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Published: July 26th 2005
Bill and the Mezcal experiment
Puerto Escondito. Hey, this was a set-up, you knowTrying to get some photos from the last few days...
Got out of Quetzaltenango after more wrong turns...if there's a one-way street, I'll always find it...and head down the wrong way!...endless bumper to bumper, trucks, cars, bikes, down narrow, dusty, bumpy, crowded little thoroughfare, sudden turns for a few blocks, back on the straight, cutting along the inside to pass, trucks trying to run me into the gutter, cars pushing at the back wheel, pedestrians dodging out of the way, dirty, dusty, shop fronts or whatever covered in dust, no signs at all, just hope we're on the right road!..get a good passing break and stream past half a km of traffic while they're stopped for roadworks, huge potholes and puddles...always a dangerous move as you can't tell how deep its going to be...finally turn off for a sign saying Guatemala city...onto a 2 lane , smooth new road up into the mountains ...well, more into the mountains as we're already at 2300 metres...beautiful sweeping curves, some tight corners, come up behind the colourful flatulent busses, struggling and roaring up the steep inclines, belching black smoke, touts hanging off the door, screeching to a stop to pick up and drop off
on the ferry back in Baja
Overnight with nothing to eat or drink...its really tough here passengers, local cars pass at any time, just pull out and go...truck being passed veers in the kerb, oncoming vehicles hit the horns and lights, everyone holds their breath, three into two just won't go.,..then thru' and back into it...at least we have the grunt to overtake quickly ad then jump on everything before the next corner...
About every 500 metres theres a dog by the road...ad this goes on for kms and kms..v strange, waiting for some canine messiah they turn and look as I approach, then look away, disappointed, shoulders drooping and skulk off...pretty healthy looking dogs, no sort of habitation around, they're just spread out evenly all along the road...
Countryside looking more Swiss, everything so colourful and bright, hillsides covered in patchwork of corn, cabbages, other veges and grasses, right up on slopes so steep you can't imagine how they plough them...or how it could survive the afternoon drenching rains...
Upwards ever upwards we broach the tree line and also the cloud line!..yikes, we go through valley tops, cornering hard, over some of the dips in the ridges, clouds are pouring across the road , great flowing rivers of vapour, then we come out on the
on the balcony
this was back in Creel! plateau, no trees up here, looks like snow country in the off-season, then down, down, down, still the roadside dog vigil, thru small towns, road in good nick.
We haven´t bought any fuel here yet, still running on Mex petrol...good fuel has been findable all the way, but the long range tanks have been handy, often they didn't have premium, and occasionaly they'd have regular in the premium pump!!...bike handles it ok altho a bit of pinging and often a loud crack when starting up are the giveaway signs of low grade fuel...we are carrying spare fuel filters and we were given the lowdown on how to change them...big job but!...so far so good...only Pemex in Mexico but here in Guat there are many brands..
Water in bottles always available and no problema anywhere...there seem to be signs that the water supplies are being fixed up throughout Mex but I wasn´t going to take a punt!
ack to the road...get to the turn off to Sonola and Panajachel where I am now...down, down , down into this vast hole between the mountains, really tight turns and twists, busses blasting away riding the Jake brakes, and the horns blaring...the old maxim...if
you've got good horns you don't need brakes!!....and they're coming up behind us..way, way down, thru Snola, busy little town, colourful markets, people mostly in tradirional, v bright and gaudy clothes, its a regular kalaedescope of coulors and sounds, and the people seem pretty happy, always smiling and busy...then a mob of school kids in formal shirts and ties, bright red jumpers, not at all dissimilar to any school group at home...
hen eventually a glimpse or two of the lake and we are down to Panajachel on te lake shores...man o man, tourista city, back to one of the big tourista hubs of Guat...street lined with stalls and restaurants, interestingly the variety is striking, unlike other touristy places where all the stores have the same stuff there's amazing diversity of coulors, patterns, designs of all the andicrafts, and pleasantly a quite gentle harrassment by the vendors, nowhere near as pushy as Asia, say, and such an array of goodies...got myself a bag and just now a scarff from a tiny girl with a huge bundle of stuff on her head...
Off to get the washing done, its about overdue, and maybe a day or 2 to kill as we
want to get to the market on thursday at Huehuetenango about an hour or 2's ride from here.
Now to get some photos up if I can!!
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