Halfway back into Mexico

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  Taxco (pronounced Tasco), Mexico
Saturday, December 16, 2006

Once out of Copan we were headed for Antigua, Guatemala. The border of Guatemala is only 12 Km from Copan, so it was quick getting there in the morning. The great weather we had been enjoying almost the entire trip has finally given way to rain, which seems to be pretty regular now. The crossing back into Guatemala was pretty easy, only 1.5 hours this time, getting close to a record!

The drive into Guatemala City was fairly uneventful. We were traveling the North Eastern route (Central America 1) which is a fair bit higher in elevation that the Southern route we took heading south. The scenery was beautiful, and with the exception of the occasional narrow miss with a head on bus passing around a blind corner, the ride was uneventful. We did get harrased by the military who made us pull over right as we were pulling into the outskirts of the city. Troy in very broken spaninsh tried to ask him "what is the problem?",but it came out "what is your problem?", which could have been bad, but he seemed to have a sense of humor and figured out pretty quickly that we didn't have any idea what we were saying and sent us down the road. The driving once we got into the city was completely nuts. I felt like I was in a movie doing a high speed chase scence. We had to be aggressive as cars will get up next to you and push you right out of their way if you give them the chance, so you have to move pretty quick, and weaving in and out of traffic is just how it is done on a motorcycle. The whole deal was super exciting, fun, and really scary all at the same time. Needless to say we where whooped after we made it out of the city. Fortunately Antigua is not far from Guatemala City, so we pulled in and found a place to stay that would let us keep our bikes in the lobby!

Antigua is a beautiful colonial city. The spanish style building and beautiful churches everywhere were wonderful. Troy scoped it out a bit better than I did as I wasn't feeling too well, and called it a night early.

The next day we made the break for Mexico. Most of the day our altitude was over 6 thousand feet, and we topped out at 9k, which gave us wonderful views of the volcanoes all around Antigua and Panajachel Guatemala. There was a large amount of road construction going on this particular stretch of highway, which meant several miles of traffic back ups at five different spots. One great thing about Central Americal driving is that on a motorbike, you don't wait! Just drive past everybody waiting in line (who will be there for who knows how many hours), and go straight to the front where the flagger waives you through. Dodge some heavy equipment, then back on the road. Makes you feel like a rock star! I had to keep from laughing as we drove past all the people having to wait, certain that if they saw me laughing I would get shot.

The crossing back into Mexico was super easy, and it was amazing how much more laid back the driving there is. Funny how your perceptions change. When we first got to Mexico it seemed like nutty driving, now it was a relief to be back!

It was a long haul, but we made it to the next colonial town on our way north. This would turn out to be one of my favorite places on the whole trip. The town of San Cristobal de la Casas is well worth the trip. The downtown is old style spanish buildings, amazing churches (alot of them) and just a great place to hang out and relax. Much slower pace than Antigua, which was beautiful, but very busy. We found a good spot to stay as soon as we got into town. I did some maintenance on the bikes which are running great, and then we went to check out the town.

I keep thinking that we will stop and stay someplace, but it just feels good to get moving in the morning. We're both a bit tired, but not sure what to do if we stay, so on to Zipolete it is, (just south of Puerto Escondido). The days ride is a bit slower going than we hoped. Our maps and GPS's are both off, and we manage to take a couple of wrong turns which puts us behind the curve for putting down miles. We travelled back through the area known as Tehuantepec, which is the skinny section of Mexico between the Gulf and the Pacific side. The last time we went through here it was so windy it almost blew both of us off the road several times. I wasn't looking forward to a repeat, but there was no getting around it. Fortunately is wasn't "as" windy, but still it still had my full attention. We pulled into the town of Tuhuantepec only to find we couldn't cross the bridge out of town due to a political demonstration. "Isn't that what teargas is for?" The big bridge was loaded down with people, and nobody was allowed to drive accross. The cops where just hanging out and didn't seem too concerned. I felt sorry for all the truck drivers who were backed up for miles waiting for the bridge to open again. Sombody finally told us that we could go down through town and cross the river which wasn't that deep. Hot damn, moving again. We get a little lost in the town, but thanks to a few folks we made it through the maze of streets to the river crossing, which was pretty easy, but I'm glad I didn't lay it down. Back on the road out of town, and onto Zipolete. A couple of close calls on corners reminded me I was still in Mexico and better be on my toes.

The little place turned out to be cool, but super low key and not much going on. The number of tourists is way down. The business owners think is has to do with all the protests going on in Oaxaca, which is just north there a little ways. There is a beautiful beach there, that we almost have to ourselves, and the water here is still nice and warm. Both of us are feeling pretty tired, so call it a night early. Despite my best efforts to get the mosquito net properly fitted around my bed, at least one of those little bastards found its way in and had a feast. I hope I don't manage to get dengue fever, that would put a serious hitch in our trip.

We wake up and are once again ready for the road. We were kind of thinking that if the town was super cool, we would hang there for a couple of days, but it didn't suck us in like Puerto Escondido, so we decided to head north. We were not sure where we were going to make it to by the end of the day, but I started feeling better once I was back on the road.

The travel once back in Mexico is quite a bit faster than Central America. We covered alot of miles and made it all the way to a little town called Taxco (pronounced Tasco). The closer we got, the more determined I was to get to this spot. It was one of Dixon's favorite places in Mexico, and it felt like the place to be. Taxco turned out to be another of my favorite towns on the whole trip. The churches and general archetecture there is amazing. It is the silver capitol of Mexico, so there are many silver artisans there, and the markets are unbelievable. Busy busy busy. Maybe it was just the holidays, but I got the impression it is like this all the time. We spent that evening cruising around checking things out, and drinking tequila in the parking lot of our hotel with some folks from a wedding party, watching all the hustle and bustle below. Taxco is built on a hillside, so everything is steep! Wonderful place.

We are getting closer to Mazatlan and our ferry to the baja!
Cheers!
Doug

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