RTW on a thumper...KTM - LC4 Round the World ADVenturization

[Radioman]

Hola Paul,

Just checking in. Looks like antigua is treating you well! I am in Argentina heading south. Will make it to Ushuaia in December! then?

Ride safe, study hard!

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by Radioman

Hola Paul,

Just checking in. Looks like antigua is treating you well! I am in Argentina heading south. Will make it to Ushuaia in December! then?

Ride safe, study hard!

antigua was good upto yesterday then i had to go to a dentist for and sit in a chair for four hours and get a root canal and a crown...PAIN!!!

school has been great still have another week and then i head down to Montericco for a week...

farthest i will head south this time is Venezuela and then i get back on the Stahlratte and go to Cuba, no Ushuaia this time for me...i will head back into states in April then i'm going to Australia as Africa is FUBAR'd right now

enjoying your trip, loved the salar photos...the 'V' in ADV looked a little cosy though

i was just looking at your thread when i got your message...spooky!

[aDave]

I'm loving your story & pics. So nice of you to bring us along

Dave

[GhostRiderFC]

Saw this online today:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak...00dlwm#summary

Any shaking in your neighborhood?

Sorry to hear about your root canal. I HATE the dentist.

Keep having fun!

[rtwpaul]

i was walking in the main square with my Spanish teacher and all the people came running out of the buildings, they shook pretty good but no structural damage here to speak of but all the lights were swinging side to side in the streets...kind of spooky as the volcano tried to go off last week as well...but hey it is an adventure, right?????

Originally Posted by GhostRiderFC

Saw this online today:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquak...00dlwm#summary

Any shaking in your neighborhood?

Sorry to hear about your root canal. I HATE the dentist.

Keep having fun!

[Catours]

Paul - here's the brewery place I was telling you about in Honduras. Worth checking out if you ask me:

http://www.ddbrewery.com/

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by aDave

I'm loving your story & pics. So nice of you to bring us along

Dave

good to have you along for the ride

[rtwpaul]

Originally Posted by Catours

Paul - here's the brewery place I was telling you about in Honduras. Worth checking out if you ask me:

http://www.ddbrewery.com/

i have a room booked - Hotel in a brewery, its like DIsneyland for grown ups

[BTBW 01]

Thanks for sharing your Adventure.
Enjoying it very much.
Pm me when in the land Downunder.

[rtwpaul]

My teacher, after looking at some of my photos took me a school that was having a photography exhibit for one day as he thought i would appriciate it for the art and also it would show me a side of Gautemala in his words "i hope you will never see"




photos are VERY GRAPHIC so if you are easily offended wait for my next post which will be a lot lighter...






these are NOT my photos, i took them secretly so other can see...i expect to see things as i travel that blow me away, but from someone else's photos is not an emotion i expected today









he explained to me that his father worked in the sugar cane fields for 30 years and it was a very hard way to make a living, you just exisited...the pay right now today is 20 Quetzales per ton, in dollars at todays exchage rate thats $2.55!!

he showed me a couple of photos and told me that this is how he remembered his father looking at the end of the day






next was some photos of the garbage dump area outside of Guatemala City where a river flows thru and because of this the heavier objects (metallic objects, steel, tin, aluminum cans etc) end up at the bottom, this is collected and if they are lucky on a very, very good day then maybe a tiny amount of gold may be there too





Drugs have been a large part of central american culture and certain areas of certain cities are controlled by gangs, this is the only photo that i think needs to be posted...others were way to graphic, ganglands ritual murders etc...i'm sure you can use your immagination for that






this is the bad photo and purposefully i have put it on here small and at the end so as not to see all the details, but what is being shown here is a that a family cannot afford to pay the 80 Q's a year or just 0.02 cents a day to keep their family member buried in the cemetery

so the body has been exhumed and is propped against a wall, standing up, until it is taken away with others that are about to exhumed for "cremation"and to disappear for ever...and if you read the earlier post about Nov 1st Day of the dead you will understand how horrific this is for a family and culture who have the utmost respect for the deceased

[HCurrier]

Thx for sharing all of your experiences, including the sights & impressions typically unseen while traveling abroad.

[Astir]

Wow! that float/barge was huge! Thanks for the video too.

Was there a body in the glass coffin looking thing on top?

Off to research.

I can't imagine having a family member exhumed. It seems like extortion for them to pay and pay and pay to keep someone buried.

Sorry about the root canal.

Loving it all Paul. Thank you for taking the time to share your travels with us. It is not a small thing.

[Catours]

Originally Posted by rtwpaul

i have a room booked - Hotel in a brewery, its like DIsneyland for grown ups

good deal, look forward to hearing about it!

[rtwpaul]

on a lighter note......


time to leave Antigua in the morning for the ocean and another school, so its time to say goodbye to the spray on jeans of Antigua




the crazy kid who jumps up and down on a saturday whilst he plays his maracas



amazing views of the volcano that has shown its pressense a little since i was here




the albino Mayan lady who only comes out on a Saturday during the day



the unique artwork



and stone work







this is definite location to return to in the future

[Merlin III]

Thanks Paul. I appreciate seeing life the way it really is including the ugly part. There is a charity I contribute to which was started by a young Maine woman which supports a school for the kids that work in the Guatamala City dump.

Here is news video about it if anyone is interested. http://www.safepassage.org/