January 18, 2008
I had a feeling today was going to be different, and it was. I know a lot of you will not believe this but I got up early. It was 6:30 in the AM. I got up and packed the bike without waking Mike. I thought about just leaving but that would not have been right. As it turns out he woke up as I was putting on my jacket. We said goodbye and I was on my way, it was just that simple. I topped off the bike with fuel and headed for the border at 7:30. It was a cool 42 degree start and quickly dropped to 38 due to the altitude. After an hour or so it was in the high 60´s and all was good. The road was fast sweeping turns through more pines like Angeles Crest which makes some for great riding. I made good time to the border and got there at 10:00 straight up. Now after doing my research I was told that I do not need to stop at the Mexican side of the border. Technically you are supposed to deregister the bike out of the country and when you return reregister it. As others have found out you just don’t stop when leaving and returning and all is well. So I pass up the Mexican side and head for the Guatemalan side which is about 2 miles ahead. It is an absolute zoo up there. It is a small border crossing and is only one lane wide for coming and going. Now this is normally not a problem but there are vendors set up on both sides and walking in the middle. So I push my way through to the gate which looks like the borders you would see in the movies with East Germany and they raise the bar. The first stop is fumigation. Basically they spray something on your tires to kill whatever you picked up in Mexico. Then it is off to Immigration. I walk in and the old gentleman asks for my passport. I hand it to him he fumbles through it and hands it back to me and said I did not get an exit stamp from Mexico. Apparently the people who gave me the info on the bike forgot to mention that part.
So back through the masses of people I go back to Mexico. As I pull up to the Immigration building I see another rider on a KLR650 and we meet, his name is Sonny. Turns out he is from LA and headed to Argentina. We briefly talk and decide to ride together. Before we finish here another bike identical to mine pulls up with two people on it. We introduce ourselves to Caesar and Patty who are from Mexico City and going to Costa Rica. Again after more conversation we are all going to ride together. Up to the border we go and are through it in about 30 minutes. All in all I spent 1:45 there but it turned out to be well worth it.
So now the ride continues with a group of three bikes with Caesar in the lead (on the same bike as me and his wife on the back), Sonny in the middle and me in the rear. All of a sudden I find out that my dealer that sold me my bike totally screwed me. Apparently Caesar’s bike has a turbo that my dealer did not tell me about because he is gone. Actually we are keeping pace with him but it is at full speed. Going through towns where the stores are all of about two feet from the road with kids and dogs we are still doing 60 mph. As you come in to each town there are speed bumps (Topes in Spanish) or as Caesar calls them, jumps. We actually had a great ride but I did not take any pictures, in fact we never stopped. We were in fast sweeping turns and tight twisties all day but the tight twisties were still fast. He did show us one trick. At the construction sites when it is one lane they will stop one way and let the other go. The motorcycles get to go right by the long line of waiting cars without stopping which really clears the way.
We did stop for a late lunch on Lake Atitlan where it is surrounded by three volcanoes but the clouds were low and I did not get to see them. As we were at lunch a guy came up to us named Henry and he told us his story. He lives in England, flew to San Francisco, bought a bike just like mine and is headed to Costa Rica then will ship his bike home. The only difference is he is taking 6 months. Anyway, after lunch Sonny decided to stay by the lake so Caesar, Patty and I headed to Antigua. It was a fast tight twisty 1:30 ride and we arrived at dark. Once in town we parted ways because they will be here for another day and I need to be moving on.
I searched around for a hotel and finally found one that was in my budget and had hot water. I check in and decided to take a shower when I discover how the hot water is made. How I am still here typing this I will never know.
Tomorrow it is on to El Salvador!
I had a feeling today was going to be different, and it was. I know a lot of you will not believe this but I got up early. It was 6:30 in the AM. I got up and packed the bike without waking Mike. I thought about just leaving but that would not have been right. As it turns out he woke up as I was putting on my jacket. We said goodbye and I was on my way, it was just that simple. I topped off the bike with fuel and headed for the border at 7:30. It was a cool 42 degree start and quickly dropped to 38 due to the altitude. After an hour or so it was in the high 60´s and all was good. The road was fast sweeping turns through more pines like Angeles Crest which makes some for great riding. I made good time to the border and got there at 10:00 straight up. Now after doing my research I was told that I do not need to stop at the Mexican side of the border. Technically you are supposed to deregister the bike out of the country and when you return reregister it. As others have found out you just don’t stop when leaving and returning and all is well. So I pass up the Mexican side and head for the Guatemalan side which is about 2 miles ahead. It is an absolute zoo up there. It is a small border crossing and is only one lane wide for coming and going. Now this is normally not a problem but there are vendors set up on both sides and walking in the middle. So I push my way through to the gate which looks like the borders you would see in the movies with East Germany and they raise the bar. The first stop is fumigation. Basically they spray something on your tires to kill whatever you picked up in Mexico. Then it is off to Immigration. I walk in and the old gentleman asks for my passport. I hand it to him he fumbles through it and hands it back to me and said I did not get an exit stamp from Mexico. Apparently the people who gave me the info on the bike forgot to mention that part.
So back through the masses of people I go back to Mexico. As I pull up to the Immigration building I see another rider on a KLR650 and we meet, his name is Sonny. Turns out he is from LA and headed to Argentina. We briefly talk and decide to ride together. Before we finish here another bike identical to mine pulls up with two people on it. We introduce ourselves to Caesar and Patty who are from Mexico City and going to Costa Rica. Again after more conversation we are all going to ride together. Up to the border we go and are through it in about 30 minutes. All in all I spent 1:45 there but it turned out to be well worth it.
So now the ride continues with a group of three bikes with Caesar in the lead (on the same bike as me and his wife on the back), Sonny in the middle and me in the rear. All of a sudden I find out that my dealer that sold me my bike totally screwed me. Apparently Caesar’s bike has a turbo that my dealer did not tell me about because he is gone. Actually we are keeping pace with him but it is at full speed. Going through towns where the stores are all of about two feet from the road with kids and dogs we are still doing 60 mph. As you come in to each town there are speed bumps (Topes in Spanish) or as Caesar calls them, jumps. We actually had a great ride but I did not take any pictures, in fact we never stopped. We were in fast sweeping turns and tight twisties all day but the tight twisties were still fast. He did show us one trick. At the construction sites when it is one lane they will stop one way and let the other go. The motorcycles get to go right by the long line of waiting cars without stopping which really clears the way.We did stop for a late lunch on Lake Atitlan where it is surrounded by three volcanoes but the clouds were low and I did not get to see them. As we were at lunch a guy came up to us named Henry and he told us his story. He lives in England, flew to San Francisco, bought a bike just like mine and is headed to Costa Rica then will ship his bike home. The only difference is he is taking 6 months. Anyway, after lunch Sonny decided to stay by the lake so Caesar, Patty and I headed to Antigua. It was a fast tight twisty 1:30 ride and we arrived at dark. Once in town we parted ways because they will be here for another day and I need to be moving on.
I searched around for a hotel and finally found one that was in my budget and had hot water. I check in and decided to take a shower when I discover how the hot water is made. How I am still here typing this I will never know.Tomorrow it is on to El Salvador!
1 comment:
WOW ~ That shower head looks like a real shocker! Glad to read everything is going well. Be safe.
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