and after a year it was over 1,000 feet tall! During this time, the volcano continued spewing lava and ash, covering the field and burying two neighbouring villages, Paricutin (which the volcano was named after) and San Juan.



We wanted to see this volcano first-hand, so we rode about 15 minutes outside of Uruapan and stopped for lunch in Nuevo San Juan. The inhabitants of old San Juan had plenty of time to evacuate their homes and they relocated their town further away from the volcano and named it Nuevo San Juan. After lunch, we rode further uphill to where the farmer's field used to be. The road crumbled away to a dirt path through a very scenic forest.


"Excuse me!" Neda beeps her horn... nothing.
"Con permisso?"... ah, that did the trick - Spanish-speaking cows...


The trail gets smaller and disappears into the forest


Trail becomes a field of fine volcanic ash

The ash is like sand, which is our sworn nemesis! Our big, heavy bikes with smooth, street tires leave deep gouges in the soft surface. As Neda tries to accelerate out of the dark ash, her rear tire leaves a smokey ash-cloud in the air that hangs in the air behind her until my bike cuts through it. Instead of paddling our way through all of this, we decide to park the bikes and hike 30 minutes to the farmer's field.


From across the field, the volcano appears in the distance, rising 1,400 feet in the air


Although we are assured by many people that the volcano is dormant, we're a bit taken aback
when hot, smelly gases still rise from the fissures in the ground!


For once, I'm not responsible for the smell behind me...


Scrabbling up the very steep summit of the volcano, we take different paths
because whoever's ahead leaves a small landslide of babyhead volcanic rocks


We reach the top, and bask in the... uh, sulfuric gases


Looking into the crater of the Paricutin Volcano


There's an awful lot of heat and activity here for a "dormant" volcano...


Hiking around the rim of the volcano


In the very far distance, my zoom lense captures what remains of old San Juan

Old San Juan lies almost completely covered in lava from the Paricutin Volcano. From the peak, we can see the direction and the shape of the lava flow. The only thing standing in San Juan is the top of the the church. It's too far to hike today, as it's taken us 2 hours to get from the bike to the summit, and the sun is starting to hang low in the sky.


Getting ready to descend


Spectacular views from the top of Paricuctin

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We take another way down the volcano, as it seems a bit more direct, although it's much more steeper. From the video above, we slid down as if we were on snowboards down a Double Black Diamond run - smoke still rising all around us! When we reached the bottom, we got a bit lost and spent almost an hour rummaging through thick foliage trying to find the path back to the field we came in from. We had less than an hour of sun left and I was starting to panic a bit, but thankfully Neda has the tracking skills of a woman in a shoe store on Boxing Day and we made it out into the field as the sun was beginning to set.

Just another 30 minutes to get back to the bike and then a ride through the forest in the dark. Not looking forward to that.


And then, salvation!

Castullo and his brother were also visiting the volcano, and they managed to drive through the ash and park a lot closer than we did. When they saw us walking though the ash field, they offered us a ride in the back of their pickup truck. We had seen tons of Mexicans riding in the back of pickup trucks in our travels, and now we were doing the exact same thing as the locals! So awesome! We were giggling like kids and taking lots of shakey pictures all the way back on the bumpy ride to the bikes, and the two brothers were shaking their heads and laughing at us from inside the truck.


We thanked Castullo for the ride and then negotiated the rest of the ash field


I couldn't put my kickstand down to help, so I had to ride past Neda, park and come back to pick her bike up.
It was getting dark very fast...

We did manage to get back to Uruapan safely, and it was only after a couple of days of rest from our long hike that we felt ready to venture out to the other side of Paricutin to try to find the remnants of the church in the lava.


Had lunch at Angahuan, the closest town to old San Juan


We were a bit worried about eating here, didn't seem that sanitary... but the food tasted good


We rented a couple of horses and descended down the steep path
strewn with volcanic rock


There it is, the remains of the church in old San Juan


This was the only building remaining in the entire town


There are shanties set up just outside the ruins and it looks like people still worship at the church

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Some loners stray out into the sun


This little guy needed some warming up


Mid-afternoon sun brings the Monarchs to life!


When I breathed on the butterfly on my hand, he flew up onto my sweater and then walked all the way up to my ear! It tickled!


This guy seemed to like Neda's backpack


We made tons of friends that day. Muy hermosas!


Someone told the villagers that Ewan and Charley were in El Rosario. Our ride back down to Angangueo was met with a lot of disappointed faces...

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/70.html



We had our doubts about visiting Mexico City. It's the 7th most-populated city in the world at over 20 million residents. We've heard the traffic and the congestion are killer! Not a place you'd want to ride into by motorcycle. So when Garry contacted us over the Internet and invited us into the big city, we naturally jumped at the chance!


Garry and I yakking about bikes

Garry, along with his wife Ivonne, run the the Garry Hostel, whose mission it is to "give accommodations to intrepid Motorcycle Travelers brave enough to come and experience the marvels of Mexico City". It's actually their home that they open up to any biker riding through Mexico, as they are also motorcyclists as well. Garry and Ivonne have hosted over 90 sets of motorcycle travellers over the years! They are taking their own big trip in the near future and I'm sure all this good karma they've built up will revisit them in spades!


Mexico City subway - normally a zoo during rush hour

Garry had to work during the week, so we took the subway downtown to visit the world-famous National Museum of Anthropology and History. Since our hosts were taking us pyramid-hunting this weekend, Ivonne told us it would be a great way to brush up on Mayan and Aztec culture before the visit.

Truthfully, I'm not really a museum person, I just like taking pictures. I also like taking naps in museums... Neda loves museums and talks about all the things she learns about while I am snapping away. This gives me material for the blog to go along with all the pictures. But because I'm only half-listening while taking pictures, most of these third-hand-half-heard "facts" that I write down are wrong, and then everyone e-mails me to correct me, and then I get to tell Neda how popular we are on the Internet. It's a great system...


Gene: kikikiki...
Neda: Are you 5?!
Gene: Come on! I'm sure the artist was also like, "kikikiki" when he made this...!


Aztec Calendar Stone

Speaking of wrong facts, the very famous Aztec Calendar Stone, which is a Mexican cultural symbol, is now believed to be a basin or altar for human sacrifice. Now that's a lot cooler than some lame calendar!


Aztec head, sacrificial basin in the background


Outside the museum, there's a park with lots of vendors selling trinkets


Tweety-bird looks on as Neda gets a gold tooth put in, rapper-style

When we were in Guadalajara, we met a couple from Montreal who had come down to Mexico to get dental work done. The prices down here are much cheaper than in Canada, so Neda takes the opportunity to score some novacaine.


Outta the way! One-Two-Fives in da house!

My battery is not holding a proper charge, so after Garry gets back from work, we go searching for a Yuasa YTX14-BS. Garry's got a couple of smaller 125cc thumpers that are more suited for zipping in and out of Mexico City traffic, so off we go into the city zooming around on these tiny bikes! I got to ride his reverse-shift Honda on the way back, and I was stalling and hopping that rear wheel all the way home! SO MUCH FUN!

We didn't end up getting a battery that day, but we did go to the BMW dealership where they tried to charge me a million pesos for a BMW OEM battery. With the currency conversion, it would have been like a couple of thousand Canadian dollars. Whatevs...


Break dancers in Coyoacan

Mexico City is not in a state, it's inside a Federal District. One evening, our hosts take us to the historic centre of Coyoacan, one of the most popular places to visit in Mexico. With it's cobble-stone streets lined with restaurants, cafes, bookstores and other cultural attractions, the place is packed with a flurry of people and activities. We also discover another of our favorite foods - churros filled with Nutella! Neda is in heaven!


Cruiser parked outside one of the many cafes in Coyoacan

On the weekend, Ivonne drove all of us to the pyramids in Teotihuacan about 45-minutes north of Mexico City. Garry made up some stories about how northern Mexico City was the dangerous part of town, 'cause that's where they cut people's arms off. But when Ivonne hit the automatic locks when we were driving through the north, it scared us a little...

All throughout our trip in Mexico, we have been picking up bits and pieces of Spanish, but nobody has ever taken the time to teach us all the swear words. Until now. Ivonne's colourful vocabulary sprang to life as she negotiated the congested streets of Mexico City. "Chingo"!, "Ai Cabron!", "Tonto!"... ok, that last one wasn't that bad, but our SpanishDict apps on our iPhones were working overtime as we were shuffled around in the back seat while darting in and out of traffic!

We'd titter like little kids everytime Ivonne threw another Spanish cuss word at an errant driver that got in her way...


Hat and sunglasses commerce at the pyramids in Teotihuacan - tons of vendors everywhere!


We must have climbed over a thousand flights of (very steep) stairs going up and down three different pyramids during the day


Garry takes everyone of his guests here. He's climbed this pyramid over 90 times in his life!


Couple takes a break at the half-way mark


Ivonne fashionably surveying the land. I wish we had brought hats too...


Pyramid of the Sun is the largest pyramid in MesoAmerica. The people at the top look like tiny hairs!

There are three pyramids in Teotihuacan, the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent. I found it interesting that like the Aztec Stone Calendar, the larger Pyramid of the Sun was misnamed. It's actually dedicated to the god of Water. So it should really be called Pyramid of Water, but it's been called the Pyramid of the Sun for so long that they're not going to bother changing it.

Reminds me of the Skydome back in Toronto. When Rogers Communications bought the rights to rename it to the Rogers Centre, everyone still calls it Skydome... Whole lotta money wasted...


Second pyramid-climb of the day


Pyramid of the Moon


Ivonne meditating in the shade. She's resting since we all fell asleep in the car as she drove us all back


Our bikes resting at the Garry (and Ivonne) Hostel

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Awesome post. Sad we won't see you at the HUBB meeting but glad to be reading new updates from the road.

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Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/107.html



Ok, enough writing, let's do some riding.

We are leaving Antigua on a road trip! Leaving behind our tent, sleeping bags and half our clothing behind in the B&B, we are setting off for the Guatemalan highlands. Before the trip, I installed a new rear tire - I'm trying out a Heidenau K60 Scout, which is supposed to be better for dirt/gravel roads. They didn't have Neda's size in stock, so we ordered one from the US and we're going to install it next week when it arrives in the country. In the meantime, she's going to ride around the muddy rainy season on a half-bald tire because she's hardcore that way!


Leaving Antigua before sunrise... *yawn*

We are awake at 5AM to try to beat both the rush hour towards Guatemala City and also to try to get some riding done before the rains catch up to us in the afternoon. We fail on both counts. We depart in an unusual morning shower, and the 45km commute towards the capital city takes us over 2 hours! And this is even with splitting lanes and taking to the shoulder, while dodging trucks, chicken buses and other motorists.


Part of our journey takes us through Coban, where Neda's sleeping bag got stolen off her motorcycle a few months ago. Here she dives into a crowded market, hoping to find the thief that stole her sleeping bag...


Neda really liked riding through these tall cornfields


Fire burning at the side of the road in a small village

Past Coban, we are treated to beautiful twisty roads through the mountains of the Alta Verapaz department. The rain has let up a bit, but the light fog sometimes darken so we don our rainsuits just in case. And as all motorcyclists know, if you put your rainsuit on early, it will never rain. The warm humid temperature creates a mini-sauna inside our rainsuits and we are as wet inside with perspiration as if it rained anyway - the stench from weeks of built-up sweat on our riding suits is becoming unbearable...





Beautiful views of the valley below and layers of mountains in the distance


The gravelly road to Lanquin

We turn off from the blacktop of the main highway towards Lanquin. The road turns into a loose gravel path that leads down into the valley. The views are amazing, but the descent is unnervingly steep. Neda seems to be negotiating just fine with her old rear tire and my bike feels good as well - but I think it has more to do with the excess luggage I jettisoned in Antigua than the new rear tire.


Lush green valleys just a steep drop away


Lots of logging in the area, we had to squeeze past some logging trucks.

The road to Lanquin is too narrow at most points for two trucks to pass by each other, so either one has to wait or reverse to a wider spot to give each other space to pass. Squeezing past one with the steep drop on the right is very nerve-wracking! After about an hour of gravel, we reach the small town and book a dorm room at El Retiro, a nice camp/hostel by the river.


Neda is lounging around at El Retiro

The next morning we book a tour of Semuc Champey, which is the primary reason why tourists come to visit this area. It turned out to be quite a full days worth of sights and activities, visiting different sites around Lanquin.


Our guide took us to the head of the river where we inner-tubed down the rapids


Then we all lit candles and hiked into the pitch black darkness of an underwater cave


Guy behind me is checking to see if he has signal underground. Answer: "Nope"

This cave totally reminded me of the horror movie "The Descent". Our guide painted all our faces native-style with grease from the cave-walls. The hike becomes quite claustrophobic at times, the walls sometimes narrowing so you have to squeeze yourself through to the next cavern. The water in here comes from a subterranean spring and there are many elevation changes as we climb up to meet the source, battling through mini waterfalls and sometimes swimming through deep pools, trying to keep your candle above the water.


Candles were often extinguished by the hike/swim, so we took many stops to relight our candles from the ones that were still lit.


There is absolutely no other light besides our candles...


Hikers become swimmers, our candles are our most prized possession


A cave monster

At the end of the cave, we reach the mouth of the underwater spring. It's a powerful waterfall that flows back down and it's a dead-end so we hike/wade/swim with the current back to the entrance of the cave. We spent over an hour in the total darkness and it was such a wonderful caveman-like experience!


Grace... is not my middle name...

Outside, more water activities awaited us, inner-tubing and swinging out into the river. We were really impressed with how organized everything was. Our tour group was made up of many Israeli tourists and we made fast friends with them, joking around and getting to know them as we hiked to a scenic viewpoint high atop Semuc Champey. Apparently September is when all of Israel goes on vacation and Guatemala seems to be quite a popular destination. Most of the Israelis did not know each other prior to this trip. And every single one of them was on their honeymoon!


Semuc Champey is a series of stepped pools of turquoise waters


The Guatemalans boast that this is the "Eighth Wonder of the World”. You can see people swimming in the pools, to give you an idea of the scale.


Waterfalls of all sizes spill water from one step to another


Lizard watches us hike back down to the river


Happy tourists


Swimming in Semuc Champey

Semuc Champey means "The water hides beneath the earth" in Mayan. The steps that we are swimming in are actually part of a limestone bridge where the Cahabon river is running underneath us. A little bit of the river makes it above the limestone bridge and that's what forms the turquoise pools and mini waterfalls. The Semuc Champey "bridge" is about 300m long, and our guide takes us swimming the entire length of it, gliding down natural stone slides worn smooth by the running water. At the end of Semuc Champey, a huge waterfall falls off the limestone shelf to meet the Cahabon river underneath it.

So glad that we saw this, it's one of the highlights of our time in Guatemala!


Yael, one of our new friends gives us a gift to remember our experience

Apart from the wonderful scenery and amazing tour and activities around Semuc Champey, we are really glad to have met our Israeli friends. We spent a couple of days with them, sharing travel stories, and I learned a little bit of their culture and some Hebrew as well, so now I can butcher a brand new language! Such an enriching experience all around!

Tomorrow is September 15th, which is the Guatemalan Independence Day. So we say goodbye to our new friends, as we're heading back to Coban to see if we can catch some of the festivities!

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/108.html



We are headed back to the town of Coban to see if we can catch some Independence Day celebrations!


Flag features the national bird, a Quetzal, holding a scroll with the date of independence from Spain

It's a funny thing trying to time motorcycle travel in the Central American rainy season. Because the rain falls in the early afternoon and overnight, you can't leave too early in the morning or the roads will still be wet. But you can't leave too late or you risk run into developing rain clouds.

So we're timing our departure from Lanquin late enough that the dirt roads will be dry from the morning sun, but we'll still have time to arrive in Coban before rains start up again.


Gene: "What happened?"
Neda: "Dunno. I just found it like this..."


Impromptu Guatemalan group ride!


These guys were all going into town to celebrate. Lots of honking and waving from every truck we passed!


The old and the new in Coban: Cathedral and a... um, flying saucer...


Preparing for the 2248 Winter Olympics

Every year, on September 14th - the day before Independence Day - a torch is lit in Antigua, the old capital city of Guatemala. Runners from all over Guatemala light their own torches from this one and begin running back to their home town, passing the torch to other runners who continue until they reach their destination by the 15th. It's a pretty cool Independence Day tradition and I'm glad we caught a glimpse of it!


I have a big sign on my photographic equipment that reads, "HamCam"...


Drummers dressed in the national colours


Locals checking out the festivities


Women's parade celebrating Independence Day


El Calvario church, popular tourist spot in Coban

130 steps above the city sits El Cavario church, where we caught a great view of Coban from up high. Most of the religious ceremonies in the city are performed here. Legend has it that a Mayan hunter saw two jaguars sleeping in this spot. He didn't kill them, but left them alone and when he returned the next day, he saw a vision of Christ at the same spot.


Church staff prepare for the fiesta with an old-fashioned smoke machine


Virgin Mary and child inside El Calvario


These girls were all dressed the same, they were getting ready to carry a parade float down all 130 steps to the city.


Devotion candles lit outside the church


Takin' a break...

The Guatemalans know how to carry on having a party. We only lasted a couple of hours walking around town listening to marching bands and watching dancers and seeing religious ceremonies being performed. When we got back to our hotel, the afternoon rains kicked in, but that didn't stop the party - music, cars honking and fireworks carried on until the late hours of the night. Awesome!

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/109.html



From Coban, we are going to be journeying westwards through the mountainous department of Quiche - not named after the food, it's pronounced Kee-Chay after the Mayan dialect Ki'Che' so popular in this region. And there's no quiche in this entry either...


No drybag and topcase means less weight on the back of the bike. Mac and Cheese and Huevos con Salsa means more weight in the middle of the bike...


Single-lane construction zone, uphill in the dirt, facing an oncoming bus too large to squeeze past...


...So we pull off into the shoulder and my bike is so wide I have to lean it to the right to give the bus 2 inches to pass *gahhh*


Half of the roads we are doing are unpaved, good chance to try out my new Heidenau rear


Neda threads her way through a road carved out of the mountainside


The Quiche department is dominated by the Sierra de los Cuchamatanes - the largest non-volcanic moutain-range in Central America


Making trax...


We are climbing up twisty roads towards Nebaj

The paved roads towards Nebaj are heavenly, first-gear switchbacks climbing high into the mountains. However, we are puzzled by two different kinds of logos painted on rocks, mountainsides and everywhere along the side of the road - blue "Todos" and red "Lider". We find out later that it's two political parties and there's either an election coming up or one has just passed.


Asking for directions to Acul - Neda trys out her Ki'Che'

Speaking of languages, I have a new Spanish teacher - Neda. We do lessons over the communicator while riding. Along with verb conjugation I am also learning how to swear at Chicken Buses en Espanol. In these roads up here in the mountains, it's best not to ride too close to the centre line while apexing, as oncoming cars and buses regularly cross the line.


Moo-ving right along...


The scenery here becomes very European-alpine-countryside


Pulling into our destination for the next couple of nights


Bungalows in the background - ours is the one in the middle

As per Julio's recommendation, we're relaxing in a great little cheese farm outside of Acul called Mil Amores (Spanish for a Thousand Loves). It's such a bucolic setting, very quiet save for the soft ka-tunkle of the bells tied around the cows and goats. A nice place to just kick back, relax and enjoy the surroundings, and the food is fresh from the farm - cheese and beans served during every meal. Did I mention we are both a little bit lactose intolerant? After every meal, our little bungalow rocks with the sounds of two-stroke motorcycles... *BRAAAAP*


I never thought Guatemala could look like this - everything is so lush from the Guatemalan winter rains

The region around Nebaj and Acul is like the Guatemalan version of the Alps. In fact, the farm was settled in the 1930s by a family of Italian artisan cheese makers who honed their craft in the Swiss alps, and searched the Americas for a similar place - high altitudes, eternal green grass. Looks like they found it.


Wine, and a little fuel for our two-strokes


Afternoon rains give our bikes a bit of a wash


We are timing our travels well during the rainy season


Warm and dry inside the kitchen with a Kindle, a candle and a hot cup of tea


Outside, the farm's dog guards our motos - his snoring is louder than our two-strokes


Neda contemplating Blue Angels

It was such a great relaxing couple of days and we're now ready to hit the road again!

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/110.html



After a restful two days at Mil Amores, we are ready to hit the road once again, heading south through the Guatemalan Highlands, rolling through the smooth pavement switching back up and down the mountains. Along the way we pass small towns and even smaller villages.


Pausing in traffic to window shop at the roadside tiendas (stalls) selling food and refreshments


What's the holdup?

We tiptoe on the dirt shoulder, past a lineup of stopped chicken buses. Passengers are grabbing their belongings off the buses and abandoning them, walking further ahead. There is lots of confusion at the roadblock, drivers and pedestrians give us conflicting information: "You can't pass, turn back!", "Take this stony road that goes into the jungle to get to the otherside".


When we get past the front, we see the road has fallen away into the valley below. Oops.

In the end, we followed another biker as he pushed his way past people on the sidewalk. That turned out to be the correct call and we're back on the road again, leaving the stranded trucks and chicken buses fuming impatiently on the other side!

Ah, the pitfalls (literally) of riding through the Guatemalan winter.


Passing through colourful, mystical arches

My bike is not doing well with the regular gas I am feeding her. Lots of engine pinging in the low revs while climbing up the hills in the past few days, and I have to keep the revs high in order to keep her from complaining too loudly. As we near our destination of Panajachel, I treat her with some premium drink. I glance at the bill and shake my head - she's dining a lot better than I am.

Perhaps she goes back on a diet when we reach flatter terrain. Her and I, both!


Panajachel, down by Lake Atitlan

We checked into the same hostel that we stayed in the first time, the one with the parrot security guard. I had a little conversation with our feathered friend. I've provided some subtitles.


Bloody bird speaks more Spanish than I do. FML.

It's very interesting walking around Pana almost 6 months since the last time we visited. We are really getting to see this place and the country in two different seasons. The streets are bare of tourists and the late morning sky already darkens with imminent rain clouds every day, obscuring the tops of the volcanoes surrounding Lake Atitlan.


We take a day-trip by water-taxi to San Marcos, on the other side of the lake

Part of the reason why we are staying a couple of days in Panajachel is because this was the last place we were before we had to abandon our leisurely pace to rush through Central America. We missed out on all the little Mayan towns and villages dotting the shores of Lake Atitlan, some of which are only accessible by water because of the volcanoes surrounding the lake.


Some really swanky digs built along the shores and slopes of the mountains surrounding Lake Atitlan


Big business along the shores of the lake

There is a public ferry that shuttles travelers from town to town on the lake, it only costs Q25 (about $3). However, private boats offer faster, more direct service for a higher fee. We watched as they filled their seats with their sales pitches to impatient tourists. One well-dressed Frenchman dished out Q200 ($25). He sat in the boat and waited angrily as the captain kept lowering his price to fill all the seats on the boat. Other tourists bargained down to Q100 ($13). We waited till the very last minute before the public ferry was to arrive and scored seats for Q50 ($6) each!

The French guy was livid!


Walking around "downtown" San Marcos

San Marcos is a very small Mayan village where yoga retreats and alternative medicine centres have inexplicably sprung up. It felt weird walking the narrow dirt paths between closely packed buildings offering gourmet health food and boutique hotels, squeezing past western women in Lululemon yoga gear, sweaty from a morning session of Downward Dirty Dogs and Cameltoe Poses.


Sanity returned as we left the Dharma Initiative complex

Outside the Fruity Yoga centre, we spent more time strolling through the real San Marcos. Children had just broke from school and were running and playing in the streets. We got quite a workout walking up and down the very steep hills of the town, peeking into buildings to get a glimpse of what life is like here.


The higher we got, the better view we got of the lake


Public ferry back to Panajachel

We thought we did so well negotiating with the private boat. We found out that the actual public ferry didn't take much longer and it was exactly the same kind of boat, but this one had a roof. It docked at another site just outside of Panajachel and cost Q20, not Q25! This was what the locals took! Those private boats were making a killing!


Tight, but scenic exit from our hostel parking spot
No flowers were hurt leaving Panajachel

This was a great week-long road trip touring around the Guatemalan mountains, some entertaining dual-sport roads and lots of tight, twisty asphalt. There are a couple of ways to get back to Antigua, the main PanAmerican highway, and shorter way that looked pretty good on the GPS - lots of switchbacks and more mountainous scenery. We asked a local on the way out which was better. He said the "shortcut" was less time, but was less "secure" (seguridad).

Less secure, like in bandits? We didn't quite understand. But seeing how it was the middle of the day, we thought we'd chance it. So off we went...


This is what "less secure" means. We rode though broken roads, some washed completely away.
Neda is testing to see where the lowest point in the river was to cross.


Aiming the bike, ready to point and shoot

Married couples often develop an understanding of the things they say to each other, and the things they really mean. Here is an example:

Neda: You go first.
Translation: (You go first so if you fall, I know where not to go.)

Gene: Yes, dear.
Translation: (Yes, dear.)


Guatemalan Bike Wash


A local helps direct Neda through the water crossing

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

We had our Olympus die while doing some underwater video last year. Bought a brand new underwater camera at Costco - next day it died as well. Took it back, they said they've been getting a lot of them back due to leaks. That's when I said we're getting a gopro.

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Life's 2 Short...Ride the World
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Having worked in the photo retail market a few years ago, unless you get a waterproof case for the camera, it will leak. The waterproof cases are designed to stand the water pressure at depth, the point and shoot water proof cameras are not. Most if not all the so called water proof cameras ( if you read the fine print ) are only good for about 6 feet or so. Anything deeper than that and the water pressure overcomes the seals.

Underwater photograph is its own animal and requires specialized equipment.

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1971 BMW R75 project,
2013 Suzuki DL650A

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/128.html



It's with great reluctance that I'm leaving the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The weather was perfect - hot, no humidity and no mosquitoes. I have a fear that where we're going may not be as nice a place to relax as where we're coming from.

With our bikes heavily-laden with all our worldly possessions once again piled on top (and the sides, and the back), we left the beaches of Taganga in our mirrors. The plan is to head further south into the Cordillera Oriental, otherwise known as the East Andes mountain range of Colombia.


On the road again! Neda is a happy traveler.


Terrain turns mountainous, weather gets cooler and wetter

As if to confirm my dread of leaving, we encounter early afternoon showers - something that we had escaped on the northern coast. It reminded us that rainy season was not over in this part of the world. I miss Taganga already...


Bikes are relaxing in Aguachica

We took a very leisurely ride south, stopping overnight in the small towns of Aguachica and Bucaramanga on the way. After a month in Taganga, we wanted to ease back into riding again.


Neda is relaxing as well


And then back on the road again!


We're deep in the mountainous Cordillera range and the roads get super-twisty. Me gusta!

Neda planned an amazing route that turned twisty as we got closer to Bucaramanga. We were now deep in the heart of the mountains of the eastern Andes. It was a great way to get back into riding again, and as long as we got our riding done before the early afternoon, the weather held up perfectly!


Smooth pavement and twists and turns that don't end! We can't stop grinning under our helmets

One of the things we wanted to see along this route was the Parque Nacional del Chicamocha. It's located at the steep canyon carved by the Chicamocha River, 6500 feet from peak to valley. The government has built a cablecar that travels over the canyon, as well as a huge tourist attraction complex that offers rides, concession stands and adventure sports like kayaking, mountain climbing, etc.


We get to Chicamocha Park and we are the only vehicles in the parking lot...

So we arrived here on a Monday, which turns out to be the only day of the week that it's closed. Fahhhhh....! We had a mini-huddle: do we want to go on further to the next town, stay the night and then backtrack to take the cablecar the day after? We're not really going to raft, or kayak or mountain climb, so it's only the view that we'd be coming back for.


Chicamocha Canyon

After walking around the area and seeing where the cablecar went to, we decided we didn't have to revisit the park again. All the amusement park stuff was closed, but we hopped the fence and walked around anyway. There was a huge Christmas tree that we spent some time fooling around with the camera:


We're having a ball!


Viewpoint from the Chicamocha amusement park. Shortly after this picture was taken, a security guard kicked us out for hopping the fence...


Some of the Chicamocha activities were still open


Because everything was closed, we became the new attraction

We don't feel too bad about mistiming our visit. This family also showed up and was similarly disappointed. They were very curious about us and wanted to know everything about our trip. I got the sense they were more interested in me, but because I can't communicate very well, they had to talk to Neda, "Where is he from?", "Does he understand any Spanish?", "Why is his bike bigger than yours when he is shorter...?"

There was a little boy that couldn't stop staring at me!


Everyone wanted a picture of us!

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Great blog. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

"Why is his bike bigger than yours when he is shorter...?"

Kids always ask the best questions!