Friday, November 29, 2013

November 29, 2013 – Entering Guatemala 35 degrees 74% humidity

While waiting for Taylor at a bank a lady and her brother come up to Diana and I and we start talking about the usual stuff, tells us she lives just outside Dallas, Texas and still maintains a home in Tapachula, Mexico where all her family still lives. She says she has a sad story to share with us; her 21 year old son was recently killed on his motorcycle in Dallas by a person texting while driving. She is devastated and is home to grieve with her family. She tells us she will pray for our safety while on our adventure which is very touching.


Volcano as we enter Guatemala
Big day today as we enter a third country on our adventure, an adventure it was. Firstly we had our passports stamped to exit Mexico and thought we could cancel our vehicle permit at the same time. Turns out we need to drive back about 80 kilometers to the same town we stayed in last night, because our passports are already stamped we are now traveling illegally in Mexico and need to pass through six check points (which we did successfully). When we return to the border we are swarmed with people running onto the road, these people want to help you through all the paper work. We’ve heard stories of these guys and planned to do it ourselves. I won’t go into all the details but it was very disconcerting with 20 guys all talking at the same time trying to be your "helper" when they are all scammers. We bypass the scammers and purchase our vehicle permits from the government officials and are on our way once they confirm the serial numbers on the bikes. Once through the border our demeanor changes and we are astounded how quickly the country side changes from farmland to mountains with jungle like vegetation. We climb the winding mountain road through the clouds and at one point were 2621 meters above sea level and see the air temperature plummet from 35 degrees to 17 in about an hour. All three of us are relieved with the temperature change as temperature over the past 2 weeks has been extremely warm riding with full gear and any reprieve is appreciated. The scenery is beautiful and reminds me of articles in National Geographic. Found a great hotel that actually has hot water (first time in many days), towels, lights that work AND toilet tissue all for $26 cdn.
Guatemalan Countryside

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