This is Jacque from NM (remember we met in Mulege). Glad to see you boys are still on the move (LOL - except for the runs)! Have been following you and am so excited you're having such a great adventure! Stay safe Alex and Andrew and I'll be back in touch soon! PS My ribs are on the mend, still sore but at least I can move around now. Can't wait to get back on my bike! Stay safe and get over that bug - sorry your not feeling well?
Im pretty sure yall just inspired a trip for me after I graduate college. From Alabama to Antigua. How far south are yall plannin on goin?
yeah but worth every penny when you're in need. I think I paid a kids monthly wage one day in northern India when I had eaten curry for a week and then found myself paying by the square squating over a hole in the tile floor. Glad to see you are still follow this....at least somebody looks at it!
I certainly can't have a conversation but I learned enough to acquire everything I need, locate tools/parts, get directions, etc... Just the necesseties which is really what I wanted to accomplish. one week isn't much. I heard the snow was going to be good this week. My friends are running the hell out of my sled as I type this. I lost a few pounds traveling through the southern desert in Honduras. Not complaining though.....
Good to here you are doing better. i seem to be completely over the bug and am back on the road. i'll update soon. I don't understand how people do this on a daily basis. It is quite a lot of work. Godspeed
Not sure if it is good or bad that I inspired someone Just kidding...it is nice to here that someone has been following along. I am planning to reach Argentina but I really need to rope in the budget if I plan to make it. I wish I would have sold some vehicles before leaving to draw this out longer. Live & Learn! Best of luck with your studies and future adventures
Baby wipes. Come in a small resealable package and if they get dropped in the river with the bike who cares! No loss and can still be used.
Pacaya didnt happen .it will have to wait for the next adventure. We packed up, jumped on the bikes, grabbed some decent oil to pack with us, a cup of joe and well see you later Antigua. Thirty miles and two hours later we exited Guatemala city what a shit show. Not much to say about the first 100 miles heading north (high altitudes & desert terrain) but the last 50 miles or so were beautiful rain forest like vegetation with many farming operations. A few hundred twists and turns dropped us into Coban. An old German settlement with little reflection of times past. An hour later the highway transformed from nice concrete to a steep rocky road that was to take us into the town of Lanquin. I prefer the offroad but this was not that enjoyable especially when loaded down with gear. Every bounce and jar I was cringing just feeling my subframe cracking about to give way or certain that I bent a rim or punctured a tire (not really just overly anxious). Not much to see in Lanquin but another 15Km and we came to rest at the El Portal hostel/cabins at Semuc Champey. Grabbed an overpriced cabin and headed for the blue pools. View from our porch: Hiking trail to the pools: A peak at the pools from the trail: Head down a few steps to the bottom of the pools: Dirty river exiting underneath the pools: The river runs a dirty brown and flows underneath the 5 blue pools of Semuc Champey. The water was a perfect temperature in the muggy rainforest. Surprisingly little to no bugs in this area (not sure how that works). I know this is what it takes to grasp some of your attention spans: At the top of the pools watching the incoming river: Snuck around the caution tape to grab these. Water rushing underground. Instant death if you fall off of this ledge: Headed back to the cabin and started dinner. The service members at the Portel were quite rude and pressured people into taking trips and quickly ordering food/drinks etc. Not impressed I decided to cook my last pair of MRE's on my loud stove right on our porch (which is 20ft. from the restaurant/bar). I think my mountain house chili mac was better than anything they were producing. Cashed in early for the evening but couldnt sleep at all with the wild dogs barking and fighting all night on top of the insomniac rooster that was raising a fuss somewhere from 2:00-4:00 AM.
My partner in crime has been packing them since Oregon. Priceless items but totally useless if you leave them in the room. I now am packing my own! Good pointer that I learned a long time ago hunting.
Without any sleep we loaded up and were on the road by 7:30. Today we head for Rio Dulce. Looking for a border town to stay in before reaching Honduras there proved to be few options. Rio Dulce was supposed to be an easy ride after studying google maps but the bold yellow roads were most definitely not paved. Up and down the mountains passing little Mayan villages on terrible roads we traveled. Really fantastic scenery and after dropping 10psi out of each tire my ride was much more comfortable. During a break Al spotted these and told me they were used to make chocolate. I completely disagreed but really didn't know. I though the chocolate bean pods grew from a trunk and were more white in color. Really don't know. Know idea what it is. Just happy I didn't get bit or stung while retrieving it. Small town of Cahbon that we got lost in: She is still holding up: Lago Izabel: There are small sections (10-20 ft) of packed clay that will have a tiny stream over it that is slicker than KY. Around a corner I encountered one such pass and the front tire slid right out from under me at about 25 mph; hit the ground hard and slid a bit right in front of a traditionally dressed Mayan woman and her child. They just stopped and stared in awe. Wanting to take a photo but I felt rude so just picked up the bike (with much struggle) and checked for damage. Minor bend to the HDB guards and the Wolfman luggage was scratched but not torn so saddle back up. Finally dropped down on to Highway 7E that runs along the north edge of Lake Izabel only to find that it is gravel. At least it was a rather straight road and I could manage 55mph on the gravel for the majority. Some guys working a lot harder than myself on highway 7E: Almost hit this fat bastard: Road straight to the Backpackers Hostel because Alex is quite excited about it. I read my share of bad reviews but it is located right on the water and he wants to fish. He watches the bike and I check the rooms/rates. The rate is good ($15) for a private room for the both of us. The room is not so good. About the size of a king size bed with two singles in it. Planked walls and floor I feel like Im in the little house on the prairie. Sheets do look fairly clean so I suck it up and pay the woman. You better f*cking catch something Alex. With overpriced food and drinks I ate/drank and watch Alex not get a bite. Then the owner clued us in on Movie Night at the Yacht club just down the street. For $6 we had chicken Florentine with steamed veggies and mashed potatoes with country gravy .and a free cocktail to boot. Sat and watched a portion of some movie (The Beasts of Southerland I believe) while we dined with the power dropping out 2 or 3 times. Also found some mammoth toads just behind the yacht club (poor photos but the size of two fists). Back in the room we plugged in a fan and tried to sleep. Just a sweaty mess on a mattress that was like a supersaturated sponge not wicking up a drop. It was wicked hot and every time the power would drop out my eyes would fly open desperately hoping the jerk off f*ckin with the transformer has something more than a high school diploma. The dogs also seemed to be fighting in this pleasant little river town as well. No sleep for two nights in a row. Having the best time of my life!
Not able to sleep I was drinking terrible coffee by 7 in the morn. I will say that the Backpackers can make exceptionally good hashbrowns .and that is all. Two hours later we hit the border. The only reason I stopped at the Guatemala exit was because someone was waving a stack of money telling me to get my passport stamped. These are the guys that want to exchange your money at a poor rate on the border. Stopped and quickly got a stamp and exchanged the few dollars I had left. Then was told that we passed the customs 4 miles back. Raced back and checked our bikes out of the country. My last photo of Guatemala: All along the road they were mowing the side of the highway. Machetes, tough wrists, and backs. My last photo of Guatemala was a good old cattle herding up the border highway. The Honduras immigration and customs offices were barren. Literally nobody but us. Probably 45 minutes to get our passports stamped and bikes imported ($35/each for bikes, $3/passport). We debated taking an off-road route in Honduras that goes through the mountains and ultimately allows us to avoid the murder capital of the world (San Pedro Sula, Honduras). Both options seeming dismal we took some advice and headed for the city. I grabbed a map and handed it to Al. He opens it and says, "these idiots printed it sideways". Are you kidding me Alex? Rotate it! He thought Honduras was tall and narrow....not wide/fat. this is what I'm working with here people. Before we got there we had to try to the Ceviche on the carribean side. Nice Yacht club on the side of the road (absolutely empty) served us shrimp ceviche but nothing that compared to La Ticla, Mexico. The road entering Honduras was really quite nice with many rivers and different bridge designs (somehow only got one photo). With weapons at the ready and intercoms "On" we entered San Pedro Sula. And exited 20 minutes later. Nothing like the Mex/Guat highway/city relationship. This was actually a highway with very few traffic lights that really allows you to breeze right through without entering the city center. I'm glad that Honduras was able to figure this out. Drivers are still crazy and potholes are more prevalent but overall I was quite happy with it. Sixty more miles of pavement and we pulled off at Lake Yoaja for the D&D Brewery. We were turned onto this place by Marnix and Lisan and figured it couldnt be too bad of a stop in the middle of Honduras. Found it quite easily with GPS coordinates and rolled into a tiny parking lot. Al waits with the bikes and I walk down to a small swimming pool with a kayak in it, a donkey on the side, a tuk tuk, and various other accessories and people around the pool. I knew we found the right place! I find the owner and he says, just hold on a few were shooting music video .you wanna be in it. Sure why not. After some missed takes we got a very nice cabin for the same price as the shit hole last night. After we washed up we got to see the final take of the video (cant remember the song). I chose to stand back and do a little taping as well .pretty ridiculous. Of all of the beers I have had in Oregon this is some of the best stuff around. These guys do nice work however the food is not exceptional. First night in Honduras I would call a great success.
During our stay at the brewery we did make it to a coffee plantation which wasn’t very impressive but they had some rickety bridges and neat flowers.
Woke up, had some amazing coffee at the brewery and planned to stay an additional night. Quickly found out that they were completely booked up for the weekend so we set out to see a waterfall that was quite impressive. On our return to the Brewery it started pouring rain on us and we were completely soaked. First real rain of the trip (besides my trip to Lake Atitlan). Checked the weather and it called for 2 more days of hard rain. I wasnt willing to stay here for 3 days and coaxed Alex (against his will) to ride it out all the way to our next border town of Choluteca, Honduras. By the time we loaded up the rain subsided and we had a nice ride for the first 2/3s of the trip. The last third was through an extremely hot desert/mountainous terrain. Just drove all the way through so now we are ready to cross into Nicaragua tomorrow morning. Cant say I saw anything in Southern Honduras that caught my eye besides about 30 KTM yielding yahoos going the opposite direction just north of Tegucigalpa. Quickly found the hotel that I researched the previous evening and settled down for a rest and internet duties.
Good stuff, that ChiliMac! And what is it about roosters in small villages? They've got a contest to see who starts first, seemed like most of the time they'd get going about 3 am... :ddog
I dig the chili mac but I think the beef stroganof and chicken and rice are the best. Especially when you're sh*tt'in in the woods I hope this rooster thing isn't the norm...I need my rest!
I have not heard you mention donkeys braying in the morning. That sound mixed with dogs and chickens will make you want to go home.
I think you're doing an outstanding job keeping us informed. I certainly appreciate your effort. I know it's not easy.
Good, soft ear plugs at night. Makes sleeping with the donkies, chickens, dogs, and howler monkeys easy.