It's Pronounced Shel-ah The road to Guatemala from San Cristobal isn't very long but it possibly has the most topes (speed bumps) per km. It made the trip to the border pretty slow. The last hour or so in Mexico it gets better. Checking my motorcycle out of Mexico was a breeze. Now I was ready to cross into Central America for the first time. I had looked up what I needed to do at the border and was warned about all the people who will solicit their border crossing services and offer bad … [Read more...]
Yo No Hablo No Bueno Espanish
A week learning Spanish in San Pedro on Lake Atitlan. The ride from Xela to San Pedro is only 51 miles but it was a slow two hours of riding because of heavy fog, rain, and the nice pavement turns into rubbish as you descend down steep narrow switchbacks down the mountain to the lake. I heard there was a recent robbery in between two of the towns along the route so I stuck close to the microbus that was heading down the mountain. Half way down the fog cleared and I saw why so many people love … [Read more...]
Rivers, Rocks, and Mud
Riding to Semuc Champey “The word adventure has gotten overused. For me, when everything goes wrong - that’s when adventure starts” That's a quote from the documentary 180 Degrees South. Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, says it and when I first watched the film that line stuck in my head. Thinking about this trip I feel like I've already been on an adventure. But in Yvon Chouinards definition maybe my adventure began yesterday morning when we left San Pedro. I decided to ride with Kyle and … [Read more...]
Broken Bolts in Cobán
I woke up early knowing I had to find a mechanic to have the damage from Semuc Champey repaired. To complicate things I was in a town I didn't know and would have to try to explain in Spanish what I needed done. Kyle and Trevor packed up to ride to Honduras to go scuba diving and I stayed in Cobán to find a shop that could fix my sheared bolts. The guard at the hotel had a motorcycle so I showed him what happened and he drew me a map to a mechanic. I pulled up to Taller Israel Moto Shop and … [Read more...]
