Marie and I have been fortunate to visit several countries during our 11 years together. Many of them will remain etched in our memories as fascinating and interesting places. Guatemala is among these countries. For the motorcyclist, the courntry provides road after road of challenges and adventure. For the tourist, the scenery and historical sights would keep anyone busy day after day. And for the human in us, the people of Guatemala are among the friendliest people we have ever come across. We have no regrets about spending a month of our lives in this country and hope to return some day.

After a few days of rest in Flores as well as in El Remate (a great little village by the lake which has surprising blue colors) we decided that it was time to visite the Mayan ruins of Tikal. The road to get there was in great shape as well as a short drive but the signs were a little worrysome.

Reminds me a little of home.
I guess it’s time to slow down a bit

Humm, potential supper!

Dear and turkey, no problem. Giant rats?…not our favorites.

Thank God for motorcycle boots!

OK, what the hell are we doing here!

By the way, the ruins were great!

Brian

OK, yet another text on the topic of driving on dirt roads but this should be the last time we take this type of route for a while.

For the trip from Lanquin to the island of Flores we had two options. One would require us to backtrack to Coban (about 2 hours away) to circumvent some mountains. The other route promised to be more adventurous and required us to go into the mountains. We opted for the adventurous route despite the fact that it had been raining for a few days. After speaking to some local people we were assured that the route was quite passable and was unpaved for only about 40 kilometers. At the end of the day the gravel road ended up being at least 80 kilometers long and was in very poor shape.

The worst section was a 10 kilometer stretch that was under construction and at this point we made a decision to continue on the route rather than backtrack the 3 hours we had already done up to that point. Despite giving the road our full attention we ended up taking a spill on a particularly slippery section of the road. Brian felt the rear tire lose traction and put his left foot down to try and keep the bike upright. Unfortunately it was too late as the bike had already started its fall. His foot ended up getting pinned under the bike. The pain was intense for a few moments but we succeeded in getting the bike upright rapidly. An 1100GS is a heavy bike especially with luggage and somebody sitting on the back…

This said, we had our first experience with the Guatemalan health care system in Santa Elena, just off the island of Flores. Within 20 minutes we had seen a doctor, had an x-ray taken and were given the all clear, no broken bones. This visit to the hospital cost us nothing!

We still decided to stay in Flores for a few days in order to rest up a bit from that crazy adventure.

Brian and Marie-France

Although it is almost always cold in Todos Santos one of the advantages of being there in December and early January is that it never rains. This is a good thing because most roads in the area are steep gravel. After nearly a month of uninterrupted sunshine it started raining on the day we left. We had a seven hour ride ahead of us on mostly unknown terrain. If we would have known what was ahead of us we would have stayed a few more days.

The gravel road snakes up out of Todos Santos for about 30 kilometers. So far so good. I kept telling myself; “I know this road”. After filling up in Chiantla near Huehuetenango we met a foreigner how was shooting footage on mayan culture for “Les Grands Explorateurs”. We told him where we were going and he suggested the road was in bad shape. We decided to press on.

After about 3 hours of driving on a wonderful road we started feeling pretty confident. Besides, things change very quickly in these countries. So as we were blissfully taking in the mountains above us and the valleys below us we came upon a section of road covered by part of a moutain. No problem, we have seen this before. A few more meters and the road got better again. Just a false alert, that’s all. Nothing to worry about. That is until we saw the trucks and tractors at the bottom of a very steep mountain. Since it was pouring rain all of the road construction equipment was idle. The next bend in the road clarified what the cameraman had meant by “bad shape”. The road winding up the mountain was barely wide enough for a car and was covered in mud. But not the innocent looking mud you get in Canada, no this stuff looked more like what you use to make pottery.

We were hoping that it would not last long but 28 kilometers and one close call later we were still on the road. The rain was such that I had to lift up my visor and take off my glasses because I couldn’t see the road from the raindrops. I am happy to say that we did end up making it without incident and arrived in the town of Coban at around 5pm. We only stayed one night and headed for Lanquin the following day. This was another incredible road but for all the right reasons; incredible views, no rain thus no mud!

So here we are in Lanquin relaxing at the El Retiro. We decided to take a ride this morning to the village of Semuc Champey…. This area is renowed for it’s beautiful pools. Once again the road was a little challenging to get there but very rewarding once you arrive. After climbing high above the pools for a better view we made our way down to take a dip. The water was wonderful!

Yesterday we met a couple who rented a car and made their way from the north (the ruins of Tikal) to here. They warned us that the condition of one of the roads to get here caused them to take a detour instead. I sense another little aventure coming up in a few days!

Brian

We have spent 3 weeks in Todos Santos Cuchumatan and little by little we are starting to get by with our spanish. It is now getting rare for us to order chicken soup and get srambled eggs instead! When we are not taking classes we go for hikes in the mountains to take in some of the amazing scenery. One of these hikes was to the top of La Torre which is the highest non-volcanic peak in Central America.

Spending Christmas eve in Todos Santos was a bit of a culture shock. Normally the town shuts down by 7:00 pm. Streets earlier occupied by people get taken over by a multitude of dogs who will spend the entire night howling. But to celebrate Christmas people stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning. Activities include fireworks, music in the streets and a midnight supper.

On Christmas day I went to a village 2 hours away to pick up a friend who had spent a few
days with his girlfriend. The road to get there was the worst I had seen since we started this trip. In certains areas it was no wider than a car with mountains on one side and a sheer drop on the other.

While I was having fun in the mountains Marie-France was busy at home cooking.

We are planning on leaving Todos Santos on the 2nd of January at which time we will head to Coban on our way to the ruins of Tikal in the north of the country.

Brian

We learned a few things on the drive from Quetzaltenango to Todos Santos Cuchumatan. For example, there is such thing as a twistie that requires you to take it in first gear. But perhaps the most important lesson learned is that it is possible to heat a rear brake disk to the point that the brake will fail (who knew?). Here is what happened: after about an hour of driving the road went from incredibly steep, winding and paved to incredibly steep, winding and unpaved. At certain points the road was at a 40 degree angle. It was on one of these unpaved sections (with the road winding downwards at a very steep angle) that I first noticed that our rear brake was no longer working. You know those movies where a character applies the brakes of his car and gets no response and then starts furiously pumping the brake? Well, that was us. Knowing from the movies that those types of situations rarely end well we very carefully brought the bike to a full stop. For those of you who ride a motorcycle you can imagine how this situation made us a little uncomfortable. For those of you who don’t ride a motorcycle, imagine taking your favorite bicycle for a spin in the mountains. You are on the same type of road as mentioned above and as you are about to head down a steep hill your rear brake fails. But to spice things up you have a refrigerator strapped to either side of the bicycle. Now we are all on the same page. So as we were waiting for our brakes to cool down we saw a couple of 10 year olds coming towards us carrying very large machetes and even larger smiles. After a few greetings and some giggles on their part (tourists rarely stop in that area) we headed off our separate ways.

A short time later we made it into Todos Santos without further incidents. This village of 3000 people is extremely rural with most people living off of agriculture. The majority of the citizens here are Maya with a few hundred belonging to the Ladino minority. If you include the surrounding areas the population climbs to about 30000 people. To serve these 30000 people there is one bank and no hospitals (the closest one being a 3 hour drive away). In addition to the absence of a hospital there are no doctors.

The recent history of Guatemala is complex and plagued with violence, most of it geared towards the Mayan people who form the majority in the country. As with other Central American countries, Guatemala has seen some of its poor rise up against centuries of oppression by taking up arms or supporting those who do. For Todos Santos, the violence finally reached this remote area in 1981 when guerillas first made their appearance in the town. A speech by the guerilla leader highlighting the terrible plight of the Mayan people of Guatemala and specifically the citizens of Todos Santos was well received by most of the hundreds who heard it. Word quickly reached the military who showed up shortly afterwards to extract information from citizens about guerilla activity. Specifically, they wanted to know who among their neighbors were part of the guerilla movement. Those who were denounced met gruesome deaths. Once the military vacated the area the Guerillas returned and they in turn used the same tactics to extract information from villagers. Who among them had denounced their neighbors to the military? Once again, perceived traitors were executed. This situation persisted for 2 years until over 100 people were dead and more than 150 homes were destroyed. Despite all of the deaths and destruction there was never a direct confrontation between the guerillas and the military.

While in Todos Santos we are staying with a local family. Meals are cooked on a wood burning stove and served in a tiny kitchen with a low tarp ceiling. The smoke generated by the stove is ventilated by way of large spaces in both the ceiling and walls. This tiny space is where most of the action is with about a dozen family members streaming in and out of the kitchen for various meals prepared by the women of the family who can spend their entire day making food.

We have been spending our days taking Spanish classes which should come in handy for the rest of our time in the Americas. We plan on staying here until the end of December at which time we will head deeper into the country by going north towards the Mayan temples of Tikal.

Brian

In the world there are border crossings that are a little stressful given the presence of border guards with their guns and questions, there are border crossings that might cause you to lose time due to language barriers and then there is the Guatemala/Mexico border crossing.

We chose as our entry point the La Mesilla crossing, La Mesilla being the village on the Guatemalan side. After completing the formalities on the Mexican side we took a slow winding road about 3 kilometers into the village of La Mesilla and then total chaos as it seems we chose market day to head into the country. As a result, the nice little winding road ended up going straight into a very, very busy market. The road got progressively more narrow until we could no longer see it and on either side of us were a wide variety of stalls selling various local produce and goods. To put it into perspective, it was the equivalent of driving in a crowded shopping center on the last day before Christmas without knowing where you are headed.

Once we got past the border post (yes, we eventually found it!) we made our way to Quetzaltenango, about 4 hours away. Our goal was to take some spanish classes but we opted to go to Todos Santos Cuchumatan instead. We have been in Todos Santos for about 4 days now. It is much different from anything we have seen so far and we are looking forward to providing more details and pictures in the days to come.

Brian