Quit our jobs, sold our home, gone riding...

Safe travels. Great RR. Don't know if you plan to make it down to Peru? If you do..let me know if you have a stop over in Lima. I have a brother who lives there and could probably set you up for a time.

Thanks for all your well-wishes and tips guys. Fully recovered from the flu and we're off and about again.

Sounds like the voice of (very) recent experience! Hope you had a great time in mexico, stomach bug and skin rash notwithstanding!

Thanks Allen, our blog is a bit behind currently, but we would have loved to take you up on the offer. Enjoy Merida, such a beautiful place to hang out for a while!

Yes, Peru! Not sure when we'll be there though, as we are moving very very slowly! I'll PM you when we get close.

Glad to here you're feeling well again. I got hit with 2 nasty sick periods when I was in Mex and it was no bueno.

I'm amazed you 2 have not hit a beach in all this time. I know the allure of the Colonial and pre-colonial highlands, but I'd have a swim in the ocean itch by now.

Sounds like the Yucatan is on your radar. Along with Merida, don't miss Campeche, seeing a few cenotes, eating pibil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochinita_pibil plus visiting Tulum & Chitzin Itza, Isla Holbox & Isla Mujeres.

From your report, I can tell you are in amazement of the cultural, culinary and humanistic depth that Mexico has to offer. It's deeper than I ever expected and you never get that feedback from those who only visit the tourist resort town.

Having visited several other Central American countries, all I can say is savor all of that depth because it's often less so. As been said before, the sad thing is many ADV riders just blast through Mexico (usually along the coast) and miss so much of what she has to offer.

For those (gringos) that live in, have lived in or who have truly experience Mexico the saying goes: "once you've experienced Mexico it will change you forever...in more positive ways than you realize at this moment."

Enjoy! Bill

It's good to hear that you have beat the bug and are up and around again!! I'd just like to second what Eakins just said about taking your time in Mexico and the benefits of so doing. Most rides are not open-ended like yours, and I think that tends to lead us to focus more on schedules and the end-point and less awareness of where we are at any given moment of the trip. In the future I'm going to try to plan lay-over days here and there and take the time to savor the moment; putting thoughts of schedule and end goal away for a bit. And I'll probably plan trips that are less-ambitious mileage-wise but the same duration, so I can explore a smaller area in more depth. My thanks to your stellar RR for helping me see other ways to go.

Hi Gene and Neda, great Ride report, caught up a while ago and now checking daily for updates. Unfortunately my production in work has fallen...

I'm sorry if I missed it whilst reading through, but how long are you expecting to be travelling for? I know that putting a time on a trip like this depends on many different factors, but I'm just interested if you guys had any indication, just as a guide are we talking years or months?

Looking forward to the next update.

All the best both, Jon

Amen!

Wow, that's a really high compliment, thank you!

We are moving so slowly right now, I think we'll need more than a few months to see everything we want to see. I think it would be awesome to travel for longer, but circumstances can change so suddenly that we don't really plan too far in advance, just focus on what we're doing right now.

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/75.html



We're headed to the Yucatan Peninsula, which is one of our must-sees on our travel list, with the promise of lots of Mayan ruins, sunny weather and great food.


Our bikes resting in Palenque


As we were getting ready to leave, John from Valladolid chatted with us. He sent us this pic later that day!

We rode up the western part of the peninsula and arrived late in Merida. While looking for a place to stay, we talked to a few of indigenous Mayan people who were admiring our bikes. Their Spanish was very hard to understand, since they spoke it with a different accent. When we told them we were from Canada, it seems that it's a popular place to find work, more so than the US these days.

There are actually dozens of different indigenous tribes living in the Yucatan, all of them have their own distinct culture and language!


Neda is hoping to see some flamingos

While in Merida, we made a side-trip west to the coast to visit the Flamingo Sanctuary in Celestun. It's a small fishing village with great beaches and excellent seafood, and we rented a boat to take us out to the flamingo colonies.


Ducks hop and skip across the waters


Flamingos are a deep pink because of the crustaceans they eat off the sea bottom

Neda is quite a bird-enthusiast and one of her wishes was to see a flamingo live. Ever since she saw Miami Vice, actually... :) In the distance, we saw what looked like a line of pink buoys, but as we got closer, they were flamingos all lined up in the water! Neda was ecstatic and going crazy with the camera!


Such funny-looking birds


They look like road runners when they land on the water

Neda is a wealth of information, she says that flamingos like to congregate where there is a mixture of salt and fresh water, which creates an ideal habitat for them. When they're born, they are white in colour, but slowly turn pink because of their seafood diet. Which makes me think of my own Mexican diet and then I realize I'm not really tanned, I'm taco-coloured...


The boat takes us through a Mangrove forest


Reminds us of the Florida Everglades. All we need is an fanboat...


Flamingos aren't the only birds living here, pelicans hang out on the treetops


The wingspan on these birds are huge!


Hooligan pelicans hang out in groups of 5 and 6


I think the term "Flamenco Line" comes from flamingos...


Neda goes looking for birds in a fresh-water spring

The boat lets us off at a spot called Ojo de Agua, where an underground spring flows fresh-water into the sea. The water is cool and refreshing and Neda takes the opportunity to do some up-close bird-watching.


This Great Egret is not fazed at all, Neda got so close to it!


Birds are vain too...


Our chauffeur taking us back to the mainland

We're staying in Merida for a few days to catch the end of Carnaval, lots of street festivals and parades every day. On the last day of Carnaval, we watched a stage show in the middle of the historic town. The theme of the show was Merida Mistica and featured portrayals of mystical creatures.


Plenty of tourist transportation available on the streets of Merida


Dancer supposed to represent a unicorn


These dancers are supposed to be dragons


More dragon dancers!

You guys are always smiling! Love the flamingos.

Excellent RR, good job
I'm subscribed.
So now get on with it, post some more...

And yes, I also noticed - both of you are always smiling, that's nice.

Update from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/76.html



Neda is not feeling well. She's got a bad case of Montezuma's Revenge and she can't stomach any food. Which is a shame because there is some great Yucatan cuisine in Merida. We end up patronizing a German beerhouse (of all places) across the street from our hotel and I gorge myself on bratwurst and Guiness. There are a lot of foreign tourists wandering around the city and accordingly the prices for food and accommodations have risen. We don't really like that too much.


Opting for a liquid diet


Merida is a very cultured city, lots of art displayed everywhere

Our next destination is directly east across the Yucatan peninsula. The Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza are one of the most famous in Mexico, and this has been on our to-do list from the start. Chichen Itza is only a couple of hours away so we leave early in the afternoon to try the catch the best light at the ruins. We encountered a very gruesome motorcycle accident on our way, which put me in a very sober mood for the rest of the ride, reflecting on all the things that could happen to us while on two wheels.


The Castillo Temple at Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza was a very big disappointment. Right from the start, we were charged a hefty admission fee, part of a two-tiered system which made it cheaper for locals than foreign tourists. I can understand a tourist surcharge, we encountered the same thing in India, however what we got in return for that large expense was very underwhelming.

The ruins looked like they were entirely reconstructed on a well-manicured golf course. There was none of the stepped-out-of-a-jungle feel that we had in Palenque, and there were far fewer buildings here than on other ruins we had visited. Bus-loads of tourists from Cancun and Merida were unceremoniously dumped on-site and it felt more like a Disney attraction than an archeological site.


This pretty much summed up our Chichen Itza experience

We opted not to hire a tour guide (more $$$), but we were curious when all the guides had their tour groups clap in front of the Castillo Temple. When we eavesdropped on a tour, we found out that due to the construction of the stairs on the face of the temple, the echo of a clap would make a two-toned sound that would mimic the call of a Quetzal. This is a bird that is commonly found in the jungles around the area, and was also worshiped by the Mayans as the God of the Air.


Might have to turn up the volume a bit

Never having heard what a Quetzal sounds like, we thought at the very least the two-toned echo was neat. Later on, I searched online for a Quetzal call - it sounds NOTHING like the echo. So all those dumb tourists (us included) who clapped in front of the temple were probably being laughed at by every single tour guide...

I think we're done with visiting ruins.


Tourists walking around the ruins

Valladolid is less than an hour away from Chichen Itza, and we stopped there for the night. It recently gained status as a Pueblo Magico, and the government has invested a lot in cleaning up the city and painting all the buildings in the historic downtown. Very pretty town, but since we arrived late in the evening, we only had time for dinner and a quick stroll through the streets.


Impromptu mass in the middle of the street from the back of a truck!

The next day, we rode from Vallodolid to the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. If it seems like we are speeding our way through the area, it's because we are. The Yucatan is packed with foreign tourists and everything is expensive. We were going to stop in Cancun but after doing a search for accommodations, we decided to head towards Tulum instead. It's a much cheaper town to stay at for a couple of nights.

Tulum is packed with sun-seekers and beach-goers who have come here to seek refuge from the over-priced hotels of Cancun. It's a very young crowd and our hostel was full of university students and recent grads from all over the world on their "Gap Year" trip. Our next-door neighbours were two girls from Australia and they told us about a cenote they visited closeby called Dos Ojos. We thanked them for the tip and headed out the very next day!


View from inside one of the "eyes" of Dos Ojos

A cenote is a natural sinkhole or pit that exposes the groundwater underneath. They're found all over the Yucatan Peninsula, and Dos Ojos (Two Eyes) is set a couple of kms into the jungle and boasts one of the longest underwater cave systems in the world. We only rented snorkeling equipment so we stayed on the surface of one of the "eyes", but the light flowing from the mouth of the cave through the crystal clear waters was astoundingly beautiful!


Stalactites hang from the ceiling of the cave and dip down into the crystal blue waters


Stalactites break the surface of the waters and everything is surrounded by an unearthly glow


Neda takes in the underwater view


View from above the waters


Same exact view from below the waters


Taking a break from diving


Posing on a rock


More underwater touring


Neda dives to get a better view of the floor

You guys are living my dream. I am so envious.
How tall is Neda? What's her inseam?

Good stuff.

This is a great trip - but I know this didn't tickle !

Amazing adventure you two are having! Thanks for taking the time to record it and share it with those of us who aren't able to experience this type of traveling. Some day maybe, but not now. Thanks again!

Other than the cenotes and the odd tourist attraction, I don't see why people go to the Yucatan. Everybody says it's a waste of time and money.

Jdowns was the only rider I've read that pretty much said it wasn't, but he found some unique things away from people.

I've done the Yucatan when I was young staying in Cozumel and visiting the ruins, but I don't think I need to go back. I've heard the once very quiet Cozumel is now tourist chaos. Sad. Cancun isn't my type of holiday or desire to visit. I know not everybody shares teh same views though.

Start heading south! Interested to hear your views on Belize and Guatemala.. Do you guys have plans to head to the Islands off Belize?

Gene and Neda,
If you make it to Guatemala, the temples at Tikal are in the jungle and will offer you more of the Palenque experience.

If you appreciate the depth of culture in Mexico, Guatemala will blow your mind.....the indigenous expression is so much more evident....spend a few days in Chichicastenango and your life will never be the same.

Yes, seeing the carnage of a motorcycle accident is a good reminder to just how vulnerable we are on two wheels.

Travel safely and good luck with stomach bugs (my recent experience in Mazamitla [bad taco on the zocalo] left me appreciating how good it felt to finally throw up and get the poison out of my guts.....not to mention the squirts :eek1).

Gene....who made your seat?

Hope Neda feels better soon. I feel better about Kari and I missing out on the C. Ruins
Take care Rosie

Hey if you get the chance the ruins at Calakmul in Campeche state are totally awesome. So is the 60 km ride in thru the jungle to get there. This site is very remote and there were only 6 other people there when we were. There are no vendors etc like at Palenque, Chichen Itza, and Uxmal.

In Guatemala try to get to Sumec Champey its worth the effort. Tikal is amazing for sure.

We are currently taking a break from the road at Playa Copal in Costa Rica for kite surfing lessons.

Cheers


Sara & Daniel

She's 5'8" and her inseam is 33".

Yeah, they say getting a tattoo where the bones are closest to the skin is the most painful. She's a trooper!

Our only two gripes were the bused-in-beach-tourists and how pricey everything was. If it was the same as the rest of Mexico, then we probably would have spent more time exploring the nooks and crannys. Accommodations were off-the-chart expensive.

It's a Sargent seat. Nice and flat and very comfortable for long distances. The foam upholstery molds to the shape of your butt over the first 1,000 kms, so no annoying pressure points.

Yep, we're kinda getting Ruined-out. Probably going to skip the next few...

Very cool! We'll try to catch up to you!

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/77.html



After almost three months of wandering around this amazing country, we're getting ready to leave Mexico. There's just this nasty business of recovering from a really bad stomach flu. We've discovered from our earlier travels, Neda is the Distant Early Warning for gastrointestinal problems. She always gets hit first, and then 3-4 days later, I get hit 10X harder. It happened in India and now, just as we are leaving Mexico.


Neda goes out for a supples run - bananas, crackers, Gatorade, jello and baby food

We are in Chetumal, a border town about a couple of hours south of Tulum. A day after arriving, I find myself sweating and shivering under the covers, every muscle racked with pain. I also find out why they call this the Aztec Two-Step, as I need to be exactly two steps away from a toilet boil, otherwise tragedy results, more so for the housekeeping staff...


We are holed up in Oxtankah, a nice suburb of Chetumal on the beach

Chetumal is not a very interesting place, which was perfect since I was in bed most of the time. After a slow recovery of clear liquids and soft foods, we took the opportunity while in a larger city to do some maintenance and find out what the process was to leave Mexico: insurance, currency, importation rules, etc.

So in the interests of filling up an entry, here is a little retrospective of our time in Mexico, filled with some pictures and memories of daily life that didn't make the blog the first time around:


Spain has the Three Tenors, Mexico brings us the Four Altos

Although we're used to riding in crowded, chaotic conditions, traffic in Mexico threw us some unique obstacles. Literally. Topes, or speed-bumps, totally caught us off-guard when we entered Baja California. Some of them are not very well marked and you have to predict where a tope would logically be - like when a road goes through a small town or entering a city, or just before a curve. We've both caught major air while daydreaming on the bike, and there's a lot of sparring over who will lead the ride, since the leader effectively becomes the canary in the coalmine.

In Canada and the US (and most western countries), it's normal to use your right turn signal if you want to be passed. However in Mexico, they use the *left* indicator to signal vehicles behind you to pass you. This is very confusing to non-Mexicans. The first time I tried to pass a truck, he turned on his left turn signal as I pulled beside him, and I freaked out and slammed on the brakes, thinking he was going to turn left in front of me. It turns out that the left indicator really means, "I've scanned the road in front of me, and it's safe for you to pass me". Confusing. If the vehicle in front wants to turn left, they either use their four-ways, or they will pull over to the right shoulder, wait for all traffic to pass by and then turn left when it's clear. CONFUSING!!!


We were talking to a young couple outside of our casita in Guadalajara and their little boy was fascinated with our motorcycles.

The Mexican people are so friendly and hospitable. It is normal when walking on the streets to greet total strangers with a "Buenos Dias" (or "Buenos" for short). And as you are leaving restaurants, it is customary to wish other people, "Buen Provecho" (Bon Appetit). I really like how smiles are so easily returned, whereas in the large cities of the US and Canada, a smiling face is viewed with suspicion or annoyance.


Sincronizada in Ajijic

Food is very cheap in Mexico, and we both love discovering the cuisine that never migrated north of the border. Neda loves pasole, a white corn-based soup filled with other vegetables and meat while I leaned more towards the fried and starchy foods, chilaquiles and tacos filled with all manner of fried meats, chorizo, tripe, tongue and BRAINS! The grasshoppers were not a favorite...

Much to the Neda's chagrin, for all the vegetables available in the mercados, they were never served in the restaurants. And diet sodas don't seem to be as popular as in Canada and the US.


Looking for a rug to cut in the dancing church of San Juan

Churches, markets and plazas dominate almost every town, large and small, in Mexico. We've found out that in different churches across the country, there are different ways to approach the altar. In Guadalajara, most of the attendees get down on both knees and shuffle forwards. In San Juan, just outside of Uruapan, devotees *DANCE* towards the altar! Even though there is no music played inside the church.

There's always a party in Mexico, even in church!


This little guy's skateboard was broken, so I got my tools out and got down to do some road-side repairs

Building a family is very important in Mexico. While in Canada and the US, the incidences of child-free couples are increasing, Neda and I are viewed as quite the oddity here for opting not to have kids. Mexico is a festive country, with bright primary colours decorating all the buildings and every other person seems to be either playing or carrying a musical instrument. The presence of lots of children running around the streets just adds to this joyful atmosphere, and you can't help but be infected with the festive spirit.


Changing out a lightbulb in Angangueo


Swapping out my battery at Garry and Ivonne's place in Mexico City

Our bikes have been holding up well so far, other than routine maintenance, the only worrying problem is the plug for my primary headlight has broken (melted and disintegrated), so the wires can't contact the base of the bulb. This is a special part that needs to be ordered and it takes a month for the part to be shipped from Germany. Since we don't stay long enough in one place, I'm going to have to figure out where we'll be in advance for a while otherwise I'll be blinding everyone with my high-beams for quite awhile.


Waiting out inclement weather in Angangueo

We've been very lucky to be travelling during dry season in Mexico, and the number of rainy days we've encountered in the last three months can be counted on 3 fingers. Mexicans don't check the weather forecasts. Dry season simply means No Rain. Every time we'd tell someone about rain in the forecast, they'd look at us like we were grossly misinformed or just being stupid. Then when it did rain, I can't even describe the look of utter confusion on their faces, as if socks were falling from the sky instead of water.


Courtyard parking in Oaxaca.

Despite the friendliness and hospitality in Mexico, there is still a wariness about petty theft everywhere we went. In most of our accommodations, there were always secured spaces for our motorcycles. In Oaxaca, we were only allowed to park in the courtyard during the night since the motorcycles were kept where the restaurant was set up. So every night when the restaurant closed, we moved our bikes off the street into the courtyard and at 7AM the next day, we had to wake up to move the bikes back outside. We missed the alarm one morning and got a very angry knock at the door. Customers were waiting to be seated as we sheepishly pushed our bikes back outside, sleep still in our eyes and BedHead worse than HelmetHair.

We are not morning people...


Beach at Todos Santos

We had no idea what to expect when entering Mexico three months ago. All I knew was what I had seen on TV or read in the news. Mexico is in the unenviable position of being caught in the middle of the largest producer of drugs and the largest consumer of drugs. This drug trade seems to remain underground and we never saw any evidence of it the entire time we were there. It's a shame that the entire country gets painted with such a broad sensationalistic brush that it scares visitors away from such a beautiful place with amazing culture, food and friendly people.

Despite this, we have run across many ex-pats who have ventured here and already know what we have just discovered: golden sandy beaches, lush forests, colonial architecture, remains of ancient civilizations, hidden underwater caves and all sorts of migratory wildlife that have travelled vasts distances to settle here (I'm referring to the ex-pats again)...

Farewell Mexico, hope to see you again soon!