Central Mexico - Flying men and Mezcal

I decided to deviate a little from my plans at this point and kept heading north towards Papantla. I had been told that this was where Vanilla originally came from and that there was also a chance of seeing the Voladores or Flying men of Papantla. All the way through the state of Veracruz I had seen adverts on the back of busses for El Tajin which was obviously a historic site. Little did I know that I was about to arrive in the middle of the biggest festival of the year. All the Hotels in the town were booked solid and it was by luck more than anything else that I got accommodation on the outskirts of the town at about twice the usual rate. I did take a ride on the second day to maybe see the ruins but there were literally thousands of people around that side of the mountain and a lot of them at the ruins themselves. I saw no joy to be had fighting with the crowds so retreated back to the town and got some good footage of the flyers which was what I had come to see anyway. Plus there was enough other entertainment going on in town to keep me occupied.


The giant stone mural in Papantla


The Voldares dancing


Once they are all at the top of the pole


Then it's time to throw yourself of backwards!!


More local dancers from a different district

Tuesday morning and I headed back down the coast and inland towards Puebla. This is a city with a long Colonial past and again most of this has been well preserved in the Historic part of the city. The hotel that I had picked from the Lonely Planet guide was easy to find and exactly as described. This city is famous for it’s ceramic pottery and tiles that adorn a lot of the buildings and the hotel is a perfect example of this with an interior that can only be described with photo’s. The main square was only a stones throw away and is the centre of activity for young and old as the sun goes down and people come to enjoy the restaurants and park.


One of the beautiful streets in Puebla


The Cathedral lit up at night


Some of the famous pottery made here


The tiles are all over the inside and outside of the buildings, this is the Hotel


Another of the buildings around the main square

I was going to by-pass Mexico City and head for Morelia next but I decided to head back down south west and visit Oaxaca.


Oaxaca also has a lot of nice Colonial streets


These two were waiting for the day of the dead. But it's not 'till November

The GPS took me over the Sierra Madre and a fantastic ride, dry and cool in the altitude until you drop down a little into the town, then it warms up a lot! The cost was also quite high because I had been on the toll roads all the way, so because they charge the same for motorcycles as for cars it cast around Mex$350 or $30. I decided that on the Saturday I would take a tour that would show me the best of the area, not just the ruins. So we visited the local weavers, the ruins at Mitla, the Mezcal distillery (always a favourite!!) and I bought half a bottle of the eight years old stuff, then the Tule tree, and some “petrified” water falls.


The largest Tule tree, one of the biggest trees in the world.


Some of the stats for the tree


Some of the fantastic hand made rugs


The "petrified" waterfalls.


The Agave plant


This is the part they use


Not exactly a modern commercial still


The finished product, complete with the worm.

A very full day before I started out for Puerto Escondido on Sunday. This time I changed the preferences in the GPS for no toll roads, and had a very long day over some very twisty roads filled with hundreds of topes!! Sometimes you just cant win. So now I’m in the little town of Puerto Escondido. It’s famous for it’s surfing beaches and laid back lifestyle which is enjoyed by foreign visitors and locals alike.


Puerto Escondido


The busy main street - Not!! Fantastic.

I have also posted the video for Guatemala. I apologize for being in it.

New Video

I've posted the video for Nicaragua, Honduras & El Salvador. Enjoy!

The Carrabean

At Tulum I turned left and started driving along the highway heading north. One grand “all inclusive” resort after another came and went. They may be great when you have booked, but don’t look that inviting to the casual passer by, in fact they are quite intimidating with the armed guards who are on a power trip to let nobody past the gate that is not in the resort transport bus. By the time I had reached Playa Del Carmon I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to find somewhere to stay. I headed for the village I had been told about a week before which was half way between Playa and Cancun. As soon as I drove down the small road and entered the village of Puerto Morelo I knew I had found my home for the next week. This small village is very much like Airlie Beach was when I first arrived there 20 years ago. Very laid back, everyone knows everyone else (and their business) and the place runs on good food and beer. After driving around a bit I found a nice hotel right on the beach. Perfect.


The view from my balcony. Does it get any better??


Another walk into the centre along the beach


The Old lighthouse and the new


The dive boat


No excuse needed for a parade


Puerto Morelo, Just like Airlie Beach 20 years ago

Apart from getting everything cleaned up and myself rested, I did manage to get most of the rest of my time in Mexico planned out and also went Scuba Diving for the first time in 10 years. The warm water and the abundant fish life (I’ve never seen so many schooling fish) were perfect. The wind causing the waves wasn’t and Captain Chunder struck again!! Mind you I wasn’t the only one after the second dive the divemaster managed to feed the fish too.

One day ran into another and soon the week was gone and it was time to move on. The drive back down the coast to Chetumal was uneventful save the very heavy rain storm I ran into just as I entered the town. The next day the run across the bottom of the Yucatan peninsular was equally uninspiring. These are the long days on a trip like this just to get from one place to another. Escarcega was another overnight stop. Then one more day to Villahermosa.

At least here there was something to stop for. The Parque Museo - La Venta, is a combination of a Zoo and a site where the historic stone carvings from La Venta were moved here when oil exploration threatened the original site. It’s well worth a visit and occupies most of a morning.


What you looking at?? Either a Panther or a black Jaguar.


Some of the bird-life in the region


Stone carvings from La Venta






This ones a Jaguar


Villahermosa

Panama & Costa Rica Video

I have finally got around to the next video. I had to skip a couple of countries due to the loss of the computer and all my photo's and video. There will be more talking in the next one (unfortunately)

Mexico, Carnivals and Ruins

Crossing the border would have been a delight if it were not for the fact that the sore throat I had had for a couple the of days was now turning into a cold. The process to get out of Guatemala took about ten minutes then the whole entrance into Mexico was dealt with at two buildings next to each other. Firstly immigration, and no suspition and questioning here 6 months! Come on in and enjoy yourself. Then next door to the Benjercito to import the bike. After paying about $40 it was all done and we were on our way again. Ben had a smile on his face. It was like he was in his second home.


Ben was in his second home and I had the next two months

We covered the next 200km through to San Cristobal at a very steady pace, one because there was a lot of federal police cars about and secondly because of the “topes”. This is what the Mexicans call speed humps, and boy are there a lot of them. Most of them are marked and signposted, but there are a few that take you by surprise and you hit them fairly hard. I had visions of the top box going down the road again!!

As soonas we found a hotel, I went off to find a pharmacy, and Ben went off to find somewhere that would weld is side stand that was starting to break at a weld. Dosed up with flu powder and cough medicine I slept for the next 14 hours.


Small Mexican streets and good food in San Cristobal


The Church in San Cristobal

I felt better the next day and after catching up to see how Ben was doing (by now he was doing an oil and filter change as well) we messed about until early evening and then walked into town to see what was happening. Mexican beer and Tequila (the good stuff) followed by some authentic Mexican food was what was happening, good stuff.

Early Thursday morning Ben and I parted company. A big thank you to him for making my journey through the borders in central America a lot easier, and for being generally good company. He was on his own timetable to get home to Ontario by the beginning of April, and he wanted to see Mexico City. I on the other hand now have two months in Mexico and don’t want to go anywhere near Mexico City!

I started heading north over the hills towards Palenque. More small roads through a lot of small villages with an awful lot of TOPES!! Frustrating riding is not the word.

I found a little hotel in the back streets of the town and the next day got up early to go to see the Mayan ruins just outside of town. Another surprise. Having not read anything about this, I was just going on what I was told, that I ought to go to see them. I now rank then up there with Machu Pichu!! It was a superb morning. Getting there just as it opened, the monkeys were still howling in the jungle that surrounds the ruined city, and the mist was still clearing. The best thing was that the tourist busses hadn’t arrived yet! As the morning wore on the temperature started to rise walking through the jungle became a very sweaty experience, but even though there were more people at the site there were still times when you felt you were the only person there. By lunchtime I was back in town for a meal of Quesadillas with some very hot chilli sauce, and then still time to get the bike washed at the local car wash.


Palenque, early morning mist and Howler monkeys


Just sitting on top of the main palace and getting a feeling for the place


Some parts are still in the jungle


Some of the intricate carvings that have been moved to the museum

I then started to head north into the Yucatan Peninsular going up the west coast to Campeche. The road becomes a major highway and the incidence of topes becomes less, which makes riding more pleasurable. I had been heading for a smaller town just before Campeche but had decided to push on a little further. After finding a nice hotel, I walked down to the seafront only to find the whole seafront road was being prepared for a carnival that night, so much for a quiet night!! Later I went down to see the parade along with thousands of others whole had come from all around the surrounding countryside for what was obviously one of the biggest events of the year.



Getting ready for Carnival


A beautiful sunset


Carnival in full swing


Hours of fun for all

Sunday morning and I was heading for the Caribbean coast further up and around the top of the peninsular. Dark clouds were hanging over the main city of Merida and as I skirted the city a heavy shower managed to wet everything but only to the point where it cooled me down for half an hour. Further east I started to see signs for Chichen Itza, which were ringing bells but I couldn’t remember why. Buy the time I got there more very black clouds were in front of me and the archaeological ruins signs gave me another reason to stop early.

Monday was split into two parts. An early walk of only 20 minutes got me to the ruins as they opened. This time there was already two coach loads there. This is a major tour destination from the resorts all the way down the east coast from Cancun so very early is the only way to beat the crowds. While the central temple building is very impressive here I was disappointed that all the buildings are roped off, so although you get a good view you don’t get the feel of the place as much as in Palenque. By the time I left three hours later the place and all the little stalls selling the souvenirs was in full swing, the temperature and humidity was also starting to get pretty high from all the rain the day before. Part two came later that evening when at 19.00 there was a sound and light show put on in the ruins. This is much less attended as most of the buses have already headed back to the coast.


The main temple at Chichen Itza


Intricate carvings on some of the buildings

By Tuesday clear blue skies saw me on my way along the back roads towards the Caribbean coast.

Guatemala

Guatemala has been another revelation, after what was another relatively easy border crossing we soon found ourselves in a small town called La Antigua Guatemala. 

Antigua town square always something going on day or night 

Antigua is a very laid back, very nice place to be 

We were chased up the road to our Hotel by a guy trying to sell us a tour. We said that we would visit his office later. After checking out the town quickly we found a nice bar to knock the top off a cold one or two, and decided we would have another lazy day exploring and climb the Pacaya Volcano.

Pacaya is an active complex volcano in Guatemala, which first erupted approximately 23,000 years ago and has erupted at least 23 times since the Spanish conquest of Guatemala. Pacaya rises to an elevation of 2,552 metres (8,373 ft). After being dormant for a century, it erupted violently in 1965 and has been erupting continuously since then, showering the nearby city of Antigua with ash. So far, the last activity reported has been the eruption that peaked on May 27, 2010, causing ash to rain down in Guatemala City, Antigua and Escuintla.

We were told initially (by the guy that chased us) that we would be able to see flowing lava on the Volcano and that it was an easy walk, but we later learned that this was not the case, so we decided that the best time would be the early tour so we might get a better view from the top. A six o’clock start and a bumpy bus ride for an hour and a half took us to the start of the climb. There were quite a few locals with horses also waiting at the bottom to offer their services, but all of our bus decided we would walk. Knowing what I know now I might be tempted to hire the horse! 

Pacaya Volcano

We climbed for ninety minutes and the gradient got steeper as we climbed also the terrain changed gradually into the small volcanic rock that was left from the eruption 8 months ago but for me and few others the going started to get tough.

The edge of the lava field 

Once we got to the lava field things started to get interesting though. Our guide had picked up some sticks on the way and when we reached a small hole on the lava crust he indicated how hot it was. He then pushed the sticks in and said that it would take two to three minutes. He was right instant fire and with the gas escaping from the hole the intensity of the fire was immediate. We continued until we came across what the guide described as the sauna. It was a lava tube, but when you entered it it was just like walking into a sauna. 

The Sauna 

From this vantage point you can still see the smoke coming from the top of the volcano. It was another hard climb back down. Slipping and sliding on the volcanic ash until my knees and calves were screaming!! A tiring day but well worth it.

During my wanderings I ran into Graham Styles who’s website Brainrotting (http://www.brainrotting.com/) was the inspiration for making video’s myself. He’s been volunteering in the school in Antigua for the last five weeks. It was a nice opportunity to spend a couple of hours chatting with him.

The next day we left for another small village San Juan, on the shores of lake Atitlan, this really is off the beaten track with a lot of the Mayan villagers here speaking their native tongue instead of Spanish, but all with a smile and a welcome. We only spent one night there with a twisty ride back up and over the mountain range that surrounds the lake. Then on to the border with Mexico.

Coffee bean on the tree by the side of the road

Over the mountains to Lake Atitlan

The Jetty down by the lake. The water level has risen slightly!

Some local graffiti. These are all over the place 

The main street in San Juan 

More Graffiti