[22/05/2024 – 29/05/2024[

Intro

52 weeks in a year, 26 weeks traveled. Even though after 6 months of travelling we have established a certain routine, this undertaking feels as enormous, ballsy and to some insane as when we jumped on the plane on 29th of November. Well halftime now. but only from a time perspective, from a distance perspective we are about 4´000 km short, estimating the overall journey to encompass 60`000 km and currently we are at a little north of 26´000 km.
Two main things happened this week. First we got our drone back, which we sent by LIberty Express from Costa Rica to Guatemala City. Took about 3 weeks but it worked and we got her back. The other one was the border crossing from Guatemala to Mexico.
This week we as well had our first loss of partner while riding, well idiots at work I guess. Anyway I ended up in sort of a hiking trail, while Stefan was elsewhere, tumbling my bike. Getting it back up alone is quite hard work I have to say, and in the end i had to turn around anyway, as the pathway was occupied by an excavator doing work well duh. Was anyway a rather interesting experience, for the both of us I guess. We did have some words when we rejoiced, but in the end, as written above, two idiots at work. My personal highlight this week was the road towards Oaxaca, Ruta Nacional 190 in Mexico, bendy, uphill, downhill, not much traffic, just a dream for every rider (definitely for me). It was the longest stage we have ridden in central america.
By the way I am rather unsure if Mexico is part of central america or part of North America. Openstreet Map puts it towards North America, when downloading maps, the German Telekom rather puts it towards Central America. Anyway, I´ll write up a summary similar to what I did for South America, after we successfully have entered the U.S.

Wednesday: Lago Atitlan – Antigua

First challenge of the day was climbing up away from Lago Atitlan, which in the end was much easier then anticipated, I guess we have been doing this for a while after all. After a stop somewhere in between, I felt overcome by tiredness, and got saved by Guatemala City traffic, which added some exitement as city traffic usually does. Drone retrieval was no problem at all, and we did reach Antigua after another taste of Guatemala City rush hour traffic. Quick walk through the market and in general enjoying moderate temperatures.

Thursday: Antigua

Sightseeing of this colonial style city including some of the local ruins. The rest of the day was spent by researching and getting a Mexican civil liability insurance, which will be valid from Saturday onwards. And running. Well i needed some water afterwards, but the locals at the tienda wanted to drink with me, so i ended up being tipsy after two little ones.

Friday: Antigua – Quetzaltenango

The driving was quite fun, except for the last kilometers into Quetzaltenango. Which left us basically 100 km before the border to Mexico. The city was quite nice and was celebrating 500 years of existence. Proper streetfood, nice bars, and a pretty central plaza.

Saturday: Quetzaltenango (Guatemala) – Tapachula (Mexico)

Today I was doing the navigating again, starting off with using a one way street the opposite direction. I guess that already put Stefan in a bad mood. Which a while later then led to him overriding my navigation, and in the process we lost each other. I tried to follow him but somehow he was gone. Well I did not stop, G why should I and ended up in a rather steep dirt road/pathway, which had to very stony sections, and in the first one i laid my bike on the side. After I got it up again I had the marvelous idea of walking a bit uphill, to see where the work noises where coming from. Well I saw the excavator that blocked the road, and the rather huge hole before the excavator. Damn this is now the third time that I had to turn around on a dirt road and I am everything but pleased about this.

After reuniting with Stefan the ride to the border was rather uneventful, even though Guatemala saw us off with a nice little heavy rain shower. Exiting Guatemala was not a problem and basically done in like 15 mins top. Entering Mexico was as well no problem for us, with the exception that we got asked how long we would like to stay. After a bit of a lengthy answer why we would spent some weeks here, the border agent told us, that if you stay only 7 days, you do not have to pay tourist fees if you stay longer, which in our case is the usual amount of 90 days, you pay about 40.-€. Next the bikes. Again not really a problem, except the need for a copy of the passport and the title for the motorbikes, together with the entry stamp. So the only thing we could have prepared upfront was the passport and title copy. Copys hop was a bit tricky as meanwhile there was a bit of a thunderstorm crossing from Mexico into Guatemala and the owner of the shop did not want to use her copier during the thunderstorm. Once that was sorted we had to pay a 400.-$ deposit. Unfortunately Stefan´s credit card was maxed out and there was no way I was allowed to put the deposit for both motorcycles on my card. The process just simply does not allow. So Stefan was grounded. Luckily our destination is within some kind of free trade zone, so both motos could get with us to Tapachula. First order of business was to balance Stefan´s card. While the hope was that it ll be done by Sunday, we braised ourself to stay in Tapachula till Monday.

Sunday: Tapachula

Remember computer systems do not work on the weekend. Do they have a union because it seems that might be a union worthwhile joining. No of course the card was not balanced. So slow day. Watched the newest Indiana Jones. Much better then I expected.

Monday: Tapachula – Tolana

The rest of the customs process for Stefan´s bike was really fast, and the border agent (same as on Saturday) continued to be very friendly and helpful. So finally our little group has completed the entry into Mexico. So let´s go riding. No police control actually wanted to see our documentation on this day. It seems like with a motorcycle you are not really fitting the profile.

Tuesday: Tolana – Oaxaca

450 km, the longest stage we have since Cartagena to Bogota in Columbia. By midday we had done 170 km and stopped in Juchitan for lunch before completing the other 280 km to Oaxaca. The temperature reached about 42°C for a longer period of time.

We passed a lot of mango groves, freshly planted as well as aged ones. We saw our first Agave fields and have now entered Mezcal country. As written above the RN 190 towards Oaxaca was a very good segment. Here we have a wonderful spacious appartment and the city is very nice to look at, colonial style again.

This completes week 26
Till next time
Happy Hacking everyone