Three Borders, and a chance meeting

Well a fair bit has happened since my last blog way back in Guatemala After enjoying all the festivities we had to get on our way so, a bright and sunny (for bright and sunny read baking hot and sticky) morning saw us heading south east for the short ride towards the the El Salvador border. This border crossing went very well. Picked our helper, agreed a price and off we went. Sandra normally looks after the shed (although we have multiple offers to look after the bike, for a small fee of course) whilst I sort all the paperwork out. All went well and I even had time to chat with a French chap who was taking his whole family in a camper around the Americas. A teacher, he had dropped out of so called 'normal' life, and was educating his kids (3 of them) as they traveled

After the border we decided to stay stop for a night in El Salvador (you can, if you have the mind to, go through it in a day). We stopped at San Salvador and found a casino type hotel to stay in. Rates were good and it had a restaurant so it worked for us. A few beers, a meal and it was off to bed. We had an incredible thunder storm that night and the rain was torrential. It should be noted that it rains just about every afternoon in this part of the world.

The next day started off as a complete nightmare. We have limited mapping facilities on the sat nav and very poor sense of direction so we found ourselves, an hour after setting off, still trying to find our way out of the city. We decided to stop at a garage and ask, but our poor Spanish did not help. However, a chap who had just got fuel overheard us and said we could follow him out of town towards San Miguel. This worked very well indeed.

We rode on to San Miguel and the Honduras border where the border horror stories began. Now we are quite used to a handful of helpers meeting us at the border insisting that they can help, but nothing had prepared us for the masses that surrounded the bike all shouting and physically pushing each other away in order to win our business. It took a while but we picked on one chap who could speak English and who could help.

The border is a bureaucratic mine field. You are taken from one department to the next at a blistering pace, each location extracting cash from your wallet and you only pop out the other end if your wallet is empty. We knew this was going to happen so we pre emptied my wallet so they can only take what is in it.


I have no idea what I bought but some $40 USD later (that oddly enough is what was in the wallet) and some 2 hours later we had popped out the other side.

About 10 miles in we came across the first of many police check points and we were stopped. Three policemen asked for my license and I duly give them one of the copies I had expertly copied prior to the trip. "Mr RRRRRobinson" the lead copper said, rolling the R in a exaggerated way. He then proceeded to take my biking glove and but it on , holding it aloof and saying to all his policemen buddies "look Mr RRRRRRobinson's glove"..... all very odd. Whilst this was going on a chap in the police car was shouting out "ask for money, ask for money" all very bizarre indeed. I got my glove and my copied docs back and was told we could leave, everyone laughing as we did. We laughed too but we don't know why, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

Now, if you look at the map, it is entirely possible to go through Honduras in a day without stopping (highly recommended in my view) but we felt this unfair and we had to stay at least one night. So we found a town near the border and found the hotel Paradise (which was a fragrant lapse under the trades description act)

Food beer and sleep again saw an early start to the day. We were all ready to go when Sandra , tightening a pannier strap, hurt her back. It was so bad she could not get on the bike so we decided to stay put and rest all day to see if it got better. It did and the next day we tried again.

It was only a short hop to the Honduras - Nicaragua border , so within 40 mins we were at the border. Now, the nice robber who had ripped us off at the last border, had phoned his mate at this border so we could be ripped of again, without having the trouble of finding someone to rip us off. He was waiting for us and duly pounced. What followed is a blur of madness and confusion. My best efforts to calm everything down and keep control were useless. So we left Honduras poorer but hopefully wiser.

Entering Nicaragua was a breeze, we did it all ourselves. It was painless and actually nice. This first impression of a country has a lasting impact and we felt good about Nicaragua and very, very bad about Honduras.

A typical security guard fully armed up

On to the nation capital (due to the fact we needed an ATM due to the robbers at the border), Managua, which was not a great place. A dirty city with shanty towns in it's center. It took over an hour and a half before finding a hotel after asking a Harley rider who pulled up at the lights. The Holiday Inn is always our last resort. We like local, older places full of charm and local culture. The Holiday Inn is always soulless and drab, but in a difficult situation are a God send with nice beds and good clean showers and a beer. The staff where great and the Holiday inn did its job beautifully. The receptionist said we should visit Granada about 50 miles south, so we did just that the very next day.

Granada is a great little town (once the nations capital), with a very varied history. We found our hotel by 11 am and booked in. An evening stroll around this historic colonial town saw lots of interesting cultures and lifestyles, beggars, restaurants street sellers and a thriving square. As we approached the square I saw a BMW GS motorcycle... just like the shed... and another and another. Soon there where 7 or eight of them, all with UK registration plates. We knew then that we had bumped into the Globebusters tour. This is an annual event lasting 5 months which follows the same route that we are following but as an organised group headed up by Kevin and Julia Saunders, celebrities in the adventurer touring motorcycle world, The eight eventually reached 17.

We introduced ourselves to Kevin and Julia and had a few beers with them that evening. Now doing this sort of touring with a big group like that is not our cup of tea, but we sure would like to organise and take people on such a tour. We had a great time with Kevin and Julia who informed us that they had space on their charted cargo plane taking the bikes from Panama to Columbia and we could fly the bike with them.


It was great meeting them and we both enjoyed the meeting

So its now just a short hop to the Costa Rica Border for more fun and games

Canyons and Guatemala party time

Hello from Guatemala and what a country this is turning out to be. Before I bang on about it we had a place to go before leaving Mexico -Tuxla Gutierrez. This was on the recommendation of Haallem, our host in Puebla. He told us of a canyon there that we MUST pay a visit. Anyway it was a long ride to get there, (some 10 hours on the bike) so Sandra and I decided to stay for two days to get over the long ride. A busy town with lots of traffic and poor sat nav mapping which meant we had a hard time finding the road to the canyon. I think we did a u turn at the same junction 5 times. A very tight and twisty road which was a joy to ride took us to the Canyon. Almost deserted and free from tourists the Sumidero Canyon was just magnificent. Vertical walls rich in forestry led to a deep river. Quiet and peaceful, super big red and Blue Butterflies I found it one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen.


However we had time constraints pressing. The bike insurance was about to run out so we had only one full day to reach the Guatemalan border. So it was all aboard the shed and south we went.

The border crossing atTapachula was the usual messy affair. Lots of people trying to extort money from the gullible adventure bikers (which they were particularly successful at in our case) It was hot and very humid even though it was early in the morning however, being Sunday, we were just about the only ones there so this gave the opportunity for all the "helpers" to focus on us. It only took about an hour and a half but in that heat it was long enough.

Now our journey through Guatemala started off a bit odd, poor roads and the now usual bonkers driving. However, we managed to get into the swing of things soon enough. We had decided to go straight to Antigue Guatemala on the recommendation of John Mundy an adventure biker we met in Fairbanks who is doing the same trip but is a month or so ahead of us. As we moved south the roads improved and both Sandra and I noticed a certain order to things around us. As we passed villages and towns we noticed a subtle difference to those in Mexico. Much more organised and orderly, the streets cleaned and the roadsides and gardens well kept.

Now we had heard that Guatemala had been through a resurgence over the past few years taking it's own economy to one of the best in central America. As we traveled we could see actual evidence of this resurgence in new roads and investment in infrastructure, but also we can see it in the people too. Not gushingly helpful or over friendly, they are to the point, no nonsense, kind, courteous people who are focused on putting things right, and it seems to be working very well.

Still hot and humid we approached Antigue Guatemala, a town nestling between three, yes three volcanoes.

Twinned with Pompeii, this town is colourful and old, cobbled streets with the volcanoes dominating the surrounding areas. Yes it's a tourist town, but seems unspoilt by it. The town square last night was just heaving with people eating drinking and having a great time. We like it here so we will be staying a day or two.

Stop press:-...... Today (15 September) is Independance day and we find ourselves in the center of a week's long celebration here in Guatemala.

The whole town turns out day after day to see marathon torch bearers and hundreds of drum bands all doing there thing. It is not a stuffy or regulated affair but a free for all with everyone and every age having a wonderful time. This is one of the most incredible experiences..... so much so that I believe we need Spain to conquer the UK, just for the afternoon you understand, so we can declare Independence by tea time and then party like the Guatemalan's do......... Fan ... bloody .... tastic.

Planes trains and now auotomobiles

I know.... I know.... its been a while. The Internet has been hard to find and we have been on holiday from the adventure but more of that later.

We left La Paz in the Baja via ferry for the Mexican mainland. This was an rough old crossing which saw the shed topple over in the hold. The poor tie downs and general naff ness of the crew to check everything was in part to blame, and the heavy seas did not help. Anyway the shed was fine and we started our Mexico mainland odyssey. Arriving at Mazatlan we headed south and east. We had been told about a dormant volcano that was now a lake in Santa Maria del Ora which was our first stop. A great evening with stunning views and a chance for me to relax after my first experience of busy Mexican traffic. Having now ridden and driven (more on that later) I have come to both fear and admire the Mexican driver mentality.

Before I enlighten you about the driving I must first explain about the roads. In short they can best be described as variable. Some roads (mainly toll roads) being snooker table flat with dark grippy tarmac, others can only be described as rugged and wholly neglected. I have been told that some of the pot holes are visible from space and one pot hole we found had helicopter sight seeing tours available for it. These roads are truly shocking.

Back to the driving. First of all the average Mexican driver sees the center line in the middle of the road as an art form. It has no function whatsoever other than its a nice colour. Sure from time to time it keeps speeding oncoming traffic on opposite sides of the road but it does little more than look nice. Drivers will overtake or undertake whether or not anything else is coming from the other direction.

Indicators are purely cosmetic, being switched on and off at random and giving absolutely no indication of the drivers intent. It's a play thing to the Mexican driver.

Now, waiting at traffic lights is a wonderful and rewarding experience. You can be patiently waiting for the green light when all hell will brake loose. The electrons have not stopped spinning in the red light bulbs fillerment, the red light bulb has not had time to extinguish fully when a chorus of horns will remind you that you no longer have the response time of Micheal Schumacher and tell you that you should be half way to the next red light. But.... as you look around and view these horn crazed drivers you will see no one getting angry or agitated it's just the way it is..... and what is even odder, after three or four days of driving you are joining in the horn chores and having a right good time.

Back to the adventure. I had imagined Mexico to be very different to what I found. Being brought up on cartoons and Westerns stereo types I was expecting main land Mexico to be dry and baron. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. It is a beautiful green lush country with stunning views and rolling hills. In some parts it's very like Britain, and if you can take your eyes away from the mad Mexican drivers and canyon filled roads you can really enjoy Mexico.

Anyway from Santa Maria del Ora we went onto to Morelia, a small cathedral city with more traffic than New York.

We did find one street without traffic

However, it was beautiful. We found a hotel near the cathedral (in any strange town in Central or Southern America on a bike always head for the tallest building. This will be the main town church, and there is always a load of hotels next to it).

We parked the shed up in secure parking about a mile away and had a great few days exploring the city.

We where about to start our vacation, remember I mentioned this earlier. This would be a trip to Cancun (east Mexico) to meet up with my daughter Michelle (Shelly) and we had some options. We could fly from just about any airport, we could ride the bike all the way, or hire a car to take a break from the riding. We decided on the driving option after we had asked for help via Horizons unlimited (Google it) A Chap called Halleam replied to our plea for help and said we could store the bike at his place in Puebla (south east of Mexico city) and he would help with the car and the like. So after a brief stop over in Toluca and some hard lessons on Mexican traffic jams (read Sandra latest blog) we arrived at Haallems' place. This young Chap has a heart of gold. A keen traveler with a big dream of one day completing his big adventure. Haallem has taken us on a tour of his city which included the BMW dearlership

Raul made us feel very welcome at BMW

and Harly showrooms the later having the biggest Harly sign in the world.

He has helped in so many ways, including feeding and watering us, that we can only wish him well and hope that his big dream will come true and that we can be part of his trip as he has been part of ours.

In a nutshell we got the hire car, sercuerd the bike at the local BMW dealer and headed east in Shed II a Nissan something or other. A round trip of over 2000 miles lay ahead of us but Haallem had given us directions and a list of places to visit and stay. We stuck mainly to the toll roads (very expensive but fast and safe) and headed of on holiday.

It took just over two days to get there and we where reunited with Shelly. It was just wonderful seeing my daughter again and we spent the next days eating, drinking, swimming and having a great time.

Shelly will thank me for this pic

We even had a chance to go all cultural and visit Chichen Itza with her and her friends, Daniel and Jack.

Shelly Sandra and Me at Chichen Itza

It all went too quickly and we had to return to the adventure. It was with a really heavy heart that we said our goodbyes, it finally dawning on me just how much I miss both my Son and my Daughter, and just how much they mean to me.

So we are back in Puebla , the shed having been serviced. We are keen to get on our way. Mexico has taken much longer than we thought. By the time we cross into Guatemala we would have spent a whole month here traveling from the very north to the very south and from west to east coast. To those people who warned us about all the dangers that we will face in Mexico all I can say is you're wrong, so very wrong. We have found Mexico exciting and beautiful, its people friendly and generous to a fault.

Thanks Mexico, Guatemala here we come.