Dispatch from Chiapas Day 8

“Roads are made for journeys, not destinations.” —Confucius

Today team Bravo greeted our team as we arrived at the most picturesque eco resort ever this side of Guatemala. This is tonight’s lodging. We’re so close to Guatemala that my Verizon iPhone service is trying to get me to tap into the Guatemala $10/day plan service. Speaking of tapping in; today team Alpha Joey, Todd and Ralph tapped in Dale and Joe. We put them through our very own OJT, on the job training program for rural Mexico lane splitting and topes.

Today’s ride took us through last night’s town of San Cristobal where it was nearly impossible to make a safe escape with newbies not yet accustomed to Mexican travelers. Todd made sure to warn the two about wheeling in front of federales. It wasn’t till much much later in the ride that we entered the dreaded valley of the topes.

Last night; The fun of a nice historical hotel in the heart of a city, a few drinks, a great old-fashioned meal served by talented and experienced waiters is now behind us. Team Alpha set our departure time for 0800 on account of a short day, about 130 miles into the jungle. And now that we are in the jungle my roommate Joe is gearing up for a two hour nighttime walk offered by the ecolodge.

Due to popular demand and comments about my Chiapas dispatches we held a team meeting and decided to do a name change for the sake of keeping it real and keeping it fun. The new team Alpha is now Tracy, Bryan, and Bob. All former firefighters. The new team B is Yoda Roberto, Tyedye Keith, Scott, Super Dave and Mike the Hulk. The new team Charlie is now Joey, Todd, Dale, Joe and Ralph and everyone is free to tap in and out of any group. And like Todd likes to say; nobody is twisting your throttle to go faster.

This eco resort place is now truly a gift for all the efforts that it took to get here unfortunately it doesn’t have working wifi, cell coverage, alcohol or decent flavorful foods. The two person cabins are very nice, almost everyone has a waterfall sound since we’ve that close to the river and waterfalls. The 13km or so of unpaved roads leading into the resort is not for the faint of heart. To me the road resembles four mini road’s each about 1.5 feet wide, and between the pavement is loose gravel. Then a short while later the road becomes gravel again, repeat. The scenery is incredibly jungle and beautiful and the temperatures all day was between 70-80 degrees.

We encountered today some tight, sweeping mountain roads that made it a motorcyclist’s dream, during our out and back roads to see another waterfall and a large lake. We have pictures and some great riding before we once again reentered the lands of the topes.

I especially loved watching the people and children in the small towns that stopped and sometimes waved at us as we blasted our way past them and slowed yet again before hitting the dreaded topes head-on. If I had more skin in this game I would buy a jack hammer, hire a willing hooliganism indigenous participants work crew, pay them honest wages and take out just about six inches across on each tope we come in contact with. Just enough for a motorcycle to easily travel through.

“If I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning, I’d hammer in the evening, all over this land……….

If you’re the kind of person who is drawn to this far south Mexico then you’re bound to be a bit different. So there’s no need to point that out that we’re now changing or have changed. We haven’t met any other motorcycle adventure riders today but, we did see lots of tut tut riders all around. Perhaps we could get some tut tuts in the future and maybe do a little Mongolian style rally to Guatemala and beyond. Or perhaps we could just leave well enough alone.

The day is fading fast and even though it’s not even eight p.m. I’m now ready for bed.

There is so little infrastructure on this road and the petrol station is served up in small clear containers from a wooden hut. No café or taco shops. Most toilets that we have met don’t have seats on them. That’s not just here but, in a good part of places we already visited. Most places are clean and only require a bucket of water to flush.

This morning everyone was at the chocolate coffee house as soon as it opened it’s doors. The vendors saw their opportunity and cornered our guys there. Tyedye Keith probably purchased more souvenirs than anyone in the group.

Yoda Roberto told us to find breakfast about two hours after leaving the city. We found ours in a very humble shack run by two women. The food was delicious and I had soup for breakfast.

So where are we going today? The jungle! Perhaps on the surface this will end up being a story of danger, of death to many mosquitoes and a bit of adventure.

Survivors and never-give-up people are my heroes. Tomorrow’s story should provide you with more details.

Our days have now turned into a week and one day. The miles are now starting to clock up. My 2020 BMW GSA 1250 just hit 40,000 miles. By now we’ve all changed, if ever just a little.

End