VENTURING SOUTH on DRZ's

[GRinCR]

Originally Posted by Romanousky

Man sized nachos followed up with a man sized beer. Can't argue the quality of a bistro which serves Liters.

[PDX Alamo]

Originally Posted by GRinCR

Man sized nachos followed up with a man sized beer. Can't argue the quality of a bistro which serves Liters.

He's grabbing that "gallo grande" like he's done it before. Hope to see you guys out tonight for a maximum 2 beers

[HardWorkingDog]

Originally Posted by PDX Alamo

He's grabbing that "gallo grande" like he's done it before. Hope to see you guys out tonight for a maximum 2 beers

In Baja be sure to look for the "Ballenon." Not the Ballena, either.

[trippda]

I think the common name for these are "Birds of Paradise" Kinda makes sense. buena suerte con aprendizaje español!

Originally Posted by Romanousky

A neat flower:

[Romanousky]

Originally Posted by trippda

I think the common name for these are "Birds of Paradise" Kinda makes sense. buena suerte con aprendizaje español!

That's what I thought but wasn't sure, thanks for the factoid

[Romanousky]

Nothing happened….didn’t feel well enough to study verbs and barely made it out of the hotel for a Michalada. Got a good lesson at the Sky Cafe though.







View of Volcan de Agua from Sky Cafe (wrapped in clouds):

[Romanousky]

Up early trying to navigate the cobble stone one-way streets…..ridiculous pain in the ass. Finally parked at school and walked a ½ mile to get coffee and crepes. Made it back to class only slightly late.

The first half of school was only typical and then we went for a walk. First thing I wanted to do was buy some firecrackers…..the teachers helped me out with that in no time flat. Then encouraged me to light some of them right in front of the minute mart we just purchased them from. Super loud in the alleyway but no one seemed to care.







Moving along we made it to a nice church.



Every Friday they make a new "Rug" inside the church in front of the alter. The "rug" is made from died wood pulp fibers. Pretty neat.



And then to some older ruins right next to the church. This is a fountain that was built in the mid 1500's. My teacher claims that this area housed a bunch of virgins that would bathe in the nude here.



A cool flower on the rooftop (only the size of my thumbnail):



And some avocado trees:



The volcanoes seem to present themselves in a unique way no matter where you are in Antigua.





Apartments next door that house all of the Fathers:



Then off to a large trinket store that had lots of top notch gear.



I FINALLY got an email response from PDX Alamo saying he is ready for that drink. We met up at Ocelot where we drank numerous $5Q ($0.50) cuba libre’s. Another ADVrider was there making an attempt to get with some girl so we didn’t have a chance to talk. Feeling pretty good about myself I did take a seat on his stead on my way out.



Shortly after I stumbled and hurt my toe.

[Romanousky]

Gotta admit I’m not real excited about class today. I think my teacher was impressed with the number of cuba libre’s I drank and still made it to class. There was a celebration at class for the owner’s son with cake and more importantly fireworks.

This is the courtyard where we study (if not walking around a market or something):



Some coffee beans that are in the middle of the courtyard (along with avocados, bananas, limes, & oranges):







Back at the hotel I soaked up some sun by the pool and enjoyed my last day in luxury.

[Diggerled]

Originally Posted by Romanousky

Shortly after I stumbled and hurt my toe.

Your RR caught my eye today. Youthful exuberance! Extra fun trip.

But seriously. Tend to that wound soldier. Things like this can get out of hand quick. Watch it closely.

[Romanousky]

Originally Posted by Diggerled

Your RR caught my eye today. Youthful exuberance! Extra fun trip.

But seriously. Tend to that wound soldier. Things like this can get out of hand quick. Watch it closely.

Thanks but don't worry. With a family full of medicine practicing folks I am paranoid about these things. Slurring "Hydrogen Peroxide" at the front desk didn't get me anywhere but a little alcohol and neosporin hopefully took care of it. Just need it to heal up before hiking volcan de pacaya

[Diggerled]

Originally Posted by Romanousky

Thanks but don't worry. With a family full of medicine practicing folks I am paranoid about these things. Slurring "Hydrogen Peroxide" at the front desk didn't get me anywhere but a little alcohol and neosporin hopefully took care of it. Just need it to heal up before hiking volcan de pacaya

Keep it dry. And practice your verbs.

[PDX Alamo]

What's the name of the school? Mine sucks

[Romanousky]

Originally Posted by PDX Alamo

What's the name of the school? Mine sucks

Antiguena Spanish Academy. Seems pretty good. You can tell the teacher what you want to study and you can go do anything you want during class as long as you pay expenses. Good luck

[Romanousky]

Finished off the last day of class by taking my teacher to the marketplace so she could help me do some shopping. Stickers, oil, fuel line, and hose clamps were at the top of the list. 2,000 km’s and the bike is about 4oz low. Seems excessive to me. First thing I found that I couldn’t resist was a Frisbee for $1. Some form of entertainment on the beach would be good.

In short order I picked up a Guatemala crest for the tank as well as the Gallo bird. Spent some time in search of the Patron Saint of Guadulupe (figured this couldn’t hurt me at border crossings or traveling in general). No luck on this one.

Next found a good auto parts store with decent oil, fuel line, and clamps. They had a neat dumb waiter to transfer products from upstairs. Definitely recommend La Revolucion if in Antigua. Plenty of moto parts including carbs, gloves, bars, hand guards, pegs, etc….



With class over we raced back to the Porta and packed our stuff for a hasty departure to new living quarters. Then I got busy installing my new Pingel petcock and vacuum operated valve. No more shutting off the gas for this guy.





Went out for more cuba libre’s and met PDX Alamo again and Rainman (eclectic male on advrider). Got some good pointers for central America and found out that the KLR I was sitting on the other night was NOT his. Late night finished off at Monoloco….gonna be rough morning.

[Romanousky]

I called it! Rough morning. No problem; we’ll just ride through it. Studying google maps in the morning we found an area that appeared to have a bunch of river crossings. We set out from Antigua and 10 miles later turned off for El Rodeo. Finally some offroading.

Almost forgot, I ran my tank close to empty before installing the new petcock so I got to see how much it will hold. The Safari Aqualine 17L has 5 USEABLE Gallons (holds close to 6)!!! If I ran out I could even tip it over and grab an extra 1/2 gallon or so from the other side. In desperate measures I could probably pull off 300 miles out of a full tank. More than I expected.

So excited at the first water crossing we hit it with speed (rather shallow) and soaked our legs. Then realized it was more or less sewage water….stunk terribly! Up and down through the hills and through the rivers passing majestic rock formations and thick jungle canopies.





Only a few miles into it with my stomach gurgling I knew I had to take care of some business. Stopping at a backwoods tienda and asking for paper she looked at me like that stuff is reserved for rich folk and we don’t carry it here. Pushing on I found a trail that split off the main road, raced up and around the corner and let fly. Luckily, I’ve been packing a small notepad that contains hundreds of crossed off items. It was my “to-do” list for this trip. I meant to burn that damn thing for being such a pain in my ass but I one up’d that and used it to “clean” myself. With bugs swarming my ass and sweaty face I made quick work and got back on the road.

All of the river crossings were fun but were more like streams. Deepest was probably only 12” or so.



During the last one of the day I watched Alex cross and he obviously hit some large rocks and almost dumped the bike. I picked a slightly different route but still encountered rather large rocks and dumped the bike right in the middle of the river. I had hit the record button on the camera but the battery had already died (of course), so I have no footage or photos. Just a little aftermath of dumping water from the boots. I do know that my gps is pretty waterproof as it was completely submerged and never even blinked.



Luckily this water didn't stink like the first river.