Six Months Ago....

Six months ago I was doing this:

riding along the M20 on my way to Folkestone.
23,695miles later and I'm in Antigua, Guatemala.

Lake Atitlan

Quetzaltenango

Patron Saint's day in Quetzaltenango.

Guatemala

Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, and five days off without riding the bike whilst I go back to school in an attempt to learn some Spanish.

Adios Mexico

My last full day in Mexico and a lunch stop at what turns out to be a trendy organic coffee shop that would be more at home in Campden Lock Market rather than at a Mexican roadside. I started with an omelette but had to stay for a coffee and a slice of homemade cake.





I've had a bit of a sore throat and blocked nose for the last few days. I don't think its anything to worry about, there aren't any health issues associated with travelling through Mexico at the moment are there? There would've been something on the news about it if there were.

Palenque

The guide book suggests getting to Palenque early to avoid the heat. It didn't work. By 9 o'clock it was already hot and humid.

Its Margarita Time

Sitting on a beach, drinking cocktails, watching the sun set over the ocean, wondering where did it all go wrong?

Puerto Escondido

Puerto Escondido - the place to go if you're a surfer. Not a bad place to go if you aren't.

Cloud Forest

The journey from Oaxaca to the coastal resort of Puerto Escondido shouldn't take too long - its about 160 miles. But the road goes up into the hills and through the cloud forest. I was lucky if I could hit more than 30mph. Progress is further hampered by a plague of speed bumps at the merest hint of a town or village. It also didn't help when I took a wrong turn following a diversion sign. Having been given directions by a few locals my route back took me through the market, down some wet and muddy tracks and across a football field (whilst there was a match going on).

El Tule

I thought I'd seen the world's largest trees in Yosemite but the Mexicans claim this, a 2,000 year old tree with a diameter of 14 meters and weighing 636,000 tons, is bigger. Now I don't know who to believe.