Happy New Year!

Dec. 30, Antigua, Guatemala

Before we left Seattle, I was told that Guatemalan people might not be as immediately friendly as, say, Mexican people. After a week here, I would have to sincerely disagree.

We crossed the border on Sunday, Christmas Eve. It was an easy crossing, perhaps because of the timing, and we headed on to Huehuetenango. In the first few miles after crossing a border, differences jump out. On the road, the first things I noticed where that there are a variety of gas stations - after two months of Pemex, Texaco and Esso stood out - and that the chicken buses are much more colourful here.

Huehue isn't a stop of note, but it is convenient to the border. We were trying to find a functioning cash machine before finding lodging. I was trying yet another, when Tom met a man curious about our motorcycles and our trip. Turns out, he's the manager of a hotel, so we've got a place to stay (that will accept our pesos, too). The fireworks at midnight lasted two hours. I can't imagine how many firecrackers went off!! And in the morning, our new friend had sent us a Christmas cake. Since no restaurants were open Christmas morning, that was our breakfast with some coffee that Tom made on the campstove in the hotel courtyard.

(Some of our first Guatemalan friends, at a roadside stop.)

On Christmas Day, we rode to Quetzeltenango, also known as Xela. It was a wonderful twisty road, up over 9000 feet, with very little traffic on it. We scouted around town, looking for lodging. When I came out of one place, Tom was in conversation with two older ladies, astonished at our travels. They both gave us several big hugs. I'm starting to think that Guatemalans aren't as reserved as I had been told.

(Quetzeltenango street scene)

We spent a few days in Xela, visiting with some friends from Vancouver Island. The recurring theme among travellers is "Where's the money?" I'm 1 for 15 with ATMs in this country. I finally found out that it is a countrywide problem, due to some banking crisis. Tourists all over the country are trying to get their hands on quetzales. Locals are lined up outside banks. Throw in the holidays, and things get interesting. (I found a bank that would give me cash from my credit card. And yes, I had to look for that bank.)

(The courtyard at our Quetzeltenango hotel)

(Taken on a day ride from Quetzeltenango)

(From the same day ride)

I'm still having to adjust to the change of scale coming from Mexico. Instead of it taking us two days to ride to our next "site of interest," here it's only about 50 miles.

(Views shortly after leaving Quetzeltenango)

We headed to Lake Atitlan. This is a stunning volcanic crater, surrounded by volcanic peaks and small towns. We spent the first night in San Pedro La Laguna, a relaxed, cheap hippie hangout. Riding around the lake was fun; the views are spectacular and the road is mostly uncrowded, sometimes paved, sometimes not. The road is at lake level in places, but in others, it is several thousand feet above. We spent the night in Panajachel, at a quiet place right on the lake.

(Descending to Lake Atitlan)

(Lake Atitlan)

(The view from breakfast in San Pedro)

(Poinsettias in their natural environment)

(Having a beer in Panajachel)

The mountains are impressively steep and constantly farmed. Coffee grows everywhere, and we've been able to see some of the coffee process: harvesting, hulling, drying. People are cutting firewood everywhere, as well, but it appears that they mostly limb the trees rather than felling the whole tree. And so there are a lot of "lollipop" trees, but the hills remain more stable.

(Washing the newly hulled beans)

(Coffee beans drying)

(Loading the truck.
Tom counted 18 passengers.)

(The loaded truck going by)

Today was an interesting ride to Antigua. We avoided the Pan-American Highway by taking smaller roads that wound through the countryside. First we were on pavement. Then through a town, the road was cobbled. Then it was paved with concrete bricks. It turned to dirt, but steep sections were paved with the concrete bricks. Then it was dirt again, but with no vehicle tracks. Heading up a steep hill. Hmmmm..... We don't have very good GPS map detail for Central America, but what we do have suggested that we might meet a road soon. How soon? Hard to say. But sure enough, we crested the hill and there was the main road, also dirt, but an overloaded chicken bus was going by so we knew the road had to go somewhere.

And so, we are in Antigua tonight. Tom is noticing many changes from when he was last here fifteen years ago. I'm not sure how we will spend the rest of the holiday weekend, but we are starting to look ahead to El Salvador.

Happy New Year!!

Dec. 23, Palenque

Dec. 21, Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico

I finished my week of Spanish classes in San Miguel de Allende. My instructors, Carlos and Betty, at the Centro Bilingue, were great. And we had a delightful, comfortable place to stay just down the street at Casa Carmen. With the breakfasts and lunches that were included there, all we needed for dinner was to wander around and find a drink and a snack.

(More views of San Miguel)

(More views of San Miguel)

(A little bit of Tuscany outside of San Miguel)

(Tom checking out a new motorcycle)

(I think he likes it!)

We left San Miguel, heading east for the Gulf coast. We’ve got several maps with us, none of which are completely accurate. But we never know where the inaccuracies will be until we try to follow the little lines. We ended up picking our way through the countryside on a two-track through farmed fields. Luckily, it was dry, or the thick bull dust we stirred up would have been slickery, gooey mud. We had hoped to find a place to stay in a smaller town, but all we could find was hotels where the first question they ask is “How many hours do you want?” So, we went on to Pachuca, arriving just after dark. Tom has a wonderful ability to find his way to the center of towns. We got to the main square and looked around. There was Hotel Emily! With parking. Good for us!

It was the following day that all the geography changed. We were still quite high, maybe 7000 feet. Then we fell out of the sky, dropping about 6000 feet in maybe 40 miles. It was a tight, twisty road with some long views into canyons. I was very happy to be heading down as the traffic going up was even worse, mostly because double semis were crawling up the hill. Crazy!

We pulled into to Papantla, the town nearest some ruins called El Tajin. We didn’t get to the ruins there, but we did see one of the big draws, which are the voladores. Four voladores and a musician climb to the top of a 30 meter pole which has a rotating platform on top. The voladores are roped up, and they spiral down to the ground head first. Since there’s absolutely no way I could even stand on top of a 30 m pole, I was duly impressed!

(The voladores starting their climb)

(Preparing the ropes.
There's five men up on that platform)

(Midway through the spiralling down)

(Sunset in the lowlands)

We finally got to the Gulf Coast and headed south through Veracruz. We took a side loop through the Tuxtla region of Veracruz state. The weather didn’t look promising, and then the downpours started! We ducked under an awning of a shop, hoping to wait it out. Other people had the same idea, and we were soon joined by a gaggle of secondary students. A few were brave enough to try their English, but eventually, we all got bored. The rain would let up for a few minutes then resume more fiercely. Tom and I finally decided to go on anyway. This is a region of volcanoes, and we climbed up into the clouds. But when we came down to the coast, the rain had stopped. We had fresh fish for lunch and continued on. As we wrapped back around the mountain, the rain resumed. Thankfully, it was warm. After weeks in the desert, the vegetation now seemed like jungle. It’s mostly ranch land, but very lush. And we did see a man walking down the road in the rain using a single leaf for an umbrella. Unfortunately, all of our cameras were packed away.

(Hiding out from the rain)

(Life is better, drying out and sharing a big beer)

We decided to trust our maps again, and we headed off on a “short cut” the next day. I was a little leery about taking a dirt road after two days of rain, but we figured it’s mostly volcanic soil, right? Only some of it is red clay. The rain held off for our little adventure, and we had a delightful ride through the hills. Up and down, around and about. It is mostly ranch land, with lush, green pastures and some sections of forest. Turns out, the roads we ended up taking weren’t on any of our maps.

(Lot's of water in the creeks. Looks impressive, no?)

(The same crossing.)

After some highway miles, we headed back to the coast. We’re now on the bottom of the curve of Gulf coast before it heads up to the Yucatan. The sun had just set and we saw a potential place to camp. There was a small house near, and they gave us permission to camp nearby. There was a nice breeze on the beach, so we settled out there to avoid the mosquitoes. The stars were out all night (although the North Star is getting lower and lower). Through the night, there were some no-see-ums in the tent, chewing on us. But when it got light, we say the full horror. Swarms and swarms of them on the outside of the tent. This isn’t going to be fun! DEET doesn’t work at all with these guys, so we both inhaled buckets full as we broke camp in record time. Hmmm….. Maybe we should stick to higher ground until the dry season gets underway a bit more.

(It looks like a reasonable beach campspot, ignoring the garbage)

(Trying to keep the bugs out of my ears while we break camp.)

The road the next day was interesting. It was mostly paved, along this skinny barrier island. But there were places where it had been washed away and a track wound through private properties. People had erected makeshift toll booths, but most had a pass-through for motorbikes. Then we came across The Pirates, two boys who refused to negotiate. It was a stalemate until we paid up! $1 to get both bikes through. It would have been expensive if we'd had to pay at every toll spot.

(The Pirates and their toll booth)

(The road along the barrier island)

Now we’re arrived in Palenque, hoping to see the ruins tomorrow. From here, we will decide (perhaps with the mosquitoes’ help) if we head into northern Guatemala and Tikal, or we head southwest to San Cristobal then into the highlands of Guatemala.

It’s tropical now – hot and muggy. The fleece and other warm stuff is packed away once again. Hope the supply of DEET lasts!

UPDATE: We spent most of the day at the ruins. Very interesting. We even heard howler monkey, adding to the atmosphere. Now we are off to San Cristobal, then Guatemala.

(The Temple of the Cross.)

(Panorama of some of the ruins.)

Dec. 12, 2006, San Miguel de Allende

Dec. 12, 2006, San Miguel de Allende

Our adventures have changed shape since my last blog entry. We’ve had a bunch of riding and exploring adventures; now we are exploring the culture more.

The weather has been cold enough; we’ve opted to explore cheap hotels along the road. 200 pesos (a bit less than $19) will get us a clean, safe room, but it’s a lottery as to which amenities are available and which are missing. After experiencing beds with absolutely no support, we’ve gotten better about checking that. Then we found one with a TV and firm beds, but no hot water or toilet seat or room key. It’s always an adventure.

So far, I think the favorite city for both of us is Zacatecas. We spent just two days there and thoroughly enjoyed it. The city is high (about 7000 feet), so we enjoyed sunny and cool weather. It is a delightful city to explore on foot – cobblestone streets, interesting old buildings, friendly people, lots of parks. The city was built from wealth from nearby mines (silver and other), so some of the architecture is quite grand. I’ve come to appreciate cobblestone streets more and more. Although it means I have to watch my footing, it also means that vehicles keep their speeds down.

(The view from our hotel balcony, Zacatecas)

(Cathedral, Zacatecas
Lots of mining money on display here)

(One of many parks. Note the arches of
aquaduct in the background.)

(Side view of the Cathedral)

Zacatecas also has lots of good restaurants and cafes. We had two excellent dinners and found a café with great coffee and a nice atmosphere where we rested one afternoon and ate breakfast the next morning.

(Still life, Acropolis Cafe)

(Sampling local wine, choosing my dinner)

We did a tour of the mine right in town. It was kind of interesting, but my Spanish wasn’t really up to the task. Also, we shared our tour with a high school group. This wasn’t so bad, except at the end. We crammed into a small elevator with about ten students, started up, and then the power went out. There was emergency lighting, but needless to say, it was quite uncomfortable to be stuck for several minutes (five or ten minutes, only – long enough!). Once we got back in fresh air, we decided not to take the teleferico across the city. Enough adventure for one day!

(The elevator, before the power went out.)

From Zacatecas, we headed to Dolores Hidalgo, a town famed as the birthplace of one of the founders of Mexico’s independence from Spain. It is also a center of ceramics, so there were lots of interesting artisans’ work to see. All over, towns are gearing up with Christmas celebrations, with parades, concerts, and fireworks. I no longer assume that something has gone terribly wrong with my motorcycle every time I hear a firecracker.

(Tom's mascot, just arrived in Dolores Hidalgo)

(Some of the pottery in Dolores Hidalgo)

(Street scene, Dolores Hidalgo)

(Lots of this style of bicycle in Dolores Hidalgo)

In Dolores Hidalgo, it took a few tries to find a hotel. The first few promised parking several blocks away, which we didn’t like. Then I went in another to ask if they had a room and parking available. Yes, a room, but no parking. Hmmm….. I looked around and saw a long hallway with a ramp into a back courtyard. Perhaps we could park the motorcycles there? Sure thing!

(Motorcycle parking, Dolores Hidalgo)

(Motorcycle parking, Hidalgo del Parral)

(Motorcycle parking, Zacatecas)

Now we are in San Miguel de Allende for a week. I am spending four hours each morning in Spanish lessons, while Tom is dealing with gigs and gigs of photos. San Miguel is a beautiful town, but it is also very different. There is a large gringo population here, so English is common. It’s also more upscale, with lots of art galleries and expensive restaurants. We are staying just down the street from my school. At first, it seemed expensive, but it includes breakfast and lunch, and lunch is really the full meal of the day. We are searching out small places for a drink and snack in the evening, as that is all we need.

(The courtyard of our San Miguel B&B)

(San Miguel)

(San Miguel from above)

Copper Canyon, Part 2

Dec. 3, 2006, Hidalgo del Parral

Riding in the mountains is fun! Twisty roads, big views, etc. And the road from Creel to Batopilas is all that and more…

The first half is paved, and paved quite well.

(Looking back at the road from Creel heading towards the Batopilas turn-off.)

But it’s the second half that makes all the pictures. We had been gradually descending, but when we reached the top of The Grade, I collected some numbers:

Difference in elevation: 2781 feet (948 m)
Straight-line distance: 1.3 miles (2.2 km)
Road distance: 5.8 miles (9.4 km)
Number of switchbacks: 24

The road was in great shape. It was narrow, of course, but that’s not much of a worry for us on the motorcycles. However, when the gas supply truck meets the bus (think classic school bus), that would be interesting.

(The top of the grade.)

(Heading down.)

(A view of some of the switchbacks.)


(Heading further down the canyon now that we are at river level.)

Batopilas is a delightful town in the bottom of the canyon. We spent two nights there, spending our day walking around, taking pictures, and generally relaxing. There was an event in the square that day aimed at the town’s children, with games, awards, and a dance performance. And the following day? We headed back out the way we came in, snapping more pictures on the way.

(Batopilas)

(The Batopilas central plaza.)

(Details of the iron work)

(I'm happy to sit and watch the world go by.)

(Looking up from Batopilas)

(Tom on a swinging bridge on the way out from Batopilas)

(The road heading out of the canyon from Batopilas)

There are other routes to take, but they will have to wait for next time. We worked our way out of the canyon, then headed southeast on pavement to Hidalgo del Parral, the birth and death place of Francisco “Pancho” Villa. In the mountains, it’s cold. We spent most of the ride here between 7000 and 8400 feet, only dropping near the end of the ride to just below 6000 feet. The cooler temperature makes all the Christmas decorations here make sense.

(Our hotel in Parral is "classic", "retro", or just "old." Here's the switchboard.)

(Parral is crazy for shoes,
particularly pointy-toed cowboy boots in all colors.)