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5. Dezember 2014
Lost in Guatemala!!!
Ok folks, I think it is really time for a little update here! Its a long time
ago since my last post and as you all can imagine a lot of things
happened meanwhile. So where to start? Oh, maybe it’s interesting
for you to know that I'm in Antigua, Guatemala right now, the fourth
country of my journey.
What, Guatemala!? You where supposed to be in South America, at
least in Panama! I can hear you guys and you're f... right! So what
am I doing here? ENJOYING!!! That is the only thing that comes to
my mind. Of course I can't get the whole story in one post, so just let
me tell you, I was lost in Mexico and now again in Guatemala.
From the moment when I detected that not every Mexican is a
potential killer - of course I met a lot, but only on the dance floor - or
a thief, I enjoyed the country that much you wouldn’t believe it. And
just to make sure that I'll really enjoy this country and its people I got
a little help from my motorcycle that broke down a few times. But
don't worry, nothing really serious (steering head bearing, rear tire,
clutch, oil leaks, ...). Oh my god that sounds awful! But as always in
my life angels surrounded me and I thank everyone for helping me
out. All of you were and are great!
After four weeks in Merida, Yucatan I decided that it might be a really
good idea to move on. So I made a reservation with the Stahlratte to
get a ride from Panama to Columbia. But someone had another plan
for me. I made it to Chetumal, Mexico - of course I visited Tulum
before - when I detected that Elektra is leaky again and there where
some other problems as well. So what to do? Going down to
Guatemala City, approx. 800 km through the mountains, through a
country I don’t know, to a dealer who maybe can’t help me or going
back to Merida, to the Ducati dealer I trust and to the people I really
like. There was no real decision to make. So I went back to Merida.
Oh, of course I couldn’t manage to go back without damaging the
bike even more then before. I missed one of this bloody speed
bumps again and hit this damn thing with 120 while it was indicating
40! In the middle of nowhere! Are they crazy? After the landing the
front wheel was no longer the same. Of course not!
Two weeks later I was once again absolutely sure that it is time to go
back on the road. And you know what, this time everything worked
well for me! Ducati (Sebastian) did a good job. Thank you for this! So
I made it to the border of Guatemala. With only 8 days left to reach
Panama and the boat ride I was persuade that I better avoid any
border that I don't have to cross. So Belize was swept from my list.
Mexico said good by in the way that I expected the whole trip – I
heard gun fire at 5 a clock in the morning, approx. two blocks away
from my hotel in Comitán. Jepeee!!!
Many people wrote reports about border crossing so there is no need
to do the same thing. Just let me tell you that I opted for the border in
Ciudad Cuauhtémoc in the mountains. After I conquered my shock
about the border itself – the whole place looks like a mess –
everything worked out fine for me. People were absolutely friendly,
they spoke a little bit English and they did all the paperwork, the
copies and everything on their own. So after less than an hour me
and Elektra were official visitors of Guatemala and we left the awful
first city in Guatemala as fast as we could. Conclusion: After reading
all the horror stories of other bikers I had no problems at all at this
border!
At this day I made it to Antigua, the touristic center of Guatemala. On
my way the roads gave me a lot of headaches. Either they were
really shitty or they were absolutely good but then you had so many
curves that you had the feeling you are sitting in a rollercoaster. This
was of course the part that I enjoyed!
Antigua is a really nice place! But what is wrong with me? Why can’t I
enjoy this nice place as I should? Why do I feel like a hunted dog?
You have to reach your boat!!! You have to go on!!! You have to …!!!
What? I have to do nothing! That is no longer my way of traveling, at
least for now. So decisions had to be made. And I decided! I decided
not to go further down – for now. There is just not enough time to do
all the things that I wanted to do on this trip. Antigua is, or better was,
the point when I realized that. Even if it sounds easy, this decision
wasn’t really!!!
So now I’ve the time to see all the places in this area I always wanted
to visit and do all the things I ever wanted to do. Two days ago I
visited beautiful lake Attitlan, I guess I tried every second restaurant
in Antigua and I’m looking forward for another absolutely highlight of
my trip tomorrow. After climbing on volcano Pacaya (2,552 m / 8,373
ft), which for this guys here is only a family adventure, I decided to do
the real stuff. A few hours ago I booked an overnight hike on mount
Acatenango, one of the highest volcanos (3,976 m / 13,045 ft) in
Guatemala and also in entire Central America. As you can imagine,
I’m really excited! If you are interested, just check out this link:
http://guatemalavolcano.com/AcatenangoVolcanoHike.html
What else is on my list? Seeing more places in Guatemala and of
course in Mexico, learning Spanish, …! As you can see, I’m not
running out of ideas. The only thing we all running out of is time. On
a trip like this you realize that one year is nothing. So lets see what
happens next. I wish all of you a good Christmas season. Don’t
stress yourself to much being Santa Claus, just TAKE YOUR TIME!
