Day 9- San Cristobal to Antigua

I knew I had a shorter day today, So I went ahead and slept in, 7:30am baby!

 As I was getting my things ready to go, Kyle told me that they had made me breakfast.  Seriously, these guys don't know how to stop being nice!  It was a savory pork crepe and absolutely amazing!  We all said our goodbyes and got a picture of the kids on the bike before parting ways.

Kyle gave me some directions and recommended that I stay in Huehuetenango before I got a move on. 

As I headed south east from San Cristobal, everything starting feeling very remote.  The roads were getting rough, and there were a number of places where the indigenous had put rocks in the road as their own way of closing the roads.  I guess it is common practice for them.

As the roads got worse and worse, I knew I was nearing the border.  Eventually all of the road signs indicated that it was the freeway to the border, and nowhere else.

As I came to the border I saw that I first had to check out of Mexico before I could check into Guatemala.  First I checked myself out in the passport office. They took my card and stamped the passport, then sent me to the other office next door to check the bike out. The bike check out took longer than I expected, but I also didnt have to wait in line, so it was fine.  Once it was all done, I got my $400 deposit back, and was off to cross the Guatemalan border.

The border crossing was pretty anti climatic.  I crossed over, before I could continue though, they had to spray my bike down with some kind of chemical to kill pests crossing with me.  I then paid 11 quetzal for entry and headed on to get a stamp.  After stamped, I had to register the bike the get a trip permit.  Registration was 160 Quetzals.  

It took about 2 hours to move through both the Mexican and Guatemalan borders, but I was happy to be done. 

Crossing into Guatemala was probably about what people imagine crossing into mexico is like.  It was a market the second I got in, I could only ride around 15mph.  I continued through as the streets wound through the mountains.  It was very green and the streets were tight.  There were so many speed bumps and rough roads.  You just cant count on ever having a good road here.  The road would be perfect pavement then turn into dirt and gravel.  Potholes were big, not worked on, and it literally took me about 6 hours to ride from the border to Antigua. 

I had thought about stopping in Huehue, but it was so early when I got there, that I decided to just keep on going.  Something I hadn't counted on though, was that it gets dark in Guatemala much earlier than in Mexico.  In mexico I was able to ride until 7 or so, but here, it was dark by 5:30.  The problem with that, was that it was raining, and I was an hour and a half from Antigua when it got dark.  Because it was not a good stopping point, I cracked the tinted visor so that I could see, dipped behind my windscreen, and pushed forward.

When I was about 20 miles from antigua, the traffic was completely jammed, so I did as the locals do, and rode the shoulders to get past the traffic.

Eventually I made it to antigua and found a hostel with a private room just a block from the hostel I had intended at staying at.  It is a long story, but tonight I am at Frank and De's hostel, and tomorrow, I will be at the Moto Camp hostel.

Oh and that brings up another thing, I am taking tomorrow off from riding.  I may go find some dirt trails, but more than likely I will enjoy another day in antigua and possible get my front tire looked at.  The wheel is really wobbling a lot when i take my hands off the grips.  Probably because of all of the rough roads today.

Oh and I might have caught a pannier on a high sidewalk tonight too.  Kinda just bounced me off it, no real damage that I could see to the pannier, and the bike didnt go down lol. 

Ok, goodnight.!

Day 8- Tezpotlan a Chiapas (San Cristobal)

Today started out early.  I had been talking to Kyle (my facebook friend in Chiapas) and realized that he lived REALLY far away from Tezpotlan.  He also lived REALLY far from Belice, so I needed to make a decision.  In the end, this trip is more about people and experiences rather than only focusing on the sites, so I decided to give Belice the Axe and headed to Chiapas to see Kyle and his family! 

The map estimated the ride to be about 12 hours, but my goal was to knock about an hour off of that if possible and get there prior to dusk.  I snapped a couple of photos in Tezpotlan and I was off.
Traffic was unusually busy I thought for being that far away from the city, but I really dont know anything at all about what is normal because it is Mexico and I have never been here.  

It was pretty daunting riding that long in a day after already having so many long days, but I like to ride the bike a lot and I think that is what makes it fun for me.  I sometimes get in this bad habit of trying to cut time off the expected arrival on my maps.  A minute here and there adds up, but it also leads to me never stopping and almost never having lunch.  It works out lol.

I rode and rode.  I would pass cars, trucks, etc.  Moving along making progress.  I moved at a good speed and was still able to see the beautiful country.  I was surprised at how clean and beautiful it was.  I rode towards Veracruz before heading south to Chiapas. As I was leaving I passed a large mountain that looks like a gorilla head, I didnt take a picture, but I do have videos from that section of the ride.  I also passed a lot of signs that said they do photo radar/ tickets, but I never once saw a camera in place.  I kind of think they paid the money for the signs but not the equipment.  They also do cut outs of police cars so people think they are doing radar checks. 

Shortly after seeing the gorilla mountain, I noticed the other mountains had snow on them, so I pulled over for a picture of that.  Luckily I pulled over just before a speed trap where an officer was out with his radar.  I have never seen them pursue anyone though, so maybe he was doing it for science?  Who knows?

Further down the road I saw a really cool bridge that had orange cables for the suspension cables.  I wanted to pull over and get a good shot, but was unsure if the road would give me the angle.  I told myself I wouldnt stop unless I could get a good picture.  I saw an exit and took a chance.  It turned out that there was a nice little view point down below, so I ended up getting a picture.

After that I rode and rode.  I got some great videos riding into/ through Chiapas, and some even more amazing videos riding around San Cristobal. 

Finally I made it to Kyle's house.  Kyle and his wife have been running an orphanage here in town and are basically the good Samaritans of Mexico.  They have taken care of many children, and even though they kids keep their hands full, they still invite travelers (like me) into their home to recover from the long journey.  Kyle invited me to dinner when I arrived, so we went for Lebanese food.  As he drove me around the city he explained to me how San Cristobal has become a food capital for Mexico.  They have so many incredible places to eat. 

Once we finished with our food we headed back and Kyle let me sit around while he did an oil change on my bike!  It blew my mind away how kind he was!  I would recommend him to all of you weary travelers, but it sounds like he just found a new job back in America, so they are getting ready to move home with all of their kids!

I am very grateful for people like Kyle and his family.  They are the reason that I love to travel and meet people.  Their kindness helps so many people, and they do it without expectation of any type of recompense. 

Alright, well my 11 hours of riding plus hanging out with an amazing family here in Chiapas has gotten the best of me.  Bed time. 

Day 7- San Luis Potosi a Tezpotlan

This morning I had the pleasure of sleeping in until 7:30 because I was planning to stop in at the KTM dealer to pick up oil for tomorrow night's oil change.

The dealership in San Luis Potosi is 10x nicer than the one by my house.  It looks like KTM built the store, not a private owner.  It is attached to a Harley dealer next door and they share a really cool service drive.  It was fun going in and kind of being a celebrity to the guys in both shops.  Everyone wanted pictures and to ask about the ride and the bike.  I even got stickers from both shops, so now there is a harley sticker on my front fender.

Once we had situated all of the oil, and the photos were taken, I was off towards Mexico City.  The ride wasn't especially long, but the traffic was really bad.  When I got the Mexico City, the traffic was so busy and everything was so overwhelming, that I decided to look for gas and continue on.  Finding gas when I finally decided to look was an issue.  It took me a while and once I had gas, I got back on the wrong ramp and had to ride about 5.5 km north before turning around and going back south.

While I was in Mexico City looking for gas, I followed along with the other motos in town and split lanes.  I will say it is ten times scarier in Mexico City traffic than it is in San Francisco traffic.

By the time I had finally cleared Mexico City, and was on my way south, I realized that I had run out of Pesos!  I was on a toll road, praying to see a bank with an atm, but nothing came.  So as I got to the gate, I started looking everywhere for money on my bike or in my bags to get through the get and moving towards Tepoztlan.  Luckily I found some and was able to clear the gate.  Riding towards the small pueblo was really nice.   There was light rain, and lots of fog from the clouds.  The visibility got bad enough that everyone was running their hazard lights.  The mountains were green and beautiful, and the rain felt great after so many hot days.  My gear is all waterproof too, so I just enjoyed it.

I pulled into Tepoztlan around 5pm and started looking for a place to stay.  As I rode around the city with its cobblestone steps I realized that it really was a beautiful magical city.  It felt old but maintained.  There was so much life, and many more intl visitors than I thought there would be.  I found a small hotel near the city center that has its own room, heated shower, bathroom etc.  I could also park the bike in the locked courtyard.

Once the bike was parked and I was unloaded, I changed my clothes and walked around town.  There is so much to see in this pueblo, and I could see myself exploring it for a few days rather than hours.  As I explored I went to the market to try out some street tacos.  I decided on unique ones.  I had three, one was cow tongue, another was cow head, and teh other was cow brains.  They were delicious and only ran me about 45 pesos plus another 10 pesos for a 1/2 liter coke! Pretty sweet meal imo.

Oh, and I got my haircut!

After dinner I headed home and am now planning out a LONG ride to Chiapas in the morning.

Night!

Day 6- Mazatlan to San Luis Potosi

When I entered the country, I kind of gave myself this horrible deadline for leaving the country, 7 days.  I wanted to keep myself moving, and it seemed reasonable at the time, so rather than paying $28 and filling out the paperwork for a longer visa, I told customs that 7 days would be plenty.  I was wrong, but I am going to make it work.  The hitch, is that I put a $400 deposit on the the bikes trip permit, and If I am not out of Mexico on the 11th, they keep my $400!

It took me 3 days to get through baja at a pace that I was ok with.  If I was riding the dirt and not highway 1, I would need 2 weeks to cover to distance, maybe more, but it was ok.  An extra day in La Paz, or maybe even down to Cabo may have been worth it, but I got to the ferry on time and that was the first goal.

This morning I arrived in Mazatlan around 9am.  It took a long time for them to allow us to go down to the bikes and start unloading.  I had a good rest though, so I was ok waiting.  My biggest rush today though, was that I had made the last minute decision to ride the toll road from Mazatlan to Durango.  This added a few hours to the journey as it takes you north, then drops you back south through San Luis Potosi. 

I unloaded from the boat, said goodbye to Roberto and the other ADV riders I had met on the ferry.  Entering Mexico again, but this time alone.  The part of Mazatlan where the docks are, is about as ugly as the part of any city where the docks are.  It had recently rained, the sky was gray, and everything felt a little dreary.  The good thing though, was that it was nice and cool.  I had had so many hot baja days, a little rain sounded great. 

Because the road to Durango was not part of my original plan, my offline maps did not have today's route on them.  I got to truly go for an adventure as I followed street signs and my gut feeling on how to get to the toll road.  I had to turn around a few times and ask for directions once, but eventually I was on the road.

The toll road to Durango is the home of the world famous "Puente Baluarte."  This is the route that the group of riders at the cactus hotel had recommended to me.  They promised me that it would be amazing and worth the time and money (tolls all the way), but it really also meant I would have to ride around 450 miles from Mazatlan to San Luis Potosi in the day too.  I paid the first toll thinking "Yeah the road looks nice, but nothing special."  As I continued on, my opinion changed.  The road quickly takes you up into the mountains as you cross maybe 30 small bridges and go through a similar number of tunnels.  It is all very well kept and extremely modern.  I kid you not, I was smiling the entire time on the toll road.  As if this wasnt enough, midway through, you cross the Baluarte bridge, and just lose your breath.  I have videos of the entire thing that I will have to upload when I get some really great capable internet.  I do have to say that my only complaint, is that with an absolute architectural masterpiece like this bridge, it is a shame there is nowhere to pull out and get a good look from a view point.  You just cross it, and keep going.

After making it to Durango (and about 500 pesos of toll money later), you begin the journey to Zacatecas.  I wasnt sure what the city would look like, and I was absolutely amazed when I came over the hill and saw it.  The buildings are all very unique covered in bright paint.  I didnt have time to explore it, but would love to return some day to see more.

I continued on like a rocket today and finally made it to San Luis Potosi.  I tried to remember the name of the Hostal that I was planning on staying at, and started asking around for help finding it.  The  city is pretty big though, so it really took me some time.  Eventually I saw an R1200GSA parked on the street I thought the hostal was on.  I knocked on the door where the bike seemed to belong.  The owner looked at me through the window a little on guard asking what I wanted.  Eventually Samuel came outside and we had a great chat about our travels and the city.  He showed me where the hostal was and offered to take me to the KTM dealer here in town tomorrow morning. 

Eventually I got into the hostal around 6pm and headed around the corner for some amazing tipico enchiladas de San Luis Potosi. 

It has been an incredibly long day, but I had an absolute blast!

Day 5-Mulege a la paz, El Ferry hasta Mazatlan

Day 5-

We woke up around 7 and begin packing.  It was nice to sleep another night in a hotel.  I have actually yet to even get into my camping bag (aka the right side pannier).

The bikes had no dew on them, and the weather felt just about right.  We packed up, signed out, and were off.  There is a small gas station in Mulege, but it only had regular, and my bad boy of a bike needs premium!

We left the town and headed south along the coast of the Sea of Cortez.  The ride is amazing as you ride the cliff faces rising up and down coming across small beaches and camping sites.  We found one just a few miles after getting gas and had a short photoshoot.  No wheelies, crazy sand roosts, or anything else, just a pure simple photoshoot showing the beauty of the bikes and the beaches.

After the photoshoot we were both feeling a bit hungry, so we headed to a small bar on the beach.  I had a home made lemonade, while Keegan indulged in his food of choice, chips and salsa.  We sat relaxing on the beach, when suddenly a black van pulled up.  Two americans got out, a man and a woman.  It was clearly a beach owned by the bar, but that did not stop the two of these guys from stripping down naked and going for a dip in front of EVERYONE.  Even the bartender told us he had never seen anyone do that there.  It was awful.  I wonder about Americans sometimes and the way they just go in and assume they can do anything here because it is Mexico? If even the locals think you are loco, maybe you need to sit down and think about what you are doing lol.

We continued along the road and eventually were taken inland.  The magic of the sea was now gone, and we were back to cruising through the desert which connected the small simple runway cities.  Every time you started bouncing over the speed bumps and reflectors, you knew you were entering or leaving one of these dull towns.  They all look the same.  We stopped at one of them though for fuel.  After fueling up, I walked to the tienda to get us some water.  The lady was sitting so I helped myself to the fridge, handed her the money, and we were off.  She thought it was pretty funny actually. 

One of the towns we went through had a LEY grocery store, so it was actually a little bit different than the normal towns.  It also had an Autozone!  

After a few hours, the sun was really beating down on us and we were very exhausted.  The ride from Mulege was shorter than the other days, but felt so much longer.  We rode and rode until we started seeing signs for La Paz and knew that we would soon be there. 

When we got to La Paz, we stopped at the first restaurant that looked like it would be full of gringos.  Mariscos, palm leaf/ grass roof, and a bbq.  We pulled up and two guys were already there ready to ask if we wanted the bikes washed.  We said we would pay them each 50 pesos for the wash.  Keegans bike looked great, and mine looked horrible,  You can guess how I responded when the guy asked me for a tip lol. 

We finished up eating and I headed for the Ferry.  They do not launch downtown, it was about a 30 minute ride up the coast to the dock.  Keegan took me to the edge of town, we said our goodbyes, and I begin my journey to the ferry.

Boarding the ferry was not nearly as organized as you would think it would be.  NO signs, no lines, nothing, They charge you 88 pesos as a tax to use the dock (very lame I know), and kinda set you loose.  There is also no order for boarding the ferry.  They kinda say when you can go in.  They helped everyone tie their bikes down, but just looked at mine and walked off, so I was a little bit nervous tying it down.  I really didn't want to see her sleeping on the floor the next morning.

It was hard to unpack the bike for the ferry. Once you leave the parking area, you arent allowed there again until you leave.  I had to carry both panniers, the helmet, my backpack, and the gopro up with me while wearing all of my gear!  I was sweating like a big and worried what the ship would be like.  I walked through the door to the stairs and realized it was an escalator!  I rode it up, and the main deck felt like I would imagine a small cruise ship to be like.  A nice reception area, air conditioning, a fragrance shop, etc.  They got me set up with a cabin and a meal ticket, and sent me on my way. 

If you are considering riding the ferries, I strongly suggest paying for a cabin.  You get your own bathroom and 4 beds :)  I only needed one bed, so I let a guy I saw that came in to the boat with a KLR motorcycle share the room with me at no cost.  It felt weird inviting a stranger into my temporary home, but we got a long great.  His name is Roberto and owns a company that does campsites for programs like burning man.  They set up amazing tents and provide food etc for the guests who visit these festivals.  He said on average a guest pays $1,000 a night for the tents they set up. 

After a lot of walking around on the boat, and a very basic dinner, it was time for bed and to see what kind of shape the bikes would be in the next day.  The boat ride took about 13 hours from and was very relaxing once I had gotten over my light sea sickness.  I slept like a baby. 

Day 4- Rosario hasta Mulege, Baja Mexico

Last night we were so exhausted that we were up and ready to go around 7am today. 

We walked outside to see that 4 other BMW bikes had made it to the hotel after dark last night.  Our bikes were covered with Dew, so I toweled off my bike and started to load it up.  While I was working on that, the riders from the other bikes came out and started to talk to me.  They were locals riding the area, but had lost some screws to one of the bikes, so they were waiting at the hotel for parts to come.  A really great group of guys, and very friendly.

After filling the bikes up, we were back on the road.  riding towards Mulege.  The ride would be about 400 miles and take us through some pretty interesting terrain.

The first section was full of cactus, hills, and brush.  It was interesting because it was so dry and different from what I remember.   We got to the top of one of the hills for some early photos because we have both been really bad about taking photos so far. 

Once that was over we continued on towards Guerrero Negro.  The landscape was unchanging for a while, until we started seeing that the rocks were getting bigger and bigger.  Eventually we were riding through amazing boulder fields filled with huge cacti. Naturally, we stopped for more pictures and continued on. 

Eventually we made it to a small town before Guerrero Negro where we had amazing seafood at the restaurant in front of the gas station.  If you are in the area, it is hard to miss as there are maybe 3 buildings in the town before Guerrero Negro.  I had a shrimp taco and a fish taco, Keegan had them make him a grilled shrimp burrito.  Both were delicious!

As we entered Guerrero Negro, the roads were a bit nicer, but it was still an airplane runway town.  Just a total straightaway that ends as fast as you enter it.  We had just gotten gas so we rode straight through. 

As we left the state and entered Baja Sur, the military station has the bones of a gray whale mounted in front of the base.  You go around the bones then the base and back on the road. 

We followed the road for a while through some great hills and plains until we climbed a summit that gave us a view of the Sea of Cortez.  We were both sunbaked and tired, so the view of the ocean was really refreshing.  We wound down around the mountain and came out in the city of Santa Rosalia.  The town was very neat and right on the edge of the sea.  We wanted to keep moving though as we had been told that it is much better to stay in Mulege (which I think is debatable now that I saw the ocean facing cliff hotels in Santa Rosalia).

On the road to Mulege I hit a rock in the road as I was coming around the corner.  In my video it doesn't look like much, but it really threw me for a loop.  I was able to recover after swerving into the oncoming lane as I got the bike back together and put a foot down.  It was definitely a close call though.

About 60 miles South of Santa Rosalia, we came to Mulege.  It is the first place we have been that I consider to be a real pueblo (maybe Santa Rosalia too).  The city is tucked into the hills and has a nice layout similar to the small pueblos that I grew to love in El Salvador.  The streets are tight, and the businesses are small.  We found a hotel (Hotel Mulege) and paid about 550 pesos for a small room with two beds and AC.  It isn't as nice as the Cactus hotel, but it will be great.

We checked in and headed to a seafood restaurant down the street.  It is on the second floor and was a bit overpriced.  If you are in this area I would probably suggest that you try staying in Santa Rosalia if possible).  Mulege isn't quite on the beach like Santa Rosalia, but Mulege seems to be a little bit quieter, and possibly safer. 

As an added note, we crossed a lot of military checkpoints today.  Most were great, but one was really strange.  They kept asking if we had guns, and rather than searching us, they would pat our bags/ cases but never inspect them.  I don't think they knew what they were doing, unless they wanted us to react to them touching the bags?  Still not sure.