Into Copper Canyon!

Today we are making the journey into the hot, sunny yet ultimately beautiful Copper Canyon. This mountainous desert range is little know about and somewhat hard to get to, and controlled by Mexican cartels. We won't have internet for a few days but when we come back there will some stories to tell, and some amazing pictures of the excursion.
Don't worry, and see you on the other side!

Oaxaca and Puebla: mezcal, petrified waterfalls, hidden tunnels, mice and cathedrals.

Rising early, we departed Tehuantepec for our first point of interest on our return journey through Mexico, Oaxaca city. It was only 150 miles away, 150 miles of winding, picturesque, mountain road. Things were in our favour today though; the roads were well maintained, traffic was almost non-existent, there were no machete-wielding protestors, our chains didn't fall off and the weather was mild. Progress was quick and, apart from Tim being required to take it easy on the corners because his rear spring has lost its springiness and is in need of replacement, there were no problems; in what seemed like no time we made it to Oaxaca. Riding through the outskirts of the city it appeared that the city was nothing special, until we suddenly passed into the old center of town and found ourselves presented with beautiful old colonial architecture, reminiscent of Antigua. After finding our hostel and offloading our motorcycles we went out to explore the town in the afternoon sun, heading towards the zocalo (town square) to get our orientation. From the zocalo, Tim directed us to "La Casa del Mezcal", a mezcaleria he visited when he was in Oaxaca six years ago; here we sampled some mezcal, a liquor produced in the state of Oaxaca and similar in taste to tequila. Once we had taste-tested some delicious and some not-so-delicious mezcals, we walked across the street to the market to see some of the locally produced wares; there were huge amounts of products for sale but what really caught our eyes were the pet stores. We played with the rabbits, puppies and various other baby animals and then Shaun and Chris decided to buy a feeder mouse each to bring with them on the rest of the journey through Mexico and save from their fate of being food for pet snakes. Bringing their new pets home to the hostel, Shaun and Chris set about attempting to 'train' their mice so that they would get used to being handled. Chris' mouse "Stuart" seemed quite docile and was easily handled; however, unfortunately for Shaun, his mouse didn't seem to like him, wouldn't stop screeching and bit him, so Shaun was forced to let him go into the wild to make it on his own.

The next day we spent exploring more of the historical sights of Oaxaca, doing out some much needed laundry, relaxing and organising a tour of some nearby attractions which we would take the following day, on Shaun’s 20^th birthday. The tour we booked would take is to the Tule tree, largest tree in the world by volume and older than Christ; a place where carpets are handmade using traditional indigenous methods and colors; Mitla, the ruins of an ancient burial site once used by the Zapotecs; Hierve el Agua, a huge ‘petrified’ waterfall that has grown through millions of years of mineralised water bubbling up from underground and leaving deposits in the same manner of how cave formations are created; and, to finish the tour, we would stop by a mezcal manufacturing place to see how mezcal is still made using traditional techniques and to sample some more of the different varieties. Following the tour, we had to make a decision where we wanted to go next in order to make our way towards Copper Canyon, we could either follow the coast or go the inland route, dodging Mexico City to avoid getting stuck in its never-ending traffic again.

We decided to stick to the inland route, reasoning that we had spent a fair bit of time already along the coast in Central America and it would be quicker to go inland because we would avoid crossing the mountain range twice more. So, the day after Shaun’s birthday, we left Oaxaca for Puebla a town we knew very little about but selected primarily as a waypoint on our way to Guadalajara. After what was probably the most impressive scenery we’ve rode through so far, complete with grand views of desert plains skirted by mountains and a distant snow-peaked volcano, we arrived in Puebla and found ourselves presented with a town much like Oaxaca; however, far less populated by tourists. Upon checking into our hostel we decided to stay in Puebla for a couple of days to see what it had to offer; what we found did not disappoint. We saw the largest cathedral in Mexico (and possibly the largest building in Puebla) complete with soaring towers, doors big enough for giants to enter, ornately designed shrines and enormous organs; and, just a few blocks away was another church with enough gold leaf inside to rival a royal palace! There was a brilliantly done museum, displaying works ranging from ancient artefacts to interactive exhibits of modern art; complete with a great view of the city from its terrace coffee shop on the roof of the third floor. Just 20 minutes away by chicken bus we explored the ruins at Cholula, where a church had been built on top of the ruins of the destroyed temple to Quetzalcoatl. Underneath the destroyed temple there was 5 miles of tunnels, dug by an archaeologist in the 1930s to prove that the church had in fact been built on top of ruins, instead of just a hill as it appeared to the naked eye; most of the tunnels are sealed off now but there is still a path for visitors to explore. After being pleasantly surprised by the attractions of Puebla it’s time to head to our next destination, Morelia.

Back to Mexico

We left the relaxing and amazingly picturesque Lake Atitlan and rode northwest towards Mexico and our second last border before we enter the States. The ride there was full of curves and I mean absolutely full of them; it seemed like the bikes were never upright! We climbed higher and higher along the twisting mountain path, reaching a frigid 10,000 ft in altitude. They say the Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina has a lot of curves, well the road to Mexico and beyond could possibly put it to shame. After leaning our body's over the bikes like MotoGP riders for more than an hour we arrived at the border, and the fun began. The paper process began to leave Guatemala, and so did the issues. To leave Guatemala you need to have this paper that shows the border officials that you were indeed a tourist in their country. Tim and Shaun had their papers still; Chris however, did not. The original plan to travel to South America and not back up through Central America led Chris to throw out some unnecessary papers in Panama. Unfortunately though, these papers became necessary once more on our travels up. Hours after exhausting our limited Spanish trying to figure out what we needed to do, with the help of a local who spoke English we learnt that Chris would need to file a complaint with the Police concerning his lost papers, and that this could take a few days or a week, in truth nobody knows. Chris enlisted the help of a local to show him where the Police Station was, and went there to sort it all out. Once there he spoke to the Policemen who had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, they had never ever heard of this complaint for the loss of this document and subsequently told him to leave. By now we were coming on 3 hours at this particular part of the border, so we decided to make like bats and get the hell out of there. The border officials did not like this one bit! Across a very small bridge and we were now out of Guatemala and on our way to Mexico. The same logic for all of the other borders we had been through also applied for this one. Go to this window, get this stamped, a photocopy of this, now another stamp and a fee... the list goes on. The final window we went to, a lady behind the desk was telling us we had to pay $300 each or $400 in Tim's case for the bikes. For what? You may ask, well that is a fabulous question because we also have no idea why. Very reluctant to pay this large amount of money when we didn't have to when we entered Mexico the first time, we spent more than 2 hours trying to work a way around this or at least to understand why. We eventually understood that this $300 and $400 were deposits for the motorcycles, most likely so we wouldn't sell them in Mexico (not sure why we would), and that we would supposedly get this money back when leaving Mexico. Very, very reluctantly we forked over the money as we realized there was no way around paying it, that is unless we wanted to head back to Guatemala where we were most likely fugitives by now. It was well dark by the time we made it through the border and we now had the issue of finding a place to stay in Tapachula, a town just across the border.

Fully rested after the previous long day, we left Tapachula and made our way west towards Oaxaca. This was a destination however it was to far away for a single days ride, this meant we would have at least one way point before arriving there. We decided that this way point would be in a town called Tehuanatepec which lay midway between us and Oaxaca. The road there was great until we hit a road block about 100 miles away from the town. Trucks and cars were backed up for miles at a complete stand still, the cause being a protest about the local government. We rode past all the stopped vehicles hoping that the villagers would be nice enough to let us through. Approaching the crowd we saw over 100 people, many armed with machetes which they loved waving around. Once we stopped we were bombarded with people yelling at us in Spanish to go back, and that it was impossible to pass. All the while waving their machetes. We decided very quickly to retreat to a safe distance and review our options. We learned from one of the many truck drivers waiting there that they had been there for more than 7 hours already and that they could be there for many, many more. Another truck driver told us of a route, that we had also noticed on our map, that appeared to be a service road for a train track. This route effectively went around the road block but would add another hour to our journey due to its length and the fact that it would mostly likely be a dirt road. With night approaching, we decided to turn around and try our luck with the service road. It took some time to find it, but we did, and it was most definitely a dirt road. There were others following us in the attempt to avoid the road block, and the long wait for it to disperse. Nearing the end of the dirt road and almost back on the highway the path became even more rocky and steep. Shaun was at the back and was bouncing over the rocks when suddenly his rear wheel locked up and the bike slid all over the place. Shaun managed to stop the bike without falling and came to realize that the chain had come off the entire rear sprocket. This was great news since we had all feared that it had broken. A little road-side maintenance and the chain was back on the sprocket and adjusted, and we were off again headed to the highway and our way point: Tehuanatepec.

El Salvador to Antigua

After our quick stop in Santa Rosa, El Salvador we plotted a course to the beach village of El Zonte. El Zonte is a destination for surfing enthusiasts from all over the world and our plan was to try our hand at hanging ten. After about 5 hours of riding on curvy mountain roads we arrived at the coast to find a small town with dirt roads and a few shacks along the ocean. We found a hostel that was reasonably priced and relaxed for the rest of the day while watching some surfers navigate the tumultuous waters. How hard could it be? The next morning Tim and Shaun woke up with a case food poisoning picked up from a few days earlier and Tim decided to give the surfing a pass and be the photographer for the occasion. We found some surfboards to hire for a hefty $5 and headed for the rocky shores. What makes this area famous among hardcore surfers is the rough and unpredictable waves that break against large rocks and in some places, shear cliffs. After watching the waves rush in for a little while, Chris and Shaun grabbed their boards and proceeded cautiously over the slippery rocks to get to the water. The budding surfers paddled out through massive waves, getting cartwheeled through the water a few times, until they were out far enough to catch a wave. With the determination of a house cat hunting a fly, we timed our paddling and kicking just as a wave came through and the years of training and preparation took over as we stood up triumphantly and carved through a folding wave. I guess it looked differently in real life than it did in our heads, unfortunately there would be no carving of waves, standing up, or much of anything that resembled surfing. But we did learn some basics and got a feel for how to navigate treacherous shores that will be helpful when we are at a more beginner-friendly beach later down the road.

The next day we packed up and rode towards our tentative destination of Antigua, Guatemala. The ride was fairly straight forward and we arrived at the border before lunch to find the usual disarray and lack of logic. After a frustrating time trying to decipher what one of the border officials was saying, we learned that we needed one of the papers given to us over a month earlier when we first entered Guatemala. Luckily Tim and Shaun were able to dig theirs out but Chris cleaned his file-cabinet of Central American papers in Panama. The lady behind the glass told Chris that he must walk a mile down the road into Guatemala and find a police officer to obtain a complaint slip that would allow him to enter the line to get a new paper printed. After 25 minutes of walking through the sun and heat, no officer was found and the lady refused to help. She had the required paper on her monitor and would not print it. Weighing the options we decided to proceed without this paper and hopefully deal with it when exiting Guatemala. Angry, hot, and frustrated we sped away from the border and thankfully did not hit any police checkpoints along the way to Antigua.
Antigua is undoubtedly the most picturesque city we have seen. After settling into a small hostel downtown we went out to explore and take some pictures. We learned of a nearby volcano that was accessible via horse and decided that was going to have to make it on the agenda. So a day later we took a shuttle to the base of the volcano and hired three horses from locals to ride up the trail to the top. We saddled up and trotted into up the trail that winded around Volcan Pacaya eventually giving way to a view of the summit and surrounding region. Having erupted less than two years ago, there were still areas that were hot enough to roast marshmallows over so we all grabbed a stick and tried our first volcano-mallo. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of the trip so far! That night we had dinner at a restaurant owned by a man from Texas who had been living in Guatemala for over 8 years. We discussed our route to Lake Atitilan and he warned against the road we were planning on taking as it is famous for being host to many muggings and vehicle thefts. His recommendation was to park our bikes in a town on the opposite end of the lake and take a ferry across to San Marcos.

So the next day we traded in our horses for our familiar iron ponies and began heading North. After a few hours of riding and a few wrong turns, we found ourselves with an amazing view of lake Atitlan. The remaining road was filled with gentle twists that lead down the city of Panajachel where we were met with a parade that was moving unfortunately slow. Making our way through the crowds of people and vehicles we found a secure place to park the bikes and make our way to the dock to catch the ferry to San Marcos where we found a cheap and quaint place to stay called Paco Real. This small village has one road and the rest of the town is accessible only by footpath. Most of our time here has been spent relaxing and enjoying the scenery but we took some time to do some cliff jumping at a nearby park and Tim and Shaun went scuba diving in the lake to see some underwater ruins. So far our time here has just been a chance to relax, plan and regroup as we prepare to head back into Mexico.