27 March-2003
San Christobal to
Agua Azul and Palenque
6:00 Hours, 140 Miles
Sliding down the mountains from San Christobal
through Ocosingo to Agua Azul is another beautiful piece of
highway that is a definite "must see" on a motorcycle.
I quickly learned not to under estimate the steep switchbacks,
it was far too easy to be enchanted and distracted by the
natural beauty of the forests and not realize I had slipped
into the opposite lane. Fortunately, there was so little
traffic it was never life threatening, just another shot of
adrenaline! In two hours I dropped from 2300 meters
at San Christobal to 1000 meters at Ocosingo over a distance
of 53 miles. At least a couple of times I had to equalize
my ears as I'd been trained to do when scuba diving.
About three hours out of San
Chris I ran into a light rain. A friend back in
Cuernavaca had warned me about the mold that can grow
on the roads in Chiapas. He said that it was
a slippery as grease and difficult to spot. Just
then I arrived at the turn off for Agu Azul, a long
series of waterfalls and ponds on the Rio Shamula, just
10 minutes off the main highway. The rain stopped
as soon as I turned off the highway and a minute later
the sun almost came out.
The waters of the river are a shade
of blue not justified by photos. It's the kind
of blue you see in some lakes of the Canadian Rocky
Mountains. It almost made me homesick... Almost!
I spent almost an hour walking up past waterfalls and
pools, then returned to the base and stopped at one
of the roadside restaurants for some lunch.
By this time, I was in the habit of finding
a parking place by locating a spot where it would be difficult
for the bike to be knocked over by other vehicles coming and
going, and within clear view of a family restaurant.
Then, I would usually strike up a conversation with somebody
in the restaurant, ask about the menu, ask permission to park
in front and tell them I'd be back shortly for a bite.
The strategy worked again this time and I had a pleasant break.
Within two hours, I was back
on the road and found it was still raining up on the
highway, "ni modo", but it only lasted a few
minutes more. Within an hour, I was pulling into Palenque.
