Zonas y Derrumbes

Oct 14, 2010
We departed Comitan Mexico for an uneventful ride to the border (Zonas) with Guatemala at La Mesilla. The clearance from Mexico was easy. The ride between the border posts of the two countries was at best bizarre. There is a distance of about two miles of no-man’s land or a tax free zone. The road is a basic two lane stretch with vendors selling any and everything but mostly clothing occupying about half of the lane on each side of the road. The middle lane is occupied by hundreds of shoppers, cars and three-wheeled taxi trucks going in one direction and the two of us on our 40” wide motorcycles going the other way. We videoed this section and hope you are able to view this mass confusion.
Once we made our way through this chaotic mass, we processed through Guatemala migration which cost us 10 Mexican Pesos (8 cents) to have the passport stamped. These were Guatemalan officials but they would not take Guatemalan Quetzals (money.) Processing the bikes through customs cost us 40 quetzals ($5.00) each. The crossing was easy but still took about one hour to do all the paperwork.


Roger speaking:
After we left the border, we were soon immersed in a traffic fandango. Seems there was a recent landslide on the road less traveled . After about an hour, we were able to pass the mess.
Gary and I quickly made friends with the folks who were standing around watching the road being cleared. A good looking young man posed for a photo:
We must have passed at least 50 landslides during the day. Some completely filled the road, some washed out the road, some were in the process of cleanup, some were completed. Some portions of pavement had dropped by more than a foot causing difficulty maneuvering from the low to the high portions. You can see here a slide where the entire side of the mountain has covered the road.
Treacherous riding all day with the slides and muddy roads.

But, life goes on for the people living in the landslide prone area. We passed by a farmer who was preparing a field for planting. Bet you thought this method of farming was in a bygone era. Humble people, these peasant farmers. And their homes speak of a less than a lavish lifestyle.
But they are friendly and helpful and grab their gratitude from the land. Finally, here is a picture of a hot water heater. Think of a 6 volt coil for an old tractor wired into a 220 volt circuit with water running through it. It’s ugly but it works. That’s life in the third world.