I convinced them to ride with me south into the scenic highlands for a few more days then cross into Mexico at La Mesilla.  So we left Peten and headed south to Coban.  The pavement out of Peten is straight and fast so you can really make some good time to Coban.

Except this one place where the road ends right into a river.   Of course there is a small ferry to take across.  Pretty cool actually.

Here is the motor.  There is a motor on each corner of the boat, or platform.

We arrive in Coban and stay at a dorm room in the Casa Acuña.

Which by the way has an incredible restaurant, probably the best in town.  If you dont stay, at least get a meal at the Casa Acuña, good groceries are to be had there.

There was some evening entertainment right outside the hotel.  I think it was a Suzuki or a Geo something or other, yikes.

The Bomberos were there right away.

Then next day I led the boys out of Coban toward Lago Atitlan.  It was very quick because since I had done this route a couple of times already, I was familiar with it, no wrong turns, in and out of towns quickly.  It sure make things a lot easier in Guatemala when you know where you are going.

Of course we had to cross the big slide area again.  This is a view looking downhill from the new road, and I assume where that small village was wiped out.  As you can see, that slide went a long way.  I dont know why I am so fascinated by this big slide and keep showing pictures and talking about it.  Maybe just because its so darned big.  I have seen some big slides before when traveling in Nepal and India, and for some reason all that earth just falling off a hill is amazing to me.

and down the road we go…….

3 up on a bicycle, tricky! But his rear tire could use some air.

We arrive at Lago Atitlan, continue down the hill to San Pedro de la Laguna and the suicide Chicken Bus corners.  Meeting a Chicken Bus on this road is exciting.  It happened to me a couple of times when I was riding with Arno, but this time there wasn’t much traffic.

I forget the name of this town on the hill, but you come right through it when you’re headed to the lake from the Pan American.

Volcan San Pedro, around 10,000 ft.

And into the town of San Pedro, dodging chickens instead of chicken buses.

Miguel is happy to be here.

Phil says, “Yo tambien!”

Raking up and drying the coffee beans.

Shoveling the beans.

Drying the beans on tarps.  Here’s something funny.  So you walk through town and see all these beans drying thinking wow, I bet that’s the good stuff that gets exported, and along comes a dog and he pees all over the drying beans.

Roasting the beans.  This stuff is safe, because its the good stuff with the dog piss that gets exported.  I can just picture the scene in a swanky Euro restaurant full of stuffy people drinking dog pee flavored coffee and commenting on how good it is.

Zoola.  Good groceries,  great place.

Killer food as well as an ideal place to lounge the days away.  I’m not sure what happened here.

One of those dangerous local San Pedro kids.  Be careful, that grin is an act, she will rob you blind in a millisecond.

The docks.  These boats here go to the town of Santiago.  The ones that go to Panajachel are a little further down the road.

Fishing boats.

You gringos better hand over everything you got on you, pronto, cause we got itchy trigger fingers amigos.  :-)

This gal sells bread and pastries and is quite persistent.  She does sell some good stuff though.

The street food in San Pedro is excellent as well.  These sausages were incredible.

But be careful, these street food stands attract some unsavory characters.  :-)

Another great visit to San Pedro, a very nice place to sit back, stare at the lake, and do nothing all day long.  We went back out to the Pan American and parted ways, where I would head back to Xela and the boys would continue to the La Mesilla crossing and back into Mexico.  According to their bosses, they have to be home by Valentine’s Day or there will be a heavy price to pay.

It was great riding with Miguel and Phil again.  They are great guys, excellent riding buddies and more fun than a barrel of monkeys.  Its good to see friends when your on the road for so long.  Gracias amigos, buen viaje.

hasta luego, Vicente

©2012 South on Two Wheels. All Rights Reserved.

There had been a huge landslide during some heavy rains several weeks before that killed dozens of people in the villages below.  A new road bed had already been cut so passing through was not a problem.

Impressive landslide…..

Another view with some sunlight on it, different day.

I made my way up through Coban for an overnight, then the next day continued north to the village of El Remate on the shores of Lake Peten Itza.  I pulled into the Casa Don David where I met up with Mike and Phil from Arizona.  I have ridden quite a bit with them in the past couple of years though Arizona, Baja, and Mainland Mexico.  It was cool to see some some familiar faces.

Mike, being his usual self.  What a clown.

Casa Don David in El Remate is a great place to stay if you are going to visit Tikal.  Its on the lake, very tranquilo, and they have  pretty decent restaurant there as well.

They do in fact, have both kinds of beer there.  The Gallo is OK, but the Moza is fantastic.  If you like Negra Modelo, you’ll love Moza.

In my best Texas accent complete with finger pointing, “I’ll tell ya’ll one damn thing, all ya’ll are really gonna like that beer.”

This guy was a fixture around the place too.  he would do this when you would walk within 10 feet of him.

Riding with these guys is a little different for me since I have riding solo for almost the last 5 months.  I am constantly asking myself,  “Where did those guys go again?  What in the heck are they doing now?”

Get used to these sights about every 15 minutes when you ride with Mike and Phil.

Yo quiero Taco Bell.  :-)

The next day we saddled up and headed to Tikal.  Here is the entrance to the park where they “check you in.”  So the guy standing next to me (Barney Fife) says, in rapid fire Spanish of course, “This is a National Park.  There is a speed limit of 45 kilometers per hour.  The parking lot is 17 kilometers from here and if you go the speed limit, it will take you 20 minutes to get there.”  OK, I get it.  So on that piece of paper he hands me is the time I entered.  So we go really slowly through the park and at the other end a guy takes that paper and writes down the time.  Well it took us 18 minutes, not 20, but the guy doesnt say a word about it, no big deal right?

So when we leave the parking lot after our visit, they write down the time again and at the gate at other end I give my paper to the guy and he goes ballistic because it took us 17 minutes, not 20.  He gets a bit miffed and starts to lecture me about how this is a national park and he is going to report us to the cops, blah, blah, blah.  He then looks at Mike and says “where is your paper?”  Mike says, “I lost it.”  then rides away.  Ha!  Well Barney Fife did call the cops and the cops just waved to us as we were leaving so I guess it all worked out in the end. Pretty funny actually, but man that guy got all wrapped around the axle about it.

I guess they have a few critters in the park.

Another pee break?  How many times can you possible go in 15 miles?  At least he’s got it down to where he doenst have to get off the bike.

There’s also other critters in the park.  I couldnt get a view of this one though.  He just didnt want to cooperate.  I told Mike to wade in the water a little bit to see if he could see the croc, but he didnt like that idea.

Colorful bird….

The Ocellated Turkey, cool.

I got ants in my pants and it makes me wanna dance.

Unfortunately I didnt see any Toucans, probably because I wanted to see one so badly.  We decided to hire a guide as you always get more out of a place like this with a guide.  He knew a lot of stuff, most of which I have already forgotten.  Or I guess more correctly, he has forgotten more stuff about this place and the jungle that I have ever heard of.

The overview of the excavated areas of Tikal.  This city was built upon elevated limestone paths, foundations and causeways, which were basically  road network throughout the city.  The guide pointed that out as we were walking one to the main temple area.

The Ceiba tree.  This thing is huge and they can grow to 250 feet tall.  Cortes hung Aztec Emperor Cuauhtemoc from a Ceiba tree in the 1500′s.  Nice guy that Cortes was.   I think he killed or enslaved everyone he came in contact with, Aztecs, Mayans, you name it.

Here is a little better perspective with Phil in the shot.

Countless structures have not even been excavated.  Anytime you see a little bump or slope in the terrain, there is something lying underneath.

A climb up one of the main temples is rewarded with a spectacular view above the jungle canopy.

Cool.

Tikal was a difficult place to take pictures since the bright sunlight and the huge amount of shade from the canopy makes it difficult to get a decent exposure, but the big temples did not fail to impress.

For a little perspective, these structures are big!

Tikal is an incredible place to visit.  Climbing up all of the temples is hard work, but you are rewarded with some fantastic views of the surrounding area.  Even if its crowded, its very spread out and never once did I feel like part of a big crowd of gawking tourists.  If you go to Guatemala you have to make Tikal one of your stops for sure.  It does get its share of freaky dread lock wearing gringos rubbing crystals together that say they can see Mayan ghosts and see huge auras emanating from the temples, and saying that the end is near, (the whole 2012 thing) but that just adds to the fun.

©2012 South on Two Wheels. All Rights Reserved.

Here are some views from my hotel roof sitting area.  Probably the best rooftop views in the city.

And of course the obligitory secure bike parking in the hotel.  At first this hotel said that I could not park my bike inside.  As I was walking out the door, all of a sudden a plarking place opened up!  Imagine that.

I didnt walk around town with camera in hand.  Just getting lazy I guess.  Playing picture taking tourist gets old after a while, so I kind of blew it walking around town with no camera.  I decided to go directly to the Volcan Pacaya the day after arriving in town.

Hiking the active volcano was on my list of things to do, but, instead of doing it the hard way, I simply paid 10 bucks to hotel front desk, then that afternoon a van picked me up, took me to the park, had a guide set up, and off I went.  Wow, that was so easy I could hardly stand it.

Be warned, this is a super touristy thing to do, but still its very cool to see, so its worth putting up with all the people at the volcano.  You would never be allowed to do this in most other places in the world.  Hell, in the states they probably would let you get within 5 miles of red hot magma, so this is kind of a special experience in my opinion.

About an hour south of town, you get to the park entrance, buy a walking stick from a kid for 5 Quetzales (you will want that stick, trust me) then hit the trail behind the guide.  You dont need a guide, you can simply ride your moto or take public transport and walk up the trail yourself.  But I was lazy so I did it the easy way.

You get picked up right at your hotel about 2:30 in the afternoon, go to the park, hike in, look around, enjoy the sunset from above the clouds then hike back down in the dark, get home around 9:30 pm.  The whole thing takes about 7 hours, hotel door to hotel door.

You start off on a nice easy trail and walk up into the clouds.

As you get above the clouds you are rewarded with some pretty cool views of the area.  The volcano itself:

And some stunning views of the surrounding volcanos near Antigua.

Heading further up the trail it turns into loose volcanic scree and lots of fine ash.

Then after about an hour and half of walking, you get to scrambling on the volcanic rock.  There is lava flowing underneath you in places and you can feel the heat singe the hair on your legs, burn your feet, and start to melt the soles of your shoes.  Cool.

A little higher up the heat gets alot worse and you start to feel like your walking in hell.  Humm, what the hell is going on down there?

Now it gets even hotter……

Your leg hair is singed, your shoes are melting, the bottoms of your feet are burning, and you have to be very careful where you step or you could break through the crust, and that would not be good for your health.  Whatever you do, dont slip and put a hand on those rocks.  That would be bad as well.

This would be called  “liquid hot magma.”

OK, my feet are on fire, its getting dark and I’m ready to go, but not before I take in one more beautiful view.

On the way down in the dark I managed to get get a semi decent shot of where we had been, just to give you some perspective.

This is a must do trip if you are in Antigua.  Be warned though, its serious business walking around up there and you could easily hurt yourself.  One girl twisted her ankle and another girl burned her leg pretty badly and had to be carried out and taken to the hospital, so be careful.  Its a freaking active volcano after all!

©2012 South on Two Wheels. All Rights Reserved.

You will see Mexican Emigracion and Aduana (customs) on your left as you enter the border zone.  The procedure to check out of Mexico was easy and took all of 15 minutes.  The you have to drive through the border area for several miles before you get to the Guatemala offices.  The problem is that you first have to navigate your way through a muddy market area complete with people clogging the streets to get to the Guatemala offices.  Once you get through most of that, you will see a guy on your right waving you over for the bike to get fumigated.  That costs 12 Quetzales, or about a buck and half.  Conveniently, there are money changers right there that will exchange your Pesos for Quetzales.  You will get a crappy rate, but its best to change your money here with the changers because I have not yet found a bank in Guatemala that will exchange Pesos.

My advice, leave San Cristobal with a minimum of Pesos.  The following pic is just as you get through most of the market area in no mans land, and the Guatemala offices are just to the right of the Alto sign.  Fumigation, immigration, and customs and the bank to pay your fees are all right next to each other.  You wont get more than 10 steps away from your bike the whole time and besides that, there are armed guards right where you park your bike.  Nobody is going to mess with it.

OK, so the quick and dirty:  pull up to the Guatemala offices, change money without even getting off the bike, get fumigated for 12 Quetzales, get your tourist visa, get your vehicle permit, pay 40 Quetzales then you are on your way.  for a total of $6.50 and at most a hour of your time, you are officially in Guatemala.  No helpers are needed or even available.  This is a very chill crossing and highly recommended, but as always YMMV.

Looking back into no mans land toward Mexico.

While I was checking the bike in country I ran into Bernadette.  She is originally from Ghana but now lives in Holland.  I met her several months ago while surfing in Rio Nexpa, Michoacan.  She  speaks five languages and is a genuine pleasure to be around.  Small world when you’re traveling.

The first thing I noticed about Guatemala was the amount of trash lying around.  Quite a bit more trash everywhere than in Mexico.  However it is a beautiful country and the highlands remind me of places in the Rockies.  Another thing that struck when climbing away from the border was just how high and how chilly it is.  I rode across several  10,000 ft passes, and oftentimes I was above 9000 feet.  So, if you go to Guatemala, make sure you bring a coat because you will be cold in the mountainous areas for sure.  I never thought I would be freezing my butt off in Guatemala.

After the border crossing I rode a couple of hours to the city of Quetzaltenanago, or Xela (pronounced Shay-la) for short.  Xela is a fairly large city of 300,000 people and sits at 8000 feet near the dormant volcano of Santa Maria, and the always active Santiaguito, which vents gas and ash about every hour or so.

The first few days I was in Xela I wondered why everything would get so dirty in a single day.  Ash would fall from the sky, everyday.  There is ash on the street………

And ash would be all over the bike after only a few hours sometimes……….

Another thing about Xela, its cold.  60′s during the day, low 30′s at night.  Reminds me of spring and fall in the Colorado front range.  I rented a decent apartment for the month and enrolled in some more Spanish lessons.  We would have class on the roof of the school since its a bit warmer on the roof than it is inside the building.  None of the buildings or apartments have heat.  They sure need it though.  If you plan to spend some time in Xela, bring your warm sleeping bag because the covers on the bed dont cut it when you can see your breath inside your room.

My teacher is Jose, 24 years old, working on a masters degree in Criminal Psychology.  Smart kid, he remembers everything.  The Spanish school has been frustrating for me this time.  I dont feel like I’m making much progress and I seem to be forgetting my vocabulary in Spanish and in English.  Sometimes, strange as it sounds, I cant remember the English word for something.  So lets see.  My Spanish is getting worse, and I am starting to forget English words.  Pretty soon I wont be able to speak!

I took a couple of excursions around Xela.  There is a very large cemetery in town that is quite interesting.

I also took a little excursion to the small indigenous town of San Andreas, just outside Xela.  Here you ride a “pick-up taxi” into town.  Just hop in the bed of the truck and ride.

Looks like they had some issues trying to get the road to go straight.

Its a sleepy, slightly depressing little town and not very remarkable, but its a small glimpse into the everyday lives of the people.

Here some folks are burning offerings in front of a cross.  The Catholic faith gets mixed with figures and rituals from the old Mayan religion, so I dont really know exactly what is going on in this photo.  Although one thing I have noticed about Guatemalans is that they like to burn things, sometimes for no apparent reason.  There is usually the constant smell of smoke and the resulting blue/grey haze near any town.

The long weekends over Christmas and New Year’s Eve I spent at Lago Atitlan roughly a 2 hour ride from Xela.  Its a much more pleasant climate than Xela as its 3000 feet lower.  Lago Atitlan has the perfect climate in my opinion.  80′s during the day, high 50′s at night, and very little humidity.  It reminds me of Lake Tahoe in the summer, only prettier, and surrounded by volcanoes.

Here are some views from the town of Panajachel on the north side of the lake.  Pana, as its called for short, is the largest town on the lake and quite the tourist trap, but it lies in a stunning setting, so its easy to understand why it has become so popular.

Its a jaw dropping ride coming off of the high ridges to lake level…….

Pana is also where I will introduce you to the infamous Central American death heaters.  I’ve seen them in warmer places in Mexico as well.  They work pretty well at heating water, but dont touch anything while youre in the shower or you’ll get a nice jolt of juice.  However a nice little electric shock during the morning shower generally negates the need to drink any coffee.

I finished up school, left Xela and headed to San Pedro, which sits on the western shore of the Lago Atitlan.  In my opinion, San Pedro is a much better place than Panajachel to spend some time as its much smaller and way more mellow.  There is quite a population of tourists and ex-pats from all over the world, but it still retains a small town feel and is in a beautiful location.  So if you go to Lago Atitlan, my advice is to skip Panajachel and go directly to San Pedro or San Marcos, which is even smaller yet.  That way you can enjoy the lake and avoid the tourist trap that is Panajachel.

However dont take the road that goes from Santiago around the south of the volcano into San Pedro, because it is a well known haunt for gun toting thieves.  What happens is that when you ride through the filthy little town of Santiago, lookouts will spot you, then call ahead to their dirt bag buddies miles down the road, and get them in position to jump out of the bush and steal all your stuff.  Several other motorcyclists have inquird to whether or not the thieves were still in action.  I can tell you that they are still there and there is a good chance that you will get robbed on that road so take it at your own risk.  Come to San Pedro using either the boats that leave from Pana, or via the bandido-free road that comes down from the Pan-American Highway.

The entrance to San Pedro from the lakeside docks…..

I guess this is one way to keep people from trying to climb over your wall…….

A couple views from the lake shore in town…….

The town is of course right next to Volcan San Pedro, 9900 ft. elevation.

I am on the move once again and will be heading out of San Pedro in a couple of days to do some more exploring around Guatemala.  Once again, sorry for the long hiatus while I was in school, thanks for sticking with me!

Saludos, Vince

©2012 South on Two Wheels. All Rights Reserved.