9.08.2017 So I left a little late from Santiago, rebelling against any schedule now that I'm free for the foreseeable future. I filled up the big BMW's tank at the local Pemex with "Roja" (premium gas) to the tune of nearly 500 pesos, which at the current valuation is about $25 U.S.! Mexico had had an almost 30% jump in fuel prices since my last visit, but I was shocked to pay more than I did in the U.S. compared to previous trips. I had been told there were riots and protest

9.09.2017 I sat in my darkened room, the french doors open into the night, with a gentle rain over a town that was slowly drifting to sleep. The bleat of goats I heard nearby, fodder for customers who read the handwritten “cabrito” sign on a piece of cardboard taped to a roadside milk crate. Drunken shouts echoed down the alleyway from the nearby cantina, where exhausted workers played cards and drank, the smell of beer and sweat fresh in my mind from when I'd passed the open

9.09.2017 In the afternoon, I grabbed a cab for Las Pozas, the jungle-drowned remains of a concrete wonderland built by wealthy aristocrat artist Sir Edward James. My cab driver spoke no English but we communicated enough to find out he’d had little work when I said “Mucho trabajo?” He shook his head and answered “poquito”, then I gleaned “lluvia Katia”, “escuela” and “tourista” to understand why. As we rolled up the muddy, rocky road to Las Pozas, he said “mucho agua mañana”

9.10.2017 After an outstanding breakfast of "chilaquiles", I headed out into morning mist, heading up steep streets to the main square. Live music was playing, quite good, and I entered the jardin to find some locals dancing to the sound of the band. The vocalist was great, but my eyes fixated on the guitarist, a boy with cerebral palsy. His distorted body held his guitar at an odd angle, his head against the instrument playing it with great intensity and enthusiasm, raising

9.12.2017 It was cold when I headed out to load the bike from the hotel, probably 50º F, but by the time finished it had warmed up a bit. I hadn't expected much cool weather in Mexico, but I was happy to have it. The trip previous had been terribly hot and I'd braced myself for similar conditions. Pinching my few remaining pesos and skipping breakfast to save a little money for gas "just in case", I rolled out for the city of Queretaro and a better chance of banks with ATM's.

9.13.2017 I was up early, sorting through stuff for my morning ritual. I gathered the bike from the secure parking lot and as I was loading up, a young man coming down the street spotted the moto, running over to me and speaking excitedly. We miscommunicated a bit, but he was very excited to see a motorcycle traveler. He was all smiles and happily pointed me the way to Tula's Toltec archaeological pyramid site. When I arrived at the pyramids, the parking lot was empty. Four o

9.14.2017 Leaving Cholula that morning, I thanked mama and her family, giving the girls a hug which made them burst into giggles. I retrieved the bike from the secure lot around the corner, loaded up my gear and hit the tollway south for Oaxaca. It was a wild, fast ride to get through Puebla, but the crazy traffic and dangerous rush is also addictive. The tollway south ends up in amazing landscape, going high in the mountains and across impressive bridges. An hour away from O

9.15.2017 Having slept like a baby - possibly induced by the residual pot in the air of my room - I took a shower in the shared bathroom, feeling fully as if I'd just experienced the showers of a Mexican prison (minus certain scenarios, I might add). I scrambled for my gear and grabbed a quick organic veggies-type pastry from the hip coffee shop next to the apartment, scarfing it down on the way to the plaza. The lively night before made it seem eerily quiet as folks walked q

9.16.2017 One of the benefits of a long trip is that you can go whichever way you want, whenever you want. The flipside of the coin is you have so many choices and it changes daily... Charlie and I both were unsure which way to head after Oaxaca, the only commonality being that we were both headed for San Cristobal de Las Casas. He wanted to ride south through the mountains to the Pacific coastal area, a place I preferred not to go as I'd been there three months earlier and i

9.17.2017 The next morning about 7 am, I'd awoken to the feel of my bed shaking. At first I thought Charlie was shaking my bed to wake me, but when I looked over, Charlie had just popped up awake and was sitting up in his bed. He asked if I'd felt the shaking and I told him it had woken me. Checking my volcano and earthquake app showed there had been 11 earthquakes in the last 9 hours of the night, luckily only strong enough to wake us that morning. Coming out of the ice cold

9.20.2017 One of the places I'd wanted to visit on my last trip was the indigenous town of San Juan Chamula just outside San Cristóbal. It is a bit notorious for its people and self rule. Many stories abound about the serious nature of the Tzotzil people and their reputation for ferocity. When I'd stayed in San Cristobal a few months previous, I had been told by a local that the visit to the iglesia in San Juan Chamula would be interesting, however to be careful, as they were

9.21.2017 Charlie and I were both tired from our time in San Cristóbal, mainly due to the upcoming religious Festival. At all hours of the day there were constant fireworks, not your average Black Cats but extremely loud booms like a 44 Magnum. In addition, for some reason a marching band seemed to walk past our window multiple times throughout the night. 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 7 a.m. and randomly throughout the day. No complaints about the hotel, as it was nice and reasonably close

9.23.2017 For some reason I guess I'm not destined to sleep much in Mexico. The little hotel in Comitan was great but a dang mosquito got in the room and I couldn't get it for anything. It landed in my ear canal randomly throughout the night, and some very late hotel arrivals came in, banging on the steel gate at some point in the night. I got even by opening my door in my underwear and staring at them. I was up and on the road by 8:30 after triple checking my passport, Mexic

9.24.2017 The day dawned early to the noise of tuk-tuks zipping down the narrow street outside. The previous day's ride had drained me more than I realized, so it was a bit later when I ventured out of the room into a brief few moments of sunshine. The wet streets were active with vendors and traffic as I wandered towards the lake looking for coffee. Five minutes of sunshine! At the waterfront, the volcanoes were shrouded in white but the lake was beautiful, reminiscent of th

9.25.2017 The rain was much less today, confirmed by a few rays of sunshine which only seem to appear about 11 in the morning. Of course, I'm here in the final couple of months of rainy season but it doesn't dampen my experience. Pun intended nyuk nyuk. More street explorations and encounters. The ladies selling blankets and wraps here are even more tenacious than in Mexico. Young and old, they ask your name and call you a friend despite repeated "no gracias" only to switch t

9.26.2017 Where else can a 60 mile trip on a "main" road take 4 hours, cross a mudslide, then boulders and rubble across the road up high in the mountains, while dodging 999,999 potholes in rains and clouds, and then a river crossing because the bridge was washed away??? Guatemala! Okay, since the maps indicated roughly 60 miles and a two hour ride from Panajachel to Antigua, I took my time loading the bike, taking pics with the hotel staff of giggling girls and guys wanting

9.27.2017 My lodging, Casa Elena in Antigua, turned out to be a beautiful, relaxing bed and breakfast, and the owners Harvey and Diane are awesome folks. I was treated to a fantastic dinner at their hands and enjoyed hearing stories of their international travels. Harvey is a BMW MOA ambassador and a wealth of information. In fact, they were leaving the next morning to fly back to Vermont to pick up a new F800GS Adventure to ride back to Guatemala on a leisurely trip south. J

9.28.2017 So the French Canadian couple who'd been robbed at Lago Atitlan had arrived while I was walking around the town. Christine and Jules were very friendly but definitely shaken from the experience. They had left the little town of San Pedro on the south side of the lake on the way to El Salvador, when two men wearing black masks and hoodies ran out on the road in front of them with guns. They stopped and the guns were put to their heads while the robbers searched their

10.03.2017 My time in Antigua was a lot of fun, ending up relaxing a few days longer than expected. I enjoyed spending time with my new friends from Canada and while they are waiting for paperwork I decided to escape Antigua for a couple of days. The time at Casa Elena was great, relaxing and a lot of fun. The combination of belching diesel chicken buses, enclosed streets and residual volcanic ash, combined with the constant rains and moisture, did a hellacious number on my s

10.04.2017 I woke up to a sunny day and a beautiful view of the river from my room. The sun was out and the intense humidity was already uncomfortable when I went to load the bike. I'd intended to go to the Mayan ruins of Tikal, but after the long previous day in the intense heat I decided I'd had enough of humidity and rain. Tropical storm Nate was already dumping on the region and none of my gear, clothes or shoes have been dry for weeks. Charlie had arrived at Casa Elena,