- Two for the Road -

Fin

2009-09-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Adam flew home at last on Friday, August 21st and stepped off the plane into a social madhouse! From family reunions, to his cousin's beautiful wedding, to wake boarding on lake washington, to my sister Bethany's amazing graduation from the Univeristy of Washington Physician's Assistant program, it was a busy week! In between diversions I was working on finishing up five bridesmaids' dresses which I'd flown back early to sew, and which turned out beautifully!

Wednesday afternoon we picked up Peter the Girl from the Continental Airlines Cargo Bay at Sea-Tac airport, once again reassured in our understanding that, when you act like you know what you're talking about, officials just about everywhere tend to believe you;
"Do you have a Carnet for bringing this bike into the country?"
"Actually Sir, through my research I came to understand that we did not need a Carnet due to our Trans-Immigration status and to the fact that we were not selling the vehicle but rather shipping it home to ourselves."
"Uhhh... OK Ma'am, that sounds right I guess, here's your paperwork :-)"
(We actually did Not need a Carnet, but he seemed a little confused for a moment.)

Pete is looking great, and after a rather nerve-wracking ride from the airport (still in pieces on a pallet in the back of the truck) Adam managed to get the front wheel mounted and the bike rolled off and back onto solid ground. A few laps around the neighborhood to check her over and all was well.

After seven months, 12 countries, two coasts, several bouts of illness, many new friends, unforgettable feats and wonderful memories we slide back into life. What comes next? We have no jobs, no home, but prospects. We look forward to what comes, busy now with all the little details that waited while we were away (for starters, six months of unopened mail).
I can't help but wonder when our next trip will be, to where, and with who.

Thus end the adventures of Adam, Grace, and Peter the Girl.
For now...

Travel safe Sweet Girl, and don't talk to strangers...

2009-08-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

I arrived at Dakar Motos and had all of 20 minutes to go over my packing list and confirm that I had everything I needed before heading to the airport. The plan was to get Pete all checked out and packed onto the pallet by midday (Tuesday) and she'd be on her way to Seattle on a Wednesday flight. It was approximately $150 US additional to send her to Seattle rather than LA and I ultimately decided that the added expense was worth it. All told the final price came out to be $1228.34 US! (Seeing that number written down again just hurt me a little bit in the stomach)

I arrived at the airport on time and met the shipping company contact, Franco, waiting for me out front with a big smile. First things first, I needed to take my passport, motorcycle title, and temporary import paperwork to the Aduana Office for processing. An incredibly easy procedure that thus far in the trip has not caused the slightest of problems. I suppose the small difference this time was that I had somehow misplaced the import permit. Ohhhh Bubba noooo....

At this point I would like to be the first to say that I am a complete ass for forgetting/misplacing/disposing of the aforementioned document and in all likelihood, I deserved the punishment.

Franco and I tore through every baggy, box, and pocket we could find in search of this paper, all to no avail. It sunk in that this was more than a minor hiccup when he came to me for a THIRD time and begged me to go through everything again, and this time do it really REALLY thoroughly.
"Thanks Franky, but I now know for a fact that it is not here, so what's our next move?" Over the next 8 hours I found it very helpful to reflect on the past 7 months of dealing with extremely inefficient systems, which comforted me (somewhat) as the day began to unfold.
At first, the head of the Aduana at the airport told me that my only option was to return to the location that I had initially received the paperwork in order to get a certified copy of the original, and oh yeah, you can't ride the bike because it's not allowed to be on the roadway without it.
"whaaaaattt... Actually Bossman, I've got a flight back to the States in 2 days and I'm not about to travel 24 hours to the Chilean border for this. So, how about we work out something else?" I tried to be polite, but firm. He threw his hands up in the air and went into the back room pouting.
I turned back to the solemn looking Franco, "OK, now what Amigo?"
We returned to the bike to search some more for the paperwork. After another thirty minutes had passed I once again turned to my helper, searching his eyes for a sign of understanding.
At this point I was left to wait with the bike for about 2 hours while the team of hairless monkeys attempted to tackle the issue on their own. I say this with a slight hint of disgust because the next time I was able to talk to anyone about the status of the situation, I was told that the reason the issue couldn't be resolved is that no one was able to find out the NAME of the Aduana that I had entered the country through. If they could just find the name, they could call them and have a copy sent down to Buenos Aires. I showed them on a map, I gave them GPS coordinates, and yet all seemed hopeless. The bike would have to stay in Buenos Aires. I was so pissed off.

Five hours after arriving at the airport I was finally told to just get on the bike and go downtown to the Central Aduana and see if they could help because it just wasn't gonna happen here. In fact, they strongly hinted at the fact that it probably wasn't going to happen at all. Ahhhhhh!!!!
Before going downtown I stopped by a separate Aduana at the airport in search of help, but they agreed that my best bet would be to just go downtown and cross my fingers. A phone call was out of the question, they said. You can't get anything done over the phone, they said. I CAN'T GET ANYTHING DONE IN PERSON! Ahhhhh!!!

The first Aduana I went to downtown turned out not to be the right place and they directed me to another one a little ways down the road. Maybe they can help you there... maybe.
And so... at my Fourth Aduana of the day I FINALLY found someone who could actually help. Woohooo!!! It turned out that this guy was able to pull up my record of entry from a DIGITAL ARCHIVE (what a novel idea) and gave me specific written instructions for what I needed to do. When I told him about the crazy request for me to return to the border he just smiled and said, "the guys at the airport Aduana don't know about this system."
I wanted to grab him around the neck and yell, "Why the hell not!! Aren't you people working for the same damn team!!! What kind of cockamamy organization is this!!!" but I didn't, because he was being helpful. I found out later that this guy was "THE BOSS" of the whole system and was likely the only person in the city with the authority to take care of this on such short notice. I also later learned that he is slightly less than heterosexual and that my deep voice and boyish good looks ultimately may have been my ticket to freedom. In any case, he made it happen and I am forever in his debt. It was around 7:30pm when I called Franco back to let him know we were a go for Wednesday.

I woke up early the next day, drove to the airport cargo area (which at this point I was intimately familiar with) and got to work. It took about an hour to break down the bike and another hour to package it up nicely and get it checked out by the airline agent. A 30 minute bus ride into the city to pay for it all and I sit here now with an Airway Bill in my possession and a really good chance of being reunited with my sweet baby 7,000 miles from now.

I think I learned an important lesson from this experience. I mean, other than "don't loose important documents!" I'm not sure exactly what the lesson is, but I know it's important.

The final measurements after packaging were; 190 x 90 x 112 cm, 247Kg.

Fly safe Pete!

Rolling Solo

2009-08-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

Grace pointed out to me the other day that our final blog update, posted 2 weeks ago, seems to have left a bit of a void with regards to the continuing misadventures of the lesser half of our unambiguously heterosexual duo.
So here's what I've been up to since my Sweet Pea left...

Prior to the trip, Grace had committed to sewing bridesmaid dresses for a friend, due at the end of September, requiring that she return home early. I however had made no such commitments and likely would just prove a distraction if I accompanied her, so I decided to stick around for a bit longer and continue my Spanish classes. I ended up taking 3 weeks of intensive Spanish thanks to which I can now properly locate a preposition and pronoun relative to a conjugated verb (yeah baby!) Other than the classes, my daily life has consisted of touring the city, working on Pete, lounging at the apartment, and dinner with friends.

For my final weekend in South America I decided to take a little trip, and on Friday of last week I caught an overnight bus from Buenos Aires to the Brazilian border at Iguazu Falls. An awe-inspiring tourist destination, Iguazu has been recommended by a number of travelers as an incredible and unmissable spectacle of nature. (FYI: the nicer bus seats that are sold as "Full Bed" I think would have been absolutely perfect, had I been 4 inches shorter!!!)
The town of Puerto Iguazu, located at the intersections of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, is small but well developed and when I arrived on Saturday afternoon I found no trouble settling into Hostel Iguazu Falls (awesome name) and laying out a game plan for the following day.
I was up early Sunday in order to get to the park before it opened at 8am and I spent the entire day roaming the acreage and taking in the sights. The main attraction consists of what appears to be the single longest waterfall in the world, winding it's way along a jagged crack in the earth, eventually leading to the spectacular confluence, aptly named "La Garganta del Diablo" or The Devil's Throat. Broken up into smaller, individually named spillways the park is laid out nicely with brick paths and iron walkways allowing visitors to walk right up to the edge of the action. I had a wonderful time and even the massive tourist hordes didn't seem to bother me too much (I did have a moment at the very start of the day when I couldn't get away from a loud couple that would not just shut the hell up, forcing me to take a few deep breaths.)

Back at the hostel I went straight to bed for a much needed 2 hour nap, and then was invited for dinner with my dorm companions. We enjoyed a few mediocre take-out pizzas and engaged in deep and thoughtful conversation that mainly involved pestering the only local in the group for details as to the correct pronunciation and etymology behind the nastiest dirty words of the language. Later that night he asked me in private if he had acted inappropriately at the dinner table by answering everyone's questions and saying such awful things. I told him he had.

An overnight bus ride back to Buenos Aires the following day, once again in the slightly bent knee'd seat of mis-comfort (and death!), and it was time for me to get back to Dakar Motos and prep Pete for shipping.

Photos of Iguazu!

Welcome Home Grace!!!

2009-08-08T10:55:00.000-07:00

After an unforgettable 6 month and 12 country adventure, Grace's family welcomes her home at Sea-Tac airport.

We Speak English Here

2009-08-06T14:26:00.001-07:00

As the sun sets on Argentina, I prepare to leave. My bags are by the door, my confirmation codes are written down, my passport ready, and all my fluids are in a plastic bag. Aside from the typical items such as clothing, shoes, and toiletries, I've packed a mosquito net, bed liners, my broken camera, and leftover malaria medications. It's funny to imagine having to answer any questions about the anatomically correct male baby doll with the pouting face.

It's a little surreal to imagine drinkable tap water, power-flushing toilets, summer air and people speaking English. I even dreamed last night that I was speaking Spanish to someone and they replied, "Um, yeah, we speak English here."
I'll miss strolling around the city, lyrical Castellano accents, and all the eating and the drinking. On the other hand I look forward to warm August days, blackberry picking, eating sushi and getting some exercise. Three weeks of eating and drinking and walking around for sport will do that to you.

Goodbye South America. Hello 25 hours of travel to fly what took us 5 1/2 months to ride. Goodbye Peter the Girl. Until next time...

Art and Scribbles

2009-07-31T15:25:00.001-07:00

Palermo, Buenos Aires

Traipsing around the city of Buenos Aires is a daily activity. There are errands to run and new parts of town to discover, cafes to try and window shopping to amuse us as we wander.
We wake up late (around 11am) and take our time making tea, oatmeal with apples, or eggs with toast. We leave the house around one and walk around for hours before finally heading home as the sun goes down and the air gets cold. By "we" I mean Rachel and I, as Lily flew home on Monday and Adam wakes up early (before 8am) to head downtown for his Spanish classes. He spends four hours a day on Spanish grammar and conversation while we drink cappuccinos and play.

Our little one-bedroom apartment is perfect. Full of light, comfortable and in a great part of town. We can walk to anything, or just walk the few blocks to the Subte (subway). Adam and I are still enamored with the hot water in the shower, and are enjoying not having to repack our things. Rachel brought me a suitcase of "city clothing" which I packed before I left. I had her remove half of it before she left, but it is wonderful to have a few more options including my pretty boots and pink coat.

Woody headed out last week, and his last night he came back from a long day at the shipping office (getting his motorcycle packed up and off to the States) with a few bottles of wine and all the fixin's for his famous beef and ginger dish. We had several conversations on our Bolivia trek talking about our favourite foods (longingly) and he had promised to fix the beef and ginger if I made apple crisp. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take part as Woody, Adam, and Lily enjoyed the wine and the food. I had food poisoning (I think) and was dry heaving and laying on the bed feeling miserable. Blech.

Woody left Wednesday, and Rachel came in on Thursday morning. We had a fun weekend, and Sunday went out to a late lunch with a couple of friends Lily had made. We started out with champagne at Cecily's apartment and after Rob showed up, the six of us headed to a lovely restaurant to enjoy three course meals, drink wine and act silly. It was a good day.

Rachel's cousin Amos and his friend Ariel are visiting the city from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel and Wednesday night the three of us met up with them for dinner and drinks in Las Canitas, a little sub-neighborhood of Palermo. We ate an amazing dinner at Las Cholas, whose candlelit tables and friendly staff set the tone for a long, luxurious dinner discussing Israeli politics, the California budget problem which includes cutting up to $4 billion from Education (and that's just the start). Yikes.
Adam headed home just after midnight, and the four of us crossed the street to share stories at bar Mona, a pretty place playing bad 80's music (shockingly, it does exist) and with fun, chatty bartenders. We came home around 3am, early by this city's standards.

Last night Rachel and I met Ariel at a local live venue called La Cigale, where we had read about some fun local bands who were to play. The bands didn't start till nearly 1am, but we had fun sitting at the teal-tiled bar sipping beer and watcing the local hipsters with their pretty hair and lyrical accents. We watched Agustina Paz and then Rosaria Ortega whose voice was reminiscent of Feist and whose band played cover songs with some serious pizazz. If you visit, check out this bar. The sound is beautiful, and it is a great, low-key place to hang out. We plan on returning.

Tonight we will go out to dinner with Amos and Ariel, and after the last place they took us I am pretty sure the food will be fantastic. Tomorrow we take a bus ride to Colonia, Uruguay for a fun day trip to wander the markets and add a stamp to our passports!

Yesterday was three years since our first date, a Manu Chau concert at the San Diego Embarcadero. It was the night of our first kiss, and the beginning of great things.

Warmly,
Grace and Adam

Expenses

2009-07-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

For those who are interested, we kept a detailed account of each expense over the last 6 months and I have attached a graphical summary by country and expense type below. If anyone has a more specific inquiry please feel free to e-mail us for details. Enjoy.

A few notes about the graphs:
1) We only spent 48 hours in Hondurus and paid $70 USD to enter (due in part to corrupt border officials). This is why the average daily expense is inflated.
2) Guatemala was surprisingly expensive.
3) The "Adult Beverages" category only includes when we went out to a bar for drinks. In the numerous cases that we picked up our Firewater at a market the expense was rolled in to "Groceries."
4) The Transportation category includes all of our taxis, buses, boats and trains. The vast majority of this category was the $1050 we spent to cross from Panama to Cartegena on the Stahlratte (www.stahlratte.de).
5) Before putting together the expenses we both would have readily told you that Mexico was the cheapest country to travel in Central America and Bolivia the cheapest in the South. Costa Rica the most expensive in Central and Chile/Argentina in the South.

Cameras and Comments

2009-07-21T07:41:00.001-07:00

Buenos Aires, Argentina

There is a massive thunderstorm raging outside, lightning flashing, rain pouring down. We are keeping cozy indoors and trying to think up a plan for the day. Most days we spend hours walking around to different parts of the city, exploring. Today each time I look outside or see the flashes of electricity light up the apartment I am less and less tempted to rouse myself and head out.

One of my sisters who has commented many times on our stories and photos told another sister (who hasn't) that she should make some comments because we like them so much. I would like to add that, yes, we really really do appreciate all the comments people have left, the little notes via email, and the overall enthusiasm for our trip. It's so nice to know that you were there along the way, peeking in on the outcome of our hours uploading photos and typing out adventures. We literally spent 3-4 hours side by side working on each update, often on unbearably slow computers. Not that I'm asking for pity or anything.

I've just been perusing our photo library on Picasa 3 and thought I'd give a little nod to our cameras for all they've been through. Mine finally died when it got slammed face first into the sands of the Bolivian South. It's been difficult not to have it in my pocket as we walk around the city, so many photo opportunities passing by! For anyone who's interested, my camera is a Canon SD1100 Powershot 8.0. She's been lovely, takes great photos, great video, and fits snugly into almost any pocket. Adam's camera is a Nikon D40X with a Nikor lense, 18-55 mm. Not small, but takes beautiful photos and definitely worth bringing along for many of the grander vistas and photogenic moments. I won't tell you which photos came from which, because that would be crazy.

Until next time,
Grace and Adam

Accomplishment

2009-07-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

(San Pedro de Atacama, Chile - Buenos Aires, Argentina)

We made it! After 5 1/2 months, 12 countries, several bouts of illness, many long days and many fantastic adventures, we have arrived at our destination. Buenos Aires, inspiration for our trip in the first place, the eventual goal. Our last couple of weeks have been incredible, a bit strange knowing we were nearing the end and honestly not sure if we liked that or not. As we've become accustomed to living with very little, having our goals be a distance and our hours our own, I can only imagine that the transition back into life with apartments and bills may be a bit of a struggle. Someone suggested we get rid all of our things in storage and just start fresh. I must say that simple living, one pair of jeans and no thought needed about what to wear has been pretty nice.

Perhaps inevitably we feel ourselves pulled to do more trips and see more of the world. There is so much to see, and even with twelve countries under our belt (if one can even count our one day in Chile) the curiosity button has been activated.

After spending just one night in Chile, we headed towards the Argentinian border. There is nothing out between the border posts except for a few lonely border guards who seemed to take an especially long time on purpose just for the company. As we waited for them to do their thing, two young, bearded French guys came walking out of the wilderness wearing backpacks and using high tech walking sticks. They are apparently using their six months of vacation to walk their way around South America, --about 25-30 km a day- because (as we overheard them tell the border officials) "It's a much better way to travel."
At some point in the afternoon we finished up at the Frontera and entered Argentina. Excited, we headed toward the nearest town as the sun dropped ever lower in the sky and the air chilled. Adam tried to keep his hands warm-ish by holding them against the engine as we drove, but I'm pretty sure it didn't work well enough. After a few hours we ran out of gas in our main tank and Adam switched to the reserve. The furthest we've ever rode after switching to reserve was around 30 miles (50 km). Not knowing how much further it was to our destination we began driving slower and trying to conserve our fuel. Five minutes later we saw a sign marking the next town at 68 km. I groaned inside. The road turned from long and straight to switchbacks down a steep mountain. As the sun disappeared we strained our eyes to see as the headlight dimly flickered the way ahead. It was very cold. I was wearing two pair of wool socks but as I curled my toes in to try and warm them up a bit I could feel ice breaking between them. Sitting behind Adam I definitely enjoy some respite from the wind, so if ice was forming in my boots I can only imagine how cold he must have been. Luckily, Argentina has a stronger government infrastructure than many of the other countries we've visited, so every 5 miles or so there were SOS stations with phones to call for help. This didn't exactly make the situation any better, but at least there existed the potential for rescue. We were both sure we'd end up out in the frozen waste with no shelter, but luckily for us around 7pm we finally made it into town. Adam laid down on the bed and went to sleep immediately, as I took off his boots and socks and held them against the heater trying to get him warmed up a little. He then slept for 15 hours straight.

Our ride across Argentina was quick. After San Antonio de Los Cobres we headed toward Salta, the road winding out of the mountains on a beautiful stretch of asphalt and out onto the plains. Four days of grazing lands, cane fields, and cows. The land is amazingly flat and wide. We stayed one night in Salta which was a neat city with fun restaurants and pretty shops. We found ourselves at Hostal Tierra Oculta, which was cheap-ish, heated, and had wireless internet. It also had hot showers with gas heat! By cheap-ish I mean it was only $20 a night, but after Bolivia which was typically about $8/night for the two of us it seemed extravagantly priced, and even now we are trying to adjust.
The next night we stayed in Santiago de Estero where we had our first gas station sit-down cappuccino breakfast at an Esso station. They have wifi and espresso machines, fresh croissants and it is strange.
Our fourth night we arrived at Dakar Motos in Buenos Aires, which we've been hearing about since before our trip began. They offer a machine shop and expertise on motorcycles for travelers with a couple of bunkbeds in the back with a kitchen. We knocked at the unmarked grey door, heard keys in the latch, and when it opened, there was our friend Woody who we'd left in San Pedro de Atacama in Chile! He'd decided to save Southern Chile for another trip, and had arrived a few minutes before us. There was also an Australian couple there, Hannah and Owen, who had bought a KLR 650 from a friend we'd met on the Stahlratte from Panama to Colombia, and were gearing up for a 1 year trip around South America. It was fun to hear about their preparations and share a little of what we've learned along the way.
Two nights there, and then we got up early to get the keys for our little apartment! Woody came along to see it, and after moving our stuff in we met him down the street at a little cafe for cafe con leche (cappuccinos) and fresh pastries.
The next two days we filled the cupboards with food, I cooked three meals a day and we settled in. We also did laundry and wandered around the city learning our way around the neighborhood. We have a great place with a lovely view and easy access to the Subte (subway lines), the Train, and an amazing network of buses.
We spent two lazy evenings drinking Malbec and enjoying home cooked food. We turned the heater up and took long, hot showers. I enjoyed several containers of small, crunchy pickles and Adam made himself comfy on the couch taking naps and curling up with blankets. It was a good start to our stay.

Lily arrived on Wednesday, and we headed out to Recoleta Cemetery. We've filled the last couple of days with city walks, sitting at cafes, and cooking dinner while sipping wine and listening to music. Woody joined us last night, and I made chicken stroganoff with rice and apple crisp. A bottle of decent wine is about 5 pesos (less than $2) and that's fun.

There are street markets and tango shows on the weekends, and we're planning on taking some more Spanish classes. As for the hours in between, I'm sure we'll find something to do.

Photos

Willy the Penguin

2009-07-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

(Uyuni, Bolivia - San Pedro de Atacama, Chile)

Well, it took Willy the mechanic about an hour and a half to remove and disassemble the carburator, identify and fix the problem, and put it all back together again, all while Grace waited for us in the temperature controlled comfort of the Salt bar. It turned out that the carb float plunger needed to be slightly adjusted because it was overflowing the float chamber and fouling the spark plug. He charged me $6 for his time. Awesome.
After closely examining our intended route to the South we decided that both of the bikes were gonna need to re-fuel about halfway to Chile, and as far as anyone knew there was no place to purchase gas on the way. We decided to buy two 30 liter jerry cans and send them ahead of us with one of the tour groups to be dropped off at a predetermined meeting point. We had already made friends with the tour organizer at "Ripley's Tours" just off the main plaza and the guy spoke good english and appeared to understand our instructions, so we decided to try our luck with them. We filled up the cans and dropped them off at the office with plans to rendesvous with them at a Hostel on the edge of Laguna Hedionda, 2 days out of Uyuni.
We paid him $10 per can for the transport and honestly gave ourselves about a 50/50 chance of ever seeing the gas again. Although very friendly, we started to question his ability to make it all happen when he started to explain how GPS is useless in the Salar because it's some sort of Bermuda Triangle of cosmic forces. (FYI: Our GPS worked just fine.) We later found that there was a little store in Laguna Colorada that had gas for sale for 5 Bolivianos per liter. We wouldn't have made it that far before running out, but it was nice to know that we wouldn't have been entirely on our own if the drop-off hadn't worked.

The following morning, on our 3rd attempt to leave Uyuni we finally met with success and sped out across the salt flat towards the Isla del Pescado, a cactus covered land mass that stands out of the salt as a marker in the sea. It took about an hour of high speed riding to reach the rock and by the time we pulled over for a break we were chilled to the bone. Woody pulled out his camping stove (which later proved to be the most indispensable item on "our" packing list) and heated up some tea. Meanwhile, Grace and I ventured out into the barren expanse of white to have a little fun with some perspective photography.
We had been anticipating this opportunity ever since arriving in Bolivia and hearing stories from other travelers. We even picked up a couple props at a toy store in Potosi which we planned to incorporate in our fun. Have a look at our photos to see how they turned out.
It cost 50 bolivianos to hike around on the island so we decided we were plenty happy to just hang around and relax out front. When we arrived around 11:30 there were only a few jeeps lined up out front, but by departure time an hour and a half later the island was surrounded by 4 wheel drive tour groups clamoring over the rocks and joking around in various languages at their lunch tables.

We headed South towards the edge of the Salar, this time following the tour company route. It's marked very clearly by the bits of rubber that over time have been ground into the salt by a thousand land cruisers passing the same way each day. This black road led us to a well worn dirt and sand road at the edge of the Salar that wound it's way into the red and brown hills. Thus began the misery.
For the remainder of the day we were either riding in deep, unpredictable sand or chattering our way along spine compacting washboard. Honestly, you may think that these two conditions wouldn't happily coexist considering their difference in consistencies, but they turned out to be truly spectacular bed mates. We pulled into San Juan after a dusty and tiring afternoon ride and settled in for the night at Alojamiento Sol de Mañana for 30 Bolivianos. Woody whipped up some rice and tuna with asparagus sauce for dinner on the camp stove and we crashed out.

The next morning took us South, once again fighting our way through sandy ruts and rocky hillsides. The tour companies generally spend a 12 hour day driving all the way down to Laguna Colorada from San Juan but we had decided to divide up the trip and stop for the night at Laguna Hedionda. We were planning on meeting up with our reserve gas tanks at the hostel there and we decided we would spend the night as well.
The beginning of the day was slow going and resulted in a couple low speed wipe outs in the sand before reaching a wide and flat East-West roadway that had the appearance of asphalt highway ground work. We picked up the pace and drove East through some incredible rock piles that Grace claimed looked like giant prehistoric remains. After a short time, at the suggestion of our GPS, we turned off the highway onto what would be the most violent road we had yet to ride. The unavoidable rocks embedded throughout the roadway were a true test of our suspensions and caused more than one headache.
As we reached a particularly tough section, Woody realized that his camera was missing from it's case strapped to the gas tank. The camera had all of his photos from Peru and Bolivia and would be a tragic loss. Luckily, after walking 20 minutes back down the road with his eyes peeled, he found it on the roadside at the start of the rocky section. The lens was filled with dust and didn't want to open, but at least all the pictures were there. Another 3km down the road I noticed that our GPS had fallen off as well! I backtracked on Pete while Woody walked the trail on foot and luckily I found it upside down on the trail. Two close calls in a row that would have been major downers for the day.

After one or two more minor crashes, one of which tore a sizable hole in our side case, we pulled into the Laguna Hedionda hostal with about an hour or two of daylight remaining. We were thrilled to find our gas tanks waiting for us in the corner of the restaurant, but were thoroughly dismayed to hear that the rate for staying at the hostal was FIFTY US DOLLARS PER PERSON! Now, this may not sound like the craziest number in the world, but considering we hadn't been paying more than 3 to 5 dollars per person in Bolivia thus far, we found it absolutely outrageous. Thus began the bargaining. We begged them to work out something more reasonable and we eventually agreed to pay $7 per person to sleep (with the bikes) on the floor of their restaurant. They provided some cheap cushions and Grace and I shared a sleeping bag. We did not get a good nights' sleep. The hostal owner locked us in for the night and told us to wake him up if we needed to use the restroom or get outside. This knowledge did NOT sit well with Grace and I ended up peeing in a plastic bottle at 1am.
Before heading out the next day we traded our fuel jugs for a few snickers and some processed donuts. We made a quick pace on wide open deserts, bouncing in and out of the tour jeep ruts trying to stay upright. We learned it was far easier to ride at an angle than trying to ride down a single groove. The mountains rose up in amazing shades of orange and red that reminded me of the glass sand swirl artwork on my grandma's mantle piece that would create beautiful shapes in black and white when turned over in my hands.
We slipped into the national park at Laguna Colorada without paying the 50 boliviano entrance fee and skirted the edge of the lake to take pictures of the flamingos strutting about in the bright red waters. With a little help from one of the tour guides that was parked at the lake's edge we were pointed in the direction of Huallajara where we spent the night.

One final cold night in the mountains and we were on our way to Chile. We dropped off our paperwork at the Bolivian Aduana about 2 hours north of the border and headed for a natural hot spring to soak our weary muscles. The water was spectacular and the timing couldn't have been better. We had lunch at the little restaurant there and set our sights on the border. We already had our passports stamped in Uyuni so we didn't have to do a thing as we entered our 11th country. About 5km in we hit a smooth asphalt highway that we followed 40km West and 2000m down into the warmth of San Pedro de Atacama.
Checking into Chile was a piece of cake and, just as we were getting ready to search the town for a place to stay, we ran into a fellow biker named Eric on a KTM 950 Adventure who showed us down the road to the cheapest Hostal around. Twenty-seven US dollars (Booooo!!!) got us a double room and we settled in for the night, happy to be out of the mountains safe and sound.

Photos

The Beautiful Nothing

2009-07-09T13:50:00.001-07:00

Before we post photos and tell stories, this last week deserves a little posting all its own. We have been challenged and frustrated, awed and thrilled. I am listening to Madeleine Peyroux, thinking of the frozen wilderness of the Salar de Uyuni and the way South toward the Chile border. The roads are a dismal combination of washboard and sand that tossed both of the bikes over several times a day, and bouldery rocks that shook bones and rattled bolts. Truly the most challenging few days of riding on our trip, and the most satisfying to have come through. I'll never forget the mountains with their vibrant colours, the high desert landscape like nothing I've ever seen. We crossed frozen rivers and ancient seabeds and saw hardly a soul for four days.

That said, yes, there will be photos. And yes, we might have starved without Woody and his little stove. Thanks Woody, for an incredible ride.
Just beginning to warm up,
Grace and Adam

Below Zero, Wow.

2009-07-03T16:25:00.001-07:00

(Potosi, Bolivia - Uyuni, Bolivia)

Well, gee. We are spending our third night in Uyuni (nights composed of sub-zero temperatures, literally) due to some unforeseen and not-quite-understood engine problems with Peter the Girl. Poor little motorcycle.
We arrived on Wednesday and as we hit the central road into town, there was Woody coming back from a little jaunt out onto the Salt Flats of the Salar de Uyuni! Dinner was burgers at a local pub whose floors are 5 inches thick with salt and fun to crunch around on. Also, their walls are covered with photos from other visitors to the Flats, taking surreal and funny shots, playing with perspective.
The next morning we had a list of things to take care of, including washing the bikes and covering them in WD40 to help shield their parts from the highly corrosive Bike Killer Salt. Woody was having anti-freeze issues (due to a sneaky mechanic in Colombia) which meant taking apart his KTM 950 and draining then re-draining the fluids, and replacing them with a proper ratio of water to anti-freeze. I feel like we had some problems with Peter, too, but I can 't remember what they were. More on that later, I guess. Finally, around 3pm, we headed out to see the Train Graveyard just outside of town. We ate sandwiches on top of an old cargo car, and then headed out toward the white. It is amazing. You can see things far off in the distance as if they are rather close. Driving toward the Salt Hotel (made nearly entirely out of blocks of salt) we could see it from the moment our tires hit the salt, but it would be another 45 minutes before we 'd reach it. Woody camped out in the freezingness, testing his hardiness. We were very impressed, but chose to return to Uyuni to sleep at the hotel.

This morning we woke up around 7am, packed the bike, ordered some takeout egg sandwiches for our breakfast (and Woody 's) and planned to head to the little town of Colchani about 40 minutes away meeting Woody at 9am. The bike 's been having a hard time starting in the freezing cold air of morning, so Adam parked her out in the sunshine hoping it would warm her up. Nope. Trying and trying to start her ended in a dead battery, and apparently no one in town has jumper cables. Finally a guy rolled up, took out his battery and held it up to our so we could try and charge it. Unfortunately, his battery went dead too. Two hours after we were meant to meet Woody, he came rolling up. Just as his tire went flat, having been pierced by a FOUR inch nail. Crazy! Adam changed our spark plug, charged up the battery at a nearby mechanic shop (which took 1 1/2 hours), Woody changed his tire, and it was 3pm. Finally, we loaded up and put our helmets on, ready at last. It was then that we found out Woody 's battery had died. Sadly, his bike won 't jumpstart going less than 15-20 miles an hour, and his battery was now strapped in under a whole lot of gear. They tried to push with Peter, then by just running behind and pushing, and finally he unloaded all of his gear and they jumped it. Woody has jumper cables.
So! After all of this we were at last under way. We headed along a little sandy road and were within about 1/2 a mile of the salt 's edge, when Peter 's engine shut down. We couldn 't get it started. Luckily, we were only 9km from town, but after about an hour of trying everything they could think of (I watched and took photos, of course) and with the sun heading downward we decided to head back to Uyuni. Again. Woody had a few lengths of rope and straps and towed us back to the hotel.

Now they are outside on a sidewalk somewhere, getting help from a mechanic who thinks it has something to do with the carborator. It is after 7pm, dark, really extremely cold, and getting colder. Night temperatures are below zero, and I just hope they figure it out soon!

As for me, I am heading to the pub with the salt floor. They have heaters and boozie beverages, and since I can 't help with the motorcycle stuff, it sounds like the best place for me.

If all goes well we 'll finally head out tomorrow and continue South. It 'll be an exciting and rugged road, as we head for the border with Chile at San Pedro de Atacama. I 'll let you know how it works out.

Cheers! Grace (and Adam from his icy little workspace on the sidewalk)

Tricksey Bolivians

2009-06-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

(La Paz - Rurrenabaque - Potosi, Bolivia)

We have managed to fill the last 10 days with more dust, mud, rain, and adventure than expected. From alligators to un-controlled intersections, icy roads and piranhas, it's been some kind of fun. Let me tell you our tale.

We left La Paz and headed Northwest toward Rurrenabaque and the wild rivers and jungles that awaited us there. It was two days of driving on unbelievably dusty roads, twisting and turning their way through the continuously warmer mountains. By dusty, I mean two inches of silt that filled the air and coated every part of us, the bike, our ridng gear, and everything underneath. We had dirt circles where our sunglasses had been. Each bus we passed caused such a stir that we couldn't see past the front tire. We decided to leave the main road to explore the downward slopes of "The Most Dangerous Road in the World," but I think we both agree it didn't hold up to it's name compared to some of the roads we've come across in Peru, nor the road that came a bit later in the day. Suddenly the buses and loaded semi-trucks are driving toward you in the wrong lane! Turns out, fully loaded cargo trucks come up from the lowlands to La Paz, and due to the narrow roads and perilous dropoffs they hug the mountain side of the road. No problem, but they don't provide signs. By the afternoon we were stripping off our multiple layers of clothing, and spent a lovely, warm night in Palos Blancos.

The next day we arrived in Rurrenabaque in the afternoon and found ourselves a comfy room at Hospedaje Santa Ana and signed up for a tour with the Amazonicas Tour Company for a three day, two night excursion into the Pampas starting the following day. We were prepared for tropical air, swimming, hiking, boating and nature watching. The next day our group of eight loaded up in the safari-style jeep and rode four hours on dusty roads to the river bank where we loaded our gear, the guide, the chef, and the food into a long lancha (open wooden boat) for our four hour ride to the campsite. Dry season means the water is lower, exposing muddy banks where alligators and caimans (three times the size of alligators) sunbathe on the shore and beautiful birds (such as cranes, fishing eagles, and loons) decorate the trees. Pink dolphins crest the surface with soft exhalations, and are gone again before a proper photo can be attained.
We arrived at camp, ate our dinner at the long picnic tables, sat around a bonfire, and settled into our comfy cots with our mosquito nets draped around us.
At five AM the rain started. It pounded on the tin roof, thundered on the leaves, and turned the clay ground into muddy goo. We awoke and ate breakfast, hopped across little rounds of wood to get to the toilets, watched The Italian stand in one of the water-filled boats to fish for piranhas, and stood around on the narrow porch waiting for the rain to stop. It didn't.
Finally, at a loss, the guides (there were two, one for each group of eight) decided that we should proceed with at least a part of the plan. They had us pick out rubber boots (several people ended up with two Lefts, and the rest of us just dealt with the holes), layer up with whatever rain gear we had (I used a black plastic bag) and eighteen booted folk tromped out through the jungle and the wild marshes of the Pampas to see what they could see.
We had hardly begun before we were soaking wet from head to toe, our boots had begun to fill with water, and four of us had fallen behind. The rest of the group was soon out of sight, but we were with our guide Domingo (who was actively searching for Anacondas among the trees). Soon we saw him heading off into the forest, so we stopped and waited. Fifteen minutes passed, and we realized he wasn't coming back so we decided to try and catch up with the others. Adam and I were in the company of Gíl from Israel, and The Italian. The four of us happily tracked boot prints and followed muddy puddles, to no avail. At last, the rain coming down with fervor, we realized we'd been "tracking" for nearly 1 1/2 hours, and as the hike was supposed to
take about 3 hours we decided to give up and try to find our way back to the camp on our own. Easier said than done.
The rain had by now washed away any boot prints (even ours) and the muddy puddles had settled to look like the hundreds around them. At one point The Italian picked up a long stick, flung it into the air and declared that wherever it pointed when it fell would be our course. It did not point the way we wanted to go. Due to our incredible skills, we managed the last hour and a half through the jungle, guided by familiar looking trees and mushrooms to the edge of the Pampas where we were a bit stumped. The high grasses stretched out before us to more jungle on the other side of about two football fields. We couldn't remember where we'd come from, although I thought I recognized a white-ish tree across the rainy expanse. We headed out into the black mud, our feet sinking, our boots filled with muddy water, and soon discovered that the trail we'd followed was a cow path. Hoofprints, not bootprints. It was then that the rain started coming down with renewed strength, and the wind started up. I decided to try and intersect the path I hoped was heading for the white-ish tree. It was! We sloshed the rest of the way to camp, arriving just 10 minutes before the other group. The guides were quite irritated at our disappearance, although I have to say I disagree that they had the right considering it was they who lost us in the alligator/anaconda/cobra infested wilds. Domingo asked Adam, "Didn't you hear that bird?"
"I heard a bird," Adam replied.
"Yes, that was me," said Domingo, shaking his head in irritation that we hadn't known to listen for wild bird calls in the jungle. Just a thought, Mr Guide Sir: When searching for lost turistas in the jungle, it might be a bit more productive to call out in a human voice or yell Like A Human. There are a lot of birds out there, we might not know it's you.
We poured the black water out of our boots, hung our soaking clothes out to dry, and scrapped together what clothing we could to keep warm in the chilly evening air. Everyone went to bed early except for the Irish who sang pub songs and eventually lulled us to sleep with their renditions of Van Morrison songs.

The next day as we took the boat ride back. Adam jumped into the river to swim with timid pink dolphins as alligators slipped from the shore into the water nearby. At last we were back in Rurrenabaque, where we found out Michael Jackson had died. We met up at the popular Monkeys Bar for Cuba Libres and Caipirinas and with the rest of the group listened to the DJ spin out MJ classics. It would be one more day before a Bolivian metal worker would ask me why Michael Jackson hadn't recorded any Spanish music. All I could think to say was, "Because he couldn't speak Spanish?"

It took two days to get back to La Paz, and after all the rain the once-dusty roads were now slick with silty mud. It was nearing the end of our first day of riding when we lost control on a particularly slick corner and the bike slid out from underneath us, leaving us splayed out on our backs in the middle of the wet and rocky road. No harm was done although we were a bit sore the next day. We took a short break to gather ourselves and clean off the mud and got back on the road.
The following day we came upon an accident which included a cattle truck-turned-bus fully loaded with people charging off a cliff and dropping into the jungle below. Children with bloody faces were sitting along the road as men with ropes worked to haul up the rest of the passengers. Needless to say we were a bit shaken up, and more than happy to offer some of our water to a man bloodied from the fall. Taxis were being loaded with the most seriously injured, and we raced ahead to get help from the nearest Puesto de Control.

Back in La Paz, we had new brake rubber bits (Pastillas) added to our bare brake pads as a parade of wildly dressed women and men danced by in glittering costumes with bands following behind and playing enthusiastically. Later that night we were downtown and noticed bright rainbow flags decorating the main street. I thought they looked a lot like Gay Pride flags, but we've come across Peruvian and Bolivian rainbow flags before than represent different Indigenous groups so I was surprised to find that the parade winding by was filled with beautifully costumed Transvestites! They looked impressively like the women we'd seen earlier in the day, and were even accompanied by bands playing the same music. Bravo, Bolivia. I wouldn't have thunk it.

Adam got The Bug, and from La Paz we ended up in Oruro splurging on a $14 (100 Bolivianos) room at Hotel Bernal with hot hot water and cable TV. I tucked him into bed and weathered the freezing air to fetch dinner and sprite for his tummy. He's feeling much better but not quite 100%. In other news, the weather is cold. Icy cold. We've both had to purchase extra layers, new gloves, scarves, a poncho, and I even got some sweat pants. Yesterday I realized I was wearing six layers of pants, and I was still cold. Yarggggh!
We arrived yesterday here in Potosí, where, amazingly enough our room has a heater in it, and our shower water is gas heated (which means hot water). Today we took the Cerro Rico Mine Tour, purchasing Coca leaves, cigarettes, soda, and dynamite for the miners (who were hard at work as we wandered through their dark domain in our ridiculous yellow outfits and construction helmets with lamps). Adam helped put together a nice little stick of dynamite, and we were up close and personal when our guide, Johnny, lit the fuse. Two minutes (and a safe distance) later, the explosion made us all jump.
Then we toured the Museo de Moneda, where Bolivian money was minted on incredible machines using horses and pulleys and wheelie things that were very impressive. Potosí was the silver capital of the world, and the richest city in all of the Americas (and some say the world) in the mid-1700's.

Now for a bit of motorcycle information: Things have gotten interesting.
After passing 20,000 mileson her odometer, pretty Peter has started to fuss a bit. Adam has been hard at work repairing a broken tail light wire, a crack in the air box (on top under the seat) that he has sealed with silicon, reattached a severed starter cable, and shortened the chain (new as of Cali, Colombia) which had stretched about two inches.

Okay, I'm done. My fingers are sore and I need some dinner. Tomorrow we head down to Uyuni to meet up with Woody for our ride through the incredible salt flats of the Salar de Uyuni. We've purchased an extra gas can for the vast expanses ahead as gas stations are few and far between and are often out of gas anyway. Just two weeks to fill up before we reach Buenos Aires, and we're doing our best to do it right.

All the best from this cold little corner of the Americas,
Grace and Adam

And thanks for the title Bethany, here are some pics!

Fork Seals and Dried Lambs.

2009-06-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

(Arequipa, Peru - La Paz, Bolivia)

I must backtrack a little bit to Arequipa where I was invited out to lunch by Rachel and Hannah, two English girls who were very sweet and fun and had some seriously ridiculous stories about ending up in a Peruvian prison after a wild night of partying and shortly thereafter waking up to a strange and large Peruvian man taking his boots off in their hotel room. Later that night we actually "went out" in Arequipa with the girls and two other guys from our hostel. We managed to stay out till 2am after dancing the night away (or at least a few hours) at a club filled with an English tour group who had managed to party it up much harder than us. It was a good night.

We headed toward Puno after Arequipa, stopping at the incredible Incan Tombs at Sillustani along the way. Three little girls approached us and offered to charge us money for letting us take a photo of them with their little lamb. We succumbed, and paid 1 Sol (about 33cents). The view was amazing, and we sat around on the rocks appreciating it for a bit.
From the ruins, we headed into Puno where we met up with Woodie, again. His motorcycle was parked right outside our hotel when we came back from dinner. He´d had his own adventures with the roadblocks from Cusco to Puno but luckily hadn´t been riding the bus! He had some Danish friends who´d had to get off their bus in the middle of the night, walk with 60 or so other white tourists through the roadblock pretending to ignore ugly stares from the disgruntled protesters, and after an hour or so (carrying their gigantic packs) they were picked up by a cattle truck that had been rented by the tour company.

We crossed the border into Bolivia pretty smoothly (other than the $135 USD per person to enter, of course) and enjoyed an evening in Copacabana on the edge of Lake Titicaca. As I mentioned before, the colours were spectacular.
Bolivia's population is 96% Indigenous and it´s wonderful to see the women in their colourful, layered skirts and little black caps. The fabric is sometimes neon pinks and bright reds that seem to glow as they tend their flocks and harvest their crops.
The road from Copacabana is smooth pavement, and eventually ends in the lake. Yes, we had to take a boat across, which cost just about $1.50 (10 Bolivianos). That´s our second riverboat crossing of the trip.

La Paz has the cleanest air I´ve ever seen in a large city. It is built into a volcanic crater, apparently by many people feeling very confident in that volcano not erupting again. Ever.
The streets are lined with people selling fruits and vegetables, dried lambs (literally small dried lambs, furry, small, lambs) bright woven fabrics and clothing, millions of potatoes, and one of my favourites, stacks and stacks of beautiful, fresh eggs. The women wear long, vintage-looking aprons to protect their pretty skirts.
We are staying in a little place called Hospedaje Jimenez, which is next door to a great cafe (tasty chicken sandwiches!). The bathrooms don´t seem to get cleaned, and there´s no toilet paper or soap, but we´ve got our own and the beds are rather comfy. I think I may save my showering for our next stop tomorrow. Is that gross? Not anymore.

We had one of our rare Quiet Nights last night, ate silently and got into our separate twin beds to read. Sometimes, it´s just necessary to keep to yourself for a few hours, appreciating your book, giving each other a little space.

This morning we headed out to Nosiglia motors, a motorcycle shop that is renowned for being very helpful to travelers. They helped Adam fix the front Fork Seal, by stretching then cutting the spring to tighten it. We hope that will be the end of the red fork oil spraying out of the shock.
Then we came back to our little street where Adam parked in the shade and started to work again on the electrical problems we´ve been having. He discovered a wire that had broken, and as far as I know he fixed the problem. We´ll see. The fuse keeps blowing, and we´re not sure why. By "we" I am including myself due to my being very supportive and interested, though absolutely clueless.
I think I could probably change a fork seal, now, though.

While Adam was working on the motorcycle, he had some young helpers, including a little girl who was very excited to help clean up the lights with a little orange rag. She came into the internet/tour company (where I was slaving away at our update) to tell her mother "Mama, él dame una tela y yo limpié las lúces! Estoy ayudando!" I absolutely apologize if that is completely mis-spelled. (Basically, "Mom! He gave me a rag and I cleaned the lights! I´m helping!"

Tonight is a huge fiesta at the ruins about an hour west of here that consists of freezing temperatures, lots of booze, and all night live music and fireworks. They don´t suggest that you get a hotel, but just take a nap in the bus if you need to. I think we´re gonna miss out on this party. Instead we´re going to have some dinner and try and figure out our exciting Bolivian jungle trip. It will most likely include pink freshwater dolphins, piranhas (hopefully not at the same time), searching for anacondas, and staying in a lodge. We´ll be taking a nature hike, and trying to spot exotic things hiding in the foliage. Sounds fun, huh?

As always,
Grace and Adam

More Photos!

Bolivia We Salute You.

2009-06-18T16:44:00.001-07:00

(Sicuani, Peru - Copacabana, Bolivia)

We just crossed the border into Bolivia today, and with our friend Woodie who turned up at our hotel last night.

We are in Copacabana on the shores of Lago de Titicaca, which is a fantastic blue surrounded with shimmering golden wheat fields.

We need to figure out what to do with our time here, but are thinking of exploring the mine shafts in Potosí, then heading into the Bolivian Amazon, and seeing if we can find a few parts for the motorcycle in La Paz. We have about 2-3 weeks here before heading across Argentina. It´s strange to feel like we´re short on time, and yet we still have two months!

The air is COOOOOLD. We´ve decided to ride only between the hours of 10am and 4pm due to the fact that the alternative hours are so cold. We´ve discovered Maté de Coca (tea made from the Coca Leaf) is quite tasty, and we´ve been trying to keep warm with that. It supposedly offers alleviation from altitude sickness symptoms, too.

Nowhere has heating. I sleep in thermal pants and a wool pullover. Sometimes wool socks, too. Removing any layers just seems silly, let alone removing all layers for a shower. The tile bathroom floors hurt to walk on, and it becomes a race to see how warm you can get in how quick a time (before the hot water runs out as it seems to do with me), then towel off and get your clothes back on before you´re freezing again.

The border crossing went pretty smoothly, although this was the first country to ask for our immunization records, copies of those, and oh, yeah, the $135 US per person for entering the country. I believe it´s reciprocal, as our country requires the same of Bolivian citizens. As the boys got all the paperwork put together for the motorcycles, I chatted with the local police on duty who were asking about the bikes and what repairs we´ve had to do along the way. Can I just say that I´m pretty excited to be able to have that conversation in Spanish!?! They were also curious to know which countries had been our favourites, and when I didn´t include Bolivia they wanted to know why. Well, we haven´t seen it yet!

Now to find out...

The trip has now Officially gone South.

2009-06-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

(Sicuani, Peru - Arequipa, Peru)

So much for the good times...

Two days ago our morning began on a bit of a sour note. A loud and angry mob was blocking our route to the South with a 3 foot pile of rocks spanning the width of the road. There was no getting around it and, as is generally the case with angry mobs, there were a few bad seeds in the crowd. In this case the ¨Bad Seeds¨ were a small group of women brandishing 4 inch safety pins who kept taking quick steps towards us, arms extended, threatening to poke holes in our tires. In retrospect I couldn´t really say if their wide eyes, crooked toothed smiles and maniacal laughter were more comforting or scary. In any case we quickly made it clear that we had no intention of crossing their blockade.
Not an altogether unpleasant experience, we made friends with a number of drunk men and were eventually cheered over the wall and on our way after I hefted a couple big rocks from the ravine out onto the road and added to their pile.

Riding was smooth for a few hours... and then we ran over a dog. We were cruising around 50mph when the little mut darted out from the road side and dove head first into our front tire. It did not survive and we were both pretty shook up, to say the least. We decided not to turn around and investigate. In general you do NOT want to put yourself in a position where you have to apologize and compensate an angry and armed farmer for the death of his beloved pet.
It was a surreal event to say the least. We have encountered somewhere on the order of 10,000 anxious dogs on the road sides throughout our travels, many of which enjoy running up to us and barking at our boots. It´s to be expected. In this bizzare case however, the dog had absolutely no intention of changing course and clearly wanted to either tackle us or commit suicide. He did not tackle us.

The next morning we discovered that the dog had broken off our PVC tool carrier and highway foot pegs which are mounted just behind the front tire. We drove back up the road to try and find it and found nothing but a cute brown puppy soundly sleeping on the roadside.

We had a generally pleasant start to the following day driving through the Cañon del Colca (arguably the deepest in the world) and watching a family of Condors glide overhead from a well known lookout. We stopped for lunch in the central cobblestone plaza of Cabanaconde and made friendly with a couple of locals when... the bike suddenly, and without explanation, lost balance and crashed down onto its side! My helmet visor was scratched up, the wire to the helmet cam was severed, and the aluminum knuckle guard was bent inward, preventing operation of the brake lever.
Fortunately I was able to bend the handle back into place and we were back on the road after only a short delay.

We were running slightly behind schedule as we headed down the woefully pot holed road towards Arequipa when tragedy struck YET AGAIN... flat rear tire!
We were an hour out of the city and we had an hour and a half of daylight left. I had the tools and the spare but not the time. I pulled a two inch nail out of the tire and swapped out the tube but by the time we were finally back on our wheels and ready to go, darkness had arrived.

As a rule we try to avoid driving in the dark, we were not however prepared to spend the night on the side of the highway at 13,000 feet so we climbed aboard and prepared for a slow ride into town. That´s when... the headlight stopped working!
You think I´m kidding don´t you. I wish I was kidding. We´ve been having some intermittent electrical problems which I honestly thought had been resolved. Apparantly not. It turned out we had blown a fuse, which I quickly replaced, only to find it blown again. It was getting cold out and I was in no position to troubleshoot an electrical short so we set off in search of the nearest hospitable accomodations sin headlight. Our brake light was still working, which I felt would adequately indicate our location to vehicles approaching from the rear, and our blinkers were able to provide a surprisingly acceptable yellow strobe to light our way ahead.
At 10 mph we had no intention of driving all the way to the city and neither of us were sure just how far we would have to go before finding a place to stay. Luckily, it only took about 15 minutes. We pulled up to a remote truck stop where we were waved to the side of the road by the police officer on duty. He started out by telling us how unsafe it was for us to ride without a headlight (Thanks) and asked us a bunch of questions about what we were up to. It turned out that there wasn´t a hotel for many miles and, after conferring with his partner, he invited us to park the bike inside the police station and sleep in the dorms by candlelight.
They provided a stack of blankets and showed us around the place. My favorite part of the tour was when they opened the door to show us the bathroom. Turns out it was also the rear entrance to the building. In any case, we were warm and safe and I gave them $10 for generator gas before leaving. We slept until 6am and hit the road to Arequipa. It was unbearably cold outside and we were thrilled when we finally pulled into town and stopped at the first cafe we could find to warm up with coffee and hot chocolate.
We subsequently found a hostel, got cleaned up, dropped off our laundry, and are now working on a plan to get the electronics and fork seal fixed before heading on to Bolivia.

For those of you who don´t have the attention span to digest the entire post, allow me to recap. In the last two days we have dealt with; an angry mob, a dead dog, a lost tool carrier, a broken helmet cam, a bent handle bar, a flat tire, a leaking front fork seal, malfunctioning electronics, being stranded in the mountains, and riding on the brink of frost bite.

Stay tuned for a (surely) more positive update.

Some of the photos are sad...

Conquering Machu Picchu

2009-06-11T14:54:00.000-07:00

(Cusco - Machu Picchu - Sicuani, Peru)

The night before departing Cusco for Machu Picchu we wandered into the main Plaza in search of a restaurant and were treated to an impressive firework display on the Cathedral steps. A band was loudly trumpeting Andean music as a team of drunken ¨technicians¨ carried 4 enormous firework laden bamboo structures out onto the steps and set them ablaze. It was quite a spectacle to behold, sparks and flaming pieces of bamboo showering the crowd in what surely would not have been permitted in such a responsible country as the USA. Booooo!
At one point Grace screamed, ¨lookout!¨ as one of the towers began to collapse just behind me, and with the reflexes of a frightened possum I screamed like a girl and ran for cover. No harm was done, and the locals had a good laugh.
Afterwards we enjoyed a couple tasty beverages and an incredible shepherd's pie at Paddys Pub just off the square. A bit spendy, but in our opinion, well worth it.

The following day took us over the hill from Cusco to the tiny Incan village of Pisac where we were lucky to visit on a Sunday which is market day. We wandered along the cobblestone streets and through the colorful bamboo stalls for a couple of hours and picked up a few souvenirs, which I´m sure Grace can´t wait to share with you all, and then enjoyed a wonderful food cart lunch of chicken, stuffed peppers and pasta for somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 dollars.
From there we headed to Ollantaytambo where we intended to stay the night. On a tip from Grace´s Auntie Palma, we stopped in at El Albergue Hotel to say hi to a distant acquaintance and what a fantastic stop this turned out to be. The incredibly generous hotel manager and son of the owner, Juaquin, invited us to stay, not at the hotel, but in his home, free of charge. He also joined us for dinner and filled us in on a lot of the local flavor, as well as let us play with his awesome doggies. A couple Pisco Sours, a bottle of wine, an incredible Alpaca steak and homemade Asparagus soup for dinner and we called it a night.
Thanks again Juaquin!

Getting to Machu Picchu on the cheap!
It costs $100 per person for a round trip train ticket from Cusco to Machu Picchu. From Ollantytambo, the half way point to which you can drive, the round trip train ticket costs $62 per person. This is in addition to the $40 per person entrance fee into the actual ruins that you pay once you arrive. Not surprisingly things can get pretty expensive and that´s why we decided to save some dough and have a little adventure.
It turns out that it´s actually possible in 4 1/2 hours to drive from Ollantaytambo, over the hill and around the bend to the tiny village of Santa Theresa. From there it´s a mere 2 1/2 hour hike down a set of active train tracks to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu.
The trip is fantastic and I recommend it for anyone with the means. Unfortunately for us, after a somewhat heavy night of drinking (not really, but considering we are averaging a beer a week, it doesn´t take much) and a long motorcycle ride, by the time we stumbled into Aguas Calientes we were seriously pooped and Grace was NOT feeling well. It took an hour longer than our return trip, and it was dark by the time we arrived. We were welcomed by the twinkle of thousands of lightning bugs as we finished. We stayed in the fantastic Hostal Chokra and set our watches for an early wake up call. Grace didn´t get much sleep that night.

It´s hard to put into words our experience at the Ruins of Machu Picchu so I´ll let the photos do most of the talking. We were in line for the bus at 5am and passed through the entrance gate to the Ruins within an hour, plenty of time to see the sun crest the nearby peaks and light up the ancient city. The day began with the city shrouded in a thick and fast moving fog, but as the hours passed the sky cleared and the air became warm and comfortable. Due to Grace´s low energy we decided not to summit Wuayna Picchu and instead enjoyed a full 4 1/2 hours of wandering about the stones and listening to random tour guides explain the details. We were back at the hostal by Noon and ready for a nap. We stayed the night and headed out in the morning, once again along the train tracks. It wasn´t easy, but we had conquered Machu Picchu and it was spectacular!

We re-traced our route back to Ollantaytambo and then on to Cusco, a full 10 hours of travel. It was at lunch that day on the side of the highway that I met the pepper that nearly ended my life. You should understand that I´m not in the habit of biting into Serrano or Habañero peppers and so am not accustomed to the body's reaction to this type of event, but when I picked up what I thought was a seemingly harmless appetizer and sunk my teeth in I swear I almost threw up out of fear that the feeling wouldn´t pass. The pepper had been spat, drink had been drunk, and the burn went on for what seemed like an eternity. Grace got a good laugh and some fun photos of the experience. Suffice to say I eventually got over it but it´s certainly a lesson I won´t soon forget.
On the way home we also ran into our friend Woodie who was heading in the opposite direction, on his way to Machu Picchu. We traded stories from the last time we met in Ecuador and made plans to meet again in Bolivia.
After a long day we pulled into Cusco just as darkness settled in. They had a room for us back at the Pompawasi Inn where all of our gear was stored and we got ready for a restful night. A light meal at a nearby cafe and a little ¨Anger Management¨ on the Teli and we were out cold.

Grace was still low on energy this morning, so we had a late breakfast and I cleaned out the air filter while she kicked back. We left Cusco around 12:30 with the modest goal of spending the night in Sicuani, only 2 hours away. This turned out to be surprisingly optimistic as we soon learned upon arriving at the first of many road blocks. Three years ago Matt and I spent the night on a bus on this same road due to similar road blocks. The locals in this area are apparently often upset with government actions and decide to carry massive stones out into the street and make their point by blocking traffic in both directions, generally for a period of 24 hours.
We politely parked the bike and inquired as to the cause of the discontent as well as the expected duration of the blockade. For the most part everyone was very friendly and we were allowed to pass through the first 2 blockades without delay. The next two, however, required a bit more persuasion. On both occasions Grace waited with the bike and I went and made friends. About 20 minutes of talking with a group of surprisingly drunken protesters and answering all of their questions about our adventure, we were let through. What should have been a 2 hour drive became 4 hours and we were happy to make it into town and settle into our hostal for the night. Two twin beds with a shared bathroom and no shower for $5. What a steal.
We later learned that, as a rule, motorcycles are allowed to pass without delay, yet another reason to travel on 2 wheels.

**Grace´s Note:
I would just like to thank Adam for trying to be gentle in regards to my general state of being over these last few days. I can´t recall ever feeling so sick and yet accomplishing so much (3 hours of railroads, 5 hours on Machu Picchu, 2 1/2 hours back on the railroads). He´s been a great nurse, and let me sleep this morning while he cleaned the air filter. The night before Machu Picchu I was literally awake every 45 minutes or so till 4:30a when we woke up to head out. Monty´s Revenge, indeed.

Photos!

FYI: All future photos will be loaded into a new Picasa Web Album, Two for the Road Two. This means that if you want to view any earlier photos you need click on the link for Album #1 at the top left hand side of the blog :-)

Piggies! Part Two

2009-06-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

(Huancayo, Peru - Cusco, Peru)

At last we have a chance to post those baby pig photos I promised. I am starting to seriously contemplate procuring one when I get home and having it for a pet. Is there anything cuter?

Two more big days of riding, stopping one night at Hostal Los Libertadores in the town of Ayacucho. We made a dramatic entrance by ramming the motorcycle´s steel underbelly into their doorstep leaving a large dent in the shiny metal step protector. Though the young men working there tried to knock it out with a hammer, it was to no avail. We left our mark in Ayacucho.
It was a fantastic place for $10 (30 soles), except that we shared a single bed for the night. Tiny, tiny blankets! After cleaning off the dust from the road (but not changing out of our riding/travel clothes) we wandered down some great walking streets and found a restaurant that served up some delicious lomo saltado and chicharron de pollo. These are two very popular dishes, the first being fried potatoes with vegetables (mainly tomatoes) and beef strips sauteed in a tasty sauce, served with rice. The second is breaded pieces of chicken, fried and served with fries and three types of sauce that taste vaguely like mustard, mayonnaise, and spicey ketchup.

The next day we hit the road at about 9:00am, waving farewell to our hosts who had kindly washed and dried the motorcycle which ended up very clean on one side. I even spied one of them attempting to polish the spokes!
It was a long day. It ended at last in Andahuaylas where we promptly ate dinner downstairs and went straight to bed.
Again we were up and out the door by 9:30am. Breakfast was Pan Comón (common bread) which is a tasty, hollow roll. We bought 8 for 1 sol, which is about 33cents.
Our ride started with three rugged hours on mountainous, silty, dusty roads looping up and down canyons and heading toward the turnoff where we were excited to finally hit the autopista (paved two-lane highway!). From there it was another four or so hours to Cusco, where we found a room at Hostal Pompawasi for $17/ night just a few blocks from the Plaza de Armas and a whole lot of restaurants, clubs, bars, and shopping options for the hordes of travelers. The city´s population is about 600,000 and as you walk around you can spot Inca foundations on which the Spanish conquerors built their huge (and rather pretty) churches.
Arriving on Friday night, the city was alive. The plazas were filled with people, stages with live Andean music, busy restaurants, and fun people watching. It was also very cold. We are both pretty well adjusted to the altitude after our time in and out of the mountains but still can get pretty winded after walking up a long hill. I also noticed that after only about 3 ounces of wine (possibly less) I was feeling pretty loopy.
We had a rockin´good Friday night, and were in bed by 8:30p with our books. I have to add that I am very pleased with our blanket situation in that they are warm and soft and drapey, and large enough that they hang over the edges with no room for icy air to creep in.

Today we ate breakfast at a fantastic little place called Jack´s Café Bar. Adam and his brother Matt ate there three years ago when they came to Peru to hike Macchu Piccu, and though Adam usually likes to try out new places we headed there anyway. The food was great, but I have to say that it was the first place we´ve been in a long time that was pushing for turnover! There was a line out the door which made eating quickly seem like a good idea.
After breakfast we headed to Moto Row, where we managed to find a new rear tire and have it replaced within about two hours. Now we´re ready for the road South!
We also visited the ruins close to town, wandering around looking at the huge rocks which are perfectly fitted together and, well, amazing. There are lots and lots of tour groups wandering around, and we chatted with one couple who were also counting edges to see if they could find one with more than twelve. The famous one with twelve is down near the plaza. We took photos of ourselves next to it.

From here we head to Macchu Piccu, South to Arequipa, on to Lake Titicaca, and then to Bolivia! We have so much to see still, it is a bit strange. Our trip has been so full of sights and new places, and there are so many more ahead.

Happy Birthday to Kyle, Sandra, and Mum.
Happy Graduation to Kevin!!

Much love,
Grace and Adam

Our latest...

Two Part Pig Heaven

2009-06-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

(Huaraz, Peru - Huancayo, Peru)

It is apparently baby pig season in Peru, and I have spotted several little troops of the cute and tiny piglets from my back seat view. I couldn't help but wish that I could hop down off the motorcycle, plop myself in the middle of them, and play! Sort of like in Guatemala when a young mother handed over her baby boy, and in Panama when I was suddenly surrounded with little Wuonan children. Once I get excited about something it can get a bit ridiculous. For example, the squeals that escaped from my mouth yesterday when we rounded a corner high in the mountains and there were SEVEN tiny baby piggies trying to hide in the bushes. No Mama Pig around, and they were being very smart staying all together and running off the road when they heard engine sounds. What followed is definitely a highlight of my trip so far, and to understand I bid you wait for Part Two, which has to wait till I can get access to a computer (I'm using the iPod right now). In the meantime, I will add a bit about our last couple of days.

We officially rode very very high, 4,720 meters or 15,486 feet!!! We've been all layered up, trying to figure out the best distribution of clothing, and managing pretty well. We haven't had to pull out all the long underwear yet, but we did find ourselves shopping for outerwear. A new scarf for Adam and a fleece jacket for me. Because the road takes us up and down continuously, at least a few times a day we pull over to add or remove layers. It can be impressively cold up high. We left Huaraz and made it to Huanaco where we stayed in the Hostal Las Vegas. Tiny sheets that exposed the mattress weren't our favourite part. Dinner was grilled chicken with fries for me (I am loving the thyme-flavoured mayonnaise!) and Mollijas for Adam. We don't know which part of the animal it was, but aside from a bit of cartelage, was quite tasty and the texture was like a less squishy scallop. Hard to describe. Today took us South along a lovely if slightly less interesting paved road to Huancayo. Let me just say that trying to tell people where we've been lately and where we're headed has been a bit difficult considering this: Huallanca, Huaraz, Huanaco, Huancayo. Try keeping those straight! Also, each has a very specific vowel emphasis. Anyway, we are staying in a big lovely old house called La Casa de La Abuela (Grandmother's House) which seems to be empty of other guests. We have bunk beds in the dorm room tonight, and are settling in after a scary movie at the Cine Planet. Shockingly, we ate Pizza Hut and Burger King, and liked it. We should be in Cuzco in the next couple of days, looking forward to it! Check back soon for photos of little piggies. Oh, and besides a little bruise my foot is doing just fine.

Sweet dreams,
Grace and Adam

Riding the Ride

2009-05-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

(Chachapoyas, Peru - Huaraz, Peru)

On route from Chachapoyas we took a few hours to ride out to Kuèlap, a mountain top fortress that outdates the Incas (who came in and booted the original owners and took it over themselves for a while, till they were conquered by the Spanish). My foot was a bit tender and bruised, so we took it easy up the rocky path and wandered through the circular stone spaces/houses where thousands of people once lived. The road up, or rather up, around, down, back and then up again (in other words truly the most in-direct route I´ve seen in a while) was beautiful, narrow and just plain fun. Clouds loomed as we headed back down and toward Leymebamba, which we now call Lame-Bamba and besides a quick night´s sleep wasn´t much to talk about. We had separate single beds, and I fell asleep at about 9pm.

We have truly been riding on some seriously out of the way roads, hardly shown on the map, rocky, dirty, muddy, bumpy, with views that take your breath away. The road has been so distracting that I have had a hard time recalling where we´ve stayed. Every evening we are wiped out from riding on what are basically narrow, one-lane tracks on the side of steep precipices. So far, we´ve stayed off the beaten track, well worth it for the photos. I´ve taken to keeping the camera up my jacket sleeve for easier access. You never know when you´re going to make a turn and have the perfect opportunity for a great shot of the mountains, a tunnel, waterfalls, or a small Peruvian woman in her full skirts and large straw hat. I´ve learned that your first chance is usually your best one, as you come around a corner. If you hesitate, you miss it. And that just sucks.

We visited Celendìn, and arrived in the pouring rain. We found a little pizzeria and watched the Champions League soccer finals while warming up with hot chocolate as mud and water pooled around our boots on their white floor. We stayed at Hostal Loyers, where we were able to park the motorcycle in their large, open courtyard under the eaves. Adam changed the front brakes and I cleaned the air filter. I also watched a little bit of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit show. Seriously.
Just down the street from the hotel we found a little comedor called Doña Danny, where a very kind family chatted with us a bit as we picked up some snacks, and where we returned for a tasty breakfast of cafè con leche and tamales the next morning.

From Celendìn we had a relatively short day riding to Cajamarca, a large colonial town with a nice lookout over the city. Adam was struggling with a little bit of a stomach bug, but we managed to hike to the top of the lookout, and then walk back to the hotel (slightly faster on the way back). We stayed at Las Lejas Hotel for a whopping $5 (15 Soles) in a room where someone had broken their presumably full glass bottle of perfume. Needless to say we didn´t walk around barefoot, and the room smelled awfully "nice." After a bit of a rest, Adam felt better and we headed out to dinner. I have to admit that Adam is definitely the more adventurous eater of the two of us, and he decided he was up for the famous Peru delicacy, Cuy. If you´re not familiar with this one, let me just describe it as cute and cuddly previous to its demise. It´s guinea pig. Although he tried to order the 1/4 serving they only had 1/2 servings available. No problem. Rice and saucy potatoes accompanied the little fried guy, who´s ribs, teeth, and claws were, well, still there. See our photos for an up close and personal look. I would like to add that it tasted delicious. Rather like duck confit...

Riding on, we headed toward the coastal town of Trujillo, the biggest city in Northern Peru. We had heard from other riders that the coastal Pan-American highway in Peru is not fun and generally something to avoid, but our pace had been a bit slow on the windy mountain roads and so we decided to make up a bit of time as well as see a bit of the coast. Although we did end up making good time South this way the roads were truly miserable and worth thinking twice about if you find yourself in a similar situation.
As we descended out of the green mountains along a busy and bone rattling road we entered endless sand dunes and straightaways that gave us the impression of riding at the bottom of a dry sea bed. Winds have created incredible undulating dunes that pile themselves at the foot of rocky mountains, their peaks lost in a haze from the whipped sand. It is an understatement to say that it was a bit different than the past three months of riding we´ve done. Not since Northern Mexico have we spent so much time riding through sand and cacti.

We found a simple, comfy room at Hostal Encanto in Trujillo, one block away from a classy, artistic place called Muséo Bar and Restaurant. There we enjoyed some rather pricey cocktails ($5 each, it´s what we spent on a hotel room!) and tasty treats surrounded with photos of music and artist greats, strange live piano music, and beautifully painted dark terra cotta walls.
On the way out of town we stopped at the Chan Chan ruins long enough to take a few photos of the massive walls of sand and mud that stretch out across the sand dunes. There were 35,000 people who lived in these huge complexes, some reserved for kings, others for peasants. The Incas eventually came and chased them out, not bothering to use the structures for themselves.
Yesterday, we headed out on what became a lonnnnnnnng day through spectacular canyons, tunnel after tunnel, tiny towns out in the middle of nothingness. We´ve lived on salty crackers for our lunches this past week, thank goodness for Salticas!
All I can say about the ride, is "wait till you see the photos!" I actually got sick of taking them, but the opportunities were endless and I couldn´t pass them up. We limped into Huallanca where the one hostal in town (Hostal Koki) let us park in the entry, served us a delicious dinner, and even let us watch my bootleg Ecuadorian version of Twilight! Adam was thrilled. Our bed was a bit more than uncomfortable, and there was only one pillow. Bloodsucker mosquitoes were stalking me in the night (I discovered a bloody smear on the sheet in the morning from where it got my hand), and our neighbors were up wrestling in the hallway at 3:36am. Ah, well. Life on the road.

We haven´t spent more than one night anywhere in a week, riding long days and trying to make tracks through this incredible area, Cordilleras Blanca and the base town of Huaraz. People come from all over the world to hike and camp, the peaks and canyons the steepest and highest in the world next to the Himalayas. We can see the white peaks from our hostel, where I managed to trip on a rogue shoe and drop my camera on the cement floor. The camera was on, the lense out, and I smashed one side into crookedness. Adam worked on fixing it, and at one point had all the little screws in separate piles, and pieces of this and that scattered across the bed. It now takes photos, the lense moves in and out; it is also held together with a zip-tie and the screen is fried. Really, the most important thing is that I can still take photos off the back of the motorcycle. I know I wouldn´t be able to handle the Nikon and the potholes at the same time!

Tonight we ate a great dinner downtown at Pachamama, (I had a vegetarian lasagna and a glass of red wine, Adam had chicken curry and a strawberry shake), then grabbed a bite of chocolate on the way back, and took some beautiful photos of the snow-capped mountains from our rooftop terrace.

Ah, Life.

Cheers!
Grace and Adam

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Andean Grooves

2009-05-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

(Cuenca, Ecuador - Chachapoyas, Peru)

What an amazing stretch of riding we`ve had these last few days!!!

After a wonderfully recuperative stay with Lyria and Gabe (during which time we mostly just lounged around surfing the net and watching contraband DVDs on Gabe´s hi definition projector) we took to the pavement once again and headed East into the mountains. As Grace told you in the previous post, the road was an absolute nightmare of fog and cold and after a long and stressful ride we finally broke free of the clouds and entered Cajas National Park. Interestingly there is a steep fee of $10 per person to enter the park, but you can pass through for free as long as you spend no more than 30 minutes within the park´s borders. It was a fantastic 15 minute stretch of road that gave us a taste of the park´s unique and picturesque terrain. It really was a different world up there of rolling brown mountain tops and desolate stretches of earth, sporadically dotted with brightly colored algae pools. We would have loved to stay and explore further but it was cold enough that we quickly moved on our way down to the warmer temperatures within the colonial walls of Cuenca.

A beautiful and relaxing city, we spent two days at ¨El Cafecito¨ in the historic district and wandered about with our camera taking photos and sampling the local fare. On our day off I spent a few hours sewing patches over the holes in my backpack (from Volcano Bording in Nicaragua) and Grace kicked back with her book. It was at this time that a wild eyed British hombre named Ulysses came strolling into the Dorm room looking for his bed, soaking wet and clearly put out. He threw down his bag and guitar case, kicked off his sneakers (under which he was wearing plastic shopping bags over his socks) and flopped down onto the bed. He then indulged us with the humorous tale of his previous 48 hours.
He had been told by one of his tour group contacts in town that for $70 it would be well worth his time and money to take a scenic and sun filled 2-day horseback trek through the mountains outside of Cuenca with a private tour guide and porter. Unfortunately this turned out to be one of the poorer decisions of his year long world tour. It turned out that the ¨tour guide¨ was nothing more than an extra set of hands, the weather was miserably wet and cold the entire time, and the porter was a sickly donkey. Our new friend went on and on about how uncomfortable he had been the entire time riding on the back of a less than sure footed horse, attempting to help the unprepared girl who had accompanied him and didn´t bring a rain coat or sleeping bag. After camping out on a wet hillside and eating a pitiful dinner and breakfast, the gallant trio packed up and headed home. As they made their way along the path Ulysses continued to grow more and more uneasy at the steadyness of, not only his own horse, but also that of the donkey that was carrying all of his gear. The path was narrow and the hillside steep when all of a sudden, to his unpleasant surprise, the donkey lost it´s footing directly in front of him and went tumbling over the edge of a muddy cliff. As he tells this part of the story his mouth hangs open and his wide eyes stare down at the floor boards as if begging for help. It was hilarious.
It turns out the the donkey did not die but was only severely banged up at the bottom of the hill. His guitar however, was dead. He helped the guide get the animal back on it´s feet and they finished the trek home, walking at times, and returned to the hotel exhilerated, wet, and depressed.
I love the stories we get to hear.

From Cuenca the ride South to Loja was uneventful and quick. From there however the road leading into the hills towards Vilcabama and the land of longevity became more windy and fresh and the scenery greeted us with a big smile. The brilliance of the green hillsides became especially stunning as the sun moved into it´s final quarter of the sky, and we pulled into our destination feeling fantastic. A short stop to drop our things off at Hostal Mandanga and we walked over to the ¨Otro Restaurant¨ for a bite to eat. The French couple that ran the place was super nice and the food was delicious. At one point, just before we were served, the power throughout the entire town shut off for about 5 minutes leaving the crowds in the plaza and the patrons on the restaurant porch in total darkness. Apparantly nothing out of the ordinary in this small hillside getaway, as the owners quickly produced candles for each table and a pair of headlamps by which they went on with their food prep. At that moment it became clear to me that I fully intend to live in a place that is completely unfazed by a power outage. It was really nice to be around a group of people that wasn´t bothered by it but rather simply pulled out the candles and move right along without a seconds thought.

We knew we had a long day ahead of us when we woke up at 7:30 and packed the bike. We were told it was 6 hours to the Peruvian border at La Balsa and an additional 2 hours from there to the first town that would provide suitable lodging. A brief breakfast of bread and yogurt and we were on our way. We were looking at 200km of dirt road, and the cloud cover was less than encouraging. Up the winding road we went and soon found ourselves in the midst of a sizeable downpour. The muddy road and ongoing heavy machinery road construction kept me on my toes and we found the time pass nicely as we marvelled at the remote mountain sides and swerved to avoid the random suspension killing pothole or stray chicken. We arrived at the border after only 4 hours and proceeded with the necessary paperwork. Both leaving Ecuador and Entering Peru was a piece of cake, the only issue being that we had to wait half an hour for a grumpy Peruvian immigration official that smelled disturbingly like an outhouse to finish lunch and stamp us in.

The short ride down to San Ignacio, Peru would have been a pleasant end to the day if it wasn´t for a bone-headed mishap that left us splayed out in the roadway with Grace´s foot pinned beneath the bike. Listening to music and chatting about the beautiful hillsides, we rounded a 90 degree right hand corner and I lost the back end of the bike in a patch of loose rocks. We fish tailed to the left and went down in the middle of the road. Luckily we weren´t going more than 10 or 15 mph, but as we went down the bike pinched Grace´s left foot under the side case which left her gritting her teeth in pain. I felt terrible. I mean, I still feel terrible. Luckily she´s a tough girl and we were back on the bike after only a short break. The ankle was unharmed but the side of her foot is slightly swollen and is a bit painful for her to put weight on. She sounds confident that it´s likely only a deep bruise and that she should be as good as new in a few days. From now on I will add yet another layer of caution to the heaping mound of care I already take with my precious cargo to ensure we don´t have any further mishaps :-)

We had a nice evening at Hostal la Posada in San Ignacio watching ¨Sean of the Dead¨ in Spanish and eating fried chicken with fries (Grace liked the chicken so much she insisted she have some more today for lunch. I decided to experiment and got something that I didn´t recognize off the menu. It was dark brown, chewy and a bit fibrous :-( The ride today was really incredible. There´s something wonderful about winding along a mountain road with spectacular vistas on all sides and knowing that there wasn´t a guidebook or trail map that recommended it for you. We´re just making our way from one out of the way place to another and are treated time and again with amazing sights.
We arrived in the hilltop town of Chachapoyas and quickly found that Hostal Revash suited us perfectly. We rolled the bike into the fourier and unloaded the gear before taking a stroll around. There´s nothing particularly fascinating about the streets or the shops, but we both feel very comfortable and welcome here and are glad to have made it a stop on our route.
From here we continue South to the ruins of Kuelap where we will learn about the 2000 year old ruins and the history of the pre-Incan culture of the ¨Cloud People.¨ From there we make our way towards the mountain enthusiast´s wonderland Huarez, and then on towards Cusco and Macchu Pichu.
Hope this finds you all well. Much Peace and Much Love,
A&G

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Boys Underwear

2009-05-22T16:56:00.001-07:00

(Guayaquil, Ecuador - Cuenca, Ecuador)

I know you may have jumped to conclusions at the title, but for those who are faint of heart, fear not! I only want to share that as we head farther South, we find ourselves more and more often staying in dormitory style rooms (it's fun to have bunkbeds and hang off the edge to whisper good night). Also, it's very reasonably priced. Unfortunately, I did not pack proper pyjamas. Since I've been wrapping myself in a sarong when I have to get out of bed at night, Adam suggested we look around for some little sleeping shorts. Little did he know this would turn into a healthy hour of wandering, lots of strange Latino-Man underwear (disturbingly small, tight, and did I mention small?), and very few women's shorts that didn't include matching, sparkly T-shirts. Finally we found a nice pile of semi-decent specimens and I made my decision. They are the perfect size, a combination of red and navy blue stripes (power colours) and they were only $3. They also include a handy front pouch which I intend to use for storing midnight snacks. Adam insists it is meant for something else, but I can't imagine what.

P.S. We are in Cuenca, Ecuador after an incredibly scenic ride at high altitude, which meant cooooold. Fog so thick it gathered on our visors, and was impossible to see more than 20 feet in any direction. Apparently the views were spectacular, but we wouldn't know. As we came out below the mists, we found ourselves in an alien landscape of wildly shaped rocks and rivers, then at last to Cuenca. It is a pretty little city, with large cathedrals and state buildings made from a beautiful reddish stone, marbled and pocked and standing rather formidably amongst the Spanish Colonial styles of their neighbors. Our bunkbeds are warm and comfortable, although the roof leaked a bit onto Adam's when it rained today. Luckily, he's the one on top this time! We take turns.

Iguana Park, Guayaquil, Ecuador

2009-05-19T15:44:00.000-07:00

And she did end up petting one...

Lourdes Umajinga, And A Little Epiphany

2009-05-18T12:35:00.001-07:00

(Quito, Ecuador - Guayaquil, Ecuador)

Lourdes Umajinga for Assembly Seat! I've seen this campaign ad painted all over the place in the mountainous regions of Ecuador and I was struck by how unusual and interesting it is.

My little epiphany occurred in a moment of frustration and bitterness, wishing for something else and truly not appreciating my circumstances. In the midst of it, my eyes literally burning from smoke filling our little room, my body aching and tired, Adam next to me sick and exhausted, the air outside cold, the windows wide open to vent the smoke. I suddenly thought to myself, "What if this was fun?" It was at that moment that it felt as if everything had changed, or rather nothing had changed but my perception of it. So I came to the conclusion as so many others have done before me, that if you so choose, you can re-frame your experiences to be enjoyable. I have so many stories that become funny later (when I am out of whatever situation and can laugh from a comfortable distance) but my new thinking is that you can actually change how the situation feels In that moment. Just a thought, but I'm going to try it out and see what happens.

From Quito, we headed out on recommendations to Banos, a pretty little mountain town that offers outdoor activities, thermal pools, dozens of hostels, and great restaurants. We met up with our new friend Jessica, a Med-School student from California who had stayed at our hostel in Quito. The three of us decided to rent bicycles ($4 for the whole day) and thought a 2 or 3 hour ride down the meandering road through the green canyons would be nice, stopping for a couple of hikes to waterfalls and hanging bridges. We were told we'd be able to take a bus back up the long slope to town. We had a great day, took some amazing photos, rode through a couple of pitch black tunnels, hiked in a little sprinkling of rain, and then decided to head back. We thought we'd ride along until a bus came by, hail them and just pop the bikes on top. It didn't turn out like we'd planned. The light sprinkle of rain turned to a drizzle, and then just plain rained. No buses came by. At one point we had to go through a long, dark tunnel which curved so you could not see the light at the end, it was pitch black, and there was a line of impatient traffic behind us. Luckily, a large semi truck had seen us getting ready to enter and waved us on ahead, they tried (and failed) to light our way as we pedaled frantically (I managed to fall into the watery ditch at the side) horns honking from behind, pitch black in front, and just trying to make it out alive. Which we did.
Then it was another 1 1/2 hours of uphill riding, soaked to the bone, me stopping every 100 yards or so to rest my poor legs. Apparently Jessica and Adam are tougher than I am. We finally made it, returned the bikes and helmets (yes, Mothers, we wore helmets) and sat down for an absolutely delicious vegetarian lasagna and hot chocolate at a restaurant on the Plaza Central. Later we soaked in the heat of the thermal pools (with about 50 other people) met up with our Irish pals from the boat to Colombia. We also ran into Woody, who we've now seen on the boat from Panama to Colombia, on the streets of Bogota, and now in Banos, Ecuador.
After catching up, soaking in the deliciously hot water and becoming thoroughly dehydrated, we returned to the pizzeria for more hot chocolate and pizza.

The next morning we said goodbye to our friends, deciding to backtrack North to ride the Quilotoa Loop. Woody had just come from there and proclaimed to us that Ecuador was officially his favourite country. Adam was pretty fired up at that, and we quickly decided to put this story to the test.
The road winds and winds along the edge of steep hillsides through the incredible mountains and along the base of a snow-capped volcano. Quechua families (the indigenous locals descended from the Incas) roam the windy plains watching their sheep and alpacas. Their crops stretch up the slopes in varied greens and browns, long strips of earth that bewilder the mind (how do they get up there, let alone till, plant, and harvest?).
We turned off the road and down a narrow sandy track through heavy fog toward the small village of Chugchilan. Sadly the cold Adam had been fighting hit him full on, and by the time we arrived he was done for. We had dinner and went straight to bed, and for the following two nights he slept 15-17 hours. Mama Hilda Hostel was a bit pricey, but included breakfast and dinner for $17/person, a warm, comfortable bed, and lots of hot tea. There are fireplaces in the rooms, but ours smoked so badly we decided not to bother with it the second night.

On the second morning Adam was well enough to ride on, and we headed back up the sandy road to check out the sights. Nearby, Laguna de Quilotoa is incredible. You can't see it from any roads leading up to it, and it requires heading out to the edge of an ancient volcano crater to see down to the water. A four hour hike will take you full circle around the rim but we were a bit hiked out, so just took some photos, admired a bit, and headed on our way.

We spent one night in Ambato, dining on real Chinese fried rice for dinner (surprisingly enough, this is a very difficult thing to come by South of the US border), and we were on our way South to Guayaquil.
We started the day in the mountains, but went higher and higher nearing 14,000 feet. Hardy olive-green grass shuddered in the icy winds, and the snow covered peaks of Volcan Chimborazo stood imposing out from the fleeting, rolling clouds. We had all our layers on, our breath fogging up the visors.

Coming down from the mountains through the cloud layer and fog created by the tropics below clashing with the cold mountain air was incredible. Scrub brush and scattered pines gave way to jungle and climbing vines, which turned to rice paddies and cane fields. The rice is a brilliant green stretching out to either side for miles and miles, the watery ground shimmering in the sunlight. Houses are built on stilts with long wooden ramps connecting them to the roads and other buildings.

Now we are in Guayaquil where Lyria (from Orcas!) is living with her boyfriend Gabe. We arrived two nights ago just as they were getting ready for a BBQ on their tropical garden rooftop terrace. They put Michael Jackson music videos on, were well-stocked on beer and tasty food, and had a group of fun friends over. They even had Tiki torches.

Since our arrival we've pretty much taken over their apartment, washing laundry, watching movies, eating some tasty olive and cheese sandwiches, and playing with the kitty. The air is warm and humid again, and a bit of an adjustment after our time in the misty mountains. Last night our hosts took us on a little tour of the downtown waterfront which concluded with a 500 step climb to the top of Cerro Santa Anna for a fantastic view over the city.

I have to admit, there's nothing quite like the rush of wind around your head while warm inside, watching the wild world unfold around you. I'm beginning to like this motorcycle riding thing.

Buen Suerte,
Grace and Adam

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The Southern Hemisphere!

2009-05-11T11:27:00.000-07:00

(Bogota, Colombia - Quito, Ecuador)

We crossed the equator yesterday and are now officially in the Southern Hemisphere! Get this though, out of curiosity I checked our relative position to our destination and it turns out that Buenos Aires is still further South than San Diego is North. We've traveled so far. This is ridiculous.

When last we talked I believe I was raving about the splendor of Colombia, and now that we have cleared customs and departed the country, I can comfortably say that Colombia is one damn fine place to visit!
After Bogota we decided to take our new friends up on their invitation and spent three blissful days lounging about at their high country hideaway. Their cabin is set up on a hillside above the town of Guatavita about an hour North of the city. It was raining pretty consistently while we were there which we didn't particularly mind because it provided a great excuse for us to just sit still and relax. I even finished my 2nd book of the trip (I think Grace is on her 8th). The family that takes care of the property was in and out of the house, cleaning and looking after the garden. The mother, Leidi, also cooked us breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day and insisted we just take it easy. They were all super nice and we really feel lucky for having met them. Thanks again Javier and Gloria for a wonderful vacation... from our vacation.

From Guatavita we had an incredible ride up and down the mountains to Armenia where we spent the night before visiting the Parque del Cafe which is a bit of a Colombian disneyland that is centered around the coffee bean industry. We chose not to partake in the water slides and roller coasters but we did have fun wandering about and learning a bit more about the process.
From there we jetted down to Cali for a night where we stayed at the Casablanca hostel by recommendation from some other riders we had met in Cartegena. Mike at Casablanca was great and there was a Kawasaki dealership just around the corner which was able to get us a new chain in about an hour. Although we weren't overly impressed with the city, it was a nice stop and we were able to swap stories with some other bikers. We met a girl who had split from two other guys and was riding by herself on a 650GS from Lima to Oregon. That's a tough gal.

A night in Popayan staying at Hostel Trail we wandered the streets of the old colonial town where we had dinner and drinks with a 21 year old blonde British girl who was traveling all over South America alone and having a blast. We also kicked back in the TV room and watched Tropic Thunder which put us into serious hysterics on more than one occasion.

From Popayan we had another long day of riding to Pasto. At this point I have to say that the riding in Colombia is just fantastic. Starting 200km North of Medellin as you start up into the mountains you can count on spectacularly windy roads and incredible vistas all the way until you reach the Ecuadorian border. We'd spent so much time in the small countries of Central America that I had almost forgotten what it was like to ride for days and days in wide open country. (To whom it may concern - Thus far, I haven't found a road yet that has topped the riding we did on the GDR)

We departed from Pasto, Colombia around 8am and headed towards the border with the plan to reach Quito before dark. A spectacular ride south to Ipiales where we stopped for a quick bite and some coffee before getting into the paperwork. Now, for those of you who are jealously living through a cold US winter dreaming of a sunny equatorial getaway, you will be pleased to know that we were literally freezing our little nippers off at the border. No kidding, I don't think we've had weather that cold since northern Mexico where it was actually snowing! We broke out the coldest weather gear we had and bundled up while clutching our steaming coffee cups for warmth. Who would have thought?
The immigration and permitting was a piece of cake and we were on the road into Ecuador after only about an hour of paperwork. Due to the fact that my Passport was "lost" in Colombia I no longer had the Entry stamp to show the official, but luckily I was carrying a photo copy of the old passport and he was able to look up the info with little hassle. Note to other travelers, always carry backup copies of your important documents!
At the border we ran into a couple from the States that is doing a similar trip through the Americas, but instead of on a bike their traveling by car. They were driving a loaded down Honda Element and it sounded like they hadn't had much trouble. A bit more paperwork in Cartegena attempting to secure their car from the shipping container at customs, but other than that everything sounded pretty smooth. They were both super nice and I'm sure would be happy to follow up with any questions that anyone may have if you are thinking about taking a similar trip on 4 wheels. Their blog is at www.thedarienplan.com.

The road into Ecuador was fast and fun winding over the hills and through scattered small towns surrounded by the bright green patchwork farms that dotted the hillsides. The guide book says it takes about 5 hours to reach Quito but we did it in about 3 1/2, including a stop for lunch. We crossed the equator and took a couple photos, but aside from the numbers on the GPS there was nothing else to indicate that we were somewhere special... The weather was fantastic when we pulled into Quito and we easily found our hostel which turned out to be perfect. It's located in old town and is named "The Secret Garden Hostel". Good food, good atmosphere and an incredible view over the city from the 5th floor Terrace. The only downside being the massive concentration of Ecuatorial Hoodlums roaming about. No joke, the stories are flying about in our hostel about the different muggings and pickpocketings that have taken place just in the last few days. This is the first town we've been to where, unquestionably, it's safer to leave your passport and credit cards in your dorm room rather than taking them with you out and about.

OK, I think that's enough. We head out tomorrow to start making our way to Salinas, Ecuador where we plan on showing up on Lyria's doorstep in a few days with a bag full of alcohol and whatever stray animals we can fit on the bike.

A&G

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GPS Tracks Online

2009-05-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

A quick note for those that are interested. I´ve uploaded our GPS tracks for Central America to www.everytrail.com. Our GPS route is displayed here with time, speed, distance, elevation and other interesting statistics alongside. Scroll down to see thumbnail maps in the left hand column, or you can search everytrail.com for track names starting with SD2BA2009. Rock and Roll!

Planning A Trip in Central and South America?

2009-05-07T18:25:00.001-07:00

I recently received a letter asking me for advice and suggestions from someone who is planning their own big adventure, and was faced with a worried family and friends. So, I put this little ditty together, and hope that it is useful or at least interesting.

As you have probably noticed, I am blonde, petite, white and female, and my mother just about lost it when Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia were mentioned in the beginning stages of this trip. It is mind-boggling how many awful stories people will tell you and your family when hearing mention about traveling through Central and South American countries, when in reality those stories are few and far between. However, they do make the news more often than the happy, lovely stories.

We researched for about 7 months beforehand, planning our packing lists, trying to find out about border crossings (not much information out there!) and areas to visit/avoid. I also checked on the US Governement Travel Alert website, and forwarded that to my parents. Certain areas of Mexico are on the alert network, but not even Colombia is on there! If your family is worried, get them some more info, give them our website. :) Photos and positive stories work wonders and dispell the great mystery of travel to foreign places.

Now get ready for a list of things we´ve learned along the way:

Our trip has been amazing. We´ve met so many other travelers from all over the world, and though we´ve heard a very few bad stories, on the whole they have been positive and opened my eyes (it´s hard coming from the US after being bombarded with negative impressions of nearly everywhere else in the Americas). Country after country we are impressed with how kind and helpful people are, willling to literally drive miles out of their way to help us find the right road. Borders take time, especially with a vehicle, but have patience, practice your Spanish, and they shouldn´t be a problem. I´ll give more tips on borders in a bit.

Don´t take a gun. If you do get into a situation that would require one, a gun would probably just make things worse. We decided instead on a big bottle of Bear Spray (basically a giant bottle of mace but can spray up to 30 feet). It looks innocuous enough, but could be helpful without killing anybody. Available at Adventure stores like Adventure 16, REI, etc. On the other hand, it takes up valuable space in our small luggage and we haven´t come close to using it in over three months. We do keep it within reach of Adam´s arm in a tank bag, though.

Have a way to lock things/cover them/hide them so that wandering eyes won´t peek in and see temptation. You can add Masterlocks/padlocks to nearly anything with a little welding and it´s totally worth it. Try to think like a thief, and then change things around to make it difficult to steal. With wire cutters/lock busters someone could take our stuff, but not quickly, and most theft is petty, someone walking by and grabbing something easy to take.

As for a knife, having a Leatherman and/or a Swiss Army knife are musts, for a million little things (like peeling apples, fixing zippers, etc). I think Adam generally carries it in his pocket.

Even though many people will come up to you just to chat, they often do want something, so be aware. It is a common thing for some people to look at tourists/travelers and just see a dollar sign, sadly. One thing I´ve definitely learned is to go with my gut in reaction to people and places. If you feel uncomfortable, acknowledge that there is probably a good reason for it, and do what you need to do to fix it. We left one hotel without a refund because it was that creepy. Totally worth the loss of money to sleep somewhere we felt safe.

Put something heavy against the hotel room door, or an empty bottle/can. That way if the door gets opened while you are sleeping you'll wake up. It has happened to only one person we've met, and they were staying in a super secluded, rather sketchy hotel.

There are some fairly simple and straightforward ways of avoiding bad things. I read the "dangers and annoyances" sections of my Lonely Planet book. We take advice from fellow travelers and locals on where to go and where to avoid. Before leaving, we paid attention to the news, and we also check online news for updates on each country as we head across the border. Of course, we also have friends and family who forward news stories like earthquakes and Piggie Flu. Thanks, guys!

As for Mom, what really bothered mine was the big mystery of her daughter heading out into who knows where and for who knows how long. It might help to sit down with a map and give a general idea of where you´ll be going and if possible a general timeline. It doesn´t have to be crazy specific, but a general idea is so helpful. Promise to check in every week (at least by email which is easy to find) and set up Skype for free phone calls! It really helps to lessen the mystery, giving some solidity to places you plan on visiting, beaches where you´ll be swimming, ruins you´ll be exploring, etc.

Consider purchasing a Spot satellite tracking device ($150 to buy, and $150 for a full year membership). You may have noticed ours on the top left of the website, it tracks us to within 3 meters, and you can even zoom in on Google Earth and see the city/road we´re on! We typically turn it off when we reach a town where we´re going to stay (to save batteries). There is a "we´re okay" button, a "help" button that sends a pre-set message (we met a guy who´s message is: "I´m heading into a sketchy situation, if you haven´t heard from me in six hours, send help."), and also a 911 button. The 911 button is received by the company, and they send your location and information to the nearest embassy and emergency services in whatever country you're in. It is a really nice thing to have. I like knowing that if we go off the road in the middle of nowhere, just have engine problems but there´s no one around for miles, or if we can´t get to a phone after an earthquake but we´re fine, we can get help, and send a "we´re okay" message straight to our families' emails.

Consider taking a GPS. We use ours like crazy, not only for roads (sometimes the map is better) but for direction and backtracking. You can download countries before you leave and later have a detailed route map of where you went on your adventure!

I have a feeling this is far more information than necessary, but there are so many details that once discovered seem so useful!

Keep copies of your paperwork somewhere. Keep your passports and credit cards separate, that way if one of you loses yours (as happened to us) you have a backup with the others' stuff. Access to money, identification, etc. It helped to have a color photo copy of the passports and extra copies of the vehicle title. Also, take the original vehicle title, and copies. Adam made laminated copies of everything and will use those (except for passport) when crossing borders. Extra passport-size photos are also a good idea.

Have a dummy wallet for getting pulled over by the police. Though rare, it happens on occasion that they will try and get a bribe for giving you your stuff back. If they have only copies, then you can just leave it and go on your way.

Be nice and friendly with officials.

And (especially with police) Play Dumb. This was suggested by a border "helper" and has helped us on more than one occasion. Military checkpoints are many, but the soldiers in our experience are always kind and often curious. It is their job to look for drugs and weapons, so smile and be helpful (they may ask to open some of your luggage/bags). Usually as soon as you start to open anything they say "okay" and send you on your way. As for the police, they are often best at giving directions. Or, they will pull you over and want money for a bogus charge like speeding. Like I said, play dumb.

This one is pretty obvious, but try not to travel with anything you can´t lose. I often wish I had my cute boots or pretty earrings, but realize it would be terrible if they were lost or stolen. So I make do with slightly less stylish clothing, but don´t have to worry as much.

Take lots of music from mellow to fun "roadtrip" music. There are many many miles between here and there, and although I love the silence sometimes, I love love love my music. We have an iPod Touch which is great for not only music, but movies (we have seven of them and a duel-plug for two sets of headphones), and we can check email and use Skype when wi-fi is available! For us, a better option than taking a laptop.

Okay, places to avoid:
The border town of Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. Actually, all Northern border towns of Mexico. Certain parts of the state of Sinaloa, as that is where the head of one of the drug cartels is located. People will let you know, but check out a map before you go.
We had no problems in Mexico, nor did anyone we met who had traveled there.
Places like Mexico City, Guatemala City, are just huge dirty cities and if you go: drive only during the day and stay where there is guarded parking. We didn´t visit either one.

Keep notes handy for what you´ll expect to pay at each border crossing. Knowing what others have paid is helpful amidst the confusion. Also, have your notes handy on which buildings to stop at, what paperwork you need, etc. Avoid the Guatemala to Honduras crossing at the Eastern border of Corinto. Corruption there is soooo irritating. Cross at Copán.
All of Guatemala was wonderful. Colder than you expect, because of the high altitudes so have thermals and wool socks. This is one of the countries that we were warned about because there is still a very large poor population, and many indigenous people who are wary of travelers (and freaked out that they´ll steal their babies) but keep your money in a zipper pocket, and don´t pick up other peoples' babies without their approval. Seems pretty basic. At lunch one day a woman handed me her baby boy and I held the little cutie for quite a while.

Leave a folder of important phone numbers, account information, loan details, etc with your parents or a trusted friend. In the event of a credit card getting canceled, don´t forget to reroute auto-matic payments to another card!! Just one of those details.

Get international traveler´s insurance because you need to have it, although you´ll probably never use it.

Use ziploc freezer bags. Lots of them. The air down South is crazy humid, so books, paperwork, shoes, pants, journals, get wet.

Put together a great First Aid Survival kit. Although ours has only been used to help someone else, we can rest assured that we are prepared.

Take a sarong, or two. I suggest them instead of towels which take too long to dry, and get stinky. Plus, a sarong is multi-functional as towel, changing gown, curtain, sheet, beach blanket, sunblock, and windbreaker. Oh, and bag, bathing suit, skirt or dress.

I would like to give some information on border crossings and suggestions on places we really enjoyed, but I think I´ll save that for another time. This note has gotten ridiculous, really.

Good luck with all of your plans! I can´t recommend it highly enough. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to see places I´ve only imagined, to meet these amazing people and peek into lives so different from my own. I have more compassion and empathy because of it, and have had unrealized stereotypes fall to pieces. This adventure is made all the more great because I get to share it with someone I love. We have spent nearly 24 hours a day together for over 3 months, and simply put, it has been super.

I hope at least some of this has been helpful, and that you haven´t had to wade through too much extra goo to get to the good stuff. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with, like giving your Mom my mom´s phone number so she can ask questions of someone who´s now enjoying the ride and wishing she were along on it!

Last thing: before buying anything from a child remember that you are saying, "It´s not important for you to be in school, it´s okay for your parents to use you to make money."

Just a thought.

Cheers!

Grace

Colombia: More Than Just Cocaine and Kidnapping :-)

2009-05-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

(Cartegena, Colombia - Bogota, Colombia)

I`ve been following a couple blogs from bikers ahead of us that have already passed through Colombia and have been particularly interested at how they all seem to rave about this country, particularly the incredible scenery and hospitable people. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical. I suspected that they were just being good travelers and attempting to spread good will back in the States in an attempt to assuage all the stereotypical American fears of Colombia. Now that we are here however, I couldn´t agree more!

This country has been absolutely fantastic! Aside from losing my passport (which I´m gonna go ahead and attribute to my own absent mindedness), Cartegena was amazing, Taganga a relaxing beach getaway, and now we are traveling in the mountainous regions of the country´s center and it couldn´t be more impressive.
As for the people, they really are genuinely thoughtful. Now, I have no intention of dropping my guard just because we´ve met a handful of nice people, but I have to say that we´ve certainly warmed to the culture. In the last few days we´ve had a guy stop on the side of the road and help tension the chain, we stopped to ask directions and another guy kissed his girlfriend goodbye and proceeded to lead us across town on his motorcycle around traffic to our destination, we´ve been invited to lunch by a wonderful family we met at the US Embassy who also invited us to stay at their cabin, and just last night another family invited us to a political rally where we were given free dinner and drinks while we socialized and danced into the night. Nevermind that there were pictures of Fidel Castro and Che Guevera lining the walls and a big anti-bush poster up by the stage, everyone we met was incredibly nice and had high hopes for the new administration :-)

From Cartegena we headed Northward to the town of Taganga. Initially we had considered staying a night in Santa Marta, but quickly realized that it was not for us. The beach wasn`t particularly impressive and the walking areas less than inviting. After about an hour of searching for the road we finally made it over the hill and around the bend to the little beach town of Taganga. This turned out to be a really nice two-day getaway where we lounged about and drank probably 15 fruit smoothies a piece. We stayed at the Pelikan Hostel and ran into the French couple we had met at the Boca Lara community in Darien, Panama. We had been told that Taganga was a hot destination for Israelis and in reality I think Hebrew was more widely spoken in town than Spanish.

Southward from Taganga we had a long day of riding down to Sincelejo. This wasn`t exactly a planned destination, but rather a convenient stop on our way to Medellin. And then Tragedy Struck!
Upon arrival at our hotel in Sencilejo I reached into my pocket for my passport and found only empty air and shattered dreams! I keep my passport in a plastic bag w/ my credit cards and spare cash, in a zippered and velcroed pocket of my shorts, underneath my riding pants. I feel that it has been well protected for the entire trip and have had no problems with this arrangement. Generally I only need access to this bag when we are crossing a border or being harassed by the local police, and so it happened that about an hour North of town we were stopped at a military checkpoint to have our paperwork looked over. The soldiers were really nice and all of our paperwork checked out but I was having some electrical trouble with the bike and was engaged in sorting that out at the time that they gave my paperwork back to me. I can´t remember the exact details about what transpired, all I know is that when we arrived in Sencilejo I still had all the bike permit paperwork but my passport, credit cards and cash were MIA :-( A high speed 60km drive in the pounding rain back to the checkpoint to ask about the missing items and, surprisingly, the officers had no idea what I was talking about. Maybe I dropped it on the road, or maybe they stole it, in any case I was SOL. I limped back to Sencilejo with my tail between my legs where Grace was patiently awaiting my return. Grace, could you please fill us in on what you were up to while I was gone?

Grace´s Story:
Adam rode out into the evening, and I took a shower and prepared for an hour or so on the bed relaxing and watching television. Not fifteen minutes passed before I received a phone call from the front desk, which ended in my heading downstairs to answer some very detailed questions about where we were coming from, and when, and all in Spanish which made me a bit uneasy so I asked why. The clerk answered that the hotel had received a memo from the government requiring them to ask more questions of tourists and travelers. Odd, but okay. So, that line of questioning finished, I headed back upstairs and once again laid back on the bed for some rest. Ten minutes later I received another phone call, and she requested I return to the front desk. Frustrated and a more than a little confused, I headed back down. Whereupon I came face to face with not one, but five Colombian Health Officials with intense faces and rapid-fire questions (again, all in Spanish) that had me shaking and sweating within 30 seconds. It didn´t help that it was hot and nearing 100% humidity. They wanted to know where and when we had been in Mexico, and if Adam or I had shown any symptoms of, yep, you guessed it: Piggie Flu. The intense line of questioning lasted 45 minutes, with me repeating everything multiple times, taking out my passport to prove the dates of my departure from Mexico (it had been exactly two months). As the conversation progressed, and I asserted that we had shown no symptoms, nor had anyone we had come across, they began to simmer down a bit. By the end of it, they were practicing their English skills on me. -end Grace´s story.

We weren´t sure how long it would take to get a new passport and the only embassy is in Bogota, so from Sencilejo we headed straight for the capital. About 200km North of Medellín the road begins to climb into the mountains, the hillsides turn a brilliant green and every hilltop community necessitates a quick stop to photograph. These fantastic colors are due of course to the generous quantity of rain they receive of which we have had the pleasure of driving through on more than one occasion. We passed through the grand mountain city of Medellín where we wanted to spend a couple days exploring but decided to skip as we would now be visiting Bogotá.
We spent a short night in La Dorada after an 11 hour ride where we enjoyed a great corner stand dinner and woke up early on Thursday morning to finish our ride to the city. We arrived in Bogotá amid a torrential downpour and made a B-line for the US Embassy which was scheduled to close for the weekend at Noon on Thursday. It was 10:30am.
We found it fairly quickly, got the paperwork filled out and were told to return at 3pm to pick up my new temporary passport. Total cost, $100 USD. Fantastic! Meanwhile, we had struck up a conversation with a father-daughter duo in the waiting area and they invited us back to his office for lunch. We had to wait till 3pm anyway so we decided to join them. The dad, Javier, owns an engineering firm that works exclusively for the US Army Corps of Engineers building roads and barracks. We got to meet the whole family and had a fantastic lunch. They own multiple pieces of property around Colombia as well as in the US and even invited us to use their mountain cabin 1 hour outside the city. Incredible.

So far Bogota has exceeded our expectations. A far cry from other capital cities that we´ve visited thus far, Bogota is cold, wet, and delightful. Granted, the city is enormous and we have spent our time almost exclusively in the ¨Old Town¨ area where the majority of museums, churches and walking streets are located, but we´ve been enjoying it immensely. We´re staying at a great little hotel named El Dorado which is right across the street from a delicious bakery that we´ve had breakfast for the last two days.
Yesterday we took a gondola ride up to Monserrate, a monastery perched on the hillside on the edge of town that provides spectacular views of the city. It was here that the chaos of May 1st, 2009 began! We had a great view down into the large Plaza Bolivar and saw that it was packed full of people in some sort of demonstration. While gazing down and pondering what excitement we might be missing we heard 3 loud BOOMS and saw smoke in the square followed by the frantic disbursement of the crowd. Hmmm... this can´t be good. By the time we made our way back down into the city, the streets were filled with police in riot gear and all of the banks had had their windows broken out and walls graffitied. We were very careful about where we walked and who we talked to but in reality nothing about the environment felt particularly unsafe. Aside from the enormous police presence, there were families all around, kids eating ice cream and chasing birds, and people just casually going about their business. After asking around, we learned that May 1st every year is a holiday to recognize Colombian workers and invariably a time for the Political Left to come out against the corruption and poor performance of the government on social matters. For this reason, some people in the crowd decided it would be a good idea to throw rocks and paint balls at all the banks in town as well as graffiti some of the churches, government buildings, and random store fronts. It seemed stupid to us and a bit of a waste, but the chaos was short lived and by the time we arrived everything was once again tranquilo.
The good news is that we were invited to a killer left-wing political fiesta where Grace and I enjoyed free food and drinks and danced our socks off to the blaring beats of a local rock band. Good times.
Today we are spending one last day relaxing and walking around town before we once again hit the road. From here we head South towards Cali, Popayan, and on to Ecuador. But first we may have to take up our new friends' offer and pay a visit to their farm house in the mountains. Apparently they even have a chef there who will be taking care of us.
Much love,
A&G

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From - Two for the Road -

Everything was fantastic, and then I went 30 hours w/o food or water...

2009-04-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

(Panama City, Panama - Cartegena, Colombia)

We headed out of Panama City after eight whole days wandering, reading, enjoying our little apartment, while also gearing the bike up for our South America adventures. New tires, fresh oil, new chain, and a full-body going over by Adam, we were ready to hit the road.
On a ferry ride from our Easter Sunday island trip, we heard about a little village in the Darien Province where the Wuonan live near a river in huts on stilts. To get there, you first have to meet someone who's been there as a volunteer. Done. You then have to contact him to have him contact the local Peace Corps volunteer, Johanna, who is an American living with the Wuonan for two years teaching English. Done. Then you drive several hours, cross the border into Darien (chat a bit with the local military) and find a sign with rainbow lettering that is the only way to mark where the dirt road heads off the main road, and then an hour's driving to the village. The women wear no tops, but when visitors arrive they tend to cover up. There are 500 people living there, and they are just about the friendliest people we've come across. They set us up in a big palm-thatched palapa with a mattress and a white curtain for a door. There was a French couple who had arrived just a few hours earlier, and we got acquainted with them and a few of the local women and men who were to be our hosts, and also our cooks! In a fire pit in the floor they put together a delicious dinner of flavourful rice and fresh fried fish, fried chicken, and a lemoncillo tea which seems to be made of boiling tasty grass in water. After the guests eat, the family sits nearby and eats the rest. They made our dinner, then three meals the next day, and breakfast the morning we left. All really delicious, and each meal with a new tea or coffee.
We took a long jungle hike, Adam played a seriously long game of futbol (and made headshots!), and I made friends with about 15 of the local kids who borrowed my camera and jumped all over around me showing off their tumbling skills.

Two nights enjoying the change of pace, and then we headed toward the coast to Carti, where we would set off on our Boat Adventure to Cartagena, Colombia. Our plan: drive to the beach sometime around 11am, find someone with a canoe, load the motorcycle into the canoe, and then ride the canoe out into the bay where we would then load the motorcycle and ourselves onto the Stahlratte. Oh, and while still on shore someone would call the boat to make sure they were ready for us.
For more information on the boat, visit them at www.stahlratte.org
We had a fantastic ride from Chepos to Carti along slippery, muddy roads through a jungle, a river crossing that required me to slip out of my riding gear and venture barefoot into the water seeking out the shallow spots, and finally hotlaps down an airfield toward the sea.
When we arrived, no one onshore seemed to know which boat we were talking about, nor did they seem like they had ever loaded a motorcycle onto any of their canoes. They did, however, charge us only $15 ($5 less than we had expected) because Adam had made friends with a drunk guy at the river crossing who strolled up and told them to give us a deal. Thanks, Drunk Guy!
After a few unanswered phone calls trying to reach the captain of the boat and some waiting around, the canoe drivers decided they would just load us up and head out to the islands to look for the boat. We arrived at the dock, unloaded all of our gear and panniers from the bike, and with the help of 5 or 6 very small Kuna men, managed to lift/drop the motorcycle five feet off the dock and into the canoe. I took photos. Then it was off over the choppy water, Adam trying to keep the bike propped up and after about 20 minutes we neared the islands of San Blas. Right away we saw the Stahlratte, a 106-year-old fishing vessel-turned hippie commune-turned passenger vessel that for the past three years has been carrying passengers (often with motorcycles) back and forth between Cartagena, Colombia and San Blas, Panama. Ludwig, Peer, Rollie, Nicole, and their three-week intern Tilo greeted us warmly, and roped up the bike, using a winch to lift her onboard.
By the next afternoon, we had four more motorcyclists, and seven backpackers onboard. We headed out to one of the fantastic islands, which are all white sand beaches covered with coconut trees that are the Kuna's main income. We dropped anchor, snorkeled the coral reefs, had a bonfire on the beach where Rum and tuKola ruled the night, and spent a few very pleasant days going from island to island, jumping off the boat into pristine waters.
Then we made the crossing.
And now, I'll let Adam finish up. This time, he really will type something in!

The seas were angry that day my friends! Well, actually not really, Grace did peuk 3 times though :-( She tried her best to have a little food or water, but i can honestly say that she went a solid 30 hours without nourishment of any sort. Even today, 3 days after the fact, i still think she´s a bit wobbly walking down the street. In her defense though about half the passengers on board ended up getting ill and EVERYONE, sick or not, got around 20 hours of shut eye over that 30 hour period. Something about rocking about all day in big swell that just makes me sooooooo sleeeepyyy.

We arrived in Cartegena, Colombia safe and sound and unloaded the bikes without incident. With a waterfront lined in tall buildings, our first impression of the city was not what any of us expected. However, as we began to have a look around we discovered that it really is an incredibly beautiful colonial town, surrounded with moats and lagoons and filled with great shops and restaurants. We arrived late morning on April 23 and spent a few hours waiting for paperwork and getting the bikes unloaded before heading over to Casa Mara, a hotel recommended to us by the captain for it´s clean rooms and safe parking.
Since then we´ve had to take care of some additional permitting paperwork, perform some general bike maintenance and then just do a bit of sightseeing and lounging about town. We head out tomorrow for Santa Marta, a popular little beach destination to the North before making our way south to Medellin, Cali and on to Ecuador.

From what we´ve heard from other travelers, the best parts of our journey from North America to South are still ahead of us, and considering how fun it´s been so far, we can´t wait to get to it.

Hope all is well back home, and we´ll catch you at the next update.
Peace and Love,
A&G

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From - Two for the Road -

Of Locks, Docks, and Big Bugs!

2009-04-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

What haven't we done in Panama City? It's been a great 8 days, twice the time we've spent in any town along the way, and we have been busy!
Let me first begin with a description of the weather. Each day starts off pretty mellow, warm and humid the day grows hot and by 12 noon we guess the temperature in the upper 80'sF to the low 90'sF. From 12-3pm are the peak hours for miserably humid dripping with sweat sweltering heat. As we finish with our Spanish class at 12pm, we are left to wander the streets seeking shade, and often end up on the bed laying under the fan. We are still delighted with the refreshingly cool water in our shower! At about 5pm it finally cools to a delightful temperature, and at night it cools enough by midnight or so to need the light sheet which is our only blanket. Mornings are delightful and often breezy. Breezes: Las Brisas.
Now, back to our story:
We started off with a movie at the locally famous Albrook Mall, there tried to eat some Mexican-style carne asada burritos which cost $12 and were the opposite of delicious. We have been taking Spanish Immersion classes with Ariel, who has been great and helpful and who wasn't too upset when we didn't do our homework for the last day of class. We're making him banana pancakes for breakfast tomorrow as a thank you. And no, not the scrambled pancakes of previous discussion.
Easter Sunday we took a 45 minute ferry ride to Isla Tobago, where we rented a big beach umbrella for $5/day, splashed in the cool water, and watched some really cute kids nearby. The beach was so hot that the masses all huddled under their own umbrellas when not in the water, and though we covered ourselves in 50 SPF sunblock we still got sunburned! Let me say that we are pretty cautious, and spent nearly every second either in the shade of the umbrella or with sunhats on, and yet still, it got us. El sol, que fuerte!
We have mapped out nearly the entire city as we first searched for a place to stay and then searched for not one but two different motorcycle parts shops seeking the proper tires and parts that we needed. At last, we were sent to MPH where they had the tires, they could change the chain, and all in an hour! Or so they said. For this part of the story, I'll let Adam elaborate:

We visited the French Cemetery where French citizens who died while working on the canal were buried from 1880-1889 . Pretty, little white crosses numbered and neatly organized dotted a grassy hillside on the edge of a little highway outside the city. We happened across it as we left the grand Panama Canal.
The Locks at Miraflores are a sight to behold. Giant ships from China, the US, Japan, Chile, and Panama cruise through each morning from 9am-11am. The visitor's center is built up close for a great view, where you can see half-pint silver train cars guiding each ship through each lock with huge steel lines tied to each side front and back. Our $8 tickets included a 15 minute movie about the $2.85 Billion dollar Canal expansion, a tour of the museum with amazing miniatures of cranes, trains, boats and dump cars that were used in the building of the canal, a whole floor devoted to the insects of Panama (amazing!!!) and a wall-sized miniature model of the entire width of Panama highlighting elevations and the route of the canal and nearby waterways. Many ships were built especially for work on the canal, and nowadays ships are often built specifically to the dimensions of the Panama Canal.
It was amazing to see up close.

We went out downtown on Saturday night, and sipped a few beers while watching the 25th anniversary of the WWE. I tell ya, it can suck you in. Some of the greats of the past came on for the show, and even Mickey Rourke made an appearance. It was a big Saturday Night. Actually, it being the night before Easter there was almost no one out and about, we obviously made the best of it.

Finding ourselves at a loss for what else to do here, we plan on heading out tomorrow toward the Darien Province. There is a village someone told us about where one Greenpeace woman is working out her two-year stint, and the Indigenous people are friendly and hospitable. We look forward to the river and the waterfalls, the local costumes and some more time in the jungle.

Did I mention we went shopping today? I bought a pretty blouse which should spice up our photos, and a tank top. Big news, as you may have noticed our wardrobe is rather limited. It's been fun to travel so lightly, realizing what little one can live on and creating a whole life out of the few things we can pack onto the motorcycle. Having no home at the moment, we are experiencing an interesting sort of nomadic lifestyle. We have become fluid in our packing and unpacking, each piece fits perfectly and snugly in its place. We each have our part, one pulling out the toiletries and shoes while the other unloads the drybag which holds our clothing. One pulls off the GPS and the tank bag, the other pulls of the saddle-tank bags and the helmets. Lastly, the handlebars are turned to the Lock position, a padlock is slipped through the disc brake, and we lug our things up stairs or down, along a hallway or across a yard to whichever new place we will be sleeping in. Showers follow, perhaps we'll wash our riding socks in the sink and hang them to dry. Perhaps not.

Until next time,
Grace and Adam

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From - Two for the Road -

BEST and WORST, Mexico to Panama!

2009-04-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

HOTEL
Best: Via Via, Leon, Nicaragua - Our first night here we ended up staying in their nicest room for $25 and it was spectacular. High ceiling, king size bed, cable TV, TWO FANS, and hammocks out front.
Worst: Hotel Buena Vista, Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua - They surely have nicer rooms than the one they stuck us in, but it was awful! Three nasty single beds with crummy mattresses and we ended up sharing one because the place was swarming with 'squitos and other nasty insects and we had to share the tiny mosquito net that we packed. The bathroom was gross and they didn't serve dinner. :-(

MOTEL
Best: Sol Y Luna, Hermosillo, Mexico - Only $15, clean, nice mood lighting, nice stereo, private parking, and 3 channels of porn.:-)
Worst: Sol Y Luna, Hermosillo, Mexico - $15 only paid for 4 hours, we felt dirty, no choice on lighting (either mood or nothing), Stereo blared Mexican romance music exclusively, parking had no lock but did have a little observation window, pretty sure the porn was streaming live from other rooms in the motel. :-(

SHOWER
Best: Los Cocos, Dominical, Costa Rica - Nothing fancy, PVC pipes over a cement slab, but a perfect escape from the sticky heat. (we took something like 6 showers that one day) :-)
Worst: This is a toughy. At Hotel Lucy in Montezuma, Costa Rica the pathetic dribble from the disturbingly phalic shower head was more of a lesson in Chinese water torture than an adequate bathing experience. Though I suppose it may be better than the poorly wired shower head in Huehuetenango, Guatemala that was literally "shockingly" refreshing :-(

OVERNIGHT DECIBAL LEVEL
Best: El Dorado Hotel, Yecora, Mexico - We spent a solid 16 straight hours in this stone walled cave of comfort and nary a whisper was heard from without :-)
Worst: Hostal Central, El Valle, Panama - The howling wind, the rattling metal roof, the banging doors, and the creaking bed all added up to one miserable night awake. The owners were super nice though. :-(

RIDE
Best: Copper Canyon, Mexico - A wholly fulfilling and spiritually uplifting ride along the winding mountain roads and down into the beautiful canyon.
Worst: Copper Canyon, Mexico - Miserably cold and tired riding through the wind-whipped mountains followed by a seemingly endless knee crushing, back breaking, rocky descent down treacherous canyon switchbacks, avoiding wreckless bus drivers and sporadic livestock.

BEACH
Best: Starfish Beach, Bocas del Toro, Panama - We hate to take anything away from the other incredible beaches that we've seen (I was actually quite a fan of the one where we buried the motorcycle) but this one was nothing short of spectacular. Fairly isolated, beautiful colors, a nice breeze and great snorkeling were just what the doctor ordered. :-)
Worst: San Blas, Mexico - We had a great time in San Blas and met some really nice people, but the beach just wasn't that inviting. Please keep in mind that we're talking about a sandy stretch of land on the pacific coast of Mexico that's lined with delicious eateries. But we had to pick a worst, so this is what you get. :-(

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITY
Best: El Retiro Day Tour, Semic Champey, Guatemala - It's hard to beat a tour that includes candle lit spelunking, rope swinging, inner tubing, bridge leaping, hike taking, pool swiming fantasticness, with new friends. :-)
Worst: Los Cascadas, Domincal, Costa Rica - As Domincal approaches the end of dry season, these shimmering jungle cascades have diminished to such a pathetic trickle that the surrounding fetid cesspools brimming with post-life pollywogs were the only things we felt worthy of taking up space on our camera's memory card. Grace swears that when she used to live here, they were amazing! :-(

SUNRISE
Best: (We've only seen one. See "Worst" below.)
Worst: Tikal Ruins, Tikal, Guatemala (written and directed by Bethany and Kyle Rogerson, Special thanks to Mike and Leigh Dameron)
ActI: Scene1: Stage Left: 5am. Enter Bethany and Kyle...
Scene2: 5:15am. Group of 6 is found running bleary eyed across an empty parking lot towards the park gate, guarded by a bitter old security guard...
Scene3: 5:18am. Group of 6 engages in impatient small talk, waiting till 6am when the gates actually open...
Scene4: 6am. Though the first to arrive at the gates, ironically our Group of 6 will wait for a slew of late arrivals before being permitted entrance. Kyle and Bethany enter dead last...
Scene5: The group is seperated as a mad dash across the park ensues. The males arrive first, though having taken the wrong route they are only slightly ahead of the females. One of the men arrives without his shirt...
Scene6: One by one the group members collapse as they reach the top of Tikal's highest temple, gasping for breath and dripping with sweat...
Scene7: 6:30am. Camera pans away from the group's weary faces to reveal a wall of fog thick enough to prevent any possible glimpse of the sunrise...
Fade to Black.
ActII: Scene1: 10am. Hours after the unfortunate sunrise debacle, the Group of 6 is seen enjoying an incredible day exploring the ruins, listening to the howler monkeys, and cave hunting for man-eating arachnids.

BORDER CROSSING
Best: Mexico to Guatemala (La Mesilla) - Quick and easy with no hassles. We did have to drive back a couple km to stop at a checkpoint we missed, but even with that delay the fine border guards got us through in 45 minutes, easily the quickest crossing yet. :-)
Worst: Guatemala to Honduras (Corinto) - Thinking back on this crossing, we realize that there really wasn't anything inately confusing or lengthy about it, but the fact that we were fleeced so thoroughly by the team of Honduran Aduana agents just sticks in my craw. I even took pictures of the corrupt jerks that messed with us, just in case I feel like following up further. :-(

FOOD
Best: It's a TIE! El Retiro, Semuc Chumpey, Guatemala AND Street Taco Stand, Anywhere, Mexico - El Retiro was an incredible all you can eat buffet that, aside from being delicious, was the first time we both really gorged ourselves on the trip. We feel that the street tacos need no further explanation, they are perfect and delicious and we have missed them :-)
Worst: Scrambled Pancakes, Our Apartment, Panama City - This morning, what was to be a delicious batch of banana pancakes turned into a scrambled pile of breaded nastiness that was the result of both an awful old pan, and a box of pancake mix that had been infiltrated by a webby goo that could have had no other origin than some foul and despicable little bug!

BEER
Best: Cerveza Indio, Mexico - Slightly darker than the rest, it is scrumptious.
Worst: Still sampling...

Panama City Hostels

2009-04-10T11:33:00.000-07:00

I want to quickly run down our impression of the hostels here in the city so that others won't have to go through the same gruelling experience of driving all about in the blazing heat only to discover that the place was either a total dump or non-existent.
Using our trusty "Lonely Planet Central America" handbook, we visited every budget place we could find and these are our conclusions.

Luna's Castle: Easily the most widely advertised hostel in town as we found posters all throughout costa rica and panama. It's large and very popular. If thay're full, as was the case when we arrived, they'll let you sleep in the grungy "movie room" ($10 per person) where people gather in the darkness throughout the day to watch "The Motorcycle Diaries" and other movies in that vein. If available a private room is $12 per person. There's currently a lot of construction under way and the place is a mess. In addition, they don't have any place to store a motorcycle, although they do claim that it's safe to park just outside the front door, as there's a security guard on duty all night. It was clearly a rockin party hostel but we decided to keep looking.

Hospedaje Casco Viejo: Not far away, this place was cheaper and quieter and was eventually where we ended up staying our first night for $16. They also did not have motorcycle parking and we had to lock our bike up out front and cross our fingers. Things couldn't have worked out better though as the next day we found out that the owner of Casco Viejo also rents out rooms in an apartment building 5 blocks away that include private bathroom, kitchen, balcony and MOTORCYCLE PARKING for only $15 a night! He also said he'll cut us a deal if we stay for a week and so we moved in that day. This place is hands down the best deal in town and a lucky find for us. We're also taking private spanish lessons from one of the hotel workers for $8 an hour for both of us! Our teacher's name is Ariel if you want to ask about him. It's a lot cheaper than the alternative and is going great. The place has Internet for $1 an hour and free wifi in the apartments.

Zuly's Independent Backpackers Hostel: They've got a gated parking lot out front or they'll let you pull a motorcycle back into a garden which is nice. Other than that the place is nothing special with regards to the building or rooms (pretty gross actually) but it's mostly full of international travelers (if that's something you like) and it's downtown near some restaurants and bars. It was $25 for a private room though and we decided it wasn't worth it.

Casa de Carmen: This place was fantastic. It's not exactly walking distance to anything fun, but a short cab ride will get you anywhere you want to go. The place has a great layout, relaxed atmosphere, and secure parking for a bike. This would have been our 1st choice but when we arrived they only had 1 room available for $44, well out of our range. If you make a reservation you can get into a room in the low 30s but even the dorms are $14.50. I guess you get what you pay for.

We were unable to find the following hotels based on the map in lonely planet (and we really looked so either LP got it wrong, or these places have gone the way of the Dodo): Voyager Int'l Hostel, Marmellena, Anita Inn, and Pension Colon. (we subsequently learned that Anita Inn truly did move and they have a website with the new address, www.spanishpanama.com)

Hope this is helpful.
Cheers!

Two Forks and A Spoon

2009-04-09T16:06:00.000-07:00

We just moved into a little apartment room where we can stay for the next ten days. It has its own bathroom and little kitchen, a balcony too. Though very simple, it is lovely to have our own space, to be able to cook, do laundry in the kitchen sink. We have one large fry pan, two forks, a spoon, one little serrated knife, a plastic strainer, a couple of blue and red plastic bowls, and several small ceramic plates. I bought a mini dish soap for .35 cents, a sponge, and some real laundry detergent for handwashing. My sarong now dries outside on the railing, and inside are bras, shirts, and socks. The view to the South is of the ocean and to the North our balcony looks out on a bustling street in Panama City. Possibly the best part of all, the shower has normal water pressure. It feels so luxurious.

a man a plan a canal panama

2009-04-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

(Dominical, CR - Panama City, Panama).

Don't you think the word "palendrome" should actually be a palendrome? The answer is yes, it should.

Since we last wrote (So it's been a while, we know, but not only is it difficult to find computers sometimes but generally when we can find them they are so damn slow that we are unable to complete an update without tearing our hair out in annoyance) we headed out from Dominical to San Jose where we stayed one night while Adam put on our new tire (which lasted ONE day before going flat. Yaaaay!!). No worries, he's a champ at fixing that stuff and as I lay in the hammock reading my book upon arrival in Puerto Viejo, Adam got a sunburn while sweating in the hot afternoon sun for a couple of hours taking the tire off (AGAIN!), replacing the inner tube, and then putting it back on.
Puerto Viejo, on the Southeast coast of Costa Rica is a funky little Caribbean town with tasty food, lots of dreadlocks, and little potsmoking hippy travelers who also have dreads and who roll around town on old bicycles, lay around in hammocks, and sometimes surf. We enjoyed some serious downtime in our super comfy, $16/night room with cable!! Such a luxury to lay in bed and watch English movies. We stayed at Cabinas Lika, where Roberto took great care of us. There is also a great little Comedor across the rocky street, where I had some of the best beans of the trip. Seriously, that's saying a lot.

After two nights in Puerto Viejo, we rode the short hour to the border at Sixoala, where a rickety one-way bridge is the only means of crossing into Panama. Customs took a while, but went smoothly, and we cruised into our sixth country! We headed toward Almirante where we left Peter in a secured storage room, and rode the launcha (little passenger ferry boats) to Bocas del Toro, beautiful islands just off the Caribbean side of Northern Panama. Here the waters are clear as glass, beautiful orange starfish shimmer on the white sand, and dolphins play. There are mangroves and long white, sandy beaches with picturesque palms lining the shores. We settled in at Mondo Taitu, Lonely Planet recommended it for its lively atmosphere and free pancake breakfasts. They offer free loans of surfboards, snorkeling gear, and even bicycles built for two! We did some serious riding on a big rickety bike with black and yellow stripes, and I will admit that my turn at the helm started off a bit scary. They're hard to steer.
We played a lot of cards, and made good use of their kitchen. Each morning we cooked up the free pancakes (I learned to add syrup to the batter) and each night there we made up huge pots of pasta with vegies and tasty sauce. We have now cooked four times on this trip.

Waving goodbye to Bocas, we headed down the long, beautiful roads South. We stayed in Santiago next to a movie theatre (yay!) and picked up a few of the tools we had lost on the highway just outside of San Jose. Did I mention our tool "pod" lid came off and we lost a few things on the highway? Nothing too serious, and now we've got our bailing wire and electrical tape back, also replaced the chain lubricant which had run out.
We had three choices of movies: Fast and the Furious IIII, Monsters vs. Aliens (in spanish), and Shopaholic. Guess which one we watched. Vin Diesel is such a hunk.

From Santiago we headed to the peninsula, down great winding roads to the beach. Panama, by the way, has been the most friendly country next to Mexico. People wave jubilantly from their porches, call out "Buenas!" wherever we go, and have been kind and friendly.
After a great lunch at a raucous beachside bar/restaurant, a shocking trip to the bathroom where the outhouse toilet was literally roiling with inch-long maggots, we drove out onto the sand and South along the shoreline a couple of miles. Adam had his helmet camera on, and crabs dashed out of the way as we flew along, the tide sending little waves our way, and everything just grand until...
we hit the soft edge where the dry sand and the wet sea meet and created 1 1/2 foot-deep puddles of quicksand. Need I say that we were soaking wet, Adam was laughing his "Oh, shit what have I done?" giggle, and then we stopped. Then he tried to move again. Nope. Again, and the sand and water sprayed out from the back and strange noises came out of it, and nope. We were stuck. I got off (obviously) and tried to help, but the poor little bike was sunk so deep we couldn't see the chain. One by one, we took off the luggage parts (tank bag, saddle bags, dry bag on the back, both of the side panniers) and then dug as much sand away from the rear tire as possible. Tipping the bike completely onto it's side, we rotated the whole thing back and forth until it was out onto the harder-packed sand. Luckily, the tide had been going out, or this whole two-hour ordeal would have been a lot less pleasant. So, yay! We had gotten Peter the Girl out of the sand and the muck. Then she wouldn't start. So it was that we removed the seat and the side panels (twice) to reconnect the little wires that had loosened and shorted out.
It was a beautiful beach, and there was a little palm-thatched roofed structure nearby, so if we'd had to stay overnight, it wouldn't have been so bad.
Finally, everything came together. Adam fixed the short, we repacked the gear, and headed into the nearby town where we stayed in a great little place called Hotel Baumy. Also, the only place to stay. $20, and run by a very sweet older couple who were relaxing on their terrace as the days heat cooled into evening.

The next day was a long one, starting just after nine and ending at about 6p, when we arrived in the green mountain town of El Valle. The only hiccup the whole day was when we were stopped for speeding and they made a valiant attempt to fleece us for $50! Two officers were just standing in the road as we rounded a corner and they waved us onto the shoulder. Acting very official they asked to see Adam's license and then told him to accompany one of them into the little office. They had no radar gun or official speed reading of any sort, but they explained that "they could tell" he was going too fast and that, according to the law (they pulled out an official looking book for this part) the fine was 50 smackers! Adam politely disagreed that he was speeding, asked to see any kind of evidence of this and then, doing his best to annoy the officer with extremely poor spanish, explained that he was happy to take the ticket and dispute the fine in court. The officer really did his best to accept payment for the fine on the spot with a promise of avoiding any further legal action, but as this clearly became less and less likely, he simply handed Adam's license back and sent us on our way. Stupid Jerks.
So, El Valle was a great little town with beautiful properties and sprawling houses tucked away in the jungle. Little shops and restaurants are sprinkled about the town which is nestled in the crater of a 3 million year old volcano. From our Hostal Central, $20/night we have access to thermal pools with natural clay mud masks (we both did facials), long hikes along rushing waterfalls where exotic butterflies float on the breeze, and apparently four foot long black snakes like to slither about. I saw a little tiny snake and thought, "oh, better watch out for those little guys" then, not ten minutes later a long, black one slithered out in front of us! Adam words were, "That's troubling." I couldn't have agreed more.

Our hostel was great. The owners friendly and nice, but for being so simple and comfy it is one of the loudest places we've stayed yet. The town gets very quiet after dark, but somehow the tin roof shakes and squeaks in the wind, the bed creaks with the slightest movement, and the whole place is like some kind of echo chamber. Odd, and rather irritating. We both slept with earplugs.

Today we made the short drive to Panama City where we explored the town looking for a suitable hostel where we could safely keep the bike and perform some much needed maintenance (replace the chain, oil filter, air filter, tires, etc) We also plan on taking some Spanish immersion classes while in town! Hablamos Espanol un poco, pero necesitamos practicar mucho mas. We settled on Hostel Casco Viejo where I sit now writing this little diddy and we get ready to head out to dinner. Our ride to Colombia doesn't leave for 12 days so we've got some serious downtime to take in. It is welcome!

Buenas!
And Happy Anniversary to L and M.
And Happy Birthday Emily!

Click on the photo to see the latest pics.

Our Photo Album

Monkeys...

2009-03-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

This is fun.

Blinding Frogs and Finding Tadpoles.

2009-03-27T15:38:00.001-07:00

(Montezuma, CR - Dominical, CR)

Hotel Lucy in Montezuma is just North of town, across the beach and around the point. So it´s easy to walk back from dinner along the shore, avoiding the road, the dust, and the streetlamps. We thought we´d have a little romantic walk, look at the stars, and perhaps sit a bit on the shore listening to the waves crash against the black rocks. As we made our way toward the point, we noticed the sand moving, and as we ducked down to get a closer look, realized that there were Hermit Crabs everywhere. Of course we began to step gingerly, but we soon looked at eachother and said, "Nope, we can´t do this." So we painstakingly made our way up to the road and back to the hotel where we donned our headlamps and ran back down to the beach with our cameras in hand. Their little shells and legs were clicking and clacking against the rocks, and even with lights it was difficult to avoid stepping on them. Some were so tiny!

From Montezuma we made our way down the peninsula, took a ferry, then drove inland toward the mountain towns of Monte Verde and Santa Elena. Climbing to over 6,000 feet, we found ourselves in the cloud forests with cool air and a chance to wear socks and pants for a couple of days. We stayed at a great little hostel, Pensión Santa Elena which is near the center of town and whose guests are an international mix of travelers hoping to see two-toed sloths and signing up for crazy zipline tours.

These are also the reasons that brought us there.

We walked down the road at dusk and wandered through the Frog Pond. They handed out flashlights and we went searching through the different terreriums. We took so many photos, and not until the last tank with the red-eyed, green-legged beauty did someone tell us, "Oh, you´re not supposed to use the flash on your camera." Well, thanks a lot for telling us! We´d been momentarily blinding the poor little creatures for nearly an hour.

The next day we heading up into the Cloudforests of Monte Verde. Aptly named, the air under the jungle canopy is cool and shaded, here you can walk for endless hours on brickwork pathways, peering into the ferns and dark nooks of trees for frogs, bugs and birds. We walked for over two hours, stalking sloths, hoping to see exotic birds and monkeys. We saw three beetles.

That afternoon we did the Extremo Zipline Tour. As we hooked in for our second zipline, Adam and I doubling up for a long, high wire that tosses you out across a valley where cows are tiny dots below, I cried. I couldn´t help imagining the little line snapping and thus plummeting to my death. When we were off the other side, Adam hurriedly explained that with the double caribiner system was virtually accident proof, and with that logic in mind I calmed down and proceeded to attack with gusto the 14 ziplines total (with a seriously ridiculous and windy one to finish). I highly recommend this tour to anyone willing to try. I did skip the Tarzan Swing, but Adam did a monkey flip and we have him on video giggling as the 50 foot rope tossed him out and over a jungle ravine. I watched, absolutely not interested in trying it myself. I´ll do some crazy stuff, but there is a limit.

That night we went to bed at about 8p, and watched Transformers on our little iPod Touch.

Yesterday we headed back down the mountain to Manuel Antonio. As we headed out of town on the long, dusty dirt road toward the beach, I really had to pee. Now, usually I wouldn´t get into a story like this, but I just wanted to point out a big problem with being a girl, and having to pull your pants down. This was made especially difficult because the roads were lined in barbed-wire for miles and miles, so I couldn´t just run off into the trees. Also, there was enough traffic that I couldn´t just risk it for a quickie (add the riding pants and shorts underneath, and it is virtually impossible to be quick). After 31 years of camping, hiking, and travels to places where a bathroom is not always available, I have learned to rough it, and in some cases just hold it. Imagine, if you will, 45 minutes on a rocky mountain road on the back of a motorcycle when you really

have

pee.

Manuel Antonio was very touristy and overpriced, (by our standards, US prices!) but the beach is beautiful, and there were tiny spider monkeys with babies on their backs climing in the bouganvillea bushes at our hostel. Costa Linda Backpackers was just off the main street, and a nice little 4 minutes walk to the beach. Hard to beat $20 in Costa Rica for a private room with a double bed! The fan, though on high and seeming to work very hard, barely blew a whisper and I spent a long night accosted by mosquitoes whose giant, puffy bites in the middle of the night had disappeared by morning. Adam doesn´t believe me, as his turn into big red welts and last for days.

Here we are at last, in Playa Dominical. The one place I couldn´t miss on our Costa Rica adventure. It was in this tiny, laidback surfer´s town that I lived with a group of Orcas friends in the winter of 1996. Many things have changed, new businesses and hotels, but the town is still quite small, still filled with devoted surfers, with it´s lush jungle backdrop and the wide Pacific Ocean stretching out forever. We rode straight to my old house which is pretty dilapidated now, with giant dead leaves covering the yard, graffiti on the walls inside, and the paint beginning to fall away.

We had lunch at San Clemente Bar and Grill where I spent many nights playing pool and darts, and many mornings drinking delicious Costa Rican coffee and watching CNN for updates on home. The big news at the time was that people were offering $5,000 for the new Tickle-Me Elmo dolls.

Adam and I hiked to some nearby waterfalls, where we saw tadpoles swimming in little "tide pools" that dry season has left. There wasn´t much water, so we hiked for a bit, and then came back into town for our third cold-water shower of the day. It is so humid here that we are just wet with sweat all of the time. Needless to say it is difficult to stay hydrated.

We´re staying in a little room at Los Cocos for $14, the cheapest we´ve see yet in Costa Rica. We´ll dine at Thrusters tonight, where I used to eat pizza and play cards with my roommates from New Jersey.

Tomorrow we ride the long road to San José where we´ll get new tires for Peter (pretty girl), and try to find something to do in the capital. Then it´s off to the Southern Caribbean coast, and after that: Panama!

I need another shower, and the parrot over my shoulder is starting to caw and chirp too loudly to focus.

Oh, what is the difference between a tadpole and a pollywog?

¡Pura Vida! It´s a good life.

Click on the photo to browse our latest round of pics, WITH CAPTIONS!

P.S. Kyle, Bethany, Mike and Leigh put together a couple great slideshows from their visit. Check ´em out if you have time!
Kyle and Beth´s Guatemala Photos
Mike and Leigh Guatemala Photos

Nicoya

2009-03-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

(Playa Tamarindo, CR - Montezuma, CR)

From ¨Pura Vida¨ Hostel in Tamarindo, it was a short drive down to Playa Samara which we visited on the recommendation of a few guys we met during dinner prep the night before. Grace put together a fantastic stir fry dish of bean noodles and vegetables which was our first experience ¨eating in¨ since we started the trip. It turned out to be slightly more expensive than going to one of the cheap eateries in town, but from a health and taste perspective, well worth the price. (Seriously, I think that meal may end up saving my life).

In our opinion, both Playa Samara and Tamarindo were nothing to rave about. Hot, dusty and expensive with a majority white population. We did find a great spot to stay in Samara though, just a short ride outside of town, named Villa Kunterbunt. It´s run by a German artist and his lady friend who have been living in Costa Rica for 16 years. (Apparantly all of which time they spent painting the house, which has become a rainbow inspired spectacle!) We met a friendly couple from Australia and enjoyed a lively conversation over dinner where I was explained in detail the silly rules of the game of Cricket, and where we all racked our brains for various ways in which we can improve the world. Imperial is a delicious Costa Rican beverage, by the way.

The road down the Peninsula to Montezuma was a fantastic ride on mostly dirt roads and sandy beaches. We crossed two small rivers with ease, neither of which we felt worthy of a photograph. Sorry Tudor.
We arrived at Montezuma in the afternoon and found a great little town set between two sandy coves just around the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. We booked a room at a fantastic hotel on the water named ¨Hotel Lucy¨ and decided to stay an extra day.

Today we hiked up to a series of waterfalls just outside of town and spent the day splashing around and doing a little cliff jumping. We had lunch at a restaurant perched on stilts above the water, and followed that up with a little reading on the beach as the waves crashed against rocks just beyond our feet. You could argue that it was superior to spending a standard winter day in Seattle I suppose.

Photos
1) Our first taste of Costa Rican relaxin in Tamarindo
2) Villa Kunterbunt in Playa Samara
3) Quite the perch...
4) ...to make friends...
5) ...and watch the sun drop
6) Before landing on the tile floor, it landed on Grace´s face. It was funny... for me.
7) It was having the hardest time swallowing the whole squirrel. Did anyone else think that these things ate bugs???
8) A little beach time just north of Montezuma
9) Pete gets so happy out there
10) Hotel Lucy in Montezuma
11) At the upper pool at ¨Las Cascades de Montezuma¨...
12) ...Grace found a comfy spot...
13) ...with a nice view.
14) It...
15) ...was...
16) ...high.

Pesos, Quetzales, Lempiras, Cordobas, and now... Colones!

2009-03-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

(Leon, Nicaragua - Playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica)

Yesterday we arrived in Costa Rica, our 5th country! We pulled into Tamarindo just at dusk and found a little hostel up a dirt road where we got two beds in a dorm room. Suprisingly, this is the firt time on the trip that we have stayed in a dormitory and not had our own private space. Other than the fact that the beds were insufficiently padded and miserably uncomfortable, AND the lack of any type of air circulation whatsoever which lead to a sweat soaked mattress, there wasn´t really much to complain about.
A few American guys and some Israelis got thoroughly hammered on the hostel patio last night, polishing off a bottle of Vodka in minutes, which provided a consistent amount of entertainment as Grace and I kicked back with our books. One of the highlights was when the one guy from Indiana attempted to sing the Israeli national anthem which was, to say the least, embarrasing and honestly a bit offensive:-o

The four days we spent in Leon, Nicaragua were a fantastic break from the constant travel and we did some serious lounging. The hostel we stayed at was named Via Via and offered a perfect atmosphere for taking it easy. (By the way, Jenny, I finally finished ¨What is the What,¨ and, although a fascinating read, I want to personally congratulate you on putting me into an introspective depression over the last few days:-)
The only physical activity we did while there was going Volcano boarding on Cerro Negro. Twenty-three bucks a pop gets you a 45 minutes ride in the back of a truck to the base of the volcano, a guided 1 hour hike to the top, and then a 45 second ride back down on a piece of plywood. (They´ve got a radar gun at the bottom and the tour guide was going 70kph on the way down. Grace was clocked at 30kph and I was going under 20. I wiped out halfway down when he took the reading... I swear!)
Finally we decided it was time to move on, so we packed up and hit the road. We spent 1 day in Granada which we both really liked and felt we could have explored a bit more. We found the city more ¨walkable¨ than Leon and the buildings more interesting. We felt restless after our long stay at Via Via though and decided to keep moving on to Ometepe Island on Lago de Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America.
It was only an extra $3 to throw the bike on the ferry which was great and we were able to do a serious tour of the island on our own once we arrived. Unfortunately, the room we found to stay for the night at Hospdaje Buena Vista was seriously bug infested and we did NOT enjoy a good nights rest :-( On a lighter note, we only talked to 3 people the entire time on the island, one of which used to live 2 blocks from our house in South Park, San Diego, and the other two used to live on Orcas Island 32 years ago. Amazing.

The border crossing into Costa Rica yesterday was fairly straight forward and now we´re planning on spending the day here at Playa Tamarindo, paddling around in the waves, and workin on our tans. Life continues to be good.
Take care all!

Photos
1) Our Hostel in Leon,
2) where they let us pull the bike right up into the mix
3) Hiking with our Volcano boards at Cerro Negro
4) They gave us some killer duds for protection on the ride down
5) Grace was a little nervous at first...
6) but after a couple swedish girls took off ahead of us...
7) there was no stoppin her!
8) Grace is on the right getting clocked with the radar gun
9) that´s my girl
10) Ahhh, sweet success
11) Grace in Granada
12) Waiting for the Ferry to Ometepe
13) Peter strapped on board
14) Sunset as we wound around the Southern loop of the island

Makin Moves in Central America!

2009-03-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

(Antigua, Guatemala - Leon, Nicaragua)

Before we get started on this epic journal entry I want to quickly point out that we have added a link on the left to our Picasa Photo Album! You can view all of our uploaded photos here and it´s a lot easier to scroll through without having to click the thumbnails below. I hope this helps.

And now, the saga continues....

Yes, we have been lazy fools! Although, only in regards to updating the website. In real life we´ve been so busy we truly haven´t had an extra 2-3 hours (the approximate time it takes to do an update) to sit at a computer.

Since we last touched base, we´ve trekked the ruins of Guatemala, met our first corrupt border officials as we passed into Honduras at Corinto, and spent nearly two hours in 100F while our "helper" helped process our paperwork to get us into Nicaragua! We are now enjoying some roasting hot days (sweat, my friends, is continuous) in Léon, at the great hostel Via Via.

This is what you missed:

We left Antigua after only one night, but managed to go salsa dancing, meet some folks, enjoy a dance performance, and some tasty rum drinks. From there we made our way up the winding mountains and across the land of little volcanoes (as far as the eye can see, these little volcano shapes stretch). Our route took us through Guatemala City at about 11am, and from what I had read I was expecting a person with a shotgun sitting "shotgun" in every car, guns everywhere, craziness, scariness. What I saw was quite different! It was a city like any other, people driving with their babies in carseats, buses loaded with people doing people things. It just goes to show that you can believe everything you read, but you really really shouldn´t.
From there we wound again along beautiful jungle highways, and took a turn down a long pale dirt road to Lanquín and Semuc Champey. We were so extremely tired after that long road that when I sent us 20 minutes farther than we needed to go (I apparently misread the book) there was a moment of frustration which was not helped by Peter falling over. Again. Oops!

LANQUÍN:
We stayed at El Retiró, a fantastic place set into the hillside along a river. This place was idyllic, with palm-thatched bungalows, hammocks strung up on the porches, two horses and a cow grazing on the lush green grass. We´d heard good things about this place, where travelers staying at other hostels and hotels come to hang out. We were not disappointed. The bar and dining room is under a big palm thatched roof, with candles on all the long, wood tables. Everyone sits together, and dinner is served buffet style with each night new creations from the kitchen. The food was fantastic, the beer cold and plentiful, and the crowd was a great international mix of travelers. **If you want dinner, make sure you sign up before 6pm! We nearly didn´t get to eat our second night because we got back late from the bat caves, and the sign-up sheet was full. Many thanks to our friendly neighbors who brought back extra from their multiple trips to the food bar!

That first night we made two trips each to the food bar, after laughing at other people who´s plates were stacked overly high. The food was too delicious! We also met Melanie and Jasper from Holland, who were to be on our tour the next day.
We stayed in one of the Loft rooms, just the first of many nights in single beds. The next morning, our bags packed with sunblock and our picnic lunches wrapped in banana leaves, we set off back up the rugged dirt road (the same one I´d misguided us onto the evening before) and we had an awesome day. There were about 15 people on the tour, which started out with Adam, Jasper, and Tymon swinging off a rope swing into the chilly river. From there we hiked through caves with candles, swimming through the pools and waterfalls where it was too deep to walk. Rickety ladders and slippery ropes, ducking under low ceilings and trying to keep the candles lit! Fantastic. After the caves, we all jumped on inner tubes and tubed down the river to a big bridge where more of the boys took turns jumping off. A brutal hike (really only 25 minutes, but seriously straight upward) and we reached the Mirador, which is a splendid view of the Semuc Champey pools. These are a series of nearly-warmish water in cascading pools of ridiculously pretty water and slippery slides in between. It didn´t take long to take a few photos and head on down to get into the water where we spent another two hours just exploring the pools down and down till we finally had to hike out to the motorcycle to fly down the mountain for the Grutas de Lanquín (Bat Caves!). We waved to our new friends (Jasper, Melanie, Tymon, Inga, Sean, Dagmara, Mette and Casper).
The Grutas are yet more caves, these ones dry that are huge and wind back into the mountain. They are hot and humid, and filled with thousands of bats that come out each evening at sunset. We did a quick (hot) hike inside, and then waited at the mouth of the caves for the action. It was unbelievable! They literally poured out of the blackness, avoiding us at the wide opening, a nearly silent stream of little flying things.

And that is how we missed dinner. Or nearly, luckily having made some friends on the tour who were good enough to hook us up with some delicious pizza, and eventually two full plates of various tasty delights. We bought a few large bottles of beer in return.
We really had a fantastic group on the tour, danced and drank all night, and then met up for breakfast the next morning. Jasper and Melanie are heading the same general direction (South-ish) and we hope to meet up with them again at some point.

FLORES:
Friday morning, and after a big day of hiking and drinking the day before, we barely managed to meet for breakfast at 9am (well, Adam at least, I´d been up since 7am packing up). We headed out around 11am, and up the road to Flores where we were all set to meet my sister Bethany, her husband Kyle, and our friends Mike and Leigh. The first half of the way there takes a while, winding and winding, but then it turns into a hi speed straightaway which we used to our advantage catching up on some time. We were about 30 minutes from our destination when we found ourselves in a tropical downpour. Adam was drenched head to toe, and I was, well, a bit wet. Sitting behind him, I really get the best out of a rainy situation. We rolled up to the Doña Goya 2, with its great view of the lake, and who appeared but four little faces up on the top floor balcony! We took photos back and forth, and they helped us unload.

Dinner in Flores, some drinking on the roof, and the next morning we rode the hour to Tikal.

TIKAL:
We decided to stay a night in the park, which was great (and totally ruined our budget for the day). The Jaguar Inn had great rooms and tasty Pasta Carbonara (with bacon!).
We managed a couple of hours wandering the beautiful pyramids and ruins, where monkeys played and birds chirped their wild songs. It got pretty dark under the jungle canopy as we left, and lucky for us we had a group or we may have gotten a little nervous. As it was, we hurried out to dinner and woke up at 5:30a on Sunday for another few hours of exploring. The highlights of this day were definitely the howler monkeys (wild, maniacal whooping from high in the trees), a crazy attack turkey with peacock-like feathers, Hand sized spider/crab/scorpion beasts in the caves of Tikal, and a beautiful ride down to Lago de Izabal where we were set to stay in Río Dulce at the Tijax Hotel. This place was great! Set right on the river with a marina in front and big open bungalows, it felt like an adult summer camp. And by adult I just mean grownups.

RIO DULCE and LIVINGSTON:
We wandered around Rio Dulce and ate truly delicious pizza at Rio Bravo which is also set right on the river. Monday we loaded up again and the six of us took a boat down the river winding around the mangroves, watches pelicans and other sea birds fly above us, and enjoyed the scenery. Livingston is well known for its Garífuna culture, a mix of Latin and African roots from crashed slave ships. Our stay at Casa Rosada was wonderful, pretty little bungalows, great food, and a long dock where we sat out drinking wine and telling ridiculous stories.
I have noticed there is a lot of Italian food in Guatemala, which is surprising and really great.

Tuesday meant an end to the six of us as Mike and Leigh had to head home. The four of us stayed at a surprisingly cheap hotel that smelled terribly of diesel fuel (no wonder it was so cheap) and were stalked for a while by a crazy homeless guy who pulled a plastic gun on us like a gangster and seemed to always be where we wanted to go. Somehow the 20 minutes of him staring straight at me with the ¨Loco¨ in his eyes made me a little nervous, and needless to say when he showed up at the ice cream shop and watched us from across the street, that made me nervous too.

We had an awesome time, and were so happy that our friends made the trip! We´ve got some great photos, and I think I even may have gotten one against the ancient stones wearing one of my fantastic shawls, with the same bag that Palma had in Guatemala over 30 years ago.

AND THEN....
On Wednesday, Bethany and Kyle headed toward Antigua, and we separated ways. They headed toward the pretty city and a tour of the volcano, where apparently Kyle made a sculpture for Bethany out of lava he pulled right out of the mountain. Us toward Honduras, where we met our first corrupt border official, which was not the best introduction, but things got better when we made our way down to Lago de Yojoa and the D&D Bed and Breakfast where they brew their own beer.
We slept really well in their comfy bed, and the next day packed up and headed South toward Nicaragua with a really special stop in Choluteca where we ate at Pizza Hut (which is a high-class sit down type of place in Honduras) and stayed at the Hotel Rivera which was actually really nice after seeking a hotel in three different cities to no avail (either ridiculously expensive or creepy-sketchy). Up the next morning and to the border at El Guasaule where we met some nice border guards, and hired a helper who spoke great English and did about 2 hours of running around for us to get all the paperwork sorted out. It was about 100F outside, even in the shade, and things were a little sketchy, but he didn´t take any money till it was all done, so we felt pretty good about it. He also warned us to just "act dumb" with the police, which really came in handy about 5 minutes later.
So, we gave all but about $5 to the helper guy, and ended up with an empty tank of gas literally limping into Nicaragua. We managed to get two liters from a roadside stand which the guy poured into our tank from a plastic jug, and made our way sans Seguro (mandatory motor-vehicle insurance you are supposed to buy at the border) to Chinandega where we finally got some cash, some insurance, and some freaking food! It was about 3pm, and we hadn´t eaten anything but a little yogurt in the morning.
I ate a hotdog smothered in condiments, and even found a few of the bon bons I´ve only ever had in Argentina!

Now, León. Where the electricity went off this morning, forcing us to just relax, wander, and read our books. I finally replaced the flip flops that had fallen off the motorcycle our third day in Mexico, and now we are sitting in our sticky skin as the air finally cools (it is just after six in the evening) two kids giggling delightfully just outside the open doors to this internet place, and Adam sitting across the way uploading photos. It´s a two person job, this website stuff.

Hostal Via Via is a restaurant and bar with pool tables in front, dinner on a patio courtyard in the middle, and at the back an open courtyard with the rooms running down either side. The place is lovely, with hammocks lining the center courtyard, travelers and locals hanging out drinking and chatting, and a bustling street outside.
Tomorrow we may go Volcano Surfing, or take a boat to see some crocodiles and exotic birds. We could be cowboys for a day, or go watch rooster fights, but I´d rather have some ice cream and walk around in my newly clean clothes. Did I mention we´ve been doing laundry in the small hotel sinks for over three weeks!? What a delightful thing it is to just have clean clothing. And a double bed. (Last night´s was a King!)
From León we head toward Managua and Granada, perhaps Isla Ometepe and perhaps more. We´re enjoying a slow-down, three whole nights in a town is more than we´ve done anywhere on our trip and we are soaking in the stillness. Also feeling a little cabin fever, but give me a book and a hammock and I´ll be fine.

I need a shower and a big cold beverage.

Until next time.
Lots of Love,
Grace and Adam

Photos
1) Our gracious host Edwin invited us to a barbecue at the Guate Linda Language Center in Antigua
2) Grace stepped in for a quick Salsa lesson and I quickly got the feeling at that moment that the Teacher had quite possibly become the Student
3) Overlooking the Semuc Champey pools after a grueling flight of stairs on an empty stomach
4) It was fantastic, although I am still scratching at some of the bug bites I got there
5) We met some great friends at El Retiro in Semuc Champey that we hope to see again
6) After seeing my impressive growth, our tour guide (Elvis) insisted on trying it on
7) Just as it gets dark, this cave in Lanquin comes alive with these black winged devils
8) It was awesome
9) The posse is waiting when we arrive in Flores
10) Looks like they were havin a hell of a time in the minibus on the way up to Tikal
11) We had 2 hours in the park before the sunset to have a look around
12) We ended up walking out of the site in the dark, with no headlamps, and an older couple from Kentucky hot on our heals fearing for their lives
13) The next morning we were up bright and early to catch sunrise over the temples
14) Long story short, we had to wait 45 minutes for them to open the gate, we sprinted the length of Tikal to the highest temple, and arrived just in time to witness a wall of fog so dense we couldn´t even see the trees 50 ft away. Not cool.
15) These birds were pretty but I got some awesome video of one of them chasing down D and Kyle and attacking some other tourists. No joke, watch out for them.
16) It´s a good thing no one was afraid of heights or the hike to the top of this temple would have been a REALLY uncomfortable experience...
17) Hey guys, lets go in this cave and snoop around
18) Grace was the first to spot one, and was very quick to notify us of her find
19) Standing in one place I found 16 of these. We´re talking CREEPY.
20) Mike found one of there cousins behind the bathroom curtain when we arrived in Rio Dulce
21) We also found a very peculiar insect just outside the door
22) Mike was nearly decapitated by a flock of crazed seagulls on our trip up the river to Livingston
23) Yeeehawww
24) It was nice and relaxing when we arrived in Playa Blanca
25) -How ya livin Kyle? -Pretty good Adam, pretty damn good...
26) Wine on the pier in front of Casa Rosada in Livingston
27) The wind picked up and things got rather chilly
28) It was a really nice night though
29) A full moon over livingston
30) Leigh and D pose on the ride back to Rio Dulce just before boarding the bus to the airport
31) A day later Kyle and Beth say farewell as they continue their trip down to Antigua

We´ve still got a pulse People!

2009-03-13T17:45:00.001-07:00

We´re still alive and life is good. We haven´t had time to update the blog in a while and we plan on taking care of that tomorrow but I wanted to drop a line real quick to let everyone know that everything is just groovy. Right now we´re dying for a good meal and a big night of sleep. Stay tuned...

This one´s for you.

2009-03-03T16:24:00.001-08:00

(Lake Atitlan, Guatemala - Antigua, Guatemala)

Each of us has a memory or two of a photo, a story, a fabric, or something else that has somehow shaped who we are. For me, one of these is a photo of my dear Auntie Palma sitting against an ancient stone wall in beautifully woven layered garments, somewhere in Guatemala (I think). This was more than thirty years ago, when young women traveling to Guatemala was slightly less common.
Palma is partially responsible for my absolute love of textiles (I also thank my Mum), how they feel when touched, how they drape and curve to the shape of a body, the rustle when they are moved...
She wears incredible clothing, much of it from her travels around the world, layered beautifully, always rich in colour and texture, and always with a story behind it.
Before we left San Diego, I told Adam I really needed to have a photo like hers: of me sitting against ancient stones somewhere in Guatemala. (Preferably wearing something great, and looking fantastic!)

This trip is something I have dreamed about forever. Granted I didn´t imagine riding on the back of a motorcycle, but daily I am thrilled and amazed that this opportunity has finally come!

We are in Antigua now, and have found ourselves a room at a language school just a few blocks from the Parqué Central where the famous fountain features a woman holding her voluptious bosoms as water sprays out from the nipples. Rather odd to see, actually.
Our room doesn´t have a bed in it yet, as they are building the place little by little. I´m hoping that one arrives soon so that we can shower and get cleaned up for our evening in this lovely little city. The owner has invited us to a farewell party in the courtyard where they will have salsa dancers performing and food and drinks for 10 Quetzales a person. 8Q to $1 US. What a welcoming atmosphere!
The city reminds me of Oaxaca, but the cobbled streets are deeper and it seems a bit more bustling and lively. The air is warmer here, and we can see volcanoes in the not-so-far-off distance. Apparently there are only 4,000 volcanoes in Guatemala. And by only, I mean: THERE ARE 4,000 VOLCANOES IN GUATEMALA!!!! A bit startling to me, and fascinating. It makes for very interesting riding, small distances carrying you up and then down the sheer sides of mountains.

There is a fantastic bruise on my left calf from a minor incident a few days ago which involved a motorcycle with zero forward velocity, a slightly top heavy luggage arrangement, and a young woman precariously balanced between two luggage cases completely vulnerable to the balancing abilities of a fearless driver. Suffice to say that we fell over, and I got hurt. It actually wasn´t really any big deal and I feel fine, but the bruise has turned out to be quite the battle wound. Wé´ve taken quite a few photos of it, because it makes me feel kinda tough. It´s the little things in life.

I woke up at 5am to the sound of gun shots and canons. Or were they fireworks? My muddled, sleepy mind couldn´t tell, and after a bit of a scary movie before bed, I laid there considering what possibly awful things might be going on out in the town of Panajechal. Apparently nothing, as we were up and out by 9am and the town was bustling and people were happily going about their Tuesday business.
We had a lovely ride into Antigua, stopped once by the police who checked all of our paperwork and asked a few questions then sent us on our way. We were relieved to see that they were stopping all the motorcycles who passed by.

I can see you wandering these streets, and try to imagine them thirty years ago. Many things have changed and yet the women still wear their traditional clothing and carry huge colourful bundles on their heads. They also have cell phones. The restaurants are a myriad of international cuisine, we´ve seen Thai, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, and so many beautiful courtyard restaurants with amazing ambience it´s just, well, amazing.

We like to do a few circles through new towns, discovering where the Plaza Central is, and usually the great places to stay are nearby. When we arrived today we sat down for té negro con leche and I had a tuna melt on a jalapeno bagel. I´ve found Guatemala to be surprisingly expensive compared to Mexico. Still cheap by US standards, but still $5 for a bagel sandwich and tea! Crazy.

I found a purse today. It was $5. Each of the three things I´ve purchased in Guatemala are a rich red and brown tone, aged looking and hand woven. So exciting.

Adam gave me a fantastic birthday present in November, and that was a camera. I am a picture-taking wild woman on this trip, little things catching my eye like doorknobs and tacos, ketchup packs (on the pizza pan), and beautiful people everywhere. My famous bruise, so no one can call me a Ninny! (Thanks, Bethany.) Clouds, mountains, flowers. Vines growing in unbelievable places. Women in traditional costume, men too. Streets, electrical wires... The list goes on and on. Since we are riding nearly every day, that means lots of time where I sit on the back of the bike and just strap my little camera to my wrist. I have become pretty good at snapping shots of things as we fly by, and have also deleted many of them due to the fact that they are a complete blur.

I´d like to tell this little story, too. This afternoon we parked the motorcycle on the edge of the courtyard at our hostel, near the entrance to the street. There is a 15-foot rack filled with scarves and blankets, belts and bedspreads which is covered lightly with sheets. As I was pulling out my scarves to take a photo, I noticed a creepy little man standing near the doorway and the shelves. I thought he was watching me and thinking about trying to take some of our stuff, so I locked it up quickly and walked behind a wall with holes in it, watching him. I then noticed that he was pulling a blouse from behind one of the sheets, and was attempting to roll it up and tuck it under his blue sweatshirt!!! I walked out and spoke a firm bit of Spanish, "No Señor, Dame lo, por favor." (No Sir, give it to me please.) He was a bit scraggly and dirty, but managed to look guilty and sorry, and ducked his head, handed it over and disappeared around the corner. The woman who runs the learning center thanked me when Adam her what happened, but the rack is still there, the large doors wide open, presenting ample opportunity to anyone who waits long enough.

Alright, that´s enough writing for one sitting. Thank you so much for all the great comments and I hope this posting finds you well. I´ve got a going away party to go to, a shower to take, and some salsa dancing to do. To dance. Oh, whatever.
With lots of love, Grace and Adam

Photos
1) Adam makes some little friends in Chichi.
2) Ketchup on pizza? I thank you, no.
3) Used to be a school bus.
4) My first vegie soup!!!
5) Casa Perez. For Rachel.
6) Doorknob. Because of "Manon of the Spring."
7) Tacos!! Not the prettiest picture, but tasty.
8) Limes in Barra de Navidad.
9) Clouds and volcano on Lake Atitlan.
10) Clouds, volcano, dock on Lake Atitlan.
11) Sun setting on volcano in Antigua.
12) The Bruise.
13) My Guatemalan goods.
14) Totally worth the intense hike up...
15) Just a purse, but so happy.

No more Topes! (sort of)

2009-03-01T16:33:00.000-08:00

(Palenque, MX - Lake Atitlan, Guatemala)

We made it!
The border only took 45 minutes and 15 of that was backtracking because we passed the Mexican Aduana where we needed to have our visas canceled. The people here are beautiful, with fuller lips and round faces. This afternoon we visited the famous Chichicastenango Market which was great (endless booths of beautiful weavings, carved masks, cloth animals, purses). It is the Guatemalan version of Chatuchek in Thailand, though perhaps slightly smaller.

We hadn´t anticipated the 97F at the border crossing of La Mesilla, nor the grand entrance once you´re on the Guatemalan side. You end up in the bottom of a giant ravine where the clean, Tope-free road winds it´s way up along a river. We reached an altitude of over 8,000 feet on the way to Huehuetenango, where we stopped for the evening. The difference in temperature was surprising! We thought we were heading into the jungle, but apparently not yet. Not to be gross or anything, but last night was a bit of a cuddle fest. We were cold!

We now find ourselves on the shores of Lago de Atitlan which is absolutely splendid, and where we plan on spending the next couple of days relaxing before we head to Antigua.

So, no more topes (speed bumps) in Guatemala, but we now have Tumulos which are the same thing with a different name. Less frequent, which is wonderful. We did have five thrilling minutes after the border crossing completely free of any bumps at all, and just as I was about to exclaim, "Wahooooo!", kabaaam. Uno más tumulo. The thing is, we hate them because they force us to do exactly what they want us to do: slow down for pedestrians in poblados, pueblos, and cuidades (settlements, small towns, and cities). It is a bit of an epiphany, really, when you think about it: rather than expect people to follow the rules just because they´re supposed to, Make Them Do It. It works every time. Unless of course there is a gap somewhere that we can slide through without slowing down. (We´ve also been known to drive over them at 50mph, though this is unintentional in every case.)

While we´re on the topic of riding motorcycles through Mexico and Guatemala, I would like to add that several times (we´ll leave it at that for the Moms) we have found ourselves thanking the powers that be that we are on a motorcycle as one more bus or double semi truck comes barreling around a tight corner completely usurping both lanes! Due to the narrowness of Peter, and her maneuverability, we are safe from harm.

I bought two beautiful long scarves/wraps today at the Chichicastenango Market. They are beautiful, and though they cost 400 Quetzales, she started at 750 and I feel like I did a pretty good job talking her down. (At 8 Quetzales to the $1 U.S., it´s still a lot down here, but hey! I did it.) We have no room for extra things, so shopping is definitely not a common thing on this trip, but I have always wanted to come to Guatemala for this reason: They have truly beautiful, handwoven tapestries that you will not find anywhere else in the world. And now I have two!

Lake Atitlan lays out before us, her three volcanoes across the waters with their pointed tops reminiscent of something in a Japanese painting. Tomorrow we catch a boat to San Pedro and plan on a night there without Peter! *gasp* Hiking the volcanoes, wandering a bit, and then in the days ahead visiting Antigua, Copan, and by Friday we will be in Tikal! Jungle pyramids, and potentially some serious booty-shaking down in Livingston. Or at least that´s what my sister Bethany is looking forward to...

Today is Adam´s Mom Marilyn´s Birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
Sending love and best wishes for a fantastic year.

Instructions for Crossing the Border into Guatemala

2009-03-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

Follow these simple steps and it should be smooth sailing.

1) Cross the border from Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, Mexico into La Mesilla, Guatemala!
I have read horror stories about crossing the border further to the South with regards to paying ¨fixers¨ to help sort out the details, paying ¨exit taxes¨which amount to nothing more than a bribe, and spending hours mindlessly wandering about in confusion. Be assured that this border crossing is hot, filthy (garbage literally lining the street) and just pretty much not a place you would want to hang out. It is however efficient and hassle free!

2) Make sure to Stop at the Mexican Immigration office 4KM BEFORE THE BORDER!
This is a large red and white open roof building on your left (heading south). If you make it to the border without stopping here, they will ask you to turn around and go back (I know from experience). Inside, the immigration official will ask for your Mexican Visa (the paperwork they gave you when you entered Mexico) and your Passport. They will take the visa from you and then stamp your passport. If you have a yellow ¨vehicle pass¨ keep it with you. (We didn´t have one, but the Guatemalan Vehicle Permit agent did ask for it. I told them that Mexican immigration took our Visas and stamped our passport and there was no other paperwork.) He checked the stamp in the passport, shrugged his shoulders, and moved on.

3) Have the Guatamalen attendant Fumigate the vehicle!
This is pretty straightforward. JUST as you cross the border there are some construction cones indicating where to park. The official will start up the generator and then generously spray the undercarriage and wheels of the bike/car. You will need to follow him into his little office afterwards and pay 20 Mexican Pesos for the spray. (He asked for Quetzales, but all I had was pesos. Should be around 10 Quetzales.)

4) Walk into the Immigration office for your Paperwork!
Just beyond the fumigation is a clear sign for ¨Migration.¨ Park your vehicle out front and walk inside. Tell them you´re planning on driving through the country and give them your passport. This takes about 5 minutes and you´ll get stamped and a tourist visa for 90 days. He will then tell you to move on to the Aduana to deal with the vehicle permitting.

5) Visit the ¨Aduana La Mesilla¨ for your vehicle permit!
About 10 meters further up the road is the Aduana. They will need the Title of the vehicle and your Passport. (I only had a copy of the title and not the original. He wanted the original but when I told him I didn´t have it he just shrugged and moved on). He will hand you some paperwork and tell you to pay the fee at the bank next door (we´re talking 5 feet away).

6) Pay the Piper!
The permits cost 40 Quetzales (of which we still had none) and they wouldn´t take pesos. The woman behind the counter at the bank suggested we walk out into the street and exchange some pesos with one of the 50 people out there providing just that service. The exchange rate wasn´t great, but we got the 40 Quetzales and made the payment. Afterwards, I returned to the Aduana and handed over the paperwork. One minute later we were given the green light to enter the country.

The whole process takes about 30 minutes and you´re home free.
Buen Viaje!

Warm Weather Party People

2009-02-27T16:48:00.000-08:00

(San Cristobal, MX - Palenque, MX)

We just spent an incredible day wandering the ruins and pyramids of Palenque and dipping in the pools under the waterfall at Misol-Ha. Amazing!! Palenque is famous for it´s great Mayan pyramids cut from the jungle, and some literally dug up from beneath soil and gigantic jungle trees! We thought we´d hit the road and head South today, but we were having so much fun we decided to stay another night and just enjoy it. We spent hours walking up and down the steps at Palenque, peering into dark passageways, and trying to imagine life there 1,500 years ago. One of the out-buildings (my first steep ascent of the day) a Count actually lived inside during the early 1800´s! I walked around the small stone space, with three small rooms along the back and one long in front, and tried to imagine a man living there with that view. The stairs back down were intimidating!!

After our hours there, we rode the motorcycle through cornfields and more jungle to the Misol-Ha waterfalls. The fenceposts here are alive! The soil is so fertile, that when they hack out a stick and put it in the ground, it grows. The choice here are lovely silvery-barked branches the bloom with pale pink blossoms. It´s rather amazing how much life is everywhere, with orchids living in the trees, vines draped everywhere, and bromeliads making their homes up and down every tree.

The Misol-Ha waterfalls were spectacular! They are set in a huge water-carved bowl and cascade down nearly 100 feet into a big greeny-brown pool beneath. The water isn´t as stunningly blue and clear like the Agua Azul falls, but we actually preferred its wildness and all the green vines and plants covering the basin. We spent about three hours swimming, climbing around on the moss-covered rocks, taking photo after photo, and even hiking around the basin to a cave waterfall. We paid $2 to have a guide with a flashlight lead us inside where we found tiny bats hanging overhead sleeping, and water jetting out from a crack inside the mountain. I´ve never seen bats sleeping in such quantity before, and they were so tiny and seemed so sweet. When you shine the light on them they sort of shake and shiver trying to keep it out of their eyes. Apparently at about six at night they all wake up and fly out to eat dinner!

Yesterday we stopped at Cascadas de Agua Azul (Blue Water Waterfalls) which were splendidly blue! They seemed surreal in their bright colours, the rounded pale gold stone pouring the water off its edges and creating beautiful places to sit and lose yourself in the beauty. Nearby were little palm-thatched restaurants where we had some fresh empanadas (tiny fried pockets of dough with chicken, cheese, potatoes or beef inside). We ate 20 of them! Delicious.

Right now we are at a very hot and humid internet cafe one block from the Plaza Central where we will meet our Bavarian friends for the third consecutive night of socializing. We went out in San Cristobal two nights ago with some of the people from our tour that day and had a hell of a time at Bar Revolucion! Two of them (Eve and Johannes) were headed up to Palenque yesterday and Eve suggested that we could meet for drinks. We discussed possible locations to meet in town and decided that, ¨in front of the church in the main plaza,¨ would be Romantic (as Eve put it). None of us were familiar with the town, but if there´s one thing you can count on down here, it´s that there´ll be a main plaza with a church.

On the road yesterday we ran into a couple from Scotland that are travelling the America´s by sidecar for the next YEAR AND A HALF! They´re heading South to Peru over the next two months and you can be certain that we´ll see them again. Here´s a link to their website if you´d like to take a look. http://adventuresidecar.co.uk/

I had my first vegetables of the trip in vegetable soup, and it was so delicious! I had it again for lunch, and plan on having it for dinner, too. I can´t tell you how precious I now know it is to have your choice of greenery at the market, and on the menus! Asparagus, broccoli, kale, lettuce, spinach..... I dream of it.

We head South tomorrow toward the border which we hope to pass without too much trouble on Saturday morning. We meet up with Mike, Leigh, Bethany and Kyle in Flores in the North of Guatemala on the 6th, and there´s a lot to see in the South before then so we´re in the process of working out an action packed plan to see it all.

Once again, we hope everyone is well and look forward to the next adventure.

Photos:
1) This one´s for you Ross.
2) San Cristobal Party People
3) Andy and Maya on their way to San Crisobal
4) Agua Azul
5) Really, Really Nice
6) Ruins at Palenque
7) Exploring all about
8) Grace
9) Emerging from the caves at Misol-Ha
10) where we found underground waterfalls, and lots of Bats!
11) Beautiful, Peaceful...
12) and Refreshing!

Peter the Girl

2009-02-25T15:08:00.000-08:00

(Oaxaca, MX - San Cristobal, MX)

We finally named our motorcycle and this is how it happened.
We were in Oaxaca, a beautiful city of ancient greenish stone churches, museums, art galleries and markets. Women in brightly woven dresses, children selling beads and bracelets, international travelers, and many crisscrossing one-way streets. We wandered for hours, taking photo after photo of the long lovely streets and narrow sidewalks. Wide wooden doorways opened onto gorgeous interior courtyards, cafes had open window seats set just feet above the sidewalk, and we enjoyed our first light rain of the trip.
In our hostel, La Casa Azul, we took hot showers to warm up after walking around town, and went about preparing for more street-cruising to find dinner. We chatted about our Beautiful Sweet Girl and threw out a few more potential names (a near daily exercise) and Adam suggested we call her something ridiculous, like "Peter." I said, "But we've been referring to her as a girl for months now. Isn't it a girl?"
"Yeah, Peter the Girl, because she's a girl, but she's got balls you see." He replied.
Who can argue with that logic? And so it happened that our lovely little KLR 650, will now be referred to as, "Peter the Girl."

Now some mildly entertaining tidbits from the last few days...
As we rode out of Oaxaca, the sky was filled with incredible clouds rolling and tossing in impressively high velocity winds. The same winds which we had to ride through for about 6 hours that day. Adam was laughing, which I've learned is his "holy crap!" reaction while riding, as our heads in their bobble-head-like helmets were just blasted again and again. For hours... and hours.
I eventually got used to it, and Adam promised we weren't even close to going off the road (hard to believe) and enjoyed the changing light as the sun began to set and thunderous looking rain clouds loomed ahead. We were sprinkled a bit, but nothing too bad, and finally found our way into Cintalapa, Chiapas, where we found a great hotel on the very edge of the Plaza Central. We ate dinner downstairs and headed to bed soon after to watch 21 Grams with Spanish subtitles (we've been so spoiled!). Carnaval was in full swing over the weekend, but we seemed to miss all the big excitement.
We were up early (ish) and found a little market with our favourite La La strawberry yogurt and vanilla sweet-cake muffins. Then we hit the road and enjoyed another 7,000 foot mountain-crossing through Indigenous lands where the women carry huge stacks of sticks AND a baby, and hike the mountain trails practically barefoot in the cold weather.

We're now closing in on our second (and last) day here in San Cristobal de Las Casas, visiting two more friends from Orcas Island, Cy and Julie Fraser, who are staying in a beautiful little house near the Plaza and have been very hospitable letting us park the bike here and use their internet. They recommended a great tour through the local indigenous towns of Zinacantan and Chamula which we did this morning. The people here have some very peculiar traditions, and we were told some wild stories from the area. (A bunch of drunk guys killing chickens in the main church may sound crazy to some of us, but they do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Chamula). To elaborate, Healers use the chickens to absorb bad spirits, then kill them and bury them. The drinking is just for fun.

Tomorrow we're off to Palenque to explore the ruins and the waterfalls of Agua Azul, but tonight we're going to meet our new Bavarian friends at Bar la Revolucion for a few more cervezas. (Let me know if you're starting to see a trend here :-)

Hope everyone is well and thanks for all the comments.

Photos:
1) Indigenous Zinacantan girl in traditional garb
2) Roaming the streets of San Cristobal
3) With our gracious hosts, Cy and Julie
4) On the streets of Oaxaca
5) Sunset approaching Cintalapa
6) Beautiful entrance into Tehuanatapec
7) 10,000 miles and running strong
8) Grace always makes the coolest friends
9) Look how stoked this guy is
10) The cemetery at Chimula. White crosses for children, Green for young adults, Black for the old
11) Cafe Las Cuiles in Oaxaca was great
12) The walking street of San Cristobal

Back into the Mountains

2009-02-22T16:54:00.000-08:00

(Pinotepa, MX - Oaxaca, MX)

We made our way from Pinotepa yesterday morning for a loooooong day of riding up into the mountains to the state capital of Oaxaca. The first couple hours along the coast to Puerto Escondido was fairly mild and boring , but as we turned inland this all changed. The road quality varied anywhere from absolutely aweful to mildly tolerable. I was actually quite entertained with the winding curves, steep climbs, and constant game of "Avoid the gaping hole in the road." Sometimes I would lose this game, and it would hurt.

We found a great hostel downtown very close to the main plaza for only 150 pesos a and pulled the bike inside. Dinner at a taco stand and then drinks in the main plaza made for a nice relaxing evening before passing out for 12 hours. (Grace only slept for about 10 actually. She woke up earlier and took a nose dive into her current obsession... Twilight.)

Oaxaca is a fantastic town. The weather has been cloudy with spatterings of rain and we spent the day wandering about and taking photos. Cathedrals, museums and art galleries are surrounded by colorful store fronts of all sorts. We both feel really comfortable here and the weather is a nice break from the heat.

Tomorrow we head South back to the coast and then on to San Cristobal and the Mayan Ruins at Palenque before we cross the border into country #2. Ciao.

Photos:
1) One of a hundered streets in town that is colorful and bustling
2) Common store fronts
3) Cathedrals can be found every few blocks or so in the downtown area.
4) Style. Clearly the kids in this town have it. How bout dem?
5) Food lines the roadways near the markets, some of which I find more appetizing than others.
6) grasshoppers

The Colour of Happy

2009-02-20T17:54:00.000-08:00

(Barra de Navidad, MX - Pinotepa, MX)

Our skin is not as white as it was a few days ago, and is perhaps a little more pink than it should be.
We stayed an extra day in Barra de Navidad, and that evening found ourselves on a beautiful rooftop bar overlooking the ocean at sunset. We were invited up by some very friendly part-of-the-year locals who we'd passed on the street half a dozen times in the 24 hours we'd been there! Andre from Canada has been staying in Barra each winter for 12 years and literally seems to know everyone, and Steve from La Conner, Washington who discovered Barra three or four years ago and is well on his way to knowing everyone if he keeps hanging out with Andre.
After a couple of beers and the sun finally gone to bed, they invited us and another friend to dinner with promises to show us a great place. Lo and behold, they took us to the one restaurant we'd eaten dinner at the night before, Mexico Lindo! It was delicious. Again. Thanks guys, for a great night and some seriously tasty chocolate cake!
The last few days my ankle had been causing a fuss. I´m thinking I bruised a nerve/tendon somehow, which has caused me to limp around rather pathetically. Putting pressure on it causes serious discomfort, which has luckily begun to fade. Adam has been calling me Gimpy.

Driving out the next day, we waved goodbye to our Orcas buddies, and even Andre came by for a photo.
Onward we drove, my ankle very upset. We arrived in Playa Azul as the sun dropped low, and enjoyed another great sunset with Kanye West blasting from a beautiful bar palapa (palm thatched roof structure). As we were standing out on the sand taking photos, a white guy strode up to us and started chatting. Super friendly, and we were both just a wee bit uncomfortable. Something about this guy was just not right. He wanted to show us a great hotel, and literally ran down the road ahead of us to point it out about a 1/4 mile away. Maybe it's not very nice, but I did take some video of it.
Strange man, but he led us to Hotel Andrea, where Lupe greeted us with a warm smile and a large, clean room with hot water. For 250 pesos, it was great, and just two blocks from the beach!

From Playa Azul we finally managed to leave early (10am!) and headed to Zihautanejo for a four hour swim break at the beach. Beautiful water, parasailing, funny little kids running around. Since it was still fairly early we decided to head toward Acapulco and ended up in downtown just as it got dark. Crazy traffic, so tired, we drove around seeking a hotel and were both grouchy and overly hungry by the time we found one! When we did, it was two blocks from a movie theater and had air conditioning, so after a bite to eat and a shower we headed down for the late showing of Valkyrie.

For anyone visiting Acapulco, I highly suggest avoiding the downtown area and heading up over the hill to the next bay to the South. The reason for this is the insane amount of chain restaurants, crazy traffic, and soulless-ness of that area. Too harsh? The author may have been a little hungry on arriving, and this may have coloured her view.

Now we are in Pinotepa Nacional, staying at Las Gaviotas Hotel where they've let us park the motorcyclce in the lobby, there is hot water, and English movies on TV. The air has finally cooled a bit, which is nice after a long hot day in the sun.

One thing I've noticed around this area, are the many houses and restaurants painted a sort of Caribbean ocean blue. Pale and pretty, it is the colour of happy. I want to paint a kitchen that colour.

We head toward Puerto Escondido and then toward Oaxaca, where we plan on spending a couple of days exploring.
I'm hungry and sleepy and it's getting late, so for now: ciao! And Buenos Noches.

Photos:
1) Andre, Grace, Yours Truly, Steve, and Mysterio...
2) "Grace," a self portrait
3) Playa Azul arrival just at sunset
4) Beach soccer at dusk
5) Birds make a break for it as we drive by on the sand
6) Driving on the hard pack near the water is easy, it´s getting there and back with the bike loaded down that gets me (and the KLR) to break a sweat.
7) SOME sections of the highway are absolutely spectacular!
8) Swim break on Playa la Ropa, Zihuatanajo
9) Scanning the guide book in downtown Acupulco
10) We just ran into these two guys, Clay and Kyle, today about an hour before arriving here in Pinotepa. They´re doing practiacally the same ride we are, except (unlike us) they´re on a time table of only 3 months :-( They are both on KLRs and were impressed to see the set-up we have for two-up riding. Check out their blog HERE.

South Along the Coast

2009-02-17T13:33:00.000-08:00

(San Blas, MX - Barra de Navidad, MX)

Saturday night in San Blas was fairly uneventful. We did some people watching in the plaza and watched the drag queen parade but decided not to attend the actual competition. It was a little past our bedtime and a bit more expensive than we would have liked. The boys did look fantastic though. We said goodbye to our friends in San Blas on Sunday and headed south To Puerto Vallarta.

The ride down the coast was nice but a little busy and we arrived in the city shortly before dark. The newer parts of PV to the North are ridiculously posh and expensive, lined with high rises and shopping malls, but we found the Old Town area to be fantastic. For anyone looking for accomodations in PV, just drive all the way to the south end of town and you will eventually see the sign for the highway south to Manzanilla and a winding road leading up the hill. Now backtrack two blocks to the street named "Francesco l. Madero" and you will find an abundance of nice, cheap hotels about a 7 minute walk to the ocean front. We stayed at the Hotel Azteca for $27 US and it was great. Hot hot water, big pretty courtyard, and safe street parking (or at least that's what one of the locals told us). They also have a 24-hour front desk person with street-views.

Yesterday we stopped by the hotel Barcelo in Mismaloya to see if Corrina and Jason had arrived yet and were told they wouldn´t be in until the evening. The hotel is beautiful and their wedding on Friday should be incredible. Sorry we missed you guys and I hope you got our note. Congratulations on the marriage and have a wonderful time!

We continued down the coast and had lunch in a very small town named Punta Perula that was Spectacular! The beach was empty and the bay pristine. I even did a couple hot laps on the sand with the KLR. She handled the soft stuff just beautifully. (Grace's Note: A car drove by on the sand as we were eating lunch, and Adam said "Whoa". I thought he was pointing out yet another Canadian flaunting their flag, but then he said, "You can Drive on the beach?" and already had one boot on.)

We made it down to Barra de Navidad just as the sun was setting. It was a nice one and we had to pull over for some photos. The breeze off the water was perfect, and we enjoyed a few minutes of silence before moving on in search of a hotel. We unpacked our stuff into Hotel Sarabi (the cleanest accomodations we've seen yet!) cleaned up and found our friends Mark and Natalie from Orcas who were staying in the hotel next door. The cerveza´s flowed from then on and we quickly decided to stay another day and relax.
Today has been nice and mellow, mostly lounging and swimming at the beach. Tomorrow we´ll probably head South down to Zihuatanejo, and from there inland to Oaxaca.

For now though, it's time for a shower and maybe a nap.

Photos:
1) Dinner in San Blas on Saturday
2) Drag Queen Parade
3) Creatures of San Blas: Moth?
4) Lizard
5) Teenie little Frogito
6) Hillside leading South from PV just outside Hotel Azteca
7) Street taco stand (We ate lunch and dinner at one of these)
8) Hot Laps in Punto Perula
9) Soaking it up
10) Sunset on the pacific with cute bobblehead doll in foreground
11) Pretty nice I´d say
12) Marc, Natalie, Grace and AT in Barra de Navidad

El Mar

2009-02-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

(Batopilas, MX - San Blas, MX)

OK, here we go...
Since our last post, we´ve been makin tracks. We made it out of Batopilas on Wednesday after spending a couple days lounging about and exploring, and took to the road once again. The bike was having some trouble overheating on the way up the canyon and I was mildly distressed (to say the least.) I discovered the following morning that the fuse for the radiator fan had blown and, after removing the side panels, seat, and gas tank, was finally able to trace the wires and find the fuse holder to fix the problem. (Note: On KLR motorcycles, although the fan and radiator are on the left side, you will find the 10A fan fuse on the Right side, zip tied to the metal rail just beneath the fairing!)
Back at altitude leaving the canyon, we found our way along some fantastically windy asphalt roads to the town of Guachochi for lunch. We met up with some other riders there who were down from Calgary, an older couple on a BMW 1150GS, John and Joanne, and their friend Lloyd who was traveling in style aboard a bright orange Honda Goldwing 1800 with trailer in tow. We ended up following them into Parral and enjoyed a dinner on John (Thanks again John) and engaged in a robust political debate about the merits of capital punishment. Those of you who are thinking that this may not have been the best idea are dead right. Not that things didn´t stay civil but boy o boy did the mood change. Grace became less enthusiastic about staying awake as she approached hour #2 of thoroughly being ignored by me as I drank and spewed circular logic nonsense to our new found friends.
From Parral we had a long ride down to Durango which was miserable, once again, doing 70mph for 5 hours on the KLR, and spent the night in the heart of the historic district. It was actually a lot nicer than we anticipated upon entering the city limits. After about an hour of hunting, we managed to find a nice hotel and a good restaurant downtown and enjoyed wandering about... a bit. We both really liked how the buildings were layed out. They had a very plain, flat front which suggested a less than interesting interior, but upon entering they would open up to reveal a large, lush courtyard.
Before I go on, I´d like to take a second to comment on the highway trash issues they are having down here. The roads are honestly, a dump. They have signs every few kilometres that remind drivers that "A clean highway is a safe highway," and yet this seems to have no affect on the masses. The roadsides are COVERED in garbage. Every stream that you pass has become a dumping point for vehicles to back up to and it´s a daily occurrence that we see trash being shuttled out the windows of car windows as they drive on their way. The roads are in fantastic shape for driving and I applaud the work on infrastructure, but the trash has got to go. Maybe someone could write a letter explaining the "Adopt a Highway" phenomenon that has gripped the US?
Although the roadsides are a mess, It is nice to report that the Federales at the military checkpoints are an absolute pleasure. They are mostly kids around 18 years old with massive machine guns and a curiosity about the bike. Up until today it has been nothing but an enjoyable break in the ride, but today, they dropped my bike! Frickin Dude wasn´t comfortable letting the bike lean against it´s kickstand and so insisted that he would balance the bike vertically as I opened the side cases for inspection. Unfortunately he wasn´t ready for the weight and lost control, letting the bike crash down on it´s side. He was mortified and I was pissed. The other guys helped pick the bike back up and the inspection was over. Lucky for me, I´ve already dropped the bike in the exact same fashion about 6 times so far on the trip, and it´s nothing new for the old girl so no damage was done (Not that I would have really made much of a scene anyways)
Yesterday's ride was epic. From Durango we had about 150km of average ho-hum riding on the way to Mazatlan, when we arrived at the "Devil's Backbone" This is a world famous stretch of road that runs along a mountain ridge and provides amazing views of deep valleys far below on BOTH sides of the road. This was a hell of a lot of fun to drive but really gave all three of us a solid work out. (She´s one of us now...)
We spent the night in El Rosario, at the hotel Yuaca, last night where we stayed up drinking with 5 new bikers from Calgary (I don't know what the deal is with Calgary) who were on there way to meet their wives and girlfriends today near Puerto Vallarta. They were all on Street Bikes and were averaging a far quicker pace than us (Though they did miss out on Copper Canyon, due to ground clearance issues, HA! Take that Canadians!)
Todays ride was brief and mostly uneventful beyond the fact that we've finally made it back to the ocean here in San Blas. This town is fantastic and we've already made some friends who all intend to rock the night away with some live music at McDonalds down the road (it´s a bar) Tomorrow the big event here is that the city will crown "Mr/Ms Transvestite San Blas 2009" in the main plaza. Apparently it's a pretty good show. Not sure if there's a parade. Not really sure what to expect at all other than I´m confident it will be nice and weird.
The beach here is fantastic and it's not too crowded. I think we may stay an extra day to relax. We'll see. No rush. Our lives rock. Peace.

Photos:
1) Disassembling the bike in Parral in search of a fuse
2) On the road, Grace is the photographer
3) Semi drivers are maniacs around here. This guy just lost his load but we saw another one on it´s side yesterday trying to negotiate a tight corner at high speeds.
4) One of the churches near our hotel in Durango.
5) They are constantly burning the roadside brush (not exactly sure why) but the flames honestly melt the plastic as you drive by. This was a particularly unexpected and hot one to pass.
6) Grace likes to eat and drink.
7) She also takes fantastic pictures.
8) At first glance, it looked like a painted sculpture, but after doing a u-turn we found that someone had cleaned a horse right there and posed it with the bottle. Strange yes?
9) It´s art I think.
10) Looking three directions from one of the stops on the Devil´s Backbone.
11) Next.
12) It was awesome.
10) I have to stretch when we take breaks. I get so sore.
11) Finally, back to the ocean.
12) She´s so cute.

P.S. As I´ve been working on this blog I have learned that, of the 10 people staying at this off-the-beaten track hotel, the owner (Chris) is originally from Port Townsend,WA and two of the guests used to live next door to me on Orcas Island. The son, Liam Hampton, was a student of my Mom´s in 3rd grade and both Paul Townsend (his Dad) and He have been out boating with Poppa Storey. Unbelievable. I´m going to have another Cerveza.

Hola de Batopílas!

2009-02-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

(Puerto Penasco, MX - Copper Canyon, MX)

We are at the deep end of Copper Canyon, a truly incredible range of mountains surrounds us with variations in colour you can hardly believe. Goats roam everywhere, also donkeys and vacas (cows) which have created an amazing geometrical maze across every hillside (most of which are so steep it's hard to imagine anything being able to walk there).
Tudor: I hate to say it, but I think you would literally cry to know what you are missing.
James H: You too.

We are taking a much needed day to rest up a bit, as the ride was (put lightly) grueling. We could barely get ourselves off of the bike when we stopped to rest, as the steep up and down rock and gravel roads require constant tensing and standing, gripping and jumping to avoid letting the motorcycle jump back up and getcha.

Batopilas is a lovely little town on the edge of a river. There is really only one street with all the houses on either side running about a mile or so. Many of them are home to cows, and some are easily 100 years old. The area was once a big silver mine.

We have so far made our way from the border towns of San Luis, to Puerto Penasco, Hermosillo, Yecora, and Creel. We've stayed just one night in each until now, as the roads were previously beautifully paved, new and smooth. I think we may have been taking it for granted, but sure appreciate it now!
I highly recommend at least one night in Yecora, which was just so friendly. We stayed at a little hotel with lacquered stone walls rather like a cave, and since Adam was sick (and is just today finally feeling better) we made it our little nest from about 6pm till about 10am the next morning. It was here that I had my favourite meal yet, Huevos con Chorizo! They had just made the chorizo (which is a meat and spices with a sort of ancho/smokey spice flavour) and mixed with scrambled eggs and rolled into a little corn tortilla: Really really delicious.
Nearly every place we've stayed has had satellite TV which is unexpected, until Creel where they had a TV but it didn't actually work. They did, however, have a cracking fireplace just outside our door at Hotel Korachi, which was wonderful considering it got pretty cold.
The wind last night kept knocking the whole town's power out, which meant no hot water and sometimes lights, sometimes no lights. Being the Americans that we are, we pulled out the ipod and watched The Darjeeling Limited. We were asleep by 9:30pm, and didn't budge till nearly 10am.
I can't begin to describe how tired my entire body was, except to say that when we arrived in town after about 5 hours of riding and Adam kept going and passed on to more dirt roads and another hill.. I literally cried. Just a little, but I have to admit it happened. He was just making sure we saw all the hotel possibilities but all I could think of was getting off the bike, getting something to eat, and not getting back onto the bike!
Poor guy. And we're only a week in!

So tomorrow we head back out of the Canyon, and then Southwest toward Durango and then the beaches again. So far we haven't had much access to Internet, but that should change over the next few days.

Buen Dia! Hope you are all well. Time for some more meat and beans, maybe a little cheese, and maybe even a cerveza...

Photos:
Our departure from the Carroll´s in Palm Springs
Arrival in Puerto Penasco
Grace was always excited for a stretch break
Narrow road just above Batopilas
Down into Copper Canyon
Taking a break when we reached the valley floor
Narrow streets in Batopilas
Meat, Beans, Cerveza, Again.
Looking down on the town today

Sea of Cortez!

2009-02-04T16:27:00.001-08:00

(Palm Springs, USA - Puerto Penasco, Mexico)

We've just arrived in Puerto Penasco on the Sea of Cortez for our second night in Mexico and so far everything has been fantastic. Last night we ended up in the Motel California in San Luis which, aside from the semi trucks rumbling by all night, the unexplained lumps in the bed, and the guy revving his car engine for 10 minutes right outside our window at 4am, it was just groovy.
This town is quite nice and a serious Arizona tourist destination. Clearly not one of the "Jewels" of Mexico but the servers speak English, they've got free internet and wifi, and the bathrooms are clean, so we're not complaining.
Tomorrow, we'll see if we can make it to Hermosillo. Till the next post... Peace.

We're Outta Here!

2009-02-03T09:12:00.001-08:00

After a couple of semi-restful days in Palm Springs with the Carrolls, we're ready to hit the road. Grace gets her last Hep B shot this morning and then we're on our way to the border. The plan today is to cross into Mexicali and take care of all the paperwork to pass through Mexico and then find a place to stay for the night. Tomorrow we'll find our way down to Puerto Penasco and then over to Hermosillo and on to Creel and Copper Canyon in the coming days.
We're about as prepared as I can imagine being and excited as hell about getting this hoopty under way. Again, we'll be in contact through e-mail the entire time if anyone wants to get in touch and update us on the haps in the real world. Much love to everyone!
We're out.

Grand Send Off

2009-01-27T20:06:00.001-08:00

We have been in a mad rush to get everything set for the trip, 12+ hour days packing, organizing, and getting the last details put together. We both had our last day of work on Friday, which happily leaves us this week to move out and get packed up!
We also managed to take a couple of days over the weekend to have an outrageous1980's themed going away party. About thirty of our friends and family (some flying in from Seattle!) made it out for a fantastic night of music and dancing, drinking and debauchery.
We had a few hours of thrift store costume hunting Saturday afternoon, and then a few more hours to put ourselves together. Adam put his new-found sewing skills to work on Kyle's ridiculously short shorts, (they absolutely had to be hemmed 2 inches) and Jenny found herself in a pretty awesome one-piece pink suit. Matt's Don Johnson suit (complete with white loafers and belt), Adam's sleeveless shirt, my black tutu, and Anna's fabulous green and pink Chuck's, Rachel's pink hair, and Scott's vintage Adidas set up the night for good things.
The feeling we are left with is Proud. Proud that our friends came out rockin' it. All decked out and ready to party.
We had a great night. The perfect send off for a fantastic adventure!!

Borrego Springs

2009-01-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

We took the opportunity this past weekend to ride out to Borrego Springs and camp with friends in Palm Canyon. On Saturday we had lunch in Julian on our way to Borrego and had a great day of riding. We were both comfortable and the bike handled well loaded up with all of our gear. We can't wait to get on the road!!

Welcome to "Two for the Road"

2009-01-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to our blog! Over the next 6 months Grace and I will take turns updating this site as we work our way through Latin America. We may not find internet access in every town but whenever it's available we'll do our best to keep you up to date. Feel free to add comments to our posts and we'll be reading them whenever we have the time. We're really looking forward to an adventure that inspires and broadens our understanding of the world and we hope you'll join us.