Tim and Marisa met us at our hotel on Sunday morning to ride to our next stop in Chahal together. The ride itself was around four hours long, not including our lunch break at a small restaurant along the way, and was quite scenic. We had a short ride through a dirt road that the guys handled like pros, but the rest of the way was paved and the journey went without a hitch. We arrived in Chahal in the afternoon and stayed at the Hotel Santa Elena for 300 GTQ (~51 CAD) a night.
Break time on the way to Chahal
Good road and beautiful scenery
Houses along the way
Riding into the sunshine
Chahal
While having dinner together that evening, the four of us discussed possible plans for the following day and the final decision was that Tim and Marisa would stay in Chahal an extra night to visit the Parque Natural Las Conchas while Phil and I would head to Semuc Champey and we would meet up again in Antigua Guatemala in a few days.
On Monday, January 15, Phil and I bid farewell to our friends and rode towards Semuc Champey. The shorter road we had initially hoped to take was inaccessible so we decided to take another route that the GPS suggested to us. The entire journey on that route was supposed to be five hours long, but an hour shorter than going through Cobán so we were happy at the idea of saving that time. The road turned out to be an unpaved and uneven muddy road, but thinking it would be fine, we took it.
Then the one thing we were dreading happened; we had to stop while going uphill because there was a large truck stopped in front of us. Because of the mud and the heavy load on the back, the bike started to slip backwards. Phil did his best to control it, but we quickly accepted that the mud was going to win this round and jumped off. Since the bike was stopped when it fell, neither one of us sustained any injuries; however, the poor bike took a bit of a hit (nothing serious, though). The acrylic windscreen broke, the cover of the right turn signal broke, and the right side case got dented.
Thankfully, a group of men had quickly appeared and helped us lift and roll the bike into the yard of the house in front of which the bike had fallen. The two of us have been able to lift it with all its load in the past; however, I’m not sure how we would have managed to do that on the muddy, inclined road. I imagine we would have dropped it from side to side, Looney Tunes style, until we had nothing but a pile of scrap metal and our wits. Needless to say, we were extremely thankful for the help we received.
The kind lady who was the owner of the house let us stay in her yard and do whatever fixes we could do, and while we were bending and duct-taping the bike back into shape, she brought out two warm cups of coffee to save us from the chilly weather. With our limited Spanish, we conversed with her and when she found out where we were heading, she informed us that the road we were taking is awful and the best way to get to Semuc Champey is through Cobán. Thanks for nothing, GPS.
After repairing the bike as best as we could, we were ready to leave. We offered a bit of money to the lady and hoped we wouldn’t offend her, but we didn’t know how else to express our gratitude for her kindness. She refused at first, but took the money after a bit of insistence and didn’t get offended. She wished us luck and we were on our way, taking the road through Cobán.
The muddy road
Broken windscreen and turn signal light
Dented side case
The wounded soldier
All good and ready to hit the road again!
You’d think that we had filled our bad road quota for the day; however, the adventure continued. The road from the main highway to San Agustín Lanquín, our stop for the night, was a narrow, bumpy, and uneven dirt road that made me grateful I hadn’t consumed any dairy. We made it to our accommodation without dropping the bike again and without me ejecting any undigested matter onto the back of Phil’s helmet. One thing we were really happy about was that we had left just after breakfast in the morning so, even with the mishap, we still made it to our destination while it was daylight outside.
We stayed at the Hostal Oasis for 250 GTQ (~42 CAD) a night. While the hostel was a nightmare to get to, the location was beautiful with wooden cabins laid along a flowing river. That evening, we met and enjoyed dinner and conversation at the hostel’s restaurant with a trio of fellow Canadians from BC – Rick, Diane, and Lori – who were travelling through Central America . Funny how the world can seem so small at times.
