A Haunted Hotel and a Three Ring Circus – dispatches from the Guatemala border

Posted by: Jordan.  Red text will link you to more information

So, dogged by rain and afternoon delight, we left San Cristobol and set our course for the three-ringed-circus known as the town of Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, our entry point into Guatemala from Mexico.  Ciudad Cuauhtémoc is not really a city, more of a strange collection of border town characters and their endless supply of market stalls and wares.  It kind of felt like we should be looking for Rick and the ever illusive “letters of transit”, however instead of Casablanca and Rick’s Cafe Americain we had to settle for Ciudad Cuauhtémoc and the super dodgy hotel across from the aduana (Customs).

The hotel was actually more scary then dodgy,  Okay, it was pretty dodgy, but it was very scary.  As in haunted-house scary.  If you combined the house from the movie “The Others” with a Latino version of “The Shining” you’d have a pretty good idea of the overall vibe of the place.  On the positive side, it did have secure parking, and in these parts a good parking space outweighs any fears you may have of being visited by ghosts in the night, or of being murdered in your sleep.

– we can’t wait!

One of the many charms of this particular hotel was it’s complete lack of locking doors.  Well, there were no actual doors on the outside of the building, and when we asked for the key to our room we were given a blank stare and shown a series jagged broken key stubs…   As we walked back to the room I couldn’t help but think that we should have taken the broken keys with us, they looked pretty sharp  and could come in handy later on that evening…  Did I mention this hotel is attached to a bus station and we had to walk right through the middle of 2 other guest rooms to get to room?  At least we were able to negotiate a very good price on the room, and we couldn’t pass up the great parking.

After a quick assessment of our accommodations and brief discussion regarding our personal safety we went back down to the main level and inquired about changing rooms, preferably to one with a locking door.  They obliged.  The so-called ‘room’, or cell as we like to call it, was actually one in a series of small rooms in a low, concrete row-house at the back of the unlit yard, about a hundred meters from the main building.  There were no windows, apparently none were needed since all the light the room required was provided by a single, bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling.  No Information was provided about the possible location of the bathroom, and a green, corrugated metal door and matching roof finished off the decor.  Although we were initially pleased to see that the rooms could be locked, we found it somewhat disconcerting when we realized that the doors could only be locked from the outside. Back to the original room it was…

When we got back to the room we needed to decide what we would do with our gear, we don’t have much but what we do have is pretty important (helmets and riding gear).  Looking around the room,  there didn’t seem to be anywhere to put our things.  We noticed that the room had a large desk and mirror and that they were pushed up against the wall, partially hiding a built-in armoire.  To be honest it kind of looked like someone put the desk there to prevent whatever was in the closet (probably monsters) from getting out during the night.  We were faced with a tough decision, either leave our gear out in the open in our unlocked room or move the table and open the armoire doors, potentially letting out whatever was locked in.  We chose the latter.  Nothing jumped out at us and we used two cable locks to lock all our stuff together, hopefully making it at least a little inconvenient to steal our things.  We pushed the table back against the wall and headed out to recce the border for the next day’s crossing.

The border did not look like any border we’d ever seen, first of all there were no orderly line ups, no official looking buildings and there were what seemed like thousands of people milling about, some of whom appeared to be crossing the border at will on foot, by bicycle or via scooter.  The border region was actually a massive market  with hundreds for stalls sprawling out in all directions for blocks and blocks on either side of the border.  Although there was not much worth buying, it was kind of interesting and exploring the area provided a much needed break from our hotel, but nightfall was approaching, and along with it a fast moving electrical storm.

Looking at Guatemala from Mexico

We got back to the hotel as night was falling, just as the storm arrived.  To our dismay the hotel did not look any better in the dark.  The fact that we were the only 2 people in the entire place did nothing to make it feel any less creepy.  At one point we ventured out of our room to look and see if there was anyone around, but there were no other guests to be found and we could not even find any hotel staff.  The fist guest room we had to walk through to exit our room was very large and had  5 or 6 double beds in it, some large old fashion furniture with discoloured mirrors that would not reveal an image when looked at (!!!).  The windows were partially covered in heavy drapes and, although the room had no functioning lights whatsoever, we could catch glimpses of the nightmare through lightening flashes.  It was more than a little unnerving and I am NOT exaggerating.  We then made our way back through the second, equally large and deserted guest room/antechamber with more empty beds that lead to an outdoor terrace and a set of stairs leading to the pitch black backyard and down to the main level of the hotel.  We eventually found the daughter of the proprietor of the hotel lying down on a couch watching TV in the dark, I didn’t see what she was watching but I’m willing to bet it was a scary movie.

To make a somewhat long story only slightly shorter, we survived the night and awoke to a beautiful day.  I’d like to say that the hotel seemed less scary after having spent the night, but that would be a lie.  Overall I’d say that our experience in the hotel was very similar to one of those old TV shows where the main character has to spend the night in their supposedly dead grandfather’s mansion to receive an inheritance of a million dollars, except without the million dollars or the Scooby snacks.

In defence of Mexican hotels and hostels, I have to say that all but 1 or 2 of the hotels we stayed in were very nice, some were beautiful, and all of them were very clean.  One even rivalled the best hotels we’ve stayed in anywhere at any price.  All but 2 of the hotels we stayed in had wifi (I’ll let you guess weather or not our hotel at the border had wifi… ) and most were staffed by super friendly and professional employees, and they were usually located within a minute or two from the main square.  Our most expensive night was $72 and the least expensive was  $1.90, the overall average was probably around $30, and the border hotel is the only one where I’d prefer not to spend another night.  Ever.

The next morning we packed up and headed for the Mexican aduana to complete the paperwork required to export our bikes and get ourselves into Guatemala.  We crossed one last military checkpoint and made it through yet again without being stopped or checked, a perfect record for Mexico!!!  With our  exit paperwork in hand we headed towards the Guatemalan border and the next chapter of our adventure.  Thank you Mexico, we had an amazing time and we’ll be back.

Chiapas: Two Dutch Guys and The Secret Lives of Hotel Workers

Posted by: Jordan & Sandra Bold red text links to additional information

We reluctantly pried ourselves away from the beach and headed in-land.  We were waived thought yet another Mexican checkpoint, we’ve been through at least a dozen police and military checkpoints since entering Mexico and have yet to stopped.  I hope our luck holds…  Again the roads were amazing, fantastic mountain vistas and winding roads, just the way we like it.

As usual, we opted for the ‘libre’ (free) route and avoided the tolls, however nothing is ever free, is it?  In this case it meant driving through some unattractive towns and making a few u-turns, as it was a bit confusing in some places.  Late in the afternoon  we passed through one of the largest wind farm projects in the world , it was quite impressive and went on and on for kilometres.  While we were very happy to see such a great example of renewable energy in action, usually wind farms are placed in areas that are typically pretty windy, and wind is the arch enemy of motorcyclists, or at least it is for us.  Extreme heat?  No problem.  Rain?  Bring it on.  Crazy traffic?  Just go faster.  Cold weather?  Pass me my heated kit.  Wind?  It makes me want to cry…  Passing through the town of La Ventosa should have been a clue to what we were about to experience, but we didn’t yet know that ventoso meant windy in Spanish…and was it ever windy!  We were leaned right over and the wind was so strong it felt like our tires would slide right off the road, which now seemed to be polished.  Scary, (and thrilling) to say the least.

We eventually passed the ‘ventoso’ section and made it to the town of Santo Dominico Zanatepec for the night.  It was the 1^st hotel in Mexico that we’ve stayed in that had, or even needed air conditioning.  It was not not particularity nice but at less than $20 it did the trick.  Also, there was also nowhere else to stay.

Most motorcycle travellers seem to take the west coast route from Baja California when riding though Mexico, we considered this route but opted to ride through the central highlands instead.  As a result we had not seen any other motorcycle travellers, or even very many other non-Mexican tourists for that matter.  After checking in to the hotel and getting cleaned up, we had a conversation about this very fact while we got ready to head out for a bite to eat.  We opened the door of the hotel and stepped into the parking lot and, as if on cue, Bas and D, two Dutch riders rolled up on their big ADV motorbikes! Bas was on a BMW R1200GS Adventure and D on a tricked out Kawasaki KLR.  They had flown from Holland to Alaska, where they bought their motorbikes and proceeded to ride south.  We met up for dinner and had a great time hearing about their adventures, exchanging route information, and discussing next stops over a few Pacificos.  We hope to meet up again further down the road.

Another day of very exciting riding brought us to the town of San Cristobal de las Casas.  The route to the city takes in some fantastic winding roads that are peppered with Mayan villages perched high in the mountains on impossibly steep inclines.  We were making great progress, but we ended up stopping a lot to admire the views and take photographs and it started to get late.  As we went up one mountainside and down another, we could often see the road we had just taken or were about to take stretched out before us in the valley far below.  Finally we went over one last pass and as we crossed over to the other side of the mountain it suddenly went from clear and sunny to gray and cloudy..  It poured and poured, we were not wearing our rain gear so got soaked to the bone.  Since we were in the mountains it was also freezing cold.  I never realized I’d ever be this cold in Mexico… then the fog rolled in and we couldn’t see a thing, we just crept along on at 30 kmh with our right turn signals blinking away in the hope that someone would at least see us before  running over us.  Luckily we were on the way down and lived to tell the tale, but we were wet for days…

Future route in the distance

Mayan village

Traditional Mayan clothing in this region

Fortunately it was all worth while, because San Cristobal is a fantastic city, beautiful and well worth the effort.

Streets of San Cristobal

Fruits & Vegetables store

We found a great little hostel with a small courtyard where we could park our motorbikes right outside our hotel room.  Perfect!  The courtyard even had a little outdoor kitchen and we were able to make a couple of our own breakfasts while we were there.  We really liked the hotel, it was located just off the main square, was very cute, if a little run down, and it was even in our price range ($16!).  Our hotel stay was also quite educational, as we learned a few things about the secret life of the hotel employee.  Apparently, hotel workers sometimes get board in the afternoons and engage in a little co-worker fraternization in the vacant rooms.  Don’t ask how we know this, we just do.  I’m sure it happens at the Four Seasons all the time.  Next time you check in to a hotel in the middle of the afternoon and the person at the front desk seems a little extra happy or a or gives a co-worker a knowing glance, you’ll know why.

Our bikes often get nicer rooms than we do

Local treats: jicama-chili pops. Sold by the cartfull!

San Cristobal was the site of a large uprising of Zapatistas in the 1990s.  The leftist group is made up mostly of indigenous people and the have ‘declared war’ against the military, paramilitary and corporatism in Chiapas. Like Oaxaca, there is still a strong culture of protest in the area and on the walls of San Cristobal.

"Resist, Inform, Fight!"

"Inside Prison Walls...", "Stop the Torture" "Resist!"

There is a lot to see in the San Cristobal area including the extensive ruins of Pelenque – a Mayan city state dating back to 100 BC.  And there are numerous Mayan villages, such as San Juan Chamula, where you can see how the Mayan mix their indigenous beliefs with Christianity as a way to cope & survive the Missions. But, to our disappointment, our time in Mexico was running out.  We have a boat to catch on October 25 that will take us from Panama to Colombia, as there is still no road between the two countries.  This, combined with a 2-week commitment for Spanish lessons in Guatemala meant our visit to Chiapas, the most southerly state in Mexico, had to be cut short.

All Those American Parkways!

July 31- Aug 9, 2011 – posted by Sandra

We traveled from Virginia to Mississippi using the Skyline Parkway, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Cherahola Skyway, the Tail of the Dragon and the Natchez-Trace Parkway.  In total, these parkways took us over 1,500 Kms (900+ miles), and dominated the American portion of our little road trip.  They provided some of the best camping spots & scenery we’ve had to date.

SKYLINE PARKWAY– The major north-south artery that takes you through Shenadoah National Park in Virginia and provides northern access to the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP).  It runs 170km (105 miles) and because it is a National Park, there is an entry fee – $10 each for us on the motorbikes.

We met some of the nicest couple and the craziest couple at the start of the Skyline Trail.  We camped at small roadside campground that received top marks in one of those online review sites (apparently those sites are not always 100% accurate… ).  It was over 100F again so we were dripping hot when we arrived.  The owner, Delores was a curmogeony 80-something with hair pulled back in a messy bun, who preferred to sit in her rocker on the side of the driveway so she could “keep an eye on the campers” (all 5 of us… ). The office was a one-room building completely filled from floor to ceiling with old photos, pottery, trinkets, magazines, clocks and newspaper clippings. A prime candidate for reality TV.  We asked her about a few of the photos (she seems to have been a model in her day), this appeared to cheer her up and she got us sorted.

We were sitting at our picnic table, staring at the 2 hot beers that we carried all day in our panniers when Patti & Paul, a couple from New Jersey were nice enough to come by, ask about the bikes, then invite us to their campsite where they were mixing fruity, slushy and ICE COLD drinks with a blender – It would have been rude to say no…  Thanks guys!

We popped in at McDonald’s the following morning to nab some free wifi and a coffee. On the way out, while were just about to hop on our bikes, a man with the name Brandon on his shirt hollered to us from across the parking lot… ‘are you from Canada?’

We chatted a bit and he & his wife were amazed that we hoped to ride our bikes down to Argentina.  He then literally took the next 25 minutes to tell us about the various ways in which we would probably die and how, with a little care a bit of luck we could avoid the horrific outcomes and live to see another day.  Methods of death included: exploding gas tanks, animal attacks, disease (meningitis, in particular), kidnapping, traffic accidents, natural disasters, and dehydration. I was putting in my ear plugs at the 15 minute mark – a sure sign that it was time for us to leave – but Brandon, if that is his real name, continued on.  And on.  We promised him that we were headed directly to the nearest Walmart to pick up the anti-bear air horn, mace, fire extinguishers, jerry cans, and 4 litre water containers we’d need to survive the next few days the as a means of breaking free.

As a result of of our discussion with “Brandon”, we didn’t start the ride until about 11am and the speed limit is only 48kmph (30mph).  Of course their are also numerous, scenic look-off points which drew us away from the trail as we made our way south, so the ride took us all day, despite the short distance.

After about the 50kms on the road, we were starting to really resent the slow speed.  I was mulling this deficiency over in my head at the exact same time a black bear lept across the road right in front of Jordan!  He had to brake really hard, the tires chirped and there was a whiff of burnt rubber in the air (and, maybe a little of something else?), but he somehow managed to keep it upright.  A tip of my helmet to your braking prowess, JPH.

We are used to seeing deer & moose on the side of the road – slow moving grazers which are easy to spot – if you are aware.  This little guy came flying out of the trees and disappeared on the other side as quickly as he came. I was completely freaked out for the remainder of the day.

Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP)

“Be careful” or “Have fun”?

The 750Km (469mile) stretch of road is technically a National Scenic Byway built to connect Shenadoah Nat’l Park & Great Smoky Mountains Nat’l Park, NC.  The land on either side of the road is often protected forest and is maintained by the US Nat’l Park Svcs, though it technically is not a park.  There are over 100 bridges & 25 tunnels along the parkway to keep it whole and limit access from the surrounding highways, and trucks are not allowed.  The American government recruited stonemasons from Italy to build the bridges and most of the guardrails on the BRP and the results are beautiful.  Since many of the workers stayed in the U.S. there is also a substantial Italian heritage associated with the area.

Whereas the Skyline was lovely, the BRP was amazing!  Speed limits were much better at 72kmph (45mph), road conditions were perfect, and because we were not there during high season (fall must be amazing!), our ride was essentially traffic-free.  We rode the full 750km roller coaster of curves uninterrupted by cities or towns or bothered by commercial traffic and we stopped often to take in the stunning views.

And this is why they are called the Smoky Mountains

The map provided by the Visitors Centre for the parkway is excellent.  The parkway is organized by mileposts which are easily visible along the side of road.  The map provides points of interest and accommodation locations, as well as where to get gas & food or groceries (on the parkway or a few miles off, if you prefer better prices).

We camped two nights on the BRP – first at Mabry Mill (milepost 176) and then at Linville Falls (milepost 316) both cost only $18.  The camp sites were beautiful, and strangely empty.  Of course, instead of banking the extra funds, we looked at it as an opportunity to buy and enjoy some rare cold ones.

Jordan's panniers, they also hold camping equipment..

We have learned there is much see on either side of the parkway, as well.  My DLSR camera fell off my bike seat and jarred something so it was completely buggered (apparently this means “broken”, edit from Jordan).  Since I had just bought a nice wide angle lens for it, I wanted it fixed.  So, we got up early to make a pitstop in Asheville (milepost 382), about 100km away, riding through the heaviest fog we’ve had on the trip along the way. We capitalized on the 48 hours it would take to have the camera fixed by visiting the super cute town  of Greenville and touring BMW’s manufacturing plant and museum (BMW Zentrum) in nearby Spartanburg.

Smoky Mountains

the most photographed scene along the BRP - Mabry Mill

After Asheville, we popped back on to the BRP to finish up the last 87 miles and hit the highest point on the trail at 1,845m (6,053ft).  If you are lucky to have a chance to ride the BRP, do it on a bike or rent a convertible – you don’t want to hamper those 360-degree views with a roof!

Cherahola Skyway and the Tail of the Dragon, TN – The Tail of the Dragon at Deal’s Gap, TN is revered by motorcyclist and sports car enthusiasts the world over for one reason, it has that is has 318 corners in 11 miles.  That’s right, 318 corners in 11 miles.  Jordan had been reading about the Tail of the Dragon for years, so when we planned our route from Canada to Argentina (well, we really haven’t planned anything, but you know what I mean) we made sure that it would include the Tail of the Dragon.

Tail of the Dragon

We decided to start the day off with the Cherohola Skyway as a warm up. The Skyway consist of more that 60 miles of winding, uninterrupted mountain roads.  It was a great ride and the weather was perfect, however had we not just ridden the entire BRP a couple of days before it would have seemed even better.  As it was, the riding was fast and steady, the views were impressive and we topped off the route with some delicious ice cream, conveniently located across the street from an excellent motorcycle accessories shop in Tellico Plains, NC.

We exchanged some words with some fellow BMW riders at the ice cream shop before heading off the the day’s main event, the Tail of the Dragon.  Incase you missed it, it has 318 corners in 11 miles.  It may be short, but it really packs in a lot over the those 11 miles.  This side of the Nurburgring there are not a lot of roads that offer so much in such a short distance.  We road it twice over two days and really had a lot of fun.  To top things off, we did not even add anything to the Tree of Shame, a tree covered in broken motorcycle parts donated by riders who weren’t quite able to ‘tame the Dragon’.

The Tree of Shame

Great riding aside, what made the weekend so special was staying at the Appalachian Inn in NC, a gift from our good friends Alex and Marina of the eatsleepRIDE.com team (link at left) – Thank you so much!  The inn was stunning, it is a custom built log house designed specifically as a B&B.  We really enjoyed our stay and highly recommend it.

The Appalachian Inn

Natchez-Trace Parkway – we arrived at the Natchez-Trace after some fantastic joy riding through Deal’s Gap and the Tail of the Dragon in the Smoky Mountains.  We actually stumbled upon it after enduring some of the area’s freeways in a bid to make time.  The freeways were not terribly busy, in fact  they were practically empty.  It was the uninspiring nature of freeway travel in general that had looking for better riding opportunities, and we soon found them.

Trampled into being by the Choctaw & Chickasaw Indians the 710km (440mile) trail that runs between Nashville TN & Natchez, MI is among the most historic roads in America.  We joined it near Cleveland – just north of the MI-TN border.  The scenery is among the best available in the deep south; forest, farmland, lakes, and swamps.  Like the other parkways, commercial traffic is prohibited, so is advertising.

The elevation was now closer to sea level, and the cool mountain air was replaced by oppressive heat & humidity.  We popped into the Natchez Visitor Reception Centre for some A/C but ended up hanging around learning about the fate of the Choctaw & Chickasaw as settlers moved into the area.

That night we stayed at Davis Lake campground.  Shortly after setting up tent and fixing a broken tent pole (broken by Jordan, I might add), we were approached by a seniors’ camping group who were very interested in our bikes, our trip, and most importantly, our marital status (we were in the Bible Belt, after all) and, when they asked us to join them for their potluck dinner, we could not refuse.

For me, the best part was the lemonade.  It was fresh, full of ice and extremely cold.  The best part for Jordan?  The fresh home-made ice-cream (of course) from a wooden bucket, these were serious RVers and were fully equipped.  The peach pie backed on site was also pretty darn good.  We chatted with the group for a few hours before making our way back to the tent.  One of the three Sandra’s in the group (I was the fourth) offered up an electric fan for us to use.  All the sites had electricity so we plugged it in, aimed it inside our tent and enjoyed the breeze all night long.  Thanks Sandra, I doubt we would have been able to sleep without it.

2nd best campsite so far

up at dawn

We really enjoyed riding on the American parkways, we would have done more  them if using them did not mean taking forever to get anywhere.  The camping was great, we met a lot of nice people, and we had some of the best (if not fastest) riding of the trip.

Cypress Swamp along the Natchez-Trace