East coast US to Guatemala and back Jan 10'
 

Hello all,

I know it's early to try to find riders, but thought I'd throw out a feeler.
I'm looking to leave South Carolina late DEC. 28ish and spend 4 weeks traveling down the gulf coast of Mexico then over and up the West coast.

Maybe or maybe not do Guat.

My tentative plan is to cross at Matamoros travel through Tampico,Papantla,Veracruz,Villahermosa,Palenque,Sa n Cristobal de la Casas,Puerto Escondido, Acupulco,PV, and Mazatlan then cross through Durango, Torreon, Monterrey and back to Matamoros.
Spending extra days wherever I like it along the way.

If any of you guys have must see spots along this path, please make those suggestions as this is my first trip to Mexico on the bike.
I'll be riding an 09' weestrom, so mostly paved roads please.

Thank you,
Michael

44 views and not 1 opinion or recommendation?

ok, I've never ridden down that way, but I'll bite...

4 weeks to ride down to Guatemala and back, or 4 weeks down and 4 weeks back?

while the former might be possible, it sure doesn't sound fun!

East coast US to Guatemala
 

Hi,
I would be interested to join, need more info. You can send it to kaysearch@hotmail.com
Suzet :D

I'm planning on 200-300 miles some days, with layovers in whatever cities look fun or interesting.
The trip down the gulf coast will be fairly quick, most of the time will be spent on the west coast and crossing through Durango.
I'll probably wind up blowing off Guat. this trip.
It's my first trip through Mexico on the bike, so mainly just wanting to break the ice and determine where I'd like to return and spend more time at a later date.
The 4 week schedule is a guess only and is 4 weeks in Mexico plus an extra week for travel to and from the border.

we did the same trip
 

myself, mikechill, and dzoneguy did the exact same trip in dec 07 / jan 08. we also did it in 4 weeks and spent 2 nights at lake atitlan in guatemala. go for it

Do you happen to have any recommendations for any side trips or places to stay along the way?

Consider riding "el Espinazo Del Diablo," or "The Devil's Spine." It's the road that connects Mazatlan and Durango. It's twisty and beautiful, paved for the most part (under construction when I went in 2003).

Already in the original plan.
Thanks!!! Thats the kind of tips I'm looking for.

roads i liked
 

try the road 120 between jalpan and san juan del rio, the town of guanajuato was cool, road 135 between puerto escondido and oaxaca and 175 from oaxaca tosan pedro pochutla and lake atitlan in guatemala was really good and cheap also

FarmerDan,

Thanks for the input on the roads.
Do you have any info on places to stay along the way?
I have a few recommendation from over on advrider.com
Any areas I should stAy away from?

get in contact with sjoerd bakker
 

sorry i can't more help i didn't keep a very good record of where we stayed but we had no problems find hotels. you should contact sjoerd bakker from here. he knows mexico like the back of his hand. he'll be a hell of a lot more helpful than i could be.

Hi Micheal

I too am planning a trip from Augusta, GA to Panama City Panama hopefully next spring. Rode to Coldfoot Alaska last year over 31 days, spending 11 days in AK. I'm not sure about the timing yet though. Do you speak Spanish? That's something else I need to do.

Louie

I had 2 years of spanish in high school, but that's been quite a few years.
I'm trying to get myself into a conversational spanish class here locally prior to the trip. I think most of the community colleges offer something along that line.
I have given some thought to Panama, just haven't been able to find enough info on shipping the bike back to the states to justify further research.
Are you planning the trip to be Panama and back or Panama and shipping the bike back?

Oaxaca is a great city, the evening life around the Centro is great. There is a hotel 1/2 block from the centro, good prices and lots of room to store your bike. San Cristobal de la Casa is another great place to visit, sometimes a little cool because it's up so high.

I'm interested in heading south this winter, will be trucking down from the east coast of Canada to where it's warmer (South Carolina?) and ride from there. What part of the east coast are you leaving from? I ride a klr650.

Probably Florence,SC it's a little over an hour from the coast.
I'm currently living within 45 minutes of Charlotte,NC