BMW Motorrad Club Guatemala - Convention

Meanwhile Cisco had been in touch and told me about a BMW motorcycle convention up in the north towards Tikal. He was leaving first thing Wednesday morning with a couple of other BMW riders and invited me to join them. I had little information and didn’t know what to expect but I knew it was the right thing to do and met him at 6.30am on Wednesday some twenty-five kilometres outside of the city.

 We rode for an hour and a half back to the southern side of Lake Atitlan where we met up with Claudio (new 1200GS) Mike (2012 1200GSA), Luis (new 1200GS) and Luis’s nephew Danny (1977 R100S). We ate a good breakfast but I was still a bit tender in the stomach. 

We hit the road, took the northern road through Panajachel again and headed north. We stopped for lunch in a small town and again at a bridge for a break and some more photos, before finishing the 400km day with 30kms of dirt road. It was less challenging than what I had been confronted with in Copper Canyon all those months ago but still wound up into the mountains on narrow roads with drop-offs to the right-hand side amidst small buses and vans. The difference was being with a group of riders, helping my confidence on a road that looked like many I expect to take on in South America. As usual, Ziggy never put a foot (wheel) wrong and it was a really enjoyable ride. We stopped by a lake near the motel for some photos.

My good friend Cisco

After a quiet night in a motel at Chisec we were away by 9am for another 300kms. I liked riding with these guys. Cisco and Mike were probably a bit quicker than me and I was probably a bit quicker than the others, but we rode well as a group with no-one really too fast or too slow. I liked the pace, much more my style than the KTM guys in Mexico. Yes, slower. To me it is less fuel, less wear and tear on the bike and frankly less risk. We stopped a few times and eventually came to a ferry crossing at Sayaxche. 

After the crossing it was straight roads for another 50 or so kilometres to reach Santa Elena, but included a good strong tropical storm overhead that had the local small bikes crammed under shelters.

 I still had little idea what the convention was all about until I arrived. In total there were 130 bikes, 95% being BMW’s with a couple of KTMs, Ducatis and a sprinkling of Japanese bikes. The BMW Motorrad Club Guatemala is similar to the namesake in Mexico through whom I met James and Arturo in Orizaba, Mexico. This was their annual convention and it is a big formal affair with serious sponsorship and a serious turnout. Cisco somehow weaved his magic and had me attend as an honorary guest and I spent two days meeting people who said,

‘So YOU’RE the Australian.’

I was a bit of a celebrity not only for being from so far away but also being on a three-year RTW trip. 

This was beyond the thinking of most people from Guatemala, even the guys buying big adventure bikes.

‘What about your family?’

‘How can you afford it?’

‘How can you be away from home for so long?’

‘Are you married?’

‘Where did you start your trip?’

‘Where are you going next?’

‘You FLEW your bike?’

‘You’re going to AFRICA!?’

These were the main questions thrown at me over the weekend as I met people throughout the convention.

 I had been getting weaker on the second day ride to the convention and the first night I retired early to a hotel room at a sort of reasonable price that Luis had arranged for me. I decided I needed to see a doctor the next day because I was feeling really bad in the stomach, couldn’t eat and my energy was way down. I missed the ride to Yaxha, the key outing of the convention. Almost all of the bikes went and it was a big affair with media, official photos and a big group of riders. Meanwhile at the doctor’s I was diagnosed with an intestinal infection and given four different medications to get me right again. Consult and drugs - $26.

 The antibiotics started kicking in quite quickly and after resting the remainder of the day I surfaced in the evening for an official dinner where I could actually eat and was in a better shape to meet and talk with people. I had a couple of official mentions as coming all the way from Australia and my story preceded me with everyone I met. They were a great group of people and I felt very welcomed and included. It was a fun night with music and dancing after dinner.

 I felt well enough for the ride the next day and I was keen to see the destination Tikal. I took the dirt road option with a smaller group of riders. We were taken to a refreshment stop at a restaurant down the bottom of a step and narrow gravel road with loose rocks and ruts. Ziggy lost her front footing at one point with a big rock that got wedged in front of the wheel, steering me to the edge of the road facing some bush! I had to switch back and forth with the handlebars to move the rock and get back on the track.

 Others weren’t so lucky with three people I heard of coming off their bikes and a small group who didn’t have the experience or confidence to ride back up so the official guides had to ride their bikes up for them. Ziggy loves going uphill more than downhill – ok I prefer it! So going back up I was up on the footpegs leaning forwards and we picked our way up through the loose rocks and ruts, this time without any problem. It was fun and I had a big grin. These big bikes really are capable of more than what people realise.

 The group was now reduced to about half and we continued on around the lake along a dirt road that had a couple of challenging bits, mainly with loose rocks and ruts going downhill, but nothing as bad as the other track. There were no more incidents. We reached Tikal around midday and were put into mini buses to be ferried into the sites. 

We had a couple of hours wandering around and most of the group ended up meeting at ‘Templo IV’ the tallest of the pyramids, with spectacular views over the jungle and the rest of the site. There ended up being quite a group of us and it was a fun and funny time at the top of the tallest pyramid.

That evening there were presentations, sponsors to thank and door prizes given out. I had another special mention and once again Cisco managed to obtain a couple of commemorative shirts for me and BMW caps were handed out. I’m officially merchandised now!

It was a really good event and I’m aware that these groups are quite common throughout the Americas. I found it interesting how surprised people were at the voyage I am on. More so people were surprised at the mileage Ziggy has done – 70,000kms. To me it is just the beginning and I expect to put 200,000kms or more on her before I’m finished. Many of them have simply not been exposed to the longer distance travellers and just have the latest bikes with all the Touratech gear without realising the real purpose of these bikes. Maybe this is something I can be more involved in as a demonstration of what is possible. Gotta love a free feed or two as well!

Do you think I should keep connecting up with the BMW groups as I travel?

Guatemala City – Quetzalroo.

What a breath of fresh air I found at Quetzalroo. 

It was early Sunday afternoon and I had chosen this hostel because of a recommendation by a rider on Horizons. Fortunately it was a mere one kilometre from the #BMWMottorradGuatemala shop where I was booked for a service Monday morning. The first thing I noticed was that it was ultra friendly, it felt like I was staying at home with the owners Annemarie, Carlos and Isobel and there was a giant poster of Uluru on one wall in the common room along with an Australian flag and an Aussie Olympic flag hanging off the ceiling. One of the family’s sons is married to an Aussie girl and they feel really connected with Australia. I felt really connected with them.

Still feeling unwell I lay down for a couple of hours. Annemarie was an angel, fussing over me, trying a couple of medicines, and doing what she could to make sure I was comfortable. Everyone at Quetzalroo was friendly and chatty. There was a lot of laughing and Marcos took groups out cycling, to the wrestling, out to dinner. He was the run around guy. They were so focused on the client it struck me as the perfect hostel. I stayed for three nights as I waited for my bike to be serviced.

I made some new friends like Dr Anna and it was just the place I needed.

Meanwhile at Germania Motors my special bike was waiting for me - a 1961 Boxer. My year!!

Antigua 2

I headed out earlyish to find some breakfast and a good coffee and rattled my way over the cobblestones 

to the main square and had a nice bowl of oats and a full plunger of coffee at Café Barista. This is the view

This became my morning routine for the next few days. There are lots and lots of motorbikes in Guatemala. 

This is Ziggy trying to blend in.

 I rode in circles for three hours going from hostel to hostel and some hotels. The hotels wanted too much money and the hostels had no parking. I finally settled for one that let me park in the foyer but I had a funny vibe about it as soon as I walked in. Should have listened! Hostels are really just new for me on this trip. I like the quietness of a hotel room with Internet and privacy but I am becoming more aware of my budget and realizing that I am not really travelling as cheaply as I planned. When I say I became aware of my budget, I looked at my bank balance and saw that I had used more than I thought. Budgeting is not my greatest strength. I tend to forget to worry about it.

 This hostel was Q37 a night, basically $5, but you do get what you pay for. There was a very funny mood with the other people there. I say hi and try to engage with people as a matter of course and didn’t do anything different here. But I hit some stoney faces, even an English girl saying she didn’t speak English before I heard her talk in a broad London accent. She snobbed me completely. A couple of other strained intro conversations. One American guy was quick to tell me how he was making jewellery to fund his Spanish course and hadn’t dipped into his bank account in two months. Hmmm isn’t this a town full of indigenous Mayans trying to scrape a meager living from selling handcrafts to tourists? Here was an American with other choices cutting in on their livelihood. Less than impressed I ended that conversation. The staff were nice but maybe the price of a bed reflected the poverty mindset of the clientele. I stayed two nights.

 Maybe the police summed it up 

I did take a couple of hours of Spanish conversation with this local guy Marcos which I hope will help my Spanish along.

My next accommodation effort was double the price but seemed a bit more promising with a private but very small room. Unfortunately I was placed between two toilets and every doorway was made of metal, so it resembled a prison during the night. The drunks would arrive back loudly at 3am clanging their doors. Everyone cleaned their teeth at the basin outside my window. At 5am there was a mix of people getting up to catch their bus to another destination or a tour, but also there was a group of Guatematecas who seemed to like getting up at 5am and hanging around talking at the top of their voices in the hallway.

During the day I got out and caught a local parade, then went for a ride around some local towns.

The first night I just thought it was that night and things would change. However the second night was worse. I had been to the market and bought a papaya for lunch and sat in the common area to eat. Almost immediately I felt a bit bloated and flushed. I went to lie down and spent the next four hours in a sweat with severe nausea. Finally I vomited my life away. That got me up but I was still feeling bad. I went to bed early but noticed my mattress had a big sag and with the banging and clanging of metal doors, the toilets flushing and doors slamming, the cleaning of teeth, the noisy people at all hours; I experienced my worst night I can remember. Funny that I have no photos of this period!

 Somehow feeling marginally better in the morning, I packed the bike, said my farewells to the people I had met and connected with there and rode back to Guatemala city.