Sunrise over Lake Atitlan

Leaving the Hotel Laura

Church in Chiquimula

"Our best shot"

It started to rain in San Cristobal, and we weighed the advantaged and disadvantages of waiting out the weather or moving on. When we heard that the rain could last for ten days, we saddled up our rides and moved on. It was wet all the way to La Mesilla, on the Guatemala border. After finishing our paperwork, we decided to stay at the locally recommended Hotel Laura, owned by an Mexican who had lived in San Diego for 18 year and drove long haul trucks across the US. We enjoyed the place and the food. The hot tub was the temperature of the rain, so we decided to pass on it.

The next day it continued to rain all the way to Lake Atitlan. We and our gear got soaked. Landon´s map was not up to par, so ended up in a small fishing village on a cow path of a short cut that the locals said was passable. We gave it our best shot, but ended up taking a sidewalk back into town and backtracked to the main road on Lou´s map. We arrived at Santiago Atitlan at dark, negotiated a hotel room (actually three hotel rooms) and ate supper on the plaza. It seemed a somber little town, especially in the rain, but the zocolo was alive, and we enjoyed our meal a lot.

This morning it was clear, for the first time in days. We dropped out of the mountains to the CA2 highway along the coast. Then we went through Guatemala City with its traffic and smog. It took almost two hours for us to make an escape on the CA9 to the north and east towards Chiquimula. We like this town. It seems like the whole town was aware of our presence within a few minutes of our arrival. We have a hotel room with a balcony on the square and a fresh pineapple in the bag. We´re so glad to be here and to be dry.

Hasta luego.

With a few exceptions the pavement has been good since we left Oaxaca. The way down to the coast was lined with agava fields. They spread out with the most wonderful color, my favorite, teal. (I painted my house that color, and my brother joked that I had just lowered the property values of the entire neighborhood). We stopped at a place where they produced mezcal and picked up a bottle for ourselves. We never actually saw the Pacific, but the humidity assured us that it was close.

As Landon reported, the ride to San Cristobal was spectacular. We got some refreshing light showers, then a drenching in Tuxtla Gutierrez. From then on it was a ride up into the clouds. Wonderful. Fresh. Last night we stayed in a grand old colonial hotel on the square, a bit pricy, but it evokes another time, and the cost includes parking for the bikes and breakfast. There's gentle rain now. It'll probably continue all day. I look forward to getting into Guatemala.

October 10 2007

Today we awoke to a balmy morning in Tehuantepec near the Pacific coast. We left the 335 foot elevation and continued southeast along the coast. The terrain was reminiscent of Nueces county as you approach Corpus Christi. After a couple of hours we turned back inland and started up into the mountains, on our way toward our goal for the day, San Cristobal de Las Casas. Someone told me before this journey "I hope you find what you are looking for",to which I replied "I'm not looking for anything". After a day like today, I realize there actually are things worth going to look for. To ride from 300ft and 92 degrees and rise to over 6000ft into the clouds and feel the temperature drop to 60 degrees, all the while being mezmerized by corn growing on near vertical hillsides..........and then riding into the clouds and the visibility dropping to less than 100 yards.......totally indescribable. I'm trying to be safe, and limit my photos from the bike , so you'll have to use your imagination, and settle for one of last nights dinner.

We left Cuernavaca yesterday and made our way through the mountains on roads that were 'sinuoso' to say the least. The scenery was spectacular. These roads are made for motorcycles and people who would dream of flying. We found the huge church above in the middle of the countryside an hour or so north of the incredible city of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. After locating a place for our bikes and us to spend the night, we went to the zocolo and found a table on the plaza. There we enjoyed watching people, listing to local music, and drinking a couple beers. Landon had beef tips and Sean and I had chicken with Oaxacan mole. Wonderful. Landon managed to find a wireless connection on his mini laptop and call home on Skype for 2 cents a minute.

Today we plan to visit Monte Alban and Mitla, both ruins in this area, and ride more or less halfway to San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas. We should hit the border with Guatamala by Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. All is well.

Monastic Days

Today we took it easy and went into the village which has grown up around the monastery, which by the way is the Our Lady of The Angels Monastery. We went to a cyber-café and paid US$ .80 per hour to check e-mail and update the blogs. On our way back we bought a whole grilled chicken for US$ 4.00 and some other vegetables for dinner. We attended the Monks singing vespers and afterwards spoke to Father Conrad, who is in charge of the Monastery.