SOME PICS

Riding up the mountain towards Lago Atitlan

On the way to Atitlan

Max looking down at the lake

Atltlan

Chicken bus

The Lake!

San Pedro

HEAVEN AND HELL

Chicken Bus drivers block hwy. to support strike

Monday, November 21, 2011

After a grand dinner of a hamburger (3 choices, Hamburger, chicken sandwich or cheese sandwich) We retired to our room for the night. We are hoping to get to Lago Atitlan tomorrow. This is a place Max has been a couple of times and after hearing about it this has become one of the must see places on this trip. The distance is only 70 miles but knowing the roads we decide to get an early start. After coffee and breakfast (miraculously the restaurants menu grew to include a full breakfast and lunch and dinner selections) we headed out of towngpsroad, i.e. bandits, nor do we have any sort of map other than the gps that shows no road at all, but what Max wants Max will get so after talking to a local driving by who assures us it’s a good road we continue on. OMG! The road begins to climb, not slowly but very steeply. Riding an 800# moto up this shit requires lots of throttle and lots of prayer. The straight parts weren’t too bad but the switchbacks were a bitch. 1Huehuetengo and all it’s traffic. Dufas has lost his way down here so I guess we are on our own. No more than 5 miles out of town we come to a roadblock. 30 or so people are standing in the road they have blocked off with rocks and boards. Turns out it the “chicken bus” drivers staging a countrywide protest for higher

The other end of the roadblock

wages. We start asking around if we could pass but no dice. We were told “maybe 2 hours”, then “maybe 4 hours” and finally “no go till 4”. Shit! That doesn’t leave enough daylight to get to the lake, besides the speed they move around here (except when they are driving their buses) it will take them until dark to move it all out of the way, clearing the road. Max and I go look for an alternative route while John keeps an eye on the bikes. We even considered making a run at the road block but what we didn’t see was they had totally blocked the road a 100 meters up with buses. We walked up a hill to our right and followed a road that paralleled the highway, getting our hopes up. When we reached the top we could see there was no hope of getting through. The road dropped down to the highway right smack in the middle of scores of protesters and their buses. Our hopes dashed, we walked back to the bikes and hung out with the protesters for a couple of hours. They were a fun bunch, offering us water and oranges and curious about the bikes and where we came from. For those who saw my facebook video of the crowd it might have seem as though they were an angry crowd. To the contrary, they were having fun. Each time someone would show up to the party late they would rush him, laughing and shouting, and begin pummeling them with their fists.

No on got hurt, just playing. We had no choice but to return to Huehuetengo for the night. Once in the middle of town we asked a taxi driver to lead us to a hotel with secure parking. He took us to the nicest place in town. Nicest being a relative term. The price was right; they had wifi, a pool and beer so we took a room. Max and I went out exploring the town. Traveling with Max has really opened a lot of doors previously closed to me. Because of my reluctance to get out, get lost and meet the locals I have missed a lot in the past. With Max leading the way you never know where you’ll end up and that’s the fun part! We found a coffee shop where the owner gave us an education on the various regional clothing, weaving and coffee growing. He spoke no English so much was lost to me but he did give us our lattes for free! We found a place for dinner where we met two American missionaries who had been working in the area for 4 years. I asked what the biggest challenge was for them and was told, “trying not to do too much for the people” which I took to mean that in the past the church pushed to hard and the people began resenting it. All and all, other than losing yet another day on our quest to be in Panama by December 8th, the day turned out just fine.

Our first glimpse of Lagos Atitalan

Tuesday

After breakfast we rode out of “Wayway”, and hallelujah, the road was open! This ride took us higher and higher until we topped out a 10000 feet. Max’s bike did well at altitude, so maybe it really is fixed. The mountains are very rugged but most our cultivated right up to the top. The views back toward “Wayway” were amazing. Lago Atitlan rests in a caldera ( a collapsed volcano). Impressed? Briner gave me that nugget.

San Pedro Hostel

It is surrounded by a number of simi active volcanoes and is so beautiful words won’t describe it (just google it ). You would never know by the road we were on that we were heading to such a wonderful place. It was narrow, part dirt, part wrecked pavement and had 20% grades at some points. We finally stopped at a park entrance to ask if we missed a turn off. They told us we were on the right road and we’d be there in an hour. How can that be, according to the map we’re only 10 miles away. Let me tell you those 10 miles were the slowest 10 miles I’ve ever done. The road became even narrower and rougher than before, add crazy chicken busses and insane combia vans, well you get the picture. Then the road began to drop. My best guess is 2000 feet in 2 miles! You do the math but that equals one hell of a grade! We found a nice hostel with parking for the bikes in San Pedro. Max has spent a fair amount of time here so he became our guide, as we walked around he pointed out the orange juice stand that sells coke, pot whatever. The liquor store and finally we end up in the Buddha Bar. Fun place to meet people from all over. Cheap rum and great food. Got lost trying to get back to our hostel. The streets are just wide enough to get tuk tuks through and no one street is longer than a block. It truly is a maze!

A typical street in San Marcos

Wednesday

We take a boat over to San Marcos for the day. Max spent 28 days here at a full moon to full moon meditation and yoga retreat a few years back. The whole town seems to cater to the mellow, spiritual, and healthy life styles. You can almost feel it when you get off the boat. He wants to take us to his favorite restaurant but the rains have been heavier than usual and the place is mostly underwater. We find another place and have a great breakfast accompanied with fresh organic coffee grown right there at the restaurant. Can’t get any fresher than that! While searching for the only Lonely Planet in the town (we need to get border info) we find it at a little restaurant run by a woman from England. Briner finds his spot and hangs there and Max and I go for a dip in the lake followed by a tour of the Las  Pyramidas where Max spent a month. A cool place with little Pyramid cabins dotted around the place. I met a couple of his instructors and they all remembered Max.

Boat to San Pedro

After I treated myself to a 90-minute massage (this is the first time in memory I’ve gotten one for no other reason than pure enjoyment). The boat ride back was fun. The wind had come up and a man, a very inebriated man, had gotten on board and spent his time on the bottom of the boat rolling around wailing about god knows what! I must say I was surprised he kept his cookies down the entire trip across. Dinner, a wild Tuk Tuk ride and back to the hostel for the night.

Thanksgiving Day

It takes us an hour to get out of the towns (two or maybe three signs would cut the time down to 15 minutes), back up the switchbacks, and another 20 minutes looking for a road to get us through the mountains. After a few inquires we find the village we need to hook up with the road. As we leave the village it becomes apparent this road will be a challenge. It is steep, rutted and not maintained very well. I stop to get John and Max’s opinion. John points back toward the village we came from and Max wants to go on. I, personally, don’t have a good feeling. We haven’t inquired about the safety on this road, i.e. bandits, nor do we have any sort of map other than the gps that shows no road at all, but what Max wants Max will get so after talking to a local driving by who assures us it’s a good road we continue on. OMG! The road begins to climb, not slowly but very steeply. Riding an 800# moto up this shit requires lots of throttle and lots of prayer.

Max riding the notch

The straight parts weren’t too bad but the switchbacks were a bitch. 1^st gear all the way up. Add the heat and I was getting wiped out. We did see a few trucks going the other way and that gave me hope. When we reached the top all the work was forgotten. The view was increasable! You could see a hundred miles. Volcanoes, valleys, rivers, villages, just unbelievable! We could also see the road down and that scared me! Narrow, steep with loose sand and rocks not to mention switchbacks. We began our way down using all of my brakes; I had to turn off the ABS to keep from going off the edge at the switchbacks. Suddenly I had no rear brakes at all! None of us did!

Add caption

We stopped and took a 20-minute break to allow the brakes to cool down. While sitting there a number of women came by carrying loads on their heads and backs moving faster than we could! The people up here are in incredible shape! Back on the bikes and using front brakes only I started down. The road got even steeper and I had to ride “clutch in” standing on the front brakes trying not to slide the front wheel. When I reached what I thought was the bottom I crossed a stream and waited for Max and John. After about 5 minutes I began to worry. I thought I best get my bike off the road and while pushing it back I lost it and the bike went over. I can’t believe it, I road over that mountain without losing it once and I drop it at the bottom!

View down the valley towards CA2
The Pan American Hwy

Anyway some guy and his son come walking by to go cut wood and help me with it. My 1^st thought was “great, I’m by myself and I run into a bandit welding a machete” but the guy was friendly and ended well. Finally Max showed up and said John was having trouble with his brakes and had fallen. When John caught up he says both front and back brakes went south on him and he had to plow into the uphill side of the road. Had he gone off the other side……? Well best not think about that. We eventually make it out to a real road after a number of false hopes while riding through these small villages only to be dashed when we get through and the road returns to its previous condition.  I think I have taken the GS mother ship, and myself, to the limit on this road.

Civilization!

We then turned onto CA2 for the drone through El Salvador. We stopped in a restaurant along the highway and there were a couple of Harley clones sitting there. They belong to this guy Carlos and his son in-law Julio. They are having lunch with Julio’s mother and brother. They give us a welcome found only in Guatemala! Ordering us beers and chatting it up like we’ve know each other for years. We exchange emails, take pictures and head on down the road. Around 5 Max’s POS KTM gives out a backfire and begins to idle high. We decide to get gas and stay the night a little hotel nearby in Brito. I adjust Max’s idle without solving the mystery and it seems to run OK so we go to bed thinking all is good in our world.

Guatemalan friend we met at a roadside restaurant

Friday

Another border crossing today. Up and on the road by 8. We get to the El Salvador border around 10. This time we thought we’d go through the process without help but after meeting Anthony we figured $4 apiece would be worth it and after getting the bikes exported out in less than an hour we had already gotten our moneys worth.

Did that sign back there say "Bridge Out?"

Next was processing into El Salvador. Anthony came with us but was little help. He didn’t have any pull on this side of the border so we had to wait like everyone else. And wait we did. Max and I stood 1^st in line for 2 hours while John watched the bikes. These guys just sat there, drinking water, eating and smoking, ignoring us. Max would occasionally try to humor them with questions to no avail. Finally they take our papers and the process began. All and all it took us 5 hours for the whole process. I had talked to a guy who told me of a place on the beach near El Liberto, a beach area known for it’s fabulous surf. It sounded like the prefect place to spend the night! 4 Kms past the border the POS KTM quits!

No tell parking. 

 At least it quit in front of a “Auto Hotel” (No tell motel). This worked out great. We had a secure garage to work in and we each had our own rooms for the 1^st time on this trip. This was good as my attitude was not the best at the moment. After a beer, a muscle relaxer and a freeze-dried dinner it improved. Max and I by now the routine so well we can pull the gas tank and have the crab removed in about 15 minutes. The owner of the place was quite curious and hung out with us while we worked on the bike. I think he may have been running some of the girls living there but he never offered them to us. The first thing I notice is the throttle return cable has come loose. Digging further into the carb we find the needle clip has come off and the needle was just floating in there. This was wonderful! We could actually see the problem for once. We put it all back together and waited till morning to see if it was fixed. We had decided if it wasn’t running we would flag down an empty truck heading toward San Salvador and take it to the KTM dealer there. By the time we went to bed I was feeling pretty good about things. Besides the bugs in the room, a rather large one under my bed screeching all night, and the toad in the shower drain the place was ok. The next morning we fired up the MRS stove and had fresh coffee and oatmeal. Max took the bike out and it started right up and ran as good as ever!

Saturday

Back on the road by 9. The Highway soon begins to hug the coast much like Highway 1 in California. The only difference is instead of a rugged coastline this one has pristine beaches along the whole way.

It was beautiful and I really hated to pass by this area so quickly. But with all the delays we really need to make tracks now. Once past the coast the road goes inland and the landscape looks much like I picture the African Savanna to look, flat with grass and trees spread around. We continued riding toward the border with Honduras hoping to cross the border 1^st thing in the morning. We ducked down into La Union thinking it might be a cool place to stay but it turned out more of a run down fishing village with few hotels.  We continue on and get to the border soon after. Not wanting to cross this late in the day we stop by a gas station to top off before getting a room for the night. That’s when we meet Jose. The guy comes out of know where and is curious where we are going. We tell him Honduras and he says the banks will be closed tomorrow (it being Sunday and all) and we won’t be able to export the bikes until Monday. Fortunately good old Jose has a plan! If we hurry and use his services  (for $5) we can just make it through before the banks close. Word of advice: When a stranger comes to you and says we need to hurry walk away as fast as you can! After all the 3^rd world traveling I’ve done I still let myself be conned into thinking faster is better.

As it begins to get dark I wonder if we have made a mistake

I will spare you the details of the next 4 hours but suffice it to say it turned into a nightmare costing us an additional $40 apiece and having to stay in a flea bitten hotel at the exorbitant price of $30!  These people are running a syndicate here. You have the handlers, the ones who approach you offering their help. The paper guys, the one you normally don’t see who move your passport, import papers etc. around to the various government officials and the guy on the bike who just follows you around keeping an eye out for persons wanting to steer you away from their services not to mention the government officials themselves. Honduras has certainly lived up to its corrupt reputation. They have no idea how damaging this is to their tourism industry. I had been forewarned about this crossing and most Moto riders spend as little time as possible in this shitty little country.

Sunday

We are up and on the road by 6:30. Slept in my sleeping bag liner and still got bit to shit last night. Riding through Honduras usually means numerous police roadblocks and bribes. But we make it through without trouble. It’s anticlimactic after yesterday. The area we ride through is pretty much nondescript. Maybe more roadside garbage but other than that just unplanted fields and trees. Since we are traveling without a map I’m surprised when get to the border by 8:30.

Chili n at the Nicaraguan Border

We decline any help and are through the export process quickly. We then go to the Nicaragua side we import the bikes and take care of our visas in record time! And nobody wanted a bribe. In fact I mistakenly gave the customs guy $20 too much and he returned it! I like Nicaragua! You can feel the difference. People here are much friendlier and happier. We get lunch and are out of there by noon. The scenery immediately improves. We are riding towards a number of volcanoes and sugarcane is aplenty! We decide to make an early day of it and ride into Leon by 2:00. It’s the usual confusion of unmarked one-way streets but Dufas has the city center marked so I head for that. While driving up a busy street full of venders a man to my right starts yelling something at me. I stop, put my right foot down and shit! There’s nothing there! I have put my foot in a 2’ deep hole and the bike and me go down right into a crowed corner. Fortunately I don’t break my leg and the only damage is a cooler that was on the sidewalk. By now a large crowd had gathered so I pulled a $20 out and gave it to the cooler owner and got the f%$! Out of there! By now we had a guy on a ped-a-cab guiding us to the town center where we found a hostel the will accommodate our bikes and us. Leon has lots of history (stand by, I haven’t taken the tour yet) and a beautiful Zocola. Again, some calibration was going on with bands, parades and lots of dancing.  Had dinner on the roof of a Karaoke club overlooking a skate park and called it a night.

`They make cool looking volcanos here.

`.Ah! Nicaragua what a nice change of pace

TROUBLE IN PARADISE

Sunday

We have decided Oaxaca deserves two days at the least. Max and I devote about 3 hours on his bike removing the carburetor, cleaning the air cleaner, changing the jets and putting it all back together. I ventured into the Mercado and found some good stuff. Shrimp, oyster cocktail with a great salsa. After, we all went to the Zocala to hear some music but after waiting an hour for it to start we gave up . The Zocala was hopping. Some kind of book festival going on. There is something about this city that puts it apart from other Mexico cities. Clean Air! It sits at 6000 feet on a high plateau.  Oaxaca is steeped in history and is the center for the various indigenous peoples in the area who bring their crafts into Oaxaca to sell on the streets and mericado. Black pottery, silver, weavings, leather goods and oh yea, Mezcal. That night we wandered around sampling the street venders food and hit the sack early.

Oaxaca Cathedral

Oaxaca Hotel

Monday November 14

Another early start today. We want to get to Puerto Angel in time for a little beach time. The ride out of town was the usual battle of the topes. You would see 95% of them coming but it is that 5% that hammers you. We climbed up to 7500 feet on a not so well maintained road then began the usual twists and turns bringing us down to sea level. We rolled into Puerto Angel around 2:30 with Max’s bike, you guessed to, running like crap! After conferring with the Lonely Planet we headed over the south side of the bay and found a hotel. Or should I say they found us. As we rode down the road looking for the place two guys come running into the street beckoning us to come into their respective businesses. The parking looked better on the left so that’s where we pulled in. Then they began yelling that the each had the better food. Jorge, our hotel guy, was pretty smug when we headed his way. The hotel was a little over our budget but what the hell we’ll only be here 2 nights. We decided, since we are staying at Jorge’s place, to give the guy

Oaxaca Zocola

next store our business for dinner. This did not go well with Jorge. He had an obvious attitude when we returned, mumbling something about the great price they gave us on the room. He then had us move our bikes and said they wouldn’t be safe unless we locked everything up. It was at that moment Max notices his two extra tires are gone! All’s well, we find out Jorge had moved them f or safekeeping. After promising Jorge we would eat at his place tomorrow night we turned in for the night.

Tuesday

It’s so nice here we decide to stay another day. Max’s bike (now the theme of the trip) was running rough so Max and I take another stab at the carburetor. We notice there is a washer missing at the bottom of the needle. When did that disappear? We also replace yet another oil soaked spark plug with a new one, start the bike up and call it good. A swim followed by a couple of beers and it really does feel like vacation! Interesting place this is. Very few Gringos, mostly Mexican visitors. Actually there are very few foreign tourists here or anywhere we’ve been in Mexico. The threat of cartel violence plus the bad global economy is really hitting Mexico hard. Tomorrow we leave early hopping to make San Chistobal de las Casas for a few days.

View from our room

Wednesday

Bikes loaded ready to go by 8. The KTM won’t start. Won’t even pop. Off come the luggage, gas tank and carb. We work on it until noon and decide to keep the room one more day. We hear about a mechanic in the town south of us so we hire a cab, find him and bring him back. He goes through the carb again, looks at the spark and decides he’ll come back tomorrow. I go ahead and adjust the valves and still no go. Another night in paradise.

Thursday

We work on the bike waiting for Senore Mechanic (who never did show). We have run out of ideas so we take up the hotel owner’s son offer to take Max and his bike to the next large town where there is a Yamaha shop. We put the bike back together and enjoy some beach time.

Puerto Angel

KTM going to see a real mechanic- I hope

Friday

Max and the bike are loaded up and on the way by 8. John and I decide to explore the town a little and drop off some laundry. Not much to see, just a small town with the usual small shops and such. There is a huge dock there. Must have an occasional large ship come in. A nap and John and I decide to ride up to the next town North of us. Shorts, tennis shoes and tee shirt make up the total safety gear we are wearing. It felt sooooooo good not to be encumbered by all the usual gear! Walking up the beach we happen upon a hostel and bar run by a expat from San Diego. As far as Expat bar owners go this guy was all right. He’s 60 something, lost is job in the states, had no health insurance and said “what the hell, it’s not too bad here”. He leased the hostel and bar, got himself a bar manager (another gringo who by appearances looks as though he’s paid with beers.)

Before too many beers John and I decide it would be best to get the bikes back. As we approach the hotel people begin running out in the street yelling, “the moto is back!” “The moto is bien!” I swear, the whole village knew about our dilemma! And there it sat, the POS KTM in all her glory! We, of course were elated. I truly thought there was no hope of getting it fixed anywhere near there. I guess the mechanic was more thro than us and went back through the carb and found some sort of blockage. A calibration was in order so we got a cab and went back to Zipolite for drinks and dinner. I think John must have been the happiest since he timbered the bar with shots of tequila and started a party that lasted well past midnight for him. Max and I, being the responsible adults we are, caught a cab back and didn’t expect to see John until the next morning. Much to my surprise he was laid out in his sleeping bag in the middle of the floor when I got up.

Saturday

What a trooper! John is up and about and we’re loaded up ready to go by 9! After a quick stop to pay the mechanic (who didn’t fix anything but, to his credit, didn’t want anything) we began the day’s ride. We rode down the coast highway stopping at some village for breakfast at a street venders place. Chicken, tortillas and a fruit smoothie and we all were feeling fine. We made good time and pulled into Tonala for the night. Found a nice clean hotel with secured parking for the bikes after looking at a few “no tell motels”. The Independence Day calibration had begun and the town square was packed. Found a place to get a bit to eat and returned. The only special thing that happened this night was that John did not have a beer with dinner!

Road to Tonala

Sunday

 The highway took us inland from the coast and through a valley that about blew us off the road. No wonder it was also the largest array of wind generators I’ve ever seen. We drove through the middle for miles!  For some reason Dufas did not want us to take the “shortest most direct” route into Guatemala instead turning us north up into the mountains again at Huxtila. This being Mexico Independence Day all of the villages were having some sort of festivities. Most of these villages have only one street going through town and as we rode through this one village we found ourselves surrounded in a sea of locals. I hadn’t noticed they all were wearing the same white shirts and all of them were men. Shit! We are in the town parade! Only one thing to do but keep going. The masses parted for us and began yelling and clapping. When we finally made it to the front I had to maneuver around the banner and then the two police cars that were blocking the road. I gave the cops a shrug and a smile but only got a scowl in return. Once cleared we high tailed it out of there. The road snaked up to 7000 feet toward the Guatemalan boarder. When we got to Passo Hondo we found ourselves at the rear of their parade. This being a larger town we were able to swing through the side streets and around the parade. In another 10 miles we were at the border. Processing our bikes out of Mexico went smoothly. 1^st we had to go the Banko something or other and have the guy check our import papers with or vin numbers. Once he was satisfied we had the same bikes we imported back in Ensenadas he refunded our $300 deposits and sent us over to immigration. There they simply took our tourist visas, stamped our passports and sent us on our way in less than an hour. We then road through 5 miles of no mans land to the Guatemala border. Holy shit what a zoo! Venders everywhere, lining the streets. I get excited because this will be my first 3^rd world border crossing with my bike! Some guy waives me over and says he has to fumigate my bike. I had already read this was legit so I didn’t argue. He takes this sprayer and waves it over my tires like a bartender waving the vermouth over a martini. Then tells me it will cost 20Qil or about $1.50. I then go into the customs shack and find no line and two of the most unenthused individuals I’ve ever laid eyes on. I promptly hand over the 20Qil note to them and ask what’s next? Of course I speak little or no Spanish so maybe something was lost in translation. Anyway they take my money and I ask for a receipt. The one guy smiles to the other guy and points to another building. He then stamps my passport and I head over the fumigation shack. Thinking I already paid the fee I ask for a receipt. This guy won’t give me a receipt until I pay him. Hmm I see now. The 20Qil I gave the customs went into their pockets. Not being one to quivel over $1.50 I let it go and continued to the import processing building.

Hotel in Hauhauteango Gua.

There I gave them my original title, my driver’s license, my processed export paperwork from Mexico and my passport. They made triplicate copies of all and sent me to the bank office where I paid 160 Qils (about $20). After which I returned to the window and was given my Import papers. All and all the entire process took about 2 hours. Not bad for a Sunday and a Mexican holiday! It’s 4:00 and darkness will be falling soon so it’s time to skedaddle! It’s amazing how everything changed at the border. The mountains more rugged, the air cooler and roads rougher. We weren’t making very good time with all the villages and such but just made it to Huehuetenango by dark. 

Lunch break

This would be the 2nd Mexican Independence parade we crashed
fortunately we found  away around this one.

SOME TRIP PICS

The hotels are very accommodating down here

The beautifully tiled courtyard in Muleje Baja

Some Whitehorse neighbors we ran into

Shopping in the "mericado '

Lalo and John in Guadalahara

Lalo and Gina, our Guadalajara hosts

After changing my tire for free Victor gives the bike a washing and polish. No charge!

Thanks guys! A great KTM shop in Guadalajara!

  

The boyz at EuroSports that helped us out.

THE HEART OF MEXICO

Thursday

The plan today was to get up and out early and put down some miles but by the time Max loaded up his bike and Gina and Lalo fixed us yet another wonderful breakfast it was after ten when we bid them a fond fair well and hit the slab. It took over and hour just to get through Guadalajara. Have I praised Dufas my GPS lately? If not consider this my praise. Getting around the big cities would be close to impossible with out his help. Sure even Dufas gets confused now and again but between reading the road signs and listening to that wonderful female voice in my ears I managed to lead my boyz out of the city and into the countryside. We headed Southeast toward Lake Chapala and continued on Through Zamora, Zacapu and finally into Morelia where we are spending the night. We managed 200 miles today, which may not seem a bunch but driving the secondary roads takes you through the middle of lots of small villages that are brimming with Topes (speed bumps). Some are there to slow you down for safety and others to slow you down so they can sell their fruits and vegetables. The 1^st third of the drive was ho hum, flat farmland and some traffic. After that the road began climbing and the air turned cooler. We climbed up to 7500 feet on a clean and twisty road with little traffic. Lots of fun and great scenery. Once you pass 5000 feet the trees turn to pines and the air smells fresh. Max’s bike is running much better but we still need to lean it out more for these altitudes.

It’s good to be riding again. We are hoping to make Oaxaca on Saturday where we plan to spend 2 nights before heading to the coast.

Max and me repairing stator case

Friday

Oh yes the beginning of another day of adventure. The Plan…. Get up early and be on the road by 8. We are all up at 6:30 and done with breakfast by 8, bike loaded and ready to make tracks! Max fires up the KTM while I’m getting directions how to get out of this town without going through the middle. “Hey Dad check this out!” “I’m busy Max wait a minute”. “I think you need to see this,” he says. Ok WTF! The sight gauge on the stator side of his engine is sucking in and out of the case. Shit! Out comes the tools and off comes the cover. We clean the works, apply some Hondabond and close it all up again.

The bike still has Carb issues. Idles fine but quits when hot. 10:00 we hit the pavement! Taking the route the guy gave me takes us 45 minutes to get out of town (have I mentioned how I hate cities, in the last few posts I mean) anyway we did miss most of the central city. We are riding at around 6000 feet, mostly in a broad valley heading towards Mexico City. The usual small towns and topas (speed bumps). The road begins to wind up into the mountains and becomes a twisty, up, down, clean, light traffic, awesome road for 60 miles. One of the valleys reminded me of the Scott Valley in Northern California with all the pines and fields. The small villages we pass through all have their fruit and taco stands and make for a good break from riding. We decided since we got such a late start (Again!) that we would make up time and do some toll roads. I programmed Dufas to allow toll roads and avoid traffic and set the destination for Oaxaca. Looking at the map there is no direct route to Oaxaca, either you turn south then east then north of you can head east through Mexico City (I hate to ride in cities). We have no maps of the city but since I had programmed Dufas to keep us on toll roads and avoid traffic I assumed we would have no trouble getting through. Wrong! It all began with the high altitude and the POS KTM crapping out. I assumed wrong that the toll roads went through the city. As soon as we got into the city the toll road stopped! It just ended and put us on surface streets in one of the largest cities in the world during rush hour! Picture if you will (this is for the bay area folks) the 880 at rush hour extending 40 miles and 90% of the drivers are Asian! It was surreal. Six lanes of traffic barely moving with people walking around between the lanes selling shit.

No tell Motel Mexico City

At one point there was a man sitting on the wall with a fake monkey playing the organ and another man walking car to car looking for “donations”. Of course the POS KTM kept crapping out (we are at 9500’ elevation) and we have no hope of making it out of the city by dark. After being guided through the streets of Mexico City we eventually got back on a multi lane highway packed with commuters. This portion had no shoulders, just high walls on either side and that’s when Max’s bike quits! Shit! He was immediately gobbled up and out of sight. Lucky for us there was an off ramp ahead and John and I got over. Max got his bike running and we all got off the highway and back on the surface streets. I had had enough! We found a cab driver to guide us to a hotel. I didn’t care where he took us as long as it had secure parking. We finally get to the Hotel Principal and off the bikes just as it’s getting dark. Turns out this is a “no tell Hotel” where men bring their secretaries or hookers for a roll in the hay. It had under ground parking so their cars could be kept out of sight. It wasn’t a bad place. Had a very clean room with a large mirror facing the bed and 3 channels of porn on the TV. Damn it was good to get off the bikes! We all cleaned up, found a cool taco place, sucked down a couple of beers and sacked out for the night.

Road from Mexico City to Oaxaca

Saturday

We are on the road by 6! This beats our previous record by 2.5 hours! We are motivated to get out of there before the traffic begins. John calls and wakes up Knikki who tells him the president of Mexico has been killed in a helicopter crash. We think, “This explains all the Military we saw moving into Mexico City yesterday”. I’m wondering if this might slowed our departure out of the city but it turns out it was some other official not the President. We made it out just as the sun was poking its head through the thick smog. We need to make 300 miles today to get to Oaxaca. It’s decided we’ll take the toll road east then south. After spending 35 bucks for the bikes and traveling 100 miles (freezing our asses off, none of us expected 40 degree temperatures), we decide this is cutting into our budget to deep. At Tehuacan we get off and get back to the world of small villages and topas. It’s way more interesting on these back roads than the toll roads, just a lot slower. Turns out this was best decision of the last 2 days. We took 125 south along a broad and fertile valley. It eventually began climbing and gave us one of the best riding experiences of the trip. Except for the occasional wash out, burro in the road and truck it was an exceptional road with incredible views. It’s fun watching Max’s road skills improve. He is riding smooth, fast but safe. I can’t believe how quickly John as adapted his ski skills to moto skills. We arrive in Oaxaca around 5 and after the usual Max and Dad shenanigans looking for a hotel we find a place near the Zocala with secure parking for a reasonable price (still the price is exceeding the budget) it’s dark again. We unpack, shower and head over to the Zocala for a couple of margs and dinner. The revenge struck last night and I spent part of it at the alter of Montezuma.

GUADALAJARA

Friday November 5^th

 Cathedral in Jerez de Salinas

Packed, breakfast and on the road by 9:30 (that’s pretty good for us). Today we ride towards Guadalajara. After the last experience we decided to break it up into a 2-day ride. We took the highway towards Zacatecas and ended up in Jerez de Garcia Salinas, a smaller town southwest of Zacatecas. The ride was good, traveling along high desert and then through some mountainous areas. We were up around 5000 feet so the was cool and somewhat clean. One thing I’m noticing is a lack of garbage along the roadside. I don’t know if the government has finally cracked down or maybe this part of Mexico in more environmentally sensitive. I guess I’ll find out the further south I go. The usual cluster f%#k finding a place to stay. We picked this town because it was relatively small (36000) but it was just as confusing as Durango was. We have learned to aim for the cathedral, this is normally the center of town but with random one-way streets it’s sometimes hard toe get there. Also the streets are narrow and parking hard. Perpetual Motion is key but often doesn’t allow enough time to get your bearings. We did find a nice place to stay with secure parking for the bikes. Dinner on the square and a walk around town before retiring to bed. Every night there is music in the streets. It may be part of the Day of the Dead calibration or maybe they are just having fun.

Saturday

Yet another slow morning but we only have 180 miles to go today to reach Guadalajara. Again it’s high desert then into the mountains. A brilliant ride with lots of small villages and great scenery. The landscape is lined with stonewalls instead of cattle fencing. Our goal was to make it to a hotel recommended to us by some friends of a friend of John’s. Simple instructions: Drive straight into town, under the overpass and just beyond the Grand Plaza (you can’t miss it) you will find the hotel. NOT! After driving around during, what appeared as, rush hour for 30 minutes we stopped to ask directions. I guess we missed a turn (what turn? We were supposed to drive straight!) Anyway another 30 minutes and we find what we think is “the Hotel” We go to check in and find out it’s $140 a night (that really cuts deep into our $80 a day budget)! Fortunately they have no rooms. This forces us to find a cheaper place down the road for $55 a night. They give us secure parking and a great room with AC and a TV. Beers before dinner and a walk find us in the biggest mall in Guadalajara. The only restaurant we could find open besides a Steak house smorgasbord was a VIP. Yep the same as in the states. The only difference being the servers were much cuter and didn’t speak a lick of English. A walk home and hit the sheets around midnight.

Sunday

Shit! Just miss the Valencia Moto GP. Sounds like it was a awesome race. Breakfast at the hotel and it’s off to the mall! Looking for ear speakers (mine failed), a battery and charger for the camera (left the originals in a hotel in LA Paz) and a new Kindle (mine failed when I hastily packed it without protecting the screen). After 3 hours of shopping I ended up with ear speakers, sun block and a bottle of wine. Tonight we go and stay with the friends of a friend of John’s. More to follow…….

After 3 hours in the mall I got my ear speakers and nothing else. Funny, malls in Mexico are just as tiring as malls in the US. Starbucks, Subway and many of the same stores abound. The main difference is there are no maps of the mall anywhere so you are forced to cover all 3 floors to look for whatever. We then got directions to Lalo and Gini’s house and found it without to much trouble. They actually have a number of homes, one in Salulita, one in Mexico City and one here. This one is for getting away from work and relaxing. It’s a beautiful home up in the hills above Guadalajara in a gated area protected by the police. So safe I forgot my key in the bike and it was there the next morning!

Monday November 7^th

^{Lalo and Gina} escorted us to 1^st a BMW shop where I got a new rear tire and then to EuroBike to drop off Max and Johns bike to be worked on. It was a blessing having Gina with us as she acted as translator to the mechanics on what we wanted done with the bikes.

Found a rear tire for my bike!

 Lalo and Gina then took us to Tlaquepaque, an old section of Guadalajara that has very high-end shops and good restaurants. It was the area where their revolution began (I think). It appears Lalo and Gina are very well respected here. After lunch the server offered us margaritas on the house. Of course I, out of respect for our hosts, could not refuse so after 2 beers I had a margarita followed up by a special blended margarita they called a tamrindo margarita. Since the bikes wouldn’t be ready until tomorrow we headed home for some well-deserved naps (I mean siestas). Gina once again served a delicious meal followed by another fitful sleep.

Gina, Lalo and the boyz

Tuesday

The bikes should be ready by late morning so we lazed around the house doing laundry and such until Lalo could give us a ride into town. When we got to the MC shop neither bike had received any attention so we hailed a cab and went to the central area of Guadalajara. We did the mericado thing and got a excellent lunch there consisting of 3 tocos, a chili and a pop for $2.50. After we walked around the central area. Strip clubs, Nintendo salesmen and 16^th century cathedrals.  We caught a cab back to the bike shop to find John’s bike about done but Max’s a way to go. In the meantime I had left my bike after changing the rear tire. This shop prides itself on cleaning the bikes even if they hadn’t worked on them so about the time we wanted to leave (getting home before dark is a priority of mine) a guy starts washing my bike. They just don’t wash it they clean the engine, wash the frame, rims and everything else then wax and apply plastic polish! By the time he was done it was frigin dark! John’s bike was done so Max hoped on mine and we rode back to Gina’s. Of course Gina was waiting for us with dinner ready and we enjoyed another evening with them.

Lalo, the Tin Man and a blind beggerman

Max in Guad.

Even though they did nothing to my bike
Victor and Euro Sports gave it a good washing!

The Boys at Euro Sports who were most helpful and generous!

Wednesday

Max’s bike won’t be done until 11:00 so we get up have a late breakfast and start packing. The plan is to head back to the shop, pick up Max’s bike and then head back to Lalo’s and Gina’s to pack Max’s bike and hit the road to Chapala for the night.

We get to the shop around noon and find the mechanic still working on the bike. After lots of translating and pointing we start to make progress on the bike. They have gone through the entire bike and it still runs rough. Max finally convinces him to take the carburetor apart. He finds that the choke cable had come completely out, causing the choke to be partially on causing the bike to run rich. Long story short the bike was done around 5:30 and in the meantime we have become great friends with the entire shop. Leaving was with great sorrow. Lots of pictures and goodbye and the bill…..

The bill….. They had at least 10 hours on the POS KTM plus parts and charged us $320!

The shop rate is $23 hour and the mechanic was trained in Montréal at a KTM school.

He really knew his shit and accomplished what the KTM shop in Bellingham could not.

They ended up charging us for 5 hours labor, nothing for changing my tire and washing my bike. After tipping all involved we rode back to the house for one last night before resuming the ride south.

Pictures to follow……..