THE LONG WAY AROUND

The last view of the sun I've had in awhile, from my room in Flores

11-02-06
After exploring the ruins in Tikal I settled into Flores to await a lost A.T.M. card coming via Fedex. Flores is a beautiful little town located on an island in the middle of good sized lake. I checked into a nice hotel right on the water, my room had its own dock with use of a sea kayak to explore the lake. It was a great place to wait for my card, I had a few problems with fedex, but finally with some help from Teresa at First Bank it was delivered to me and I could continue my journey. I had seven dollars left to my name when it arrived and not many businesses down here take credit cards, so thanks again to Teresa.

Even my bike had a nice room in Flores next to the indoor pool

My drive towards Coban was uneventful and very wet; it had been raining continuously for about four days at this point now. I made good time driving so I decided to push further south and called it a night in a sketchy town called Salama. My room more resembled a jail cell than a hotel. The window was covered with thick bars and the door was a huge slab of metal with a giant lock, made me feel secure inside but had me thinking what the hell goes on here that prompted them to install such measures. The Family that runs the hotel told me if I didn’t keep my bike in the room with me it wouldn’t be there in the morning. So I barricaded myself and the bike into my cell and served my time for the night.
The drive from Salama to Antigua was more eventful. I decided to run dirt roads through the jungle into Antigua this plan would also allow me to bypass the much dreaded trip through Guatemala City. I had to go up and over a high mountain pass, almost 6000 feet, to reach the end of pavement in a small speck on the map at a town of Rabinal. Here the road turned to dirt and mud. If it was not for the continuous rain it would have been actually a nice ride. The road was manageable although a little slippery and sloppy, a few places were it switch backed up and down the mountain side had me a little gripped. The rain was starting to pour down the hillsides and had me more than a little nervous about mudslides, but I had 65 miles to go to reach Antigua and I already knocked about half of it off when it really started getting sloppy. I was about 25 miles from Antigua as I rounded a curve out of nowhere a man tried to wave me down, I have heard stories that started like this and resulted in robberies when the victim stopped. I hadn’t seen any trace of civilization since I left pavement in Rabinal so I was very skeptical to stop. I accelerated past the man and the rocks he placed on the road. I got about 20 yards past him and stopped, the man was about 60 years old five foot nothing and about ninety pounds so I thought I could take him if I had to, assuming the rest of the gang wasn’t waiting in the brush. He was waving frantically at me and pointing around the small hill in front of me. I walked up the hill and looked down at a raging river that the road led straight into. The man explained to me the bridge just washed away about an hour prior to my arrival. I was now thinking I wish he was just robbing me. Although the river was not very wide fording it was out of the question, especially with my past record of fording rivers or as I refer to it as the Scofield Pass incident, for those who don’t know what I’m talking about it is a whole other story in itself. After consulting my maps, G.P.S. and my new found amigo who I suspected as a robber, I was forced to turn back the way I came and go around, about 180 miles around! and forcing me through Guatemala City after all. It was especially tough knowing I was only about 25 miles from my destination and now had a full days ride through the rain ahead of me, oh well what can you do. I was really missing Jay at this point with no one to bitch and moan to what was the point with no one to hear.

At the river crossing just south of Texas

I did have to cross the river about 100 miles up stream, as I approached the river and saw no bridge I thought you have got to be kidding, if I have to go any further north I will be crossing this damn river in Texas. As it turned out there was never a bridge here and a ferry soon came chugging across the river from the other bank. It was a hell of a set up, it was a floating barge with four large barrels attached to each corner. Mounted on each barrel was an outboard motor that guided the barge, it seemed to work quite well and got me to the other side which is all I ever wanted. As we approached the opposite shore a guy was going around collecting fares, I noticed he was charging the cars Q40 or about five dollars, when he got me he asked for Q70. At this point in the day I was in no mood to fucked with. I asked him why everyone else paid only Q40 and they were in cars, he just kept on asking for Q70. At this point I decided to change strategy. As the man was arguing with me he was waving a handful of money with several Q100 bills on top so I said okay just give me back my change of Q30 and we will call it good. He looked confused for a second than handed me over Q30. Seeing that I never gave him any money to begin I was more than happy with this transaction. I almost felt bad until I saw him talking to his buddy and looking at me laughing. My 200 mile detour was now not in vain, I was now up about three dollars, thing are finally going my way!

The trip through Guatemala City went great except for the traffic, pollution and fumes. Due the heavy rains and air pollution I couldn’t use my shield on my helmet it kept on getting coated with a grey slime. By the time I got through the city my face looked like Al Jolson and my lungs felt like I smoked a carton of camel unfiltered. The poverty in the city was overwhelming, every inch of the many slopes of the city are covered in slums. The city has one the highest murder rates in the world and I was trying my best not to add to the statistics for no reason was I going to stop at all in this city, I even ran a few red lights in some sections. I finally reached Antigua in the dark, eight hours after being within 25 miles of this my now new favorite city. I am enrolled back in school and plan on spending the next few weeks based out of here.

ANTIGUA

Antigua sits at the foot of a volcano, still havn't seen the top yet.