Guatemala round two

We had planned on taking one of the bikes to the small villages that are scattered around the lakeshore, this plan changed to hiring a boat to take us across the lake to 3 of the villages. The day off the bike would be nice and judging from the road into Pana it would not be much fun to ride around. The boat cost about $50Cdn (360Q) and we were joined by a young traveller from Toronto.


The first stop was a vibrant and steeply graded village, San Pedro la Laguna. Here there were alot of travellers, the most we had seen since the start of the trip. The boat tours are popular so there sometimes is a congestion of tourists in one spot. The village itself is built on the side of a mountain so the street grades are incredible. Good exercise to be had will snooping out the place, this also led to us finding some rather interesting albeit very confusing laneways. The buildings are all connected as they are in many of the towns, so the laneways go for longs distances sometimes until another street is crossed. Plus, the walls are high so it is harder to get one’s bearings at times. We did find some trendy coffee shops and therapeutic massage parlours amongst the maze. We managed to make it back to the boat on time and even had a moment to talk with the Auzzie couple again, they had also taken a boat tour and were now enrolling into Spanish classes for a week or two. Hmmm not a bad idea.
Our skipper quickly navigated the boat around a point and into a small cove where the second village, San Juan la Laguna. This village was quite a bit smaller and quieter than San Pedro, it was also set back from the water, so this gave us our first TukTuk ride. The driver took us to a local shop where the women weave the elaborately coloured clothing that we have seen in the shops. The lady did her best to describe the process in English and I think we got the most of it. They use natural food dyes to color the cotton that is picked in the hills around the area. The cotton comes is three colors; white, brown and khaki. The cotton is then cleaned of seeds, stretched out and beaten with a “Y” shaped stick for 20 minutes, then it is spun into thread using a stick about 18inches long. The white thread is then dyed to achieve the colors needed. Carrots for orange, basil for purple, flowers for yellow, grasses for different shades of green, and coconut for browns. The thread is then weaved onto a board with spikes in it for drying, she said this was a very important step in the process. Then the weaving actually can start. She said it takes about a week to make a sweater and about the same for scarf. The more colors the longer it takes. Some of the ladies in town are selling their scarves for 10Q ($1.50cdn), not that much for a weeks work, although I think some of the products are mass produced based on the number of them available and the consistency of the stitching.


The third and final village, San Marco la Laguna, is still a total hippie hangout. Lots of holistic shops, yoga, massage parlours, meditation centers, and pretty much anything else you can think of in way of spiritual development. Throw in a few bars, coffee shops, and restaurants and that about sums up the whole village. The layout of the village was the most unique of all, there was one major path about 4 feet wide up from the water to the intersection with a small road. That was about it, aside from a bunch of dirt trails through the bushes that would lead you to the shops and healing centers. Our young traveller friend talked to a lady that had just finished a 3 month meditation, which means all she did was think, eat, sleep. No conversation with anyone as she was shut into a room and given her meals through a slot in the door. It sounded more like solitary confinement than meditation, but we can respect her accomplishment and perseverance. There must be a large energy center here to support all this healing.
So the decision to rent a boat was a good one, we met some nice people, seen some interesting things, and got to enjoy the day without the worry of traffic and navigating.
From Pana we intended to take the lakeshore road around the north end of the lake then turn to Solola and then on to CA1 which would take us towards Antigua Guatemala, we were on the road early filled with gas and as we left the west end of town the highway was closed off with a steel gate. Hmm... back through Pana and south along the east coastline the way we came in. In hindsight it was a good thing we hired the boat because the “ride around the lake” turned out to be a bust. Backtracking is alright, once in a while, at least we knew the road was open. We made a guess that the road heading due east to Patrizia was open, this saved us going all the way south to Godinez and then back NorthEast to Anitgua. The road was open all the way although there was a section or two missing.


This gave us another first for our trip. The first water crossing, as in ride through the creek that was over a couple feet deep in the centre. The bikes handle this stuff just fine, they are actually built for this kind of action. The rest of the road wound its way through some canyons and hills then spit us out onto the CA1. This sped up the journey as traffic is at full highway speed on CA1. Big highway, lots of traffic and trucks and busses. Wehn we got to the spot that said "Antigua ->" we turned south as expected but ended up on a small highway that ended after about 20km. I stopped to ask a man cutting weeds along the road, he was very helpful and told us in rapid Spanish to go back and around the volcano, we thanked him and were on our way. Ok, I know...backtracking again.
So back in the town we can’t pronounce, the sign clearly indicated to turn where we did. This time we decided to follow the CA1 until we seen another sign or major highway. About 5km past where the sign was there was a major highway with another sign that said "Antigua –>". Now we were confident that it was the proper road, not really sure what the first sign was all about. Boogy down the road it should have been easy to find Antigua, but there was no sign from the North to say turn left, so we of course blew by the turn, about 10km later I realized all the signs were indicating Esquintla not Antigua, so once again the kindness of strangers was tested and yes they confirmed our suspicion that we missed the turn. From the south it is clearly signed.

Guatemala round one

Guatemala here we come, it is Nov 21st and we are heading to the border at La Mesilla. It should only take a couple of hours according to our experience but we are unsure how long it will take to get across.
We have read that if you don’t surrender your vehicle documents that you don’t have to pay a second time upon returning from Central America. This is a good strategy to save some money but we would like to have the option of shipping the bikes home without returning to Mexico should something happen down the road.
We made it to the border in the estimated time, the first thing we noticed is that it is very busy, not at the crossing but along the road leading up to the crossing. There were numerous taxi’s, mini busses, food vendors etc. All this hinting at a long wait, why else would there be numerous restaurants at a border in the middle of nowhere. We pulled up to the pile-ons and a fella in uniform motioned for us to pull into a "quarantine area" for fumigation; this was expected so we were not surprised. The fumigation is to prevent transfer of bugs and stuff across the border, yes, it is a comical situation, people are carrying all kinds of stuff across, but the vehicles have to have their undercarriage sprayed with a liquid that does not have any chemical odour to it at all. Personally I think it was just dirty water but it only cost $12.50Q for each bike. $1=7Quetzals.
Then we went to the immigration office to get our passport stamps, they told us to go back down the road 4 km and get our Mexican exit stamps first, I thought this was the Mexican exit. Apparently we missed something along the road, so back we went and sure enough there was the office, on the East side of the road. When leaving Mex that would make it on the other side of the highway, no wonder we missed it. The chap behind the counter was not very helpful, both Brenda and I are sure he was asking for us to pay an exit fee of 262pesos each, the same as what we paid when we entered at Nogales. We kept asking what the fee was for, he would explain in rapid fire Spanish and we would try to pick up a few words every time he repeated it. Finally, with the help of an Italian traveller, we got it straight. The immigration guy backed off on the fee and stamped our passports. He did take our visitor visa even though it was good for 6 months but only one entry. No biggie, it was only $25 bucks anyway. We then were directed to the Banercito to turn over our bike documents, we were happy to learn that we did not have to as our current permit is good to the end of March. This doesn’t help us if we end up shipping home from Panama or something though. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.
So, back up the hill the 4km to the border, the immigration guy smiled widely when we showed him the Mexico exit stamp, then boom boom we were stamped into Guat and off to the Aduana office to import our bikes. This was also a very easy process as the form was bilingual and the fee was only $40Q each, one more quick check of the documents by yet another border person and we were done. All that and 90 minutes.
The welcome to Guat is done via a cramped two lane highway through La Mesilla with hundreds of vendors lining each side of the street. All the usual products, blankets, clothes, shoes, trinkets, pottery, food, wood carving and more overwhelm the senses as we try to negotiate traffic. Then we come up behind some sort of procession that was either a funeral or some sort of religious thing being Sunday and all.


Anyhoo, a couple on a scooter were nice enough to show us an alternate route through town, on the side streets, and then we were away.
Just out of La Mesilla the highway cuts deep into the bottom of a lush gorge. The landscape and even the foliage has changed drastically in the last couple of miles. Not like crossing from Alberta into Montana where everything looks the same.
Our first night in Guat was spent in Totonicapan, which is about 20 km from the more popular Quetzaltenango. We feel we made the right choice because it was a very quaint town that had a nice market happening just a couple of blocks from our Haspedaje (Guat term for hotel or boarding house).



The town also had a large Centro Square in front of the main church, plus a park that worked as a cornerpost for the market. The ladies are all dressed in traditional clothes with brightly colored dresses and blouses with wide sashes, and low healed shoes. Even with the heals the women are only about 5ft tall, so Brenda feels like a giant amongst them. They are of course friendly and when we catch their eyes checking us out they smile and quickly and greet us with a friendly Buenos tardes (good afternoon). The young girls giggle and cover their mouths sheepishly, just like at home. The young guys try to be cool and not look, but we catch the occasional glance, so again just like at home. The sun sets like clock work and it is dark by 6pm so we head back to our room to plan the next day and capture the current. This involve downloading photos, writing a bit for the blog, looking at maps, and trying to rough out a route, plus stay awake long enough to do this. It sounds funny but we tend to fall asleep before 9pm and are usually awakened by the first noises of the morning at about 6am.
The days start with a quick breakfast of fruit and sometimes coffee in our room, followed by packing all the stuff into the luggage, not the saddlebags just the Ortleib bags, and then hitting the road. Oh ya, and the spare tires. I never wanted tires to wear out so fast so that we can stop packing these spares.
The next stop was Lake Atitlan and the town of Panajchel, this lake is flanked by two inactive volcanoes. Panajchel was once a great spot for hippies to come and relax and smoke what grows, over time some of them opened shops and bars and now it is a regular tourist destination. Despite the road in, it is actually quite a vibrant town with an active market street and good nightlife. The shops have all the same stuff as we’ve seen at the border and in Toto yesterday, so little is of interest, plus we are not big trinket people anyway. If you have been to our house you know this to be true. We did see some nice artwork though, so tomorrow we may have to do some haggling for a piece or two. Our haspedaje was recommended to us by a couple from Australia that we crossed paths with on the highway. It just happened that as we came to a fork in the highway they were coming from the other direction and stopped in the big center triangle thing. I seen that it was a big bike(650 KLR) so I pulled up beside them and started a conversation. She has been travelling for 6 months and has another 6 to go, he joined her and will spend 6 months in C.America. They had just come from Pana, so I asked where they stayed and wella here we are. Basic room, bath down the hall, clean, secure bike parking, 70Q. Yes that means $10CDN, and free coffee. We may stay a while.

San Cristobal to the Southern border of Mex

Riding again, heading South East now to San Cristobal Del La Casas as we want to cross into Guatemala at Le Mesilla, which is reportedly a better spot to cross than on the busy PanAm highway. Once again the road did not disappoint, it started off straightish and cross-winds that would blow and gust enough to push the bike to the edge of the road. It must be like this alot as there was a huge windmill farm on both sides of the highway. We had seen online that it was -21C in Cochrane today so we will not get much sympathy as we ride in a very windy 31C. The terrain transitioned from coastal plains and the occidental terrain back up into the mountain landscapes, thus the road also changed back to never ending curves, these ones could only be negotiated at about 20kph, the road was not only twisty but came with steep grades and sloping roads. Very interesting concept, I just wonder if it was intentional or how it turned out. Once we got used to the road, the scenery and farmland in the high country was amazing. I will never again complain about having to mow grass on a hill, these people farm corn and some type of vined fruit on the sides of 75 degree hills.


San Cristobal is home to the oldest preserved church in all of Mexico. It is also home to numerous other churches, monasteries, language schools, and other very interesting and old architecture. The camera is getting a workout here, as are we, there are stairs everywhere. This is a truly old city, the streets are very narrow, two small cars wide, most streets are one way to avoid possible collisions and other traffic issues.

These are the stairs that lead up to the church which can be seen at the top.



The food is again great and the people all very friendly, they always return our smiles with smiles of their own and big auctioneer type comments in Spanish. We have no idea what they are saying, but it sounds friendly. :).


After an amazing walk around San Cristobal we ate dinner at a little kiosk style restaurant that had tables set out front adjacent to a small park. This was very handy for the street vendors to walk up and ask if we wanted any of their wares, we declined gracefully and were bid “Buenos noches” as they left. We retired to our room early as usual to download photos and write a bit. The hotel has no heating system so it is crisp in the room and a little damp, the way to compensate this is with thick wool or fleece blankets, I suppose this is similar to any moist climate whether inland or coastal.
The morning brought an amazing 6C and light mist of rain, by the time we left the sun was trying to break up the clouds so it warmed considerably. We headed to Comitan in preparation for the border crossing on Sunday, we heard that Sundays are good to cross as there is less traffic. It was a relatively short ride (80km and 2hrs), which was a nice break from the previous days. Comitan is spread out along the highway for what seemed like 5 miles or more. We ended up riding all the way through out into the country then back tracking in order to get the lay of the land. On the very outskirts was a big Walmart supercenter with Sam’s club, Burger King, and a couple of other big box stores, in a way it was nice to see something familiar but also disappointing that soon the smaller vendor stores will be a thing of the past as the Mexican people will change their habits in favour of the “American Style” stores. We never went into the Walmart but we have frequented a couple of Mexican stores of similar concept to Walmart and/or Costco, the prices are good and they seem to have everything from tires to bananas. These stores are good for our grocery supplies of water, some fruit, and road snacks, but we prefer to hit the small stores for other incidentals.
Once settled into the hotel and Brenda’s bike secured in the lobby, we headed out in search of a hose clamp. It may have been helpful to look up “hose clamp” in the Spanish Dictionary before we left but that would have taken a bit more organization that we could muster today. Due to the layout of the town, most everything was available along the business frontage of the highway, we did however take a couple of detours into the side streets in search of a auto parts store, which took us on some very narrow and rough streets. The streets are also a mixture of concrete and cobblestone, one ways, blind corners, speeding taxi’s and of course incomprehensible signage. Oh ya, the hose clamps cost $1 for two and is called a clevisio, makes sense, kinda like clevis. The clamp was to replace the rad hose clamp that started dripping again, no biggie, just a couple of minutes of tinkering and job was complete. In the end I didn’t use the new clamps, just repositioned the existing one and all leaking stopped. Oh, and those tires I bought in Phoenix are still being carried as luggage, the rear tires we have just keep going and going, so until they get bald I guess we keep hauling the spares.

Tomorrow, border crossing, this should be fun!!!

PV to Juchitan

The days seem to be a repeat of travel, find hotel, walk a bit, then sleep. I guess this is because be figured that we could fly to these resort towns anytime so not much sense in spending a bunch of time or extra days here. So we have been blitzing south to get into Central America.
My nightly maintenance routine for the bikes discovered that I had a antifreeze leak from one of the return lines. A quick adjustment and this was fixed, but now I needed some antifreeze to top up the reservoir. I ended up walking to the Pemex twice because the first time I did not take enough money.
We thought we could make it to Playa Azul today, thought being the key word. We were running out of daylight in what was appearing to be a “no hotel” zone. Town after town had no hotel, finally there was a sign that said “Hotel 3km”, ya not so much. So we pressed on and just before dark we made it to a little town, Caleta de Campos, that appeared to only have a couple of roadside shops and an outstanding looking Hotel. The Real Campanario, is owned by Gabino Vega Meraz, a very personable fella who spoke fluent English. This is the first hotel that we got to park in the lobby, Gabino had built a special door for wheelchair access which also doubles as a bike entrance. We got to talking and he owned this hotel and a landscaping company in Aspen Colorado, and splits his time in between the two. He told us all about his little town of 5000 people, where they all lived I do not know as all we could see is a couple of houses. He also recommended a nice clean restaurant to eat at which was just across the street. See photo below, and yes we ate there, and no we did not get sick. We did however have some very tasty tacos. 3 filled us up, 24 pesos ($2), so not a bad deal for supper. The next morning Gabino, greeted us with fresh coffee and a little tour of the gym and restaurant he was building in the hotel, the restaurant was almost ready to open but the gym still needed some work, he had brought all new equipment from the US. Being quite talkative he also let us know that he had some motorbikes as well so if you are ever in the area and need some help, he is the guy to call. 753-531-51-23.


Restaurant


Next stop Acapulco.
Brenda was having a bit of an off day today, probably because she ran out of water and did not mention it to me so we could stop and buy some. This lead to some slight dehydration and heat management issues as it was 34C. At a gas stop, that didn’t have a store, her gas cap was not closed all the way and as she pulled away from the pump gas spilled on the side of her bike (the gas tank is under the seat), then somewhere between this gas station and the first tight curve she lost her gear shift lever. Great more wrenching. Once I noticed that she was not behind me anymore, thanks to a kid on a scooter and a checkstop, I returned a couple of km’s to find Brenda’s bike on the side of the road but no Brenda. She had stopped beside someone’s yard but not in their driveway, so the family could sit on their "porch" and watch these weirdly dressed white people fix the large motorcycle.

I asked the lady, via some hand gestures, where Brenda went. She pointed down the road in the direction of the gas station, the kid on the scooter got the message across to me that she had a flat tire but upon inspection they both seemed fine, so I jumped on my bike and went to find her. Just around the curve Brenda was walking along looking for he lost gear shifter, I told her to keep looking and I would go fix the bike. The family seemed impressed and even laughed a bit when I pulled a spare shift lever out of tool tube, held it up so they could see it and said “Vamanos”. Which usually mean “to go away” or “get out”, so it seemed like a rough translation of what happened to it anyway. Couple of minutes and it was all fixed, I then rode all the way back to the gas station hoping to find the one that fell off, but to no avail, the grass on the sides of the road is literally 10ft tall and there were alot of people walking and on bicycles so they may have picked it up if it was on the road. Oh well, kiss that one goodbye.
We arrived just before dark once again and coincidentally that is also rush hour, so the 3 million people that live and work here are all trying to get home. Rush hour in Mexico adds a whole new dimension to the phrase “rush hour”. We managed to avoid the Centro area, but got caught up in the traffic on the beachfront strip, which is also Rte 200 through town, kind of like funnelling half a million people down Jasper ave, plus horse drawn carriages. These horses must be so desensitized to traffic and noise. We managed to find a great hotel thanks to Carlos (aka Chuck), who is one of those street agents who gets paid to bring in customers to hotels or restaurants. He started talking to Brenda at a traffic light and suggested “his” hotel. We took a chance and it paid off, nice clean room with a/c, and a small balcony. Not on the beach but one block up, so we still had a nice cool breeze on the balcony that worked great for a little relaxation and even better for drying our clothes. We walked down to the beach and around the strip area for a while then returned to our hotel for some balcony sitting. The next morning we headed off early enough to miss rush hour or so we thought, I guess we changed time zones again or something because it was very busy. Somewhere in the process we apparently ran a red light, or at least that was what the police officer said once he caught up to us about 4 miles down the road. He had been following us for a while I just didn’t see him and he never turned on his siren. Nice enough guy, he wanted $1500pesos for the ticket and for me to return to the police station. I refused both and explained that it is impossible to just pull me over when everyone is breaking the rules, plus I did not even know what I did until he told me. This went on for about 10 minutes, then he said if I pay him $500pesos the ticket would go away. I also refused this and told him that just because I am a tourist does not mean that I should be a target. This must have been the final straw because he walked back to his partner, then returned quickly and to me to go.
The rest of the day was smooth sailing, all along the coast to Pt Escondido, a guy at work went on and on about this place so we thought it might make a good layover for a night. The road in was the usual Mexico fair with a good number of curves and an even larger number of small towns. All with Topes (speed bumps). This is generally for speed control and a place for some locals to stand and watch traffic. Maybe they are collecting hubcaps that fly off of cars or something?? In any case it gives us great opportunities to pass vehicles because they have to slow to a snails pace to get over these things, we do not, we can stay in second gear and usually not feel too much of a jolt.
Pt.Escondido did not disappoint. At first we thought it was a bit shady as the sign that directed us to the Hotel Zona, took us to somewhat deserted area with no hotels.??? We carried on down the highway further into town (45000 population) and things improved. All kinds of services and even car dealerships, big grocery stores, motorcycle dealers (Yamaha and Honda), so overall pretty good. Brenda said we should get gas, which is code for “I gotta pee”, we circled back a couple of blocks to the Pemex, where we met Brian. Brian was filling his scooter and as soon as we took our helmets off he commented that our suits looked very warm. I assured him he had no idea, later to find out that he in fact had a very good idea. He had ridden his Harley from PEI to Gualtemala a few years earlier. He had also been coming to Mex and Escondido, in particular, for 34yrs. After a bit of chit chat, he invited us to a beach side bar for a beer and to give us the lowdown of the town. We stayed for two nights, at the bar/hotel he took us to. It was called Liza’s, and was of course owned by a very nice little Spanish lady of the same name. Her and her two sons run the place, which gets very busy during the peak seasons. This is still the shoulder season so they were not technically open for guests but because Brian is such good friends with them they let us stay and made us feel very welcome.


Today is Nov.19 and the blog is up to date. We are moving on to San Cristobal Del Las Casas today. We spent the night in Juchitan, and the ride is was very windy and hot. 36.5C. once again boohoo. beats shovelling snow.

Copper Canyon to Vallarta

The next morning we headed out towards Hidalgo de Parral. It was fairly cool with the bike thermo reading 3.5C, shortly after leaving town we entered the canyon lands via Hwy#22. This is where the Copper Canyon really outshines the Grand Canyon, by actually getting to drive right down into the bottom and then back up the other side.
Once again the road was fantastic and the experience could only be improved if it was a little warmer, some shaded areas were quite cold.
After emerging from the canyon it was time to put on some miles, we made a quick stop for gas at Guachochic, this led to a slight navigation error that took us into the town. Not all bad, got to see another city, except this one gave us a very uneasy feeling. Kind of made the hair stand up on our necks. Thanks to technology we followed the GPS directions and got out of there and on down the highway again. Hidalgo de Parral seemed like a nice enough city, we thought we could find a hotel on the south side and thus avoid crossing the city in the morning. Wrong again. By the time we got to the south side of town, the road was under construction and the detours were like driving through a field, a very dusty field filled with speeding cars. No speed restrictions in construction zones like at home.
Well, I guess we did find a hotel on the south side of town after all, about 100km south in Las Neivas. This was the most basic of accommodations, a bed, a TV, a bathroom.


The ladies at the restaurant/reception area were very friendly and helpful with dinner. When I asked for a menu the shortest of the three, shook her head and motioned for me to follow her into the kitchen. OK...she then showed me a bunch of prepared dishes of mixed meat, refried beans, rice, and tortillas. She motioned for me to pick which I wanted while she rattled on in Spanish at about 20 words a second. She apparently forgot that I only spoke a little Spanish, but none the less we worked out a couple of plates of food. She gave us a little of everything, and every little bit was delicious.
On to Durango in the morning, busy city, but once again the GPS saved the day. Not that we were off track this time but it was assuring to know that we were on the right track. So after making short work of the city it was more miles, more curves, more mountains, more small empoverished towns, this is beginning to be very familiar along this route.
En Salto was our next overnight visit, we arrived into town by mid afternoon which gave us some time to walk around and explore. As water is always a concern we stopped in at Mini Super and one of the ladies spoke very good English. She was very bubbly and gave us a good restaurant name within walking distance. The restaurant served rotisserie chicken, blackened chicken and salads. The price was $4 for half a chicken and two salads, which was enough to fill both of us, pretty good deal we thought. Our hotel was the Los Pinos, clean and comfy with eventual hot water for the shower, sometimes it takes a while for the hot water to kick in.



Can you see the dog in the picture. He seemed content to guard the rubble.

The main industry in town in logging, so there is a constant stream, of trucks both loaded and not, rolling through. Every once in a while there is the aroma of the sawmill and fresh cut lumber, the rest of the time the street vendors selling their tacos, tomales and roast corn fill the senses. It is hard not to give in to all these temptations, but it is even harder to know which places are safe to eat at. I suspect there are no health inspectors for the restaurants. Just guessing... In the morning we had to ask the guy at the front desk to move some cars so I could get the bikes out. The best security for our bikes is being blocked in by two cars and a truck inside a locked, fenced parking lot. From En Salto we rode to Mazatlan and spent two nights there.
The road was again very twisty in sections and it got increasingly warmer as we moved towards the coast. En Salto was 1C and the thermometer on the bike read -3.5C at one point in the canyons, so the 32C in Maz was nice but overwhelming. We found a nice little hotel, Hotel Mazatlan, a couple of blocks from one end of the Malecon (boardwalk), again about $30 per night. Good basic accommodations with internet and within walking distance to most things. There was actually a big gringo area just up the street. Office Max, Home Depot, and a Mexican version of Walmart. We spent the rest of that day walking the beach and just enjoying the ocean. The next day we went for a ride, two up, around town. There is a new resort area in the north of town and surprisingly there is an RV park at the very end. We later ran into a nice couple from Winnipeg, who RV full time and were staying at that park. They said it was just ok, but I suppose they would see alot of different types of parks due to them being full time RV’rs. It is apparent that the recession has taken it’s toll on Maz, there are alot of closed businesses along the Malecon, and a few building projects that appear abandoned, and yet there are other ones under active construction. These two fellas were working away at about 60-70 feet high, on a balcony with no railing, on a plank which we could see was flexing, on top of saw horses. No fall protection or harness visible and the only thing to slow their fall was a screen two floors below.






Pto Vallarta was our next stop. An absolute nut house getting into town. We knew we wanted to stay close to the beach so of course that meant going right into the Centro. But that was after we spent an hour in a traffic jam back out on the highway, way back 18km where the turn off to Neuvo Vallarta is. We even tried some of our new skills by going on the shoulder and between cars but our bikes are just to wide for that kind of action in tight traffic, so we sit, and sweat, did I mention it is 35C today. Oh well, better than shovelling snow. It has also been about 20 years since I was at PV, wow now I feel oldish, anyhoo, the Malecon is still the center of action and some of the same stores and bars are still there. We found a nice hotel with the help of a street agent, he said the rooms were $300 pesos but they turned out to be $600. I negotiated down to $590 including the 19% taxes, thankfully the lady at the desk spoke very good English so the process was much easier. The days seem to be a repeat of travel, find hotel, walk a bit, then sleep. I guess this is because be figured that we could fly to these resort towns anytime so not much sense in spending a bunch of time or extra days here. My nightly maintenance routine for the bikes discovered that I had a antifreeze leak from one of the return lines. A quick adjustment and this was fixed, but now I needed some antifreeze to top up the reservoir. I ended up walking to the Pemex twice because the first time I did not take enough money.

Viva La Mexico

The border was confusing at first, we made it through the military style barricades on the US side, then over the metal speed bumps (about the size of ½ a cantelope) on the Mexico side, through the gate after only one question from a kid with sidearm and we were off. After driving for a few kilometres I began to wonder where the check point/inspection/permit office was. Upon returning to gate, we found a fella in uniform and asked where we get the vehicle import permit and visitor visa. He informed us that it was 21km down the road in the direction from which we just came. OK, now we had to go back through the gate past the same kid with the sidearm, again he asked where we were going and for how long,(I wanted to say (the same as 10 minutes ago, but decided not to provoke him) and then wanted to search my saddlebags. After a quick look into one bag he waived us on. Now, for the easy part, the actual paperwork/entry fees/windshield stamp all the good stuff needed for an extended stay. Total cost for two people and two bikes $1422pesos, YAY we are in Mexico. By the end of the day we also paid $160pesos in tolls by the time we made it to Hermosillo. Sorry no photos of the US border or Mexican Gate only of the immigration office.



Hermosillo, our first stop in Mexico, is partially a very modern city and partially what has been determined, by our limited exposure, to be "old Mexico". With it’s run down narrow streets, old buildings, older vehicles and very friendly people. We found all this out while going in circles trying to find the hotel that was recommended to us, did I mention that it was also about 35C. Once found, ok we never did find the recommended one. But, OUR hotel was nice and if you don’t believe me just ask any one of the six armed guards who seemed to stand at their post diligently waiting for something to happen and an excuse to use their shotguns and/or machine guns. Luckily while we were there nothing ever did happen worthy of gun fire.



Here we also had our first run-in with the Policia. That didn’t take long. We had made an illegal u-turn apparently, but because we do not speak Spanish the signs don’t count. It is a good thing he didn’t follow us out of town, because the illegal u-turn was the least of our driving infractions. However, all confusing things must come to an end and we found the highway and were once again making some miles.

Mex16 is a modern highway, nicely paved and painted but with narrow shoulders. It took us south towards Guyamas then we diverted onto Mex22 which leads into the Copper Canyon, our first major tourist stop. Quite the road, I wish we had this type of road closer to home. Along the road at some unpronouncable town, we stopped for a leg stretch and were quickly surrounded by an entourage of men, all ages, dressed in the latest Fox Motocross racing gear. Ok, this is odd. They were on the way to a quading location up the road, nice enough guys, some spoke English, and all were anxious for us to join them on their quading trip. Near as I could tell, it was up a dried river bed about 100km from the drop off point to one of the older gentleman's ranch. He also invited us to stay with his family at the ranch then head out from there in the morning, as there are banditos along the route. We gracefully declined, partially because the only people in this area were likely the bandits, and these guys were decked out with new 4x4's, enclosed trailers, new quads, etc.etc.


The fella just over my head is the gentleman with the ranch.


Rte16 started relatively straight so we figured we could make it the Creel that day. Shortly after the meeting with the quad group, the road changed from long sweeping curves to absolute motorcycle heaven. About 100km of twisties and 3 hours, gets you to Yecora. We ran out of daylight and heeding the bandito warning we stayed in Yecora. This is a mining and farming town in the high country of the Sierra Madre mountain range.


This is a sample of Rte.16


The Strip.

But...don’t let the quiet little 3 square block village fool you, after dark every piece of crap vehicle in town cruises "the strip", which happened to be in front of our hotel. But...the good news is they shut down or break down around midnight, just in time for the million or so stray dogs to take over in various forms of barking and fighting, at least they know enough to do it on the main drag so everyone can enjoy the ruckus. Again, our hotel was very clean and the clerk was patient with our Spanish. So after an entertaining night, we woke to frost on the bikes and a flat rear tire on mine. NICE. I checked out the tire and could not see any punctures so I pumped it up and assumed some kids let the air our. Everything happens for a reason, so now the frost had melted as the sun was warming the mountain range and another 120km or so of twisties will get us to Creel.
Did I mention that we have not known the actual time of day for about three days. How great it is.

Creel is the gateway to the Copper Canyon, there are many many hotels here and lots of shops catering to the tourist’s need for trinkets and souvenirs. The town itself is pretty much in shambles though, despite its location and potential goldmine of tourism. But once again, this is what the real Mexico looks like, not the fancy all inclusive resorts of the coastal areas. Mexico is still a very poor country and it is evident at every turn. Once again we lucked out with a clean hotel and appeared to be the only guests, except for a dog who got into the garbage and a horse who got into the parking lot.



Once again frost on the bikes in the morning, but we were not in any rush and by the time I fixed the flat tire on my bike it was plenty warm. First puncture, some kind of metal, I guess it wasn't the kids in Yecora after all, just a very slow leak.



Can't say much about Copper Canyon, other than it is awesome. I imagine that it is like the Grand Canyon was 20+ years ago. Meaning you can stand right out on the outcroppings and look over the edge. No guard rails, no rules. Park admission 20pesos, so for under two bucks it is hard to complain.

Road Report

One day on the road, finally made it out the door by like 3pm or something silly like that. The feelings of nervousness, not about the trip, about if we got all the areas of our life taken care of for the next four months is beginning to subside as the miles roll by.




There were grand plans to make it to Dillon MT, the first day, however with the late start we managed to make it as far as Boulder MT. Nice little hotel, mostly catering to the hunters that flock to the area at this time of year in search of deer. As we were unloading our gear into the hotel, some lively music erupted from the local watering hole across the street, some of the patrons were out front in Halloween garb, this was party night in this little town. The next morning, we ate breakfast at the little cafe down the street, our waitress was wearing a lady bug outfit, she said that her and her daughter were going to dress the same for Halloween every year that she(Mom) could get away with it. Before breakfast was completed the waitress’s husband and little girl showed up, sure enough the little 2yr old girl was also wearing a matching lady bug outfit. We had ordered the “two eggs and toast” I got 3 eggs, Brenda got 4??? Not bad for $2.50 each.



Day two took us up over the pass on I-15 from Boulder into Dillon then on down the road through Salt Lake, which was not very busy as it was Sunday afternoon. We pushed on to Cedar City and stayed at a nice Best Western for $55, not much to report about along the way, lots of canyons and such, no snow in the high country (must have been tough for those hunters with no snow for tracking) oh well, one for the deer. We decided to get some groceries for the next days travels, across from the hotel there was a smallish market that had all the staples but not alot of selection, except in the beer isle. Bought some Michelob lager ($5.99/6pk), the best deal would have been 18 Keystone for $9.99, but I can’t drink that much anymore, and beer has a very short shelf life so it must be consumed almost immediately after purchase.:)

Day three...slight side trip. Brenda had never been to the Grand Canyon, notice I said “had”, and seeing how it is along the way if we took Rte89 instead of I-15, we could cross that off her bucket list. Then while we are at it we might as well take a second side venue and stop in at Sedona before heading into Phoenix to see Norm & Shirley (Brenda’s cousins) for a couple of days.






Sedona views while hiking









As stated, a couple of days in Phoenix, stayed at Norm and Shirl’s, George and Judy also came down from Leduc for a holiday so we all had a great visit. We were invited to Russ and Edna’s for a little dinner and drinks, they live in the same community as Norm and Shirl. What a great time! Russ and Edna are from Winnipeg and have a beautiful property that is great for entertaining friends, we all sat outside for dinner (which was also fantastic, THANKS again Edna&Russ / Dave&Sharon, it was a pleasure getting to know you, and I am going to hold you to the invite for a return home party as well. All this followed a full day of bike prep and tire shopping. Funny we were the youngest people at the party and the first to start yawning, nice...it was only 10pm.

Finally, it is time to ride. Planned on leaving early to get through the border at Nogales and south past the “Cartel Zone” but as usual final packing, visiting, etc. found us leaving Phoenix at noon, so we stopped in Nogales AZ for the night so that we can get a early start at the border and definitely make it south of the cartel zone before dark.