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Published: October 13th 2015
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Our second day in Mexico we rode toward the beautiful Coatzacoalcos area which was quite pretty with the beach and colourful sunset. On the way were wonderful mountain vistas and statues. Villages peppered the highway and the people seemed happy and dressed brightly. People (and children in particular) seemed quite surprised and pleased to see us and waved as we rode by.
We enjoyed walking around the waterfront area down by the beach and around the sculptures prior to fivesies in the foyer with Jeff and Dean.
Next day we rode to Palenque which was resort like with lots of rainforest-like vegetation and gardens, a pool, lovely whitewash painted rooms with thatched rooves and to top it off, hammocks on our balcony - what more does one need? Well yes, we were able to source beer and wine also ?
A taxi was organised for early the next morning to Palenque Mayan ruins so we all piled into these and headed there where we met a fantastic English speaking guide who took us through the ruins with a comprehensive knowledge of the ruins and the Mayan people then also guided us through some jungle. He was great and
very worthwhile engaging.
After a relaxing night back at La Aldea we rode out the next day expecting thunderstorms and wet weather as we headed for our hotel near the Guatemalan border. We prepared in our wet weather gear but nothing much came of it really.
The ride out was quite different to what we had previously done in that there was a lot of jungle and the roads had narrowed and were less well maintained. We saw a bus accident on the side of the road and ambulances further along. I wondered how far they had come to reach the incident site. The villages seemed smaller and more primitive and there seemed a lot of people just standing on the sides of the road.
Our ride was not far in distance but took all day due to the windy roads and increase/ decrease in altitude. The temperature dropped from the mid 30s to 19 degrees at the top of the range.
I was exhausted when we reached our hotel in Tapachula and pretty much ate and crashed out.
Mexico into Guatemala
We left our accommodation around 8.30 in 28 degree heat, and made
our way towards the border. As we weaved through we were joined by some Guatemalan guys on motorbikes who offered to help us through the border. We did the paperwork to exit Mexico for our bikes and ourselves. As the last of the seven of us were being processed I went outside to help with watching the bikes. While we waited, a HUGE (but peaceful) crowd of thousands of people pushed past the guards and gates of border control. We quickly walked back into the immigration area and they surged en masse into the Mexican border control area outside.
We went back outside as the mood seemed calm and settled and we proceeded to our bikes to complete more paperwork for our exit which was completed quickly and without problem. At this point Gerardo tried to talk with the people protesting at the border, but to no avail so Gerardo, Rosco and I left the others with the bikes to go to the gates and try to reason with the people at the front. Gerardo had a discussion with some men at the front who explained that all the borders were shut out of Mexico and that we would
need the permission of everyone present there to pass. Given there were somewhere around 10,000+ (possibly a lot more) people there we didn't have a chance so we went back to 'no mans land' (as we'd officially exited Mexico) to wait for them to leave so we could cross the border.
At around 3.30pm, the protest finished and the crowd dissipated. We got on our bikes with the guys we had met and crossed into Guatemala. Well, we paid to have our tyres cleaned, then needed to pay $150 USD as apparently our bike registration papers weren't originals (they were but they would have found something else). So we paid then waited another hour in the sticky heat while our passports were taken for processing and then our bikes checked. What a palaver, just extreme extortion! Gerardo did a good job of liaising with the crooked officials and impressively everyone remained in good spirits.
We then told the officials we were headed to Antigua (in case anyone followed or phoned ahead) and found accommodation near the border. We had a nice meal and met a pleasant Guatemalan guy who spoke great English and helped us order food that
won't kill us ?
An early morning tomorrow to clear this country!
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