Antigua, Guatemala to Santa Tecla (new San Salvador), El Salvador 210 miles

I woke up with that same feeling I get when we have taken a good rest, and are about to hit the road again; excitement. We quickly packed up our things and set out to mail a postcard at the Correos around the corner. Although it was supposed to be open at 8:00AM, at 8:20 there were still people standing around waiting to go in; that’s what I’ve greatly noticed since we left the US, a lot of waiting, everything is on the time of the person you need, not your own. You must get used to this pace of life and inconvenience or else the frustration will get the better of you. Waiting for the post office ended up giving us a nice encounter with a couple that was also traveling south on a Vstrom. They were from Canada and had made their way down and will be continuing until Tierra de Fuego just as we will. Mike exchanged some tips on the Vstrom and I got to talk about some of the things we have heard about the road ahead.

As we head out of town, Mike managed to put us on a road which leads to a small town and that is it. The detour landed us in a town in which I don’t think they have seen a gringo in some time; a lot of stares and a completely different lifestyle. Although it was interesting to see, we did feel lost and somewhere where we shouldn’t be; I kept my camera hidden and Mike got us out as soon as possible.

We found the main highway after weaving through a different end of Antigua; they sure don’t make it easy to find main highways/roads around here! Starting off the morning on the road is exhilarating. The feeling of the unknown ahead of you, seeing completely new things, entering a new country, and enjoying all of that in the comfort of our own transportation; it’s an incredible feeling.

As we headed out of the mountains, the weather become much warmer, the lifestyle different and slower. Instead of corn, there were banana, guava and pineapples lining the hillsides. We also began to pass fields of coffee beans, the most delicious, Guatemala coffee. Our route lead us to Guatemala City, a huge city which seems to be the hub for all of Guatemala. Talk about confusing, we most likely cruised the entire city before finding the road out of town. Even when you ask directions here, nobody knows where anything is, but still attempts to give you a long answer which ends up being useless.

This particular border consisted of two stations; Guatemala and El Salvador. First stop was to do the required paperwork to exit Guatemala (which didn’t take too much time) and the next to enter El Salvador. Every time we hit a border crossing I prepare myself for the worst; most inconvenient and timely process. Although each time I get pleasantly surprised at the length of time and simplicity (maybe we’ve only received good luck – knock on wood). Although the people at the station work at incredibly slow speeds in which you aren’t sure if they have fallen asleep, the process started soon after we arrived and ended without much interruption, I’d say about an hour. On top of that good news, we didn’t have to pay a thing, I think that might have been due to Mike throwing down the new law we read about CA-4 which entitles citizens and US to freely cross most of the Central America countries without filling out or paying any additional fees. This time we didn’t receive a warm welcome of singing ladies, it was pretty quiet. The entertainment for me, while watching the bike, was the women. They sure like to wear their finest in El Salvador; what a difference from Guatemala where the women still wear their indigenous garb. I got one lady, dressed in silver high heals, belly shirt, long dangly belly ring, shorts and a ton of makeup which made her look something like Elvira walking through the border with her two little girls. I got another woman dressed in a white satin gown (almost looked like it could be a wedding dress) and white satin shoes opening her Zapatoria store early in the morning. Quite a few amazing outfits for such a place and an ordinary day.

Yes, as soon as we crossed the border, we were in a different country and you could feel it. From all you hear about the dangers of El Salvador, everyone owns a gun, a lot of unrest, etc, I was on high alert and hoping we wouldn’t take a wrong turn. After being surrounded in Guatemalan woman, the people here make the place feel like a whole new world from their bordering country. The people here look quite a bit more European which makes sense from the history of El Salvador in which there are not many Indigenous left. We weaved through a few small cities, a great big city, and more small before coming into the new San Salvador which borders the real San Salvador. The city consists of what I believe to be the corporate El Salvador. The first giant malls I’ve seen since we left from the US, the first giant cinema and great big shops and restaurants. All which are surrounded in ghetto type neighborhoods which resemble the worst of Mexico. The sun was beginning to set and Mike didn’t want to ride into the most dangerous city, San Salvador at this time of night so we stopped to figure out where we could stay. We noticed a huge Holiday Inn on the hillside and decided to inquire as there wasn’t much else we noticed as far as accommodations. Mike was sold on the $150/night room (yes, they use US currency here), but I couldn’t stomach it. For that much splurging I’d at least want an ocean or pool side accommodation and enjoy it for the entire day! We set back out into the slummy adjoining neighborhood, and while weaving through heavy traffic and having the sun disappear on us, Mike was in a bad mood and attempted to blame me for not already being parked and resting. Soon after we discovered a little gem; a B&B (without breakfast) with a nice little courtyard, large clean rooms, a TV and a Fan, all for $35. The owner graciously ordered us Pizza Hut, delivered (two pizzas delivered for 6 bucks!) and I was able to veg-out, relax and watch some American TV; ahh, just what I needed after such a long and exhausting day.

So far, from what I’ve seen of El Salvador, it’s beautiful and the people are friendly. Although there isn’t much as far as sites for the tourist, I’m glad we’re able to drive through it to catch a glimpse. Its Halloween night and Mike and I are watching a E! Hollywood True story on Scream Queens; at least we are being somewhat festive. They definitely don’t celebrate Halloween here, and I don’t believe they will be celebrating the dia de Muerto either. Bummer, but we’ll just have to make up for a lost Halloween next year.

Amie says 'thumbs down' to a long day

The last of 'Pimp my Schoolbusses'

Antigua, Guatemala, 0 miles

A nice day off in a lovely city, that was today. Not too much on the agenda, no errands or chores, just whatever we felt like and nothing at all. We woke up in our lovely tent to the sounds of Spanish Soap opera blaring through our courtyard window. I think it was the first night in many that I was awake before Mike.

First stop by the wireless café that had great coffee. I updated the blog, enjoyed a delicious cup of Guatemalan roast and had a delicious Apple Struddle – yum! Mike got to get a few more pages into Don Quixote. After our relaxing morning and breakfast we set out around town with my camera; some great photo ops here! We pretty much cruised the entire town, down every little interesting side street; many beautiful buildings. I got some great shots which I plan on posting to the blog, I guess we can call today the ‘artsy’ photo shoot day…

We sat in the park, read our books and watched all the shoe-shiners buffing away at anyone’s shoes that could possibly be shined. Yes, everyone in this town has very shiny shoes. The shoe shiners range in age from about 5 to I’d say 60+. Mike and I were debating how long the Senors had been at the job? Did they start when they were 5? They just walk around with their little kits ready to buff out any shoe they cross. I have to say I enjoy watching them and am not bothered mainly because as soon as they look down at my feet they see sandals and turn away.

We walked by a pet shop, the first I’ve seen since we left the states. In Xela my teacher kept telling me stories of how in the ‘past’ they used to eat dog!!! All throughout Mexico and from what I’ve seen of Guatemala, the dogs are not treated like man’s best friend; it is very sad. Today at the pet shop there was a little basset hound puppy that looked at me and said ‘take me with you’. I gave him some love, and brainstormed of how we could take him along on our journey. Give him in my jacket at the border crossings??? Put him in the pannier? Mike made me feel better by reminding me that in this town people have money, and whoever buys that puppy will for sure give it a good life…hope so.

For dinner we enjoyed two delicious pasta dishes at a little wine café; very tasty. I think I’m going to have to add the creamy chicken with sun dried tomato and broccoli to my recipe list; a winner. There are plenty of great restaurants, cafes, bakeries and ice cream shops in this town. Of course plenty of them quite expensive for Guatemalan standards, but it’s really nice to have such great food options.

Tomorrow we’re off to El Salvador in the morning, looking forward to a new country. I expected to hear or see Adam sometime today as he wanted to try and drive through the remainder of Central America with us. Maybe we’ll see him tonight or in the morning.

Beautiful

Churchy

Yeah!

Rustic Antigua

Umm...Keith???

Walkin'

Runnin'

Did this shirt shrink?

Hello Sir!

Caught them!

Yes...I'm alive too...

Panajachel (Lago de Atitlan) to Antigua, Guatemala, 80 miles

We woke up to someone scraping away at the roof early in the morning. It wasn’t too bad considering we went to sleep so early the night before… Mike took a walk along the lake and I slept for another hour. The town slowly got a start in the morning as by the time we packed up the bike, most of the shops were still closed; maybe because it is Sunday. Although Panajchel is a really beautiful spot among giant volcanoes and a beautiful lake, there wasn’t too much there for Mike and me so we were off to our next destination, Antigua.

We originally had heard that Xela is a much better town than Antigua to take Spanish courses in, which is why we decided to do so for a week, but to our surprise Antigua has become quite a gem in our trip!

The road out of the lake was amazingly beautiful; a lot of grassy hilltops, pine trees and giant mountains. Not long after we hit the road we came across a road block on the main highway. Strange, there was no other way than around the road block, so we continued. It was an amazing new highway, some of the best roads we had been on forever, until it dead ended with a dirt road that eventually lead to nothing but a hilltop; the construction must have been cut short. Making our way back, not knowing where we should have turned, we somehow weaved through a little town and found ourselves smack in the middle of Antigua. We stopped, looked around and Mike said “I think we are in Antigua”. The town reminded us of San Critabol right away and we were very pleased with what we saw. Cobblestone streets, beautiful churches, parks and great little shops and cafes. We were bummed we hadn’t chosen to take courses in this town instead! Mike said that this is his favorite town yet on this entire trip. I’d have to say this and San Critabol are on par.

We met a couple of Brits at the hot springs that had been hitching across Central America for the last 4 months and had spent quite a bit of time in Antigua. They both said that on separate occasions they had been robbed in Antigua. The boy was robbed by a few little kids at knifepoint (who actually attempted to stab him with their little knife), and the girl by a drunken couple threatening her with an empty bottle of tequila. Because of this news, and the fact that hitching across all of the other Central America countries hadn’t brought them any troubles, we are on high alert in this town. I think the combination of the rich tourists and very poor folk has obviously caused the crime to rise. There are plenty of gringo tourists here, but not enough to be offensive; it’s quite a pleasant town. Mike wanted me to draw a fake tattoo coming out of his neck/shirt to make him look ‘tough’ in hopes that any little punks wouldn’t want to bother with us…I talked him out of that one. My technique is to carry the can of bug spray around which serves two purposes: mace and mosquito killer. It’s brilliant; if any little punks approach me, they will receive a fury of strong bug spray directly in their eyes!

One of the biggest observations we made today, and something that was quite astonishing is this is the first time we have seen any locals with money. There were some really nice cars and motorcycles in this town. After driving through all of Mexico and most of Guatemala, we haven’t seen any nice bikes or cars; all day long you could see them here. KLM, a couple V-Strom’s just like ours, and plenty of BMW’s all lined the streets. Quite a site from what we have been used to.

We’re going to stay an extra day here. I’m going to take my camera out for some great photographs and bring in the great ambiance of Antigua! Our hotel, $20/night isn’t anything special, but has a hot shower which has become so hard to come by…I couldn’t be happier.

Good Morning Lago de Atitlan

We like the logo...but the beer sucks

Rare to see men in Indigenous garb

Brr...

Antigua!

Yoshita photo-shoot

The luscious gardens of McDonalds, Antigua

Antigua Essence

That lady looks lost

Pechuga Moist

Nice bikes Antigua, people have money here

This man looks lost

Knock knock

Practice makes perfect

Muy bonita

Fuentes Georginas to Panajachel (Lago de Atitlan), 67 miles

After a very enjoyable morning soak in the hot springs all by ourselves, we were packed and on the road again. Our destination today was the Lake of Atitlan, a beautiful body of water surrounded by three volcanoes. The main town on the lake is Panajachel, nicknamed Gringo-tenango, as its packed with whities. I can see why, its more beautiful than lake tahoe and there is really nice weather year round.

The roads and traffic in Guatemalan cities are terrible. We were happy to get out of Quetzaltenango and its suburbs once and for all. The open road in the Guatemalan highlands on the other hand can’t be beat for motorcycling and scenery.

We got into town, immediately found cheap lodging ($10) and a great restaurant. We had nachos and burritos that were better than any we had in mexico and the view of the lake was priceless. Neither of us were feeling very well after lunch. Headachy and dizzy (probably cloroquine), we went back to our room for some R&R. Hard to relax when the $10 room reeks and is full of mosquitoes! Hey, we have to rough it sometimes…

After a short nap, we woke up to no power. The street was dark and quiet, with a bit of a dangerous feeling to it. We took a short walk to an Italian restaurant that was open remarkably and had a delicious meal by candle-light. Before the meal was over, power was back on and so we walked a bit before heading back to the stink-hole.

Power went out again, some kids were screaming bloody murder (thin walls) and some dude was on the roof scrapping the ceiling at 6am. Neither of us slept well. The lightening striking around the lake was the highlight of an uneventful evening. For us, one day here was enough… Tomorrow, Antigua!

Finally...warmth

Yay! That's great!

Good motorcycling here

The Guaemalan roadside beverage service

Our first glimps of the lake

Hi Mom

Iglesia

Good food and great view (Sunset Cafe)

Wish you were here!

Xela Spanish Class (day 5) and Fuentes Georginas, 20 miles

My teacher was sad to see me go. She was a very nice older indigenous lady that gave me a lot of background on Guatemala, the suffering of the indigenous, contemporary politics, etc. I was astounded at some of the things that she said, I don’t want to recount the details, because I don’t remember them precisely and wouldn’t want to pass on false info. Suffice it to say, the indigenous population in Guatemala is treated like indentured servants, if not animals by the ruling class, which is, believe it or not, direct descendents of the conquering Spaniards from 500-600 years ago!

We received our diplomas ( a diploma after just 5 days!?) and returned to the house to pack up the bike. Amie was anxious to get back on the road, I was enjoying taking a break from it. Time goes by fast when we are moving. Staying in one spot really slowed things down. We are already a month in! I can’t believe how fast its flying by.

Driving the motorcycle down here is mentally draining as well. I’m constantly scanning for the next hole in the road, darting child, donkey, careening school bus, etc. Days off are really days off.

We made the short trip to Fuentes Georginas, natural hot springs in the mountainous jungle above Xela. The ride was only 20 miles, but it took us some time to wind up the one lane road to Fuentes. The higher we got, the foggier and cold it got. The scenery, proximity to sheer cliffs, and the mist made for really fantastic views. This was my favorite ride of the trip.

The cabanas at the hot springs is where we planned to stay, but when amie had a look at them she changed her mind. We are definitely in tarantula territory and amie is very uneasy when it comes to spiders. I laid out the options to her (not many as it was getting late and we don’t ride after dark) and we decided to stay, pitching our tent on the bed.

The springs themselves did not disappoint. A very large natural pool that was warm at one end and down right scolding at the other was what we had all to ourselves. The steam coming off the water and the tropical foliage made for a very romantic spot indeed. We both enjoyed this destination very much and were pleased with the lack of tourists and cheap eats and drinks. I expected to be gouged for our poolside beers, but they were the same price as at roca negra, about a buck fifty. Heck of a deal!

We met a british couple in the restaurant later that evening who had been robbed at knife point. Both of them, on separate occasions! Made me think hard about what happened last night! In both incidents they were walking in the street, alone, after midnight. They both gave up there wallets, and that was it. Amie and I are very cautious and are usually in our bed/tent by 10pm, so I don’t feel to at risk, however, this was a good reminder in that we can’t take for granted where we are, and how desperate the people here can be.

Zunil in the mist

Mike in the mist

Amie in the (hot) mist

Xela Spanish Class (day 4)

Today for some reason spanish class kicked my ass. I was sailing the first couple days, picking up a lot, quick. I don’t know if it’s the bad nights sleep compounding, or the mixture of verb tenses, either way, I was drained. When we got back “home” Christina was whipping up the typical huge lunch and when she asked how I was doing, I started to complain about how drained I was and how hard a day I had. Later that day Amie reminded me that Christina works from 6am to 8pm, 7 days a week, with 5 days off a year. I am in no position to be complaining about a hard day! All of us, Amie, myself and Adam, have really been confronted head on with how easy we have it in the US, how easy all Americans have it. In the states most people have to make the decision “what do I want to do with my life.” People even complain about how difficult it is to decide what they want to do. In Guatemala, very few people have the opportunity to choose to do anything other than carry wood up the hill in a bundle strapped to their head.

Anyway, after school I went on a quest to find someone who could weld aluminium and left amie with adam at the café with free wireless internet. My first stop was steel only, but I didn’t mind making the stop because the guard dog, Duke, was the nicest looking boxer I have ever scene! So ferocious until you said his name… then all he could do was wiggle just like candy does. Made me miss candy lots…

My second stop was to an auto restorer/ junk yard. There the owner was restoring a ’55 Cadillac and a 1935 Harley in the middle of muddy ol dirt yard. Anyway, $10 got my broken (in two places) bashplate back together.

We met adam at Salon Tecun, the oldest bar in Guatemala. I was suffering from really bad gas (although diarrhea is a thing of the past! For now at least) and rather than stink up our corner of the bar, I thought I’d be a gentleman and go outside for some air. There were a bunch of picnic type tables on the street with people drinking and making merry. While standing aside, breaking wind, a guy about my size (big for guate) approached me and stood right next to me—there was no one in my vicinity previously. He was obviously Guatemalan, but spoke in decent English. The dialogue went something like this:

Him: I have a problem
Me: Ok.
Him: I have no money
Me: That’s a problem
Him: *starting to lean against me as if either looking for balance or about to push a gun or knife in my side, then he yells* I have no F—king money!
Me: ???
Him: I have a body guard.
Me: ???
Him: I have a f—king body guard!!!
Me: ???... Tengo mal de estomago. ( I have a bad stomach in Spanish) *then I let out a really loud fart, and held my stomach and walked back into the bar hastily as if I was in dire need of the bathroom*

I have no idea what had just transpired, but when we got up to leave about 30 minutes later, he was no where to be found.

Fix it good

Mas Cerveza

El Guapo: the phantom

Xela Spanish Class (day 3)

Just as the day before things started to get more comfortable, again today the same happened.

I woke up to a dream that my iPod was fixed, and even though I kept reminding myself that I could possibly be dreaming, in my own dream I somehow convinced myself that I was truly awake and could clearly hear the music coming from my broken iPod. Yes, that is right, even though it hurts me to talk about it, my iPod will not work. It all happened back a few days ago. A day of riding in much rain with my iPod tucked away in my jacket pocket. I was confident that my Gortex jacket would protect my precious iPod, but to my dismay it got wet and hasn’t operated since. Up until now I’ve been in a sense of denial that I will not have my precious music for the remainder of the trip. Paolo Conte, Manu Chao and Jorge Benjor will not be singing my way through our travels; it is very sad. Each day I held out hope that after it had dried out, it would suddenly be fixed, after that failed, I held out hope that Mike could take it apart and fix it. Alas, yesterday night we did all we could and it still would not come to life. Even now I’m still in denial and don’t wish you discuss it any further.

Mike woke up and even though he too is in denial, not about his iPod, but the condition of our sleeping place, he admitted he was very tired from not having good rest. We had our breakfast of eggs and pan and headed off to our school with baggy eyes.

I keep trying to hold more casual conversations in Espanol with my teacher, but he is a very serious guy and tries to stick with the books. It gets a little dry, although I know the fundamentals are important at first. Today I finally started to feel a bit more comfortable with the language. That isn’t to say that I am comfortable in Spanish conversation, just that I am comfortable learning it!

We finally heard from Guapo (Adam) today. The salty nut has been taking Spanish classes in Xela at a different school, staying with a family. We’re hoping to meet up with him tonight in front of McDonalds (the only landmark we could think of). Let’s hope he shows up as I’m sure he has some good stories from the past week.

Mike found a motorcycle shop with everything he needed to clean the motorcycles chain and change the oil. Yes, the oil. Well, I left him to the motorcycle while I sipped Café and chatted online with my friends and family, and when I returned he was in the heart of the oil change right there in the entrance to their casa. Let’s say it wasn’t a clean oil change. The bag in which he had placed the old oil had a giant hole, and when he lifted the bag it spurted out of the bag all over their garage floor…and yet again where he left it on the side of their house. Okay, it wasn’t that bad, but was a bit stressful for me to watch. Add into the mix the Grandpa Guadalupe and the Father who were standing around in a crazy fashion (they all are a little nuts here). The father had just come home from work and could not put down the cat or dog as he was placing them on top of the motorcycle. Yes, you read that right, he kept lifting them on top of the motorcycle and saying stuff in Spanish I didn’t understand. I just smiled (as we tend to do here) and gave them our thumbs up. I think he somehow was fantasizing about the cat and dog on a great adventure around the world…at least those are the words that Mike and I could grasp. The grandpa was either interested in what we were doing due to boredom, or concerned with the amount of oil spilling all over his driveway. I tried to keep him occupied with my poor Spanish, explaining how big the mosquitoes are here and how it hasn’t rained all day. After Mike’s quick cleanup we sat down for Christina’s dinner of hamburger; some sort of hamburger.

We’re off now to meet Guapo! Prior to that we need to get Mike some more food as the meals here, especially dinner is very small.

Okay, so I must now write about the remainder of our night, as it was quite a night. El Guapo (Adam) is alive! He met us in the square at 8 sharp as we proposed via email. He looked good and healthy and had plenty of stories to share with us. We wandered through the rain (yes, it was raining again) into a bar to order some cerveza Gallo’s and catch up. Adam had stories of riding through Chiapas, running into Ninos and riding through the rain. We shared ours and then continued to a bar called Roca Negra. This is a bar that most would walk by, peer in through their dingy cloth curtain, and quickly pass by as the stench of cheap liquor and pee are enough to make you sorry you even looked. Of course Mike and Adam wanted to order a beer from this place…I stood the entire time. There were a couple guys in the corer who looked like they have been working their entire lives without a break except for large amounts of alcohol and another guy in the other corner asleep in a chair catching flies. The bartender looked somewhat like the Gollum from Lord of the Rings; a cross between that and the bartender from the Simpson’s. He had a wicked hunch to his back and his head, which we discovered later, was due to un ojos no funcion. Yes, and the other eye didn’t work so good. He thought I was a senor; probably good considering the clientele. Mike for some reason had not looked happier in days; my amazement at that kept me standing inside the bar for at least a good 15 minutes. The odor of piss, usually referred to when something ‘smells like’ piss…well, it was actually piss. The pisser is located in the bar in the far corner; the urinal and bar are separated by a small low plank. Let’s hope that there truly was a urinal, as all I noticed was a senor peeing in the corner of the bar. This is the same senor who awoken in his sleep to cough and spit high into the air in which his spit hit the floor, and most likely some of the bar seating. The bartender, Otto Herman, German named by his father who thought the name to be ‘cool’, was quite the character. He was 60, so at least some of his ‘age’ was put on by all his years, but his wicked stare was quite amazing. As he couldn’t see very well, every time you talked, he’d give you the wicked stare. I’m not sure exactly what Mike and Adam talked to him about as the aroma in the room kept me from concentrating. Our first night out on the town! Viva Xela!

Roca Negra

Take a closer look at that mug!

Guapo is alive and well

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Dancin' in the rain...

Mucha Tarea!