Monarch Pass Colorado, on the way out April 1st
Our hangout in McAllen Texas as we waited for tire issues to be resolved.
blood sausage tacos
Yummy OJ! always on the lookout for the next one.
sugar caneThis blog follows our loop through Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua on our 2006 KLR650. This is mainly to get the informaiton out there for those who would like to do something similar. There was little information available to help us plan our route or know if most of it through the Moskito Coast was possible. WE now know confidently that you can only get from Northern Honduras in to the Miskito of Nicaragua by boat. For those of you who are following our trip because you know us, a lot of this will be boring such as millage and road conditions, abut that will be most interesting to those planning a trip. I hope you enjoy the pitures and hearing our stories. And i hope it inspires someone to get out there.
We are both riding on one bike, with aluminum boxes and a tank bag carrying all of our stuff, which is very little. We chose not to bring camping gear because there are few places to camp, going into the woods/jungle to camp doesn't sound like a good idea these days, and it would require a bag strapped to the outside of the boxes that would have to be dealt with every time we walked away from the bike. We decided it wasnt worth it - especially when you are hot and dusty from a day of riding! We want to be low profile, not show a lot of stuff and have no electronics.
I speak Spanish with no problem which seemed very important from the very beginning.
Our budget is $63US per day for the two of us. That is for everything once we have entered Mexico. Gas, food, hotels, park fees, borders, and what not. We know that Northern Mexico will cost more and that Honduras and Nicaragua will cost less in general so we figure the cost will even out. Now that we have returned our budget ended up being $65 per day. Mostly because we started staying in more midrang hotels and getting airconditioning than our original budget planned on.
We drive our truck from Colorado to San Benito Texas 1,300 miles 24 hours. We left our truck at Garcia Towning and RV storage phone 399-7908 for $20 a month. They even let us camp in the yard for free the first night we got their. Nice folks.
We left Crested Butte april 1st in a snowstorm and moved very slowly on our trip. We chose to drive further than El Paso to avoid undesired time in Chihuahua State. We had planned on crossing at Los Ebanos, near McAllen, which has a very small car ferry that is hand pulled. It is the last one left on the border and soon to be replaced by a bridge. But a tire problem hung us up and had to be dealt with in America so we compromised and crossed at Reynosa. Our plan was to get away from the border as fast as possible. Reynosa showed no problems, other than road confusion. CIITEV is what you need to look for when you cross the border with your vehicle. Go straight. No one points you anywhere. The border crossing going south was down right Snappy! $22US per person for a 6 month travel visa/ tourist card or 7 days free. The motorcycle paperwork we did on line before we left. $45 for the import permit and $218 for liability insurance for 6 months. do it on line. The Liability insurance is required but no one ever asked to see it at any time in Mexico.
Heading down through Mexico during Semana Santa might be a bad idea if you can avoid it. Every one is on the road and heading to the beach. So our choice to drive down the gulf coast roads was the same thing that most of Tamaulipas and Veracruz States had. So from 6 inches of snow to unbearable heat, here we are.
We only drove 171 miles that day along smooth paved highway/two lane roads. More of a one and a half lane road. It was super windy due to a storm and was tough riding. We stayed in San Fernando at the first hotel we saw and it was great. Gated parking for the bike in the area we figured we would be nervouse about it. it was $26.y.
We are both riding on one bike, with aluminum boxes and a tank bag carrying all of our stuff, which is very little. We chose not to bring camping gear because there are few places to camp, going into the woods/jungle to camp doesn't sound like a good idea these days, and it would require a bag strapped to the outside of the boxes that would have to be dealt with every time we walked away from the bike. We decided it wasnt worth it - especially when you are hot and dusty from a day of riding! We want to be low profile, not show a lot of stuff and have no electronics.
I speak Spanish with no problem which seemed very important from the very beginning.
Our budget is $63US per day for the two of us. That is for everything once we have entered Mexico. Gas, food, hotels, park fees, borders, and what not. We know that Northern Mexico will cost more and that Honduras and Nicaragua will cost less in general so we figure the cost will even out. Now that we have returned our budget ended up being $65 per day. Mostly because we started staying in more midrang hotels and getting airconditioning than our original budget planned on.
We drive our truck from Colorado to San Benito Texas 1,300 miles 24 hours. We left our truck at Garcia Towning and RV storage phone 399-7908 for $20 a month. They even let us camp in the yard for free the first night we got their. Nice folks.
We left Crested Butte april 1st in a snowstorm and moved very slowly on our trip. We chose to drive further than El Paso to avoid undesired time in Chihuahua State. We had planned on crossing at Los Ebanos, near McAllen, which has a very small car ferry that is hand pulled. It is the last one left on the border and soon to be replaced by a bridge. But a tire problem hung us up and had to be dealt with in America so we compromised and crossed at Reynosa. Our plan was to get away from the border as fast as possible. Reynosa showed no problems, other than road confusion. CIITEV is what you need to look for when you cross the border with your vehicle. Go straight. No one points you anywhere. The border crossing going south was down right Snappy! $22US per person for a 6 month travel visa/ tourist card or 7 days free. The motorcycle paperwork we did on line before we left. $45 for the import permit and $218 for liability insurance for 6 months. do it on line. The Liability insurance is required but no one ever asked to see it at any time in Mexico.
Heading down through Mexico during Semana Santa might be a bad idea if you can avoid it. Every one is on the road and heading to the beach. So our choice to drive down the gulf coast roads was the same thing that most of Tamaulipas and Veracruz States had. So from 6 inches of snow to unbearable heat, here we are.
We only drove 171 miles that day along smooth paved highway/two lane roads. More of a one and a half lane road. It was super windy due to a storm and was tough riding. We stayed in San Fernando at the first hotel we saw and it was great. Gated parking for the bike in the area we figured we would be nervouse about it. it was $26.y.
