We've been on the road for nearly one and a half years now which obviously makes us experienced "overland motorcycle adventurers". We're no longer "wanna-be's" or the people who need to ask the questions of the inexperienced. We've been there and done it all! So, here we are in Guatemala riding to Antigua on tires that are once again bald and in need of replacement. Every mile counts. We ride into a lovely town as we get closer to Antigua, the streets are cobbled and the builldings are Colonial and unmolested. A definate opportunity to take some photos and we stop outside a church, then we stop on a side street and take some more photos. Finally we decide time is getting on and we need to get back on the road to Antigua. We ride round the town looking for the road but as is the case everywhere in Guatemala there are no road signs and we ride around, up and down the same streets time and time again looking for the right road. It really is a lovely town and we swear to each other than in a day or two, once we get to Antigua we'll come back for the day and have a good walk round. The road to Antigua is not to be found so eventually, defeated and frustrated we pull over and Liz runs over the road to a Tourist Information Office. In her improving but poor Spanish she askes.
"Donde esta Antigua, por favour?"
The guy looks at her a little strangely. "Antigua es aqui!"
Liz thinks she hasn't pronounced it correctly, as sometimes happens. "No, direccion por Antigua, por favour?"
The guy repeats, "Antigua es aqui!" and looks at Liz even more strangely.
"Aqui?"
"Si, aqui. Es Antigua!" the guy repeats a third time with a sweep of the hands.
Realisation comes over Liz and with a laugh she says, "Soy de Ingleterra, lo siento - mi stupido!" (I'm from England, I'm sorry - I'm stupid!)
We've been on the road for nearly one and a half years now which obviously makes us experienced "overland motorcycle adventurers". We're no longer "wanna-be's" or the people who need to ask the questions of the inexperienced. We've been there and done it all! If there's one thing travelling as we are does for you it shows you up for what you are. In this case - lost and a confused.

Guatemala is a quite a country and one that we haven't seen nearly as much of as we would have liked to, mainly as a consequence of spending 3 weeks learning Spanish, or trying to. Being English we don't posses the all important gene that enables us to learn a second language which we think is why our forefathers set out to conquer the rest of the world and convert everyone to English. It could all have been so much easier for us if the Spanish had stayed at home. Oh well. Now realising we're in Antigua we came here via Tikal, Flores, Poptun, Coban, Huehuetenango, Xela and Lake Atitlan. All places worth visiting and all with their individual characters but nevertheless Guatemalan through and through. We've heard so many stories of the dangers in Guatemala and they are real, or can be, but even though we've seen evidence of those dangers we've only been greeted with openness and friendliness. In Coban a security guard walks over to me with a pump action shotgun and asks me for a cigarette. I give him one and not knowing what to do with his '12-gauge' he asks me to hold it while he lights his cigarette. There I am in a busy shopping area holding a loaded shotgun, 5 cartridges in the magazine and one in the chamber. I ask him if he really needs a shotgun or if its for show. He tells me he really needs it but has never used it! We're in Xela and we're walking back to our hostel with a couple of friends and a little worse for wear at 11:00pm. We round a corner and before us are 25 to 30 men in balaclavas with baseball bats. In no fit state to run anywhere we walk on with our fingers crossed and bid them a good evening. We're greeted with 25 to 30 men in balaclavas and baseball bats wishing us "Buenos noches, mucho gusto." We learn they are the good guys, family men doing a job the police should be doing but are too corrupt for. On seeing a vigilante group at first it feels intimidating and scary but ironically we and Xela is safer for them. We're in San Pedro, Lake Atitlan, an area renowned for (apparently) robberies, muggings and killings of tourists in the remote areas. We're in a remote area and on a remote road and come round a bend. Our path is blocked by car tires across the road and two men in plain clothes with handguns. Fate has finally caught up with us and we're in deep ............ The rule is that if you find yourself in such a situation you just don't stop unless there's no choice. We're not getting past the blockade so we have no choice but to stop. Here we go! It turns out the men are tourist police but don't have the money for a uniform. They've blocked the road because a bus has overturned a little way up on a blind corner. We thank them but explain that they could be taken for something more sinister than they are. They smile and laugh and we ride off realising that that's just Guatemala for you. Some of the dangers in Guatemala are real but most are perceived and a legacy of the 80's.

If any, the greatest danger in Guatemala is riding on the roads. There's a belief of immortality in road users that we've never seen before. Busses overtake us on blind bends, on wet roads with balded tires doing 70 mph+. Many of the roads are so rough that drivers use either side at any time anywhere just to avoid the potholes, regardless of what is coming the other way. Right of way comes down to the size of your vehicle. Mine's bigger than yours mate! Having said all that, if you ever come to Guatemala and only ever travel one road here make sure its the road from Coban to Huehuetenango (known locally as "Wee-wee"). The '7W' is described on our map as "Major road - unpaved." Unpaved yes, major - they've got to be kidding. Its a road that takes in some of the most spectacular scenery in the country, following tropical river valleys, ascending and winding over and between volcanoes up onto barren mountain tops with views that go on forever. However the road is such that there is no time to take your eyes off it and take in the views. River crossings, gravel, washed out hair-pin bends with 18 inch ruts carving them up. Bridges of which 50% have been stolen to rebuild someone's house and mud slides from the seasonal rains (and boy does it rain).

Some of the bends are so tight the only way round them is to get the back wheel spinning and stepping out. Its a road that takes 110% concentration but is fun all the way too.

Looking back I can't believe we considered doing it 2-up but it would have been our loss if we hadn't. Don't try it on a Goldwing but if an AT or KTM etc. is between your legs you'll love it. The route isn't always obvious as you ride through mountain villages populated by indigenous people in traditional clothes so colourful it takes your breath away. Time and time again we ask which way to "Wee-wee " trying not to laugh knowing you have to be English to understand the joke. Each time people come over and point to the way before touching the bike and asking if we'll swap it for their wife and 2 pigs. (We still have the bike!)

We've canoed on Lake Atitlan, climbed Chicobal Volcano to a sacred lake, ridden roads like no other, and met people whose culture hasn't changed for hundreds of years. Guatemala is a magical country and we'll be sorry to leave but leave we must. El Salvador here we come.