Guatemala to Alaska and Back

By the way, if you want to tune in, there is a radio station in Cuetzalan that broadcasts in Nahuatl dialect for that region, some Totonac programming, and Spanish, too.
Go to this page

http://ecos.cdi.gob.mx/index.html

and click on

XECTZ
The voice of the sierra norte

My bike is a road bike Honda ST1100, do you have any suggestions for road routes through Mexico to Guat City?
This will be my first trip across Mexico...kinda green at this...so any other suggestions would be great.

Great photos Julio!

Hola Julio

Creo que de Perote agarraste hacia puebla, de haber sabido antes de tu viaje te ubiera recomendado que visitaras Xalapa, Veracruz, (la ciudad de las flores) esta a 1 hora de perote, y junto a Xalapa esta Coatepec (pueblo magico). Coatepec es pueblo 100% cafetero y turisticopuedes degustar de un muy buen cafe de oya y tiene muy bonitos lugares que visitar.

De Xalapa pudiste haber agarrado a ciudad Cardel y a Chachalacas, que ya es playa. Lo mas bonito de este trayecto es que Xalapa esta a 1,460 metros sobre el nivel del mar y Chachalacas esta a 0 metros pues es playa, la bajada esta muy buena y bajas de 1,460 metros a los 0 metros en tan solo 80 kilometros. La temperatura cambia bruscamente de un clima fresco en Xalapa a clima tropical en Chachalacas. Al igual que la vegetacion, de pinos cambia a palmas y playa.

Hi Julio

I think that from Perote you head up towars Puebla, if I had knew of your trip I would have recommended you to visit Xalapa Veracruz (the city of the flowers), it is within 1 hour from perote, and nexto to Xalapa is Coatepec (pueblo magico). Coatepec is a little town 100% turistic and full of coffee plantations, you can for sure wake up in the morning with the smell of a pot coffee, there are also plenty of nice places to visit.

From Xalapa you could head towards Cardel, then to Chachalacas, that is a beach. The prettiest thing of this tour, is that Xalapa is 1,460 meters above sea level, and Chachalacas is at sea level, so the you go from 1,460 meters to 0 meters in just 80 kilometers, that road is pretty awsome full of twisties. temperature changes a lot, from a cool climate in Xalapa to a hot and tropical in Chachalacas, same as the vegetation, from pine trees it changes to palm trees, coconuts and beaches.

Un abrazo amigo and ride safe

Daniel

Greetings from Puebla ! What a beautifull city and the food here is out of this world , and believe me , when it comes down to food , I know whatI''m talking about


soph9 : Glad you like them

Mike : The ladies running the hotel in Cetzualan told me about the radio station as well

2daMtns : As long as you don't go offroad , any road is ok for your bike ; just watch out for those bloody topes

Vince , good to hear from you

Daniel : Gracias por tus consejos !! All the places you mentioned (and some more) I have been to on my last ride through the amazing state of Veracruz .

Isn't Peubla the home or birth place of Mole Poblano?

Si Senior !! And they sure know how to do it !!

Two more things I forgot to mention about Cuetzalan , LOS VOLADORES

Five guys climb up a 30 m high pole (don't know if that's the correct word) with just a small wooden frame on top of it. While four of the guys start tieing themself up to a rope , the fifht guy plays a small fluit and dances up there








Then four of the guys jump slowly of the shaky and rotating frame and start to fly

And there is Yohualichan , a small arquelogical site from the Totonaca period , just 10 km from Cuetzalan .
Very similar to the nearby El Tajin at Papantla

Just a note about the Honda ST1100. That bike can easily travel throughout Mexico, however it was not sold nor supported here in Mexico in any quantity, so parts etc... are non-existent and would even be difficult for local Honda dealers to get hold of. Just bring your own filters (air, oil), and anything you think you might need that could not be improvised.
Looks like a comfortable bike. If you come through, send me a PM.

On the topic of roads, the Xalapa to the seashore road is nothing spectacular, what is really fun is the road from Teziutlan to Tlapacoyan, the elevation of Teziutlan is much higher than Xalapa and the route is shorter which, if you've ever ridden it, will leave a long lasting smile on your face or, if in the fog, a different look altogether LOL!

Xalapa is a nightmare these days with traffic from construction. The day I met up with Julio it was only 2 hours from Veracruz to Perote, and coming back with Bob, who joined us in Perote, it was 4 hrs with 2 of those hours sitting still in Xalapa. Yes, we filtered but they had one lane for both directions of Friday afternoon traffic in two different spots which meant nobody moved unless you wanted to become part of a truck grill. No fun!

Skip Chachalacas, and head to La Villa Rica de la Veracruz, it is much nicer, far cleaner, better food, and better accommodations. Plus you can easily visit the ruins of Quizhuiztlan and also La Villa Rica is where Cortes burned the ships and made his first formal Totonac contacts.

hola Julio: soy Federico de Zacatecas, disfruta tu viaje y pon mas fotos, aqui estare esperandolos, cuidate, ride well amigo!!!!

Hola Federico, ya te mande un correo ! Pics will follow as soon as I get a break from Puebla and his food

One more day in Puebla , just can't get enough of this city and its food

This morning , on the good advice of LDCMEX (Gracias!) I went out to Cholula , nice little town with a hundred churches .
So far I took a few hundred pics in Puebla , hopefully soon I will get some tieme to sort them out and post a few .

In Puebla there is food just everywhere

Gracias !







And that is what it looks like at night

Oye, que lastima que las michas (bolillos) de la senora en el foto arriba estan fuera de su menu.

You can't have eveything in life , can you ???

BTW The hotel I stayed in here in Puebla is the Hotel Del Paseo , on 5 Av Poniente between 9 and 11 Calle sur
Clean rooms, great WiFi, save parking , friendly staff , Oxxo half a block away and only 3 blocks from the Zocalo.
The first night is 290$ , and every following night get 20$ cheaper

Great Pictures!!! And I will second that you know about food!!! 😁😁

Off to Mexico City tomorrow for a few days, not being riding for a few days should give me the time to post some pics from the last 4 days

Ok , here I am now in the big city . It's been 6 years since my last time here , and it has changed quiet a bit .
Anyway , here I am sorting out my pictures from the last days

One of the many things about Puebla that I liked a lot , are all the beautifull wooden gates and doors

Excelente viaje!!! personalmente deseo hacerlo algun día, de momento me conformaré leyendo tu report. Dios te acompañe, muy buenas fotos por cierto!

Julio!

exito en tu viaje se ve muy bonito!!! si llegas a pasar por Ensenada, BAJA (y realmente recomiendo BAJA) avisame y saldremos a pasear!

Para llegar akí toma el ferry en Mazatlan y amanecerás en La PAz y tendras toda la Baja para explorar!!! por tierra o por carretera, a ambos les gustaran las playas ke hay por aca!!!

Saludos Damasovi!!!