Trying Spanish...Volcanos, and lovely locals

San Pedro La Laguna was just about perfect as far as I was  concerned for the very necessary 2 weeks Spanish lessons. I still mangle the language horribly with very little vocabulary and grammar, but can manage a few simple sentences about topics I choose. Vincenta was very tolerant and kept the enjoyable lessons going at a gentle pace. Hopefully more of the language will soak in over the coming months.

A morning's ride by the lake

This shows the stove, and one of the enormous creamy delicious avocados that grow on the tree outside.

A typical hearty lunch. The soup was made of a local leaf, but it just did not translate...until tasted, then it was delicious.

The view from my room across the San Pedro La Laguna

Vincenta

Lessons were one on one in small garden like sheds, right by the lake. Rather heavenly and probably difficult to beat for location let alone value. $120 for 5 days of lessons (4hrs per day) and 7 days full board accommodation with a local family. Probably a month or 2 is what it would take me to have a conversational chance, but there were a few who I met who went from zero to every day newspaper reading and talking  level in just 3-4weeks. Young, fast and absorbent minds, mixed with hard work and necessity for dream jobs seem to be important ingredients. Casa Rosario was my school and seemed to be one of the best there along with a couple of others.

Christian, a fellow student, who I enjoyed a few beers with along with others, who alas I did not snap.

Living with Gloria and Felix was comfortable and enjoyable. The dinner table conversation was a bit of a struggle, but not the delicious and varied fayre Gloria produced. Hardly anything from a packet, nothing frozen and all bought in the market daily or produce from their family farm/patch of land on the lake banks. 
Much of the Guatemalan community life has the gentle backdrop sound of the ladies making tacos in the morning. It is a the 'pat pat pat' of the 4 inch circular unleavened staples being flipped from hand to hand. They are cooked on wood-burning stoves and the job is only done when 10-20 tacos are made per family member. At least an hours work every day. I think that 'pat pat pat' will stay with me for ever as a delightful harmonic sound of continuity and custom in a heavenly place.


My homework had competition from some office issues on various fronts that took quite a lot of time. If truth be told any excuse not to learn irregular future tense verbs was a blessing and my engagement in work issues has always pleased and fascinated my mind more than most other subjects.

A walk up 'Indian Nose' on Sunday with Samual, who had garaged Batty for the 2 weeks. In fact we got a bus up most of it, at his insistence, but the view was breathtaking

Can you see the Indian nose above the town...he is lying down facing the sky

The parcel arrived with the new gearing for Batty and in fact the new sprocket was 16 tooth, 1 less than what I wanted, but as it happened still not enough to get Batty up the super steep hill sides, without running beside her and in the end getting the help of a couple of local policemen, who pushed us up over the brow. I am not sure of their motive. Probably good old fashioned friendly service, but there was talk of bandits robbing tourists in the area, so probably this service had a touch of extra potency.

I planned to exit Guatemala fast via the historic and beautiful single storey town of Antiqua and then on to Honduras, mindful of a booking on the good ship Stahlratte from Panama to Columbia at the end of October.



A great day out from Antigua was the climbing of Volcano Pacaya, with a group of other travelers.

This is Volcano Fuego puffing a little...you can just make out. This is the Volcano that erupted a few weeks back that made the news.

A surreal landscape near the summit

A Lava cave left from the last eruption a couple of years ago.

The obligatory marsh mallow roasting over the small vents to the magma below

We were all set up for these action shots running down the lava dust/sand....it was like a mixture of skiing and walking on the moon....I imagine

Meike, along with Jasmyn below, were fellow Volcanoers, and we hooked up for a drink later in the evening, where Batty was working her charm.

I kept meeting others and overhearing conversations about a couple of delights that to miss would be a crime. So plans changed and decided to spend a few more days here.
As great fortune would have it, the post that I had put on Horizonsunlimited.com about being ripped off at the border was picked up by Richard Chang who lives in Guatemala City and loves bike adventures and meeting new folk. He made the trip to see me in Antigua and we had a great day chatting about his fine country, bikes and travel.
My tyres were getting a bit worn low, and with Richard's 100% help,  Batty and I went into the city to sort this out. Now with new Pirelli tyres, Batty has unknown confidence on the very abundant and exciting roads of Guatemala.
The hand of friendship did not end at Richard's, for he arranged a number of his pals to show me around the city on the Saturday, and I think Rodrigo, Javier and Dagoberto have to be up there with the best of them at showing off Guatemala City. All the sights, and a delicious breakfast of revoleto, a pig offal stew at the central market.

Rodrigo and Javier in front of the Eiffel tower...a gift from France.

In  perverse way, these slums cascading down the valley in central Guatemala city, caught my imagination more than some of the cities other sites. They were so alive and the hopeful made really quite good houses out of very little.

Our Railway Museum guide, Javier and Dagoberto

Richard and his wife Suzanne, invited me to join them on a ride on Sunday. There is a meeting place on the outskirts of the city that many bikers gather. The community is a alive with variety of background and size of machines, but jelled by the love of bikes and the comradeship that they evoke.  My gratitude to Richard and Susan for their kindness and very good company is profound and I look forward to future crossing of roads.

Suzanne and Richard

From the road they took me along on the way north from Guatemala City

As it happened the ride took me well on the way to Lanquin, the first of my quests and from where I write, before exploring Semuc Champey, the 'most beautiful place in Guatemala, if not the world' I had heard said.....until next time

Mexico part 2, Tequila, Morelia, Acapulco, nudists and being ripped off like a good 'un

A new Mexico, from desert to lush tropics....rising up to 10,000ft from the coast

This morning I had my 1st Spanish lesson, 4 hours in the strict but friendly company of Vicenta. I am quite convinced that she is a far better teacher than I a student. In fact I'm writing this having taken a break from my home work which takes the form of over 200 words and phrases that I am encouraged to commit to memory and pronounce by tomorrow….fat chance. It is nearly 30 years since I was troubling a schoolroom and I'm afraid my end of course results may be a little wanting.

The good thing is that I am living with a friendly Spanish speaking family in the middle of this beautiful town called San Pedro La Laguna. I will furnish the blog with more photographs next time round, as it has been a bit cloudy since I arrived yesterday.

My last post had Batty and I arriving on the mainland of Mexico. What a change from the desert and high temperatures of Baja California. Immediately it was lush green and prone to a daily deluge of rain. This seemed to be a fairly predictable occurrence in the afternoon, so a little planning or acceptance of the fact was all that could be done.

An unintended wild camp, a bit off the road. Alas the local hotels were full so it was forced, but always fun and very freeing. However it did not drop below 30 degrees, so not the most comfortable sleep.

A couple of things have happened that have really made me question my competence. Firstly I left my passport on the ferry. It had been the exchange for the cabin door key, and of course when I came to leave, in all the rush and excitement of arriving in Mazatlan, I just left the key with the cleaner who came to my cabin just as I was vacating. The boring thing was that I only discovered it 180 miles down the road, which at Batty speed is 6 hours.

I am afraid that non of my shots of these guys diving 100ft of the famous cliffs in Acapulco worked at night. It was a spectacle that had always captured my imagination. Of course I would not do it, but the water that they dive into is a lot deeper than what I had been lead to believe, so I was not as knocked out by it as perhaps I had supposed.

A view from the harbor fort in Acapulco

The next thing that happened was that I got done over like a good'un at the Talisman, Guatemalan border. Basically I fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book and handed over US$160 to my “fixer" who was helping me through the rather vague import procedure. He asked for this money to buy the permit to drive in Central America. Although I questioned him vigorously, he persuaded me that it was essential to drive any further. Off he toddled to get the form, whilst I was kept occupied by his conniving pal for half an hour. When he got back he had all the paperwork and rushed me through the final gate saying he was about to close. Of course at this stage I was none the wiser, and thanked him profusely giving him a generous tip on top of his US$20 pre-agreed fee. Again it was at the end of the day, after 5 hours of steep mountain roads that I thought I better put all the paper work in the right folders etc. To my horror my more thorough look at the receipt showed that it was 160 Quetzales, about US$20. Of course I was livid, with myself as much as anything, and planned to head back the next day to confront the rascal. After a night's sleep I realise that there was very little proof and the chances of him being there for the next month was highly unlikely, as it amounted to several weeks pay. Why is it that some of the most lovely countries in the world, are so let down by the treatment dished out at Borders. I know it is up to the individual to look out for themselves, but in saying so, it has to be in the interests of the country at large to try and safeguard visitors from robbery, particularly at an easily policeable spot.

The beautiful city of Morelia...one of the first universities in the Americas, and had the feeling of Oxford about it

For some reason I did not seem to take many photos of the town of Tequila...but I enjoyed it. This is the Agave plant that Tequila is made from.

Huge pineapple like fruits are harvested and then left to steam in these great chambers for 2 days, before the juices are distilled.

However there are some situations which one does not anticipate, or a natural tendency to trust, just trips one up. I guess it means greater vigilance and stubbornness in these more poverty stricken countries.
One tries to create as many routines in an ever varying circumstance, to help against forgetfulness etc. For instance I always put the same things in the same pockets, I have a bike packing procedure and a mental check list when leaving a hotel.

A days snorkeling and being toured about in a local guide's boat was an opportunity to try my camera out underwater (it has a 10m limit, so alas not for scuba)...limited success, but fun to try

We were joined in the sea by this chap after octopus, that you can see straped to his waist. he gets about £5 per kilo, about 2 octopuses. We did a bit of fishing of our own and caught a tuna each.

Julian and Violin, my companions on the boat tour, and our lunch of the fish we caught.

Anyway these are just a couple of black moments in what has been a most enjoyable and fulfilling Mexican time. I very much look forward to returning there at some point, as I know the surface has only just been scratched. It hasn't been a particular place for meeting new people, but those I have have been delightful, helpful and entertaining.

I spent a couple of relaxed days in the village of Zipolate. I was somewhat taken aback when this guy walked pasted bollock naked. Enquiry informed me that this was a nudist beach. There seemed to be many more guys showing all than lasses, but a friend of the owner's daughter, where I was staying, more than made up for this inequality. I was not tempted by the idea of scaring the horses, nor did I risk a snap of the said friend.

You only have to mention going to Mexico, and in particular in America, to get an incredible amount of advice about the inevitable dangers that one will encounter. None more so than on the risks of the road. I did not find them to be any worse than anywhere else in particular, and in fact the toll roads which I occasionally took were world-class. The other roads may have had a few more potholed than we're used to in the West, but certainly at the speeds Batty and I go along at, we were not caught out. That said they do have the incredibly effective speed reducing trick which is to have huge speed bumps at every junction and particularly in towns and villages. Known as “Topes", they are not always marked and early on a few times Batty gave me one hell of a buck, that had me airborne and hanging on for dear life. One quickly learns respect and copy the practice of the locals who just very slowly creap over them.

Yesterday was a challenging riding day. By the time I had left Quetzaltengo, where I had stayed and was able to return my Carnet (the sort of international vehicle passport needed in many of the countries I've been to, but not the Americans) by courier to the RAC, it had started raining. Not a problem I thought as it was only about 60 miles to San Pedro. Minute by minute we climbed many thousands of feet up the side of what is a huge volcanic crater (I am assured it is benign, unlike the one blowing its top 100 miles away) on steep twisting roads. It was a lot of 1st and 2nd gear work, but the horror was coming down the stunning road into the crater to the lake and San Pedro where the roads were incredibly steep and twisting. I know for a fact that I won't be able to get out of here. Much to the amusement of others, the only way Batty could make it up the final hill into the town was by offloading all my luggage boxes etc (about 50 kg) into a passing rickshaw.

Gloria, my landlady in San Pedro La Laguna, preparing dinner. A happy family that are most welcoming and home for 2 weeks.

Urgent messages to Henry in England for a smaller front sprocket have been dispatched, and I'm hoping by the time it comes to leaving I will be more appropriately geared for the many mountains to come in South America…and to escape the classroom, armed hopefully with a bit more lingo.

A few Months back I was in touch with Andrew Charnley, who was planning a similar trip to mine and on a diesel Royal Enfield. In fact his plans changed and is taking a Scooter. He is writing a good blog and has interviewed me about the trip, the planning, some technicalities and practicalities. Here it is: http://www.andrewcharnley.com/?content&module=read&id=337