Guatemala.....
To say our first day in Guatemala was eventful is an understatement in itself......
We crossed the border into Guatemala at Melchor de Mencos on February 14th 2018.
That morning we had been pre-warned by our guide from the ATM Cave in Belize that there was a road block on the road to Tikal....he had a contact on the other side of the blockade and tried to reach him before we left Belize to check out the situation. Unfortunately he didn't manage to get hold of him so we set of with fingers crossed that the block had cleared.
The border crossing went well and we were riding quite happily along....the road was clear....or so we thought.....a few miles later.......a queue....a long queue.......we rode past the lines of traffic until we came to a wagon parked across the road......yep this was the blockade or the start of it......sometimes they let us gringos through.....anyways there was a gap at the back of the wagon angled diagonally from the verge at the side of the road.....Chris got through...I was struggling a bit as I didn't want to go off road on the verge......a man watched me for a few moments and then another man moved his car just enough away from the wagon so I had a little more room...
The Blockade....passing the wagon was just the start....past this more strewn cars....people sat around....police there.....wood across road...villagers with sticks......what on earth was going on.
We parked up and I started asking around whilst Chris started taking photos. Turns out that the villagers were protesting against the state of the road and were demanding more paved areas. Apparently one section of road under dispute was along the main highway which was paved apart from a section about 3km long. Once we understood what was going on it was just a question of waiting.....eek the block had been here for two days!!!! At one point it was amusing....we had a down pour whilst waiting .....all the protesters ran for cover under some tarpaulin and the police all went into the trees........we just got wet...lol.
After two hours we got lucky the villagers rounded up and the police had escorted the Major I think and a man from the Tourism Board into a meeting......this is because this road block is on a main tourist highway.....many tourist buses had been sent back and various people were stuck at hotels on wrongs sides of the border between Guatemala and Belize because of the situation.
A few people tried to cross the block line at this point and although they were not stopped they were jeered at by the villagers. We opted to remain as we were and await the outcome of the meeting. This took quite a while and at one point we thought they were digging in for the night as more tyres were brought in to strengthen their barricade and then they killed a pig for a BBQ......I found this most distressing because the pig screamed for ages......at this point I'm ready for leaving.
Thankfully patience paid off.....their meeting had obviously been somewhat successful......tyres thrown to the side, vehicles blocking the road moved and pass granted......some of the villagers even apologised as we rode through and on they went to celebrate their win......phew back on the road.
The rest of the ride for the day was pleasant up to the ruins of Tikal where we were staying and we rode across the section of unpaved road that the villagers had protested about.
We stopped at the gate of the park got our tickets, booked a guide, and went and checked into hotel. The receptionist asked us if we were doing the sunrise tour in the morning which we were and asked to check the tickets.....here we go.......second thing to go wrong today......our tickets were ok but the ticket seller had not given us the sunrise extra ticket.....this meant we had to ride back down to the entrance of the park to rectify....ok no problem.....dam cash has run low.....best call in at a cash machine whilst correcting ticket situation......nearest cash machine....back down the road several miles past the entrance to the park......jeez that's messed up and we're running out of time before the park closes.
No probs we head back out without unloading due to time restriction.....stopping on the way at the park entrance to tell our guide the mistake with the ticket and he's tells us a closer cash machine....goodo back in a bit.
And then disaster strikes.....
The Accident........so we're riding back down to a place called El Remarte to get some cash, the weather is overcast as it has been raining.....I'm doing about 30mph behind Chris whose a safe distance in front, the road is now dry but it had rained earlier.....straight forward bend approaches....as I break gently and turn I'm on a bit of damp road under the trees, my bike skids and goes down into a slide and off I spin . I watch the bike continue sliding down the road round the bend as I roll to a stop in a concrete gutter.
So I open my eyes.....that's a good sign for starters......this is all a bit of a shock to me.....I've never had a bike accident before....this is the first one.....I'm lying flat on my back in the drainage channel.......there's a bit of pain ...not sure from where yet.....wiggle toes.....check...wiggle fingers....check.....nope left thumb hurts.......with my heart in my mouth I go for the big one (well to me anyway) to move my right leg.....for those of you that know me well, you'll know that this leg is plated and my hip is screwed together from a horse accident.......I really don't need these to bust......I move the leg......phew it moves ....no pain from hip.....err can't feel my knee though. I go through my movement list in my head....as I'm doing this people have appeared out of the woodwork to check I'm ok...Chris has already been to check me and is being helped by villagers to get my bike out of the ditch further down. He returns to lift me out of ditch....at this stage I've finished my movement list and am aware I have a numb knee and I reckon a sprained thumb. My knee hit the road first with the panniers.
A nice young man is instructed to get a pick up truck and they put me in that with a few parts that have dropped off my bike and take me back up to the village where I can sit down and rest. Chris brings the bikes up.....amazingly mine is still ride-able. Another man takes Chris to the cash machine whilst a couple of ladies sit with me. The villagers were great checking if I needed anything.....an ambulance....more help.....nothing was too much trouble. Chris was only gone a few minutes, then shock kicked in....I'd been waiting for that.....a little delayed but I started to feel nauseas so I laid down on the floor again. The tourist police came.....no problems....they were just concerned for my well being. After about an hour I felt a bit better....reluctantly I got back on the bike.....I cannot feel my knee.....and my left/clutch thumb is hurting. We ride very slowly back up to the entrance of the park.....our guide is there waiting....they had been worried about us returning and were going to sort our tickets out for us....saw we'd had an accident and we're concerned that I was ok. Tickets corrected.....got back to hotel....Chris had to get my stuff off me....I can hardly move....I only have a small graze on my knee.......I am wearing Triumph Kevlar jeans.... at the time of the accident....they did their job.
The bike......the speedo is stuffed..the screen broke.....dinted the tank and the back brake which I was starting to have problems with prior to the accident is working worse than before.
All in all.....I've been very lucky and so has the bike. Some of the photos below have been taken the day after as at the time Chris was more concerned for my welfare......we've since decided that unless it's life threatening we're going to take photos of things that go wrong....it's all part of life and our trip. Hopefully neither of us will crash again. You can see how easy the road is....just shows that simple accidents can happen....I'm so glad I had my protective gear on.
So that was our first day in Guatemala.....stuff comes in threes doesn't it????
I woke up the next morning very stiff and sore but determined to get up and about to prevent any further swelling in my knee.....plus I didn't want to miss our sunrise tour.
We met the guide at 4am along with other early bird tourists. Our guide made sure I was ok and promised to go slow and if I was struggling to say so.....he was great.
The tour of Tikal was pretty cool and our guide was very knowledgeable.......but the sunrise didn't quite work out....as in .....it rained heavily and we got a misty rise from the top of one of the pyramid buildings.....not to worry it was still worth doing if even to hear the jungle waking up in the dark......and watching Jose try to entice tarantulas out of a hole. It was funny meeting other guides round the park as well....they all knew about my crash and all asked if I was ok when they saw me....ha,ha.....I was the talk of Tikal........amongst the locals anyway.This place is a great ruin to visit and one of the most important in the Mayan World.....scientists have recently discovered more buildings.
We'd booked two nights up here...good job....after the tour I went back to bed to rest my knee and Chris went back into the park when the sun came out to get some better pictures. The second morning we awoke to glorious sunshine and the sound of Howler monkeys....if you've never heard what these sound like check out the audio below....amazing.....and allegedly recorded for use in the film Jurassic Park.
More geek info.....Tikal was used as a film location in the original 'Star Wars'.....you too..can go and stand where this storm trooper was.
For anybody travelling up here by motorcycle the road is paved all the way, there's a cash machine at El Remate on the way up, check you get the right tickets at the gate if you want to be in the park at sunrise otherwise they will not let you in. There's a campsite and a couple of hotels up here. The Jaguar Inn has food and wi fi.
From Tikal because of the state of my bike, this now meant we would have to stay in Guatemala City as there is a Harley dealership there. Very stiffly I re-mounted.....we'd broken the ride down and so the day we left we just rode quietly down to a place called Rio Dulce. And for those of you interested.....yes I'm back riding my battered bike....held together with tape....thanks Chris......but it has knocked my confidence a little to say the least so steady away.
Rio Dulce was mental, very busy.....we actually got a room at the Yacht Club just over the bridge from the mayhem.....ha,ha...sounds posh doesn't it ?..............it was lovely, clean and breakfast included for about £50.
We spent two nights here....why?.....because I can't feel my knee and am resting up when possible.
Next we hit Guatemala City....oh my life....sat nav has given up....left, no right, no left, straight on......she hasn't got a clue....one way, which way.......eek......chicken buses, traffic, back brake not working right, clutch thumb hurting.......in the end.....cheat....'Follow that taxi'........trust me it's so much easier when you're struggling in some of these places......finally a hotel, check in, unpack, lie down.
We've booked into a hotel near the airport in GC and it's also walking distance to the HD shop. We call in the next day and deliver the bikes, hoping they'll be able to fix mine in particular. The staff were great but unfortunately even after an extra few days they could not fix the problems.
The problem is the parts. It would take up to three weeks to get them to GC. Bloomin Harley....the parts come from Florida, then to Costa Rica and then to GC......crazy.......we really did not want to spend that amount of time in GC.......the staff ring El Salvador to see if they can get the parts.....same problem timescales........so we make a note of the parts required to email Costa Rica HD so everything can be ordered and will be there when we arrive as we're going that way anyway.
However the issue now is that my bike now has no back brake at all.....it was going.....the master cylinder had packed up completely. Oh joy....another first...I've never ridden without a back brake.....time to adjust my riding.
Leaving Guatemala City was a bit of a mission....4hrs it took us to get out of there......seriously....yep.....it's just a bad traffic system.
Finally we got out of there and headed for Lake Atitlan and getting there had to deal with one of the things that we'd just discussed avoiding as much as possible.....a hill....
And boy what a hill from Sinola down to Panajachel.........poor Chris he had to listen to me panicking with no back brake....it totally freaked me out......in my head all I could see were two thin pieces of metal to stop me or go flying and chicken buses practically sat on my number plate.....arghhhhhh!!!!!
First piece of homework tonight to thoroughly check all further routes to Costa Rica.
Lake Atitlan was lovely....Panajachel was very busy but luckily where we were was just out of the center. A very touristy area with lots of trade stands and Guatemalan people dressed in colourful attire. The views to the volcanoes across the lake are stunning.
Time to move on again.....this time we're just heading South towards a small place called Taxisco and yes this time we've checked the maps in greater detail and are riding the flattest roads possible. The ride was good, sunshine and no drama today in fact one of my fondest memories of Guatemala will be the day we left Lake Atitlan. On a mountain road away from the villages we came across a little boy no older than 10 maybe younger. He was filling in potholes and there didn't seem to be any adults around. The smile on his face as we approached him was just 'heart warming' and as we got level with him ( we're going very slow cos of the holes he's filling in) he put his little hand up and 'Hi Fived' us as we went past........just awesome.
We arrived at 'Hostel Las Marias' later that day. This place is a really good place to stop before the border which is only 35 miles away at La Hachadura. It has a small restaurant, clean rooms, hot showers and they had two dogs and a kitten, I'm always happy when places have pets. Tea, organise paperwork for tomorrow and bed.
“Que Le Vaya Bien Guatemala"
WHERE TO NEXT?
