MC Raven Ride Report 41 - Guatemala
Guatemala
Borders are ephemeral things. Unless there's a river (or mountain range or such) it's often difficult to tell one country (or state) from its neighbor. Southern Alberta, Canada looks just like Northern Montana, USA. Eastern California looks just like western Arizona. Not so with Mexico and Guatemala. The difference in geography is immediate. You go from lowland jungle clad hills to steep rain-forested mountains. But first, you have to run the gauntlet of border crossing, decontamination (some guy with a garden sprayer squirts your bike and you pay him $5), immigration, customs and money changers. When you've finally gotten through all that you take the highway up into the mountains.
One of the first things you pass after the border is this enormous landfill that's smouldering and spewing noxious, poisonous smoke across the road for about a mile. You try to hold your breath and keep riding, knowing that you really, really don't want to breathe that smoke.
The highway runs up the valley between the steep rain-forested mountains covered with orchids and bromeliads. It was just past mid-day when I finished with the border so I was on the lookout for someplace to eat when there, alongside the road was a restaurant offering PIZZA! What a wonderful invention. I pulled over and put down the kickstand.
I'd only been in the restaurant long enough to order a beer and a large pizza when I heard motorcycles coming along the highway. They zoomed past then, I could hear them turn around and come back. Going to the door of the pizza place I looked across the street to see two bikes and riders checking out my rig. "Hey! I just ordered pizza. Come on over and have some." I called. They came. This is how I came to meet John Kincaid and CJ Peake: two riders from the Vancouver area who were on their own voyage on motorcycles. Turns out that they were heading to Antigua where they'd arranged to attend a Spanish language school. I also wanted to take a refresher course and they were kind enough to let me tag along with them. Good thing too as my cheap'o Mexican gps had stopped working as soon as I entered Guatemala!
John and CJ are riding Yamaha WR250Rs that they've beefed up the suspensions on as well as adding fairings, soft luggage and way too many improvements to list here. They have a ride report on ADV.com where they've enumerated their mods and are faithfully writing up their adventure.
Check them out at: http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/motomavericks-ride-wr250rs-rtw-motos-beer-adventure.1096260/ (You might need to copy and paste that url into your browser's address bar.) What that meant to me is, I was taking a Master's class in motorcycling. These guys know how to wring the most out of their smaller engines and they take no prisoners. Though my bike is almost 5-times their size, I had to work to keep up!
We rode through several villages until late afternoon when we started looking for a place to camp for the night (they camp a lot!). After 2 or 3 tries we found a perfect place on the top of a hill to settle in. Nothing but stars and the lights in villages across the valley. Sometimes, it all just works out perfectly.
The next day we started early and worked our way towards Lake Atitlan. Guatemala seems to have missed the part of the road building course that includes bridge making. They build their highways where they zig-zag their way down the side of the mountain to the valley then, zig-zag their way back up the other side. We stopped for breakfast at a small roadside place at the top of one of those mountains. Check out that view!
We arrived in Panahachal on Lago Atitlan in the late afternoon and, after checking out the local tire shops (John and CJ are always looking to upgrade their tires) we found a hotel that, there being 3 of us, we could afford. Lago Atitlan is a mystical, crystal lake nestled in the middle of a range of volcanoes. These pictures really don't do it justice. It's so magical in fact that it's in danger of being taken over by new-agers and turning into a Guatemalan version of Sedona.
The next day we blasted into Antigua. It being Sunday, the place was busy with markets, shoppers and tourists bustling around everywhere. The language school had moved and we (John and CJ) only had their previous location plugged into their gps's. Eventually, we found someone to provide directions and made our way there - just at lunch time (of course). We settled in to wait.
The language school (Academia Atinguena de Espanol) provides one-on-one instruction rather than classroom. I found this style to be much more effective than the small classes I'd attended in LaPaz, BCS. I couldn't hide behind the other students! Classes are held in this wonderful garden setting: little tables scattered among the trees with a single student and instructor chatting away or doing exercises or playing games. Sometimes we'd take a walk into town and chat about shopping, politics, families, etc. The weather was perfect, the setting was perfect and Claudia (my instructor) was perfect.
Cost for Spanish lessons was $150/week including room and board! To compare with the school I attended in LaPaz, I paid $250/week for the school and an additional $200 for room and board.
Antigua is an old city. It's in a mountain valley surrounded by volcanoes - one of which (Fuego) is very active. Daily we'd hear the booms of eruptions. The locals would just shake their heads and say "El Volcan". The students would rush out to take pictures of the smoke and ash. Here's some of mine.
John and CJ left after a week of class. I opted to stay for another week. I'd gotten sick (one of the other students in our hostal was kind enough to pass along his illness) so I decided to stay for another week. While I was there, I used the opportunity to order another Garmin Zumo 660 GPS to replace the one that was stolen at the Hotel California in Todos Santos, BCS. While I was at it, I ordered the South America map set which includes Costa Rica (but not the rest of Central America) and Florida (?). I also downloaded the free CenRut maps for Central America (horrible for Guatemala, bad for El Salvador, passable for Honduras, better for Nicaragua and pretty good for Costa Rica and Panama).
Borders are ephemeral things. Unless there's a river (or mountain range or such) it's often difficult to tell one country (or state) from its neighbor. Southern Alberta, Canada looks just like Northern Montana, USA. Eastern California looks just like western Arizona. Not so with Mexico and Guatemala. The difference in geography is immediate. You go from lowland jungle clad hills to steep rain-forested mountains. But first, you have to run the gauntlet of border crossing, decontamination (some guy with a garden sprayer squirts your bike and you pay him $5), immigration, customs and money changers. When you've finally gotten through all that you take the highway up into the mountains.
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| At the Guatemala/Mexico border - don't I look fresh and full of promise? |
One of the first things you pass after the border is this enormous landfill that's smouldering and spewing noxious, poisonous smoke across the road for about a mile. You try to hold your breath and keep riding, knowing that you really, really don't want to breathe that smoke.
The highway runs up the valley between the steep rain-forested mountains covered with orchids and bromeliads. It was just past mid-day when I finished with the border so I was on the lookout for someplace to eat when there, alongside the road was a restaurant offering PIZZA! What a wonderful invention. I pulled over and put down the kickstand.
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| Pizza! Heaven! |
 C |
| Christmas in Guatemala |
I'd only been in the restaurant long enough to order a beer and a large pizza when I heard motorcycles coming along the highway. They zoomed past then, I could hear them turn around and come back. Going to the door of the pizza place I looked across the street to see two bikes and riders checking out my rig. "Hey! I just ordered pizza. Come on over and have some." I called. They came. This is how I came to meet John Kincaid and CJ Peake: two riders from the Vancouver area who were on their own voyage on motorcycles. Turns out that they were heading to Antigua where they'd arranged to attend a Spanish language school. I also wanted to take a refresher course and they were kind enough to let me tag along with them. Good thing too as my cheap'o Mexican gps had stopped working as soon as I entered Guatemala!
John and CJ are riding Yamaha WR250Rs that they've beefed up the suspensions on as well as adding fairings, soft luggage and way too many improvements to list here. They have a ride report on ADV.com where they've enumerated their mods and are faithfully writing up their adventure.
Check them out at: http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/motomavericks-ride-wr250rs-rtw-motos-beer-adventure.1096260/ (You might need to copy and paste that url into your browser's address bar.) What that meant to me is, I was taking a Master's class in motorcycling. These guys know how to wring the most out of their smaller engines and they take no prisoners. Though my bike is almost 5-times their size, I had to work to keep up!
We rode through several villages until late afternoon when we started looking for a place to camp for the night (they camp a lot!). After 2 or 3 tries we found a perfect place on the top of a hill to settle in. Nothing but stars and the lights in villages across the valley. Sometimes, it all just works out perfectly.
 |
| A water crossing somewhere in Guatemala - picture by CJ Peake, that's me about to cross the river and John on the other side. |
The next day we started early and worked our way towards Lake Atitlan. Guatemala seems to have missed the part of the road building course that includes bridge making. They build their highways where they zig-zag their way down the side of the mountain to the valley then, zig-zag their way back up the other side. We stopped for breakfast at a small roadside place at the top of one of those mountains. Check out that view!
 |
| Breakfast on the road |
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| Imagine coming to work and this view every day. |
We arrived in Panahachal on Lago Atitlan in the late afternoon and, after checking out the local tire shops (John and CJ are always looking to upgrade their tires) we found a hotel that, there being 3 of us, we could afford. Lago Atitlan is a mystical, crystal lake nestled in the middle of a range of volcanoes. These pictures really don't do it justice. It's so magical in fact that it's in danger of being taken over by new-agers and turning into a Guatemalan version of Sedona.
 |
| This little bike caught our eye. If we could have figured out a way to take it along, we'd still have it. |
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| I was particularly impressed with the quality of the welding. Isn't that beautiful? |
The next day we blasted into Antigua. It being Sunday, the place was busy with markets, shoppers and tourists bustling around everywhere. The language school had moved and we (John and CJ) only had their previous location plugged into their gps's. Eventually, we found someone to provide directions and made our way there - just at lunch time (of course). We settled in to wait.
 |
| Waiting outside the language school. John on the left and CJ on the right. John is currently using this picture as his Facebook profile image. I'm very proud. |
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| Academia Antiguena de Espanol |
The language school (Academia Atinguena de Espanol) provides one-on-one instruction rather than classroom. I found this style to be much more effective than the small classes I'd attended in LaPaz, BCS. I couldn't hide behind the other students! Classes are held in this wonderful garden setting: little tables scattered among the trees with a single student and instructor chatting away or doing exercises or playing games. Sometimes we'd take a walk into town and chat about shopping, politics, families, etc. The weather was perfect, the setting was perfect and Claudia (my instructor) was perfect.
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| Santa's House in Guatemala |
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| Beautiful church. The locals call this the Pastel (cake). |
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| Typical tourist transportation but, look who's got the reins. |
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| Student housing for the language school. |
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| This guy bit the hell out of my finger! Everyone was shouting Cuidado David. Cuidado David? How bout Cuidado bird? |
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| Bad choice in parking. That banana tree dropped nectar all over my bike. It was so sticky that I couldn't get my hands to open and work the brakes and clutch. |
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| Antigua's city seal. Note the volcano spewing smoke. |
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| Guess where this is? |
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| Yep, McDonalds. In Antigua, McD's is upscale dining. |
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| Claudia my instructor. |
Cost for Spanish lessons was $150/week including room and board! To compare with the school I attended in LaPaz, I paid $250/week for the school and an additional $200 for room and board.
Antigua is an old city. It's in a mountain valley surrounded by volcanoes - one of which (Fuego) is very active. Daily we'd hear the booms of eruptions. The locals would just shake their heads and say "El Volcan". The students would rush out to take pictures of the smoke and ash. Here's some of mine.
 |
| The Volcan |
John and CJ left after a week of class. I opted to stay for another week. I'd gotten sick (one of the other students in our hostal was kind enough to pass along his illness) so I decided to stay for another week. While I was there, I used the opportunity to order another Garmin Zumo 660 GPS to replace the one that was stolen at the Hotel California in Todos Santos, BCS. While I was at it, I ordered the South America map set which includes Costa Rica (but not the rest of Central America) and Florida (?). I also downloaded the free CenRut maps for Central America (horrible for Guatemala, bad for El Salvador, passable for Honduras, better for Nicaragua and pretty good for Costa Rica and Panama).
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| When John and CJ left the entire household staff and guests turned out to say goodbye. |
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| When I left. |
posted by SV/MC Raven at
12:54 PM
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