August 10th, 2009
We rode into the border of Guatemala yesterday afternoon in tourista style; we didn’t know what the hell was going on when some guys stopped us 20km from the border saying they needed to help us get over the border and that we had to turn in our Mexican Visa here as there was no other place. They were right as we found out so they gave us the confidence to take them on the bikes to the border ….. for a fee of 100 pesos each, and I had read about these tramadorres? so not all was knew to us, except the actual process …. (uhm I thought when we let the guys on our bikes, if we wipe out who’s at fault, better not wipe out) ….
… this was where they stopped us and if they hadn’t we would have gone right by and then had to go back to pay the exit fee and remove the visa sticker etc. ….
…. we weren’t smiling from joy, it’s cause there wasn’t enough room for this guy and me so our balls were squished the whole 20k. Course I got the big guy ….
…. here we are surrounded by the “everyone gets their share”, even though we got to drive through the line up to get here ….. I took pictures just in case ….
…. then into Customs, who were part of the “everyone gets their share” process …..
…. the only one who didn’t get anything was the shoe shine boy who hung with us the whole time. I felt badly, he didn’t even make the photo’s ….. all in all the process was fast, sort of like first class, but I think we lost a few bucks, but not that much really. Next time we will be ready for the assault ….. apparantly though we have the 4 country visa but we shall see when we hit the next borders. Which incidentally might be a problem as the Honduras borders were shut down a few days ago and had curfews and such because the ousted president was going to re-enter Honduras …. anyway, with all that behind us, we headed into Guatemala ….
…. and up and up and up, I didn’t check the elevation on the GPS but it didn’t feel any higher than some of the other places …. should check the elevation just for facts sake.
… and into San Marcos ….
… and we went down to the market in San Pedro, joined with San Marcos. I watched the bikes while Scott went for the goods ….
So while sitting there and taking it all in, as well the people around checking me out, well this little girl was helping her Mum sell clothing by saying something in Spanish like, We have nice dresses, yes nice dresses …. she was saying the same thing over and over and when I would look and smile cause she was so darn cute and had a strong voice, well she would hide behind the clothes …. she’s hiding just behind the bust on the left.
… and then I caught her with her smile. Next thing I knew while I was checking out everything around me which was very busy and many people stopped to touch the bikes and nod approval, well the little girl was there in front of me handing me some bread. So I thanked her and she ran off through the traffic. I went over and offered the mother some Quetzles but she declined, really I said, yes she said. The men around her said something like take the money and she turned and gave them a look that said none of your business. After I got back to the bikes I pulled out a brand new box of tic tacs and went over and gave them to the girl. She gave me a high five and then the fist to bash together. Back at the bike again she returned right in front of me with two yogurts. Ohh gracias and then she was gone after a tiny smile. Then I finally realized that the ‘Bat Man’ ball I’ve been carrying around since I don’t know which state, Virgina? Anyway over I went with the ball. She was very happy but didn’t show it in the picture and I wasn’t going to ask her to smile cause who likes that anyway. It’s funny I thought I’d always give the ball to some boy ….
Our room for 25 CDN. Pretty ordinary.
I can’t recall if I mentioned this previously but a wasp or something got wedged between my temple and my helmet at 110k and by the time I stuck my finger in there and found a place to pull over my temple was pounding. A couple days later and here is the result. I wonder what it was?
On our way to Lake Atitlan. It was so cold I put my jacket on for the first time since Georgia, USA. And then later on promplty did up all the vents and turned on the hand warmers. The weather reminded me of a beautiful Canadian fall day with the sun shining. The dogs also don’t seem to be as aggressive here, they just kinda look at you instead of chasing. Oh and the transport buses, which I call the Magic Buses, will run you down if you get in the way.
I had to catch up to these three just to get the picture, doing 80k through the city traffic. Thankfully a truck turned around or I never would have caught them.
A construction diversion caused us to lose our way and so we stopped here for directions and we and they were quite entertained.
And then out of nowhere came this brand new highway where I was able to run my bike like it was a sport bike. It’s so much fun riding all over the place, and every where that is. The roads are so varied and offer so much stimulation in many ways.
Here’s how to carry a load of tires without a rope. It’s all in the planning and design.
Lago de Atitlan ….
And when we pulled into this motel in a tiny little street in Panajachel this little boy had his own moto so we talked quite a bit while I was unpacking and lubing the chain and such. I spoke in English and he spoke in 3 year old, we got along perfectly. In the end after I was through I pushed my bike under the laundry beside Scott’s bike and then the boy parked his in between ours both.
I left him one of the stickers you gave me Ben from Austin. He wasn’t awake when we left so I put it on his Moto.
That night I did some interneting and had some dinner while these daughters of the father and a boy from somewhere played on the xylophone. They were very good.
And when night fall I was feeling like I had cabin fever from so many quiet nights in the motel rooms with Scott and also I just finished my 7 days of Travellers Diaherrea, so I went up to a guy with a ‘putput’ and asked, Do you speak English, No Inglese, Lociento. Okay, can you take me for a tour. A tour? Ce ce, a tour around. 20 Quezles for 30 minutes okay. Yeah, but longer okay. No intiendo. Same here, let’s go! So off we went, riding around old broken bridges, through neighbourhoods, down to Lake Atilla so Juan could show me the names of the volcano. I bought us a few Cerveza’s and here are some moving pictures of the tour. Some of the photos reveal hidden pictures ….
He had a horn that whistled to the ladies … and he knew all the ladies ….
This is Juan Mendozza and his ‘putput’, number 31 if you’re ever in Pana’. Once he started getting into the tour and figuring me out without language he started to drive into some pretty crazy areas. Later on after leaving Pana’, a new friend called Mario from Montreal who I’ll talk about later asked if I was worried about some of the places he was taking me and I said, no, not really. I trusted him.
And here I found myself not quite willing to go back to the motel yet so I stopped in here …. I can’t remember the name but I met a couple of ladies and one of them went to play on the piano and played an incredible version of some classical music I’ve heard but don’t know the name and then they left and this German dude named Chris played for quite some time. At first I thought, uh oh, it’s gonna be cheesy, but then I think he got pissed off cause no one was really listening and it wasn’t busy at all so he began playing for himself and that’s when it got really good. I talked to him after, and his friends before trying to find the way to the motel with a good buzz on, especially after meeting Dr. Zhivago, a cool dude from the hood.
The way back to the motel ….
And once back I created quite a fuss with me amigo Scott as he was sleeping and I was full of beans, excited and happy …. he later forgave me but it took a day and then three days in Monterrico, Guatemala.
The Magic buses to me but they are called Chicken buses.
…. the approach to Monterrico ….
… and so Scott and I looked for different accomodations, I looking for Johnny’s place, a tip given to me from Tanya in Halifax. Thank you so much Tanya, it was better than perfect!
Johnny’s place was built originally for his family, and then friends and then an American dude owned it and put in a restaurant/bar and then Mario from Montreal bought it a year ago. He was working in Montreal in fast food Sushi with two other partners. While he was away, his partners sold the business so he returned without an income or a job. This is funny, he googled, Beach properties for sale and ended up in Monterrico, Guatemala. He is a great guy and is integrating himself into the community very well. He has the help of many good people/staff and from his manager Tony who is a hippy that has never returned home to Scotland. Man that guy is interesting and has many stories and has been almost every where. So they built the soccer field on the beach and everyday around 4pm till 7ish the locals play soccer and volleyball. It’s fun just to watch, and they’re very good. Then later they acquired electricity and lights for the beach for tournaments from the federal government and now hundreds of people watch and they also have soccer for girls. It’s too much to write about but let me just say go to Johnny’s place in Monterrico and find out for yourself.
This is usually not a good sign but it turned out fine. The waves are dangerous, and you have to get advice from people who know before swimming.
The food is great! And everything one needs is at Johnny’s Place, I never left the lounge the second day, chatting with people from all over, but mostly at this time France, Holland and Germany.
Then later with my new friends, Simon, Valerie, and Dalphine we had dinner at the Pelican. From the local ex pats, they regard this restaurant as the top ten in Central America, and they’re probably right. And it’s just a one minute walk from Johnny’s ….
Lightning on the beach ….
