Guatemala to Alaska and Back

Muchas gracias,

Enjoy your stay in Estado de Oaxaca.

Remembering Rta. 175 to Puerto Angel still brings a smile.

I will report back what I find in the Peten. The rainy season is winding down in Northern Guatemala, but I think I will be posting pictures of an old gringo covered in mud sometime next week. Should be fun!

Safe travels.

Saludos,
John Downs

Heya Julio and John

Be great to catch you guys along the way somewhere if we can, we will have probably a month before we are back down here ready to resume after Ellens binning.

We have new ... secondhand machine, a few things to set up and we are on our way again

Cheers Andi & Ellen

The day we left Morelia , we left new friends behind...












But we also knew we would see a good old friend in Valle again ; we took the ruta de las Mil Cumbres to get there...scenic and impressive route would be a understatement


















We left Michoacan, one of my favorite states in Mexico, to enter the state of Mexico










And then we got to Valle de Bravo,lots of good memories about this place






We stopped at our favorite restaurant






And waited for our friend Carlos (who we met on one of our rides in Chiapas , several years ago) to show up. As soon as he did , we had our first MicheLobo...a michelada with oysters and shrimps in it

Hi Cal ! Your Spanish is so good!!!
Yes I like it too!!! Rose, the owner of the place, has a great taste.
And you are right, it is a wonderful place to stay.
We stayed there almost 2 weeks!!!
And in our way up to the north I think 4 days.
Good to hear about you.
Cuídate mucho!!!

On our second day in Valle de Bravo, our friend Carlos took us to one of the sanctuaries of the mariposa Monarca ; these butterflies are one of so many miracles of nature . They migrate from Canada and the northern US all the way down to Michoacan and Mexico ; it takes 5 generation to complete the journey.






Most of the people go up to the sanctuary on horseback , we hiked . Carlos was not to happy about that






The butterflies hang on the trees, there are so many of them that the branches are completely bended downwards . When it is cold, they are all closed up and the dark side of their wings are visible . As soon as it warms up, they open the wings and the orange color of their wings shows; if the sun heats the air up a bit more , then they start flying around . Unfortunately the day we went there , it was not warm enough for them to fly around.

You will most likely catch me in Guatemala, I'll be there for a few month .
BTW, there is a good KTM dealer in Guate City .
Hope Ellen is recovering fast and getting ready for her new challenge as copilot

After leaving Valle de Bravo and saying "hasta la proxima" to our friend Carlos, we went to Puebla . One place that I was really looking forward to come back to , even if on my way up north I stopped there twice for several days . The food is just to good there , and I had also to meet my friend Stefan, aka Panamerikaner , again .
I knew the libre already, not to scenic, so I decided to take the cuota(now affordable) . After a long time without seeing snow, this morning I got to see it 3 times : The Nevado de Toluca, the Pico de Orizaba and finally the Mujer Dormida . Lot of memories came back ....all the snow we saw up north...everything that I saw when I came through this area on my way up , 8 month ago...

We made it to Puebla,checked in the hotel and rushed out for lunch : Mole con pollo

In the evening, Stefan and his wife Mary Carmen came and picked us up and took us to dinner. Great conversation and excellent food .
Our friend Stefan enjoying his meal






My choice, Lomito de res con salsa de cafe (Beef filet with coffee sauce)






The next morning, Mary Carmen came by at the hotel to pick us up for a day trip , by car
Our first stop was Cholula , the town of the 365 churches, one for every day of the year. The most visible ,is the one
that was build right on top of an old pyramid . From up there the view of the Popocatepetl is spectacular .










After walking around in Cholula for a while, we took off to find a place at the feed of the Popocatepetl where they have great trouts . In March Stefan and Enrique took me there on the bikes and I felt in love with that place.
After 45 min we got there, thanks to me because our local "driver" got lost I on the other hand , find always my way back to a place with good food

There we are , sitting next to the river and waiting for our trouts to swim by













And then they came ...

Hola Julio, hola Luisa,

This is in fact, my first post in ADVrider after being a long time lurker!

It was fun and exciting to hear all the stories you had to tell about your adventure to Alaska and back. I do have to admit that many of those stories were familiar to me since I`ve been following your trip since it began!

You have met very nice people along the way and have seen gorgeous places. The ADVrider community never ceased to amaze me at the way you were treated!

Thanks for returning to Puebla. I know you had better choices, considering the fact that you had been here before.

Stefan

Hola Stefan,

what an honor that your first post happened to be on my RR . Welcome to the posting community , I'm sure your input can enrich this forum .
You are so right about all the nice people we met along the way, there is so much we have to be thankful for

As far as returning to Puebla : By now everybody knows how important food is to me and when it comes down to food,there is no way you can skip Puebla,no matter how many times you have been there already !!!

For me , one of the highlight of every visit to Puebla , are the famous Tacos Arabes y Orientales .

Knowing this , Stefan and MaryCarmen took us there on our last night in Puebla. Delicious as usual











A food stand , just around the corner of our hotel

Hola everybody,

a fellow Adv Rider had a bad accident in El Salvador and he needs amongst other things some financial help with hospital bills etc.

Here goes the link to the thread posted by his riding buddy with all the details about the accident, medical report and Paypal info , etc.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=846026


A little bit of help from many people can make a big difference for this rider in need !!!

Gracias !!!!

One of the things I like to do in Oaxaca, is just hanging out at the zocalo and watch the people

DONE!!!
Thank you for posting this!

After 4 days on the beach in San Agustinillo, we arrived yesterday in Huatulco.
Quiet a change, but probably nothing compared to the change that will expect and hit me, once we are back in Guatemala taking a few month off from this ongoing journey :eek1:eek1:eek1

Guatemala is great! The rainy season is over. Blue skies. Puffy white clouds. Friends and family waiting to welcome you home. Yummy food. Your own cozy bed to sleep in at your house. Sounds good to me.

Have fun on your final kilometers home. Amazed you could leave San Augustinillo. When I get too old to walk they can just take me in a wheelchair and park me under a palapa on that beach.

Saludos,
John, currently in Antigua listening to the fireworks exploding. Maybe they heard you are coming.

Julio
Are you staying in La Crucecita? Some less expensive hotels in the town.
South of Huatulco is Playa Ventura, nice quiet place. A good hotel is the Villa Tortuga right on the beach with a pool,300 peso's.

Hope the culture shock is not to bad when you arrive in Guate.

Hola John,
You definitely have some good points there, but the strange feeling in my guts stays there.
San Agustinillo was nice, if they only would have had better seafood... I couldn't get a fresh Huachinango(red snapper) in 4 days, not even preordering it a day in advance

Fireworks in Antigua: somebody must have told them that Antigua will be our new home for the next few month

Hola Cal,
Como estas ? Todo bien ?
We are not staying at Crucecita, we are at Tungalunga . For 10 month I managed to stay away from beaches with hot weather etc. and Luisa didn't complain, and she loves all this tropical beach stuff.
So now that we finally hit the beach, I couldn't do less than find the best spot, oceanfront
But in a few days, temperatures will be lovely again in San Cristobal

Cultureshock on my return...I don't know, SHOCK ...I'm afraid so .
But what ever happens, I will be thankful for and I will enjoy it .
Life is good !!!

I see from another post that you may live in Antigua that will be a bit different than Guate. A little more multi cultural, you will be able to speak German , English and Spanish Close to work for Luisa also.

Yes , Antigua will be quiet different from Guate , and so will our new and small place from our huge house in Guate . We are looking forward to it . As far as Luisa being close to work...Over the last 10 month she has seen the difference between being retired and being a still active business owner on a daily base . I have the feeling that she will soon follow my exempel and make the big step , settle for less and walk away from active participation in her business .

Work interferes way to much with much more fun things in live,like riding the world