{"id":549,"date":"2010-07-23T20:24:28","date_gmt":"2010-07-24T03:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/?p=549"},"modified":"2014-09-08T09:45:24","modified_gmt":"2014-09-08T16:45:24","slug":"time-in-saddle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/?p=549","title":{"rendered":"Time in the saddle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I decided early on that I\u2019m going to devote more time to South America on this trip. I\u2019m thankful I am at a point in life where I can spend the time and energy on this endeavor b\/c it\u2019s been an enriching experience so far. Sure there have been some lows but none I haven\u2019t been able to manage, albeit at times reluctantly. But the reality is I don\u2019t know what the future holds and if for some reason I need to cut the trip short I want to have spent sufficient time riding in South America. This decision is born out of logistics and not an indication I don\u2019t want to spend more time in Mexico and Central America. Mexico and Central America are practically in my back yard so I expect to have future opportunities to keep exploring their countryside and culture.<\/p>\n<p>That said, I\u2019m scheduled to sail to Colombia in August which means I need to tighten up my trajectory south so I don\u2019t miss the boat so to speak. I\u2019m anxious to explore South America and I\u2019m one who enjoys time in the saddle but I don\u2019t like rushing through places, not the kind of experience I\u2019m looking for on this trip. I continue to make new friends in spite of being short on time and even run into a number of acquaintances from previous destinations which is always fun. I was reluctant to leave San Cristobal because it signalS the beginning of a period of extended riding days and hectic border crossings through Central America, a shakedown gauntlet of sorts.<\/p>\n<p>It rains every day now and sitting around waiting for the rain to stop has long since lost its appeal. Getting south faster means I escape the rain sooner, right? This year\u2019s rainy season has been particularly bad for Guatemala and El Salvador. The roadways in Central America can be hazardous in good weather and adding mudslides, flooding, and collapsed bridges to the mix makes for a potentially volatile riding experience. I have enormous respect for the folks who live here as I witness them pull together and overcome the latest adversity. The sense of community and resilience of the people here is commendable and needs to be witnessed to appreciate.<\/p>\n<p>Points of Interest:<br \/>\nMX\/Guatemala border crossing<br \/>\nXela (Quetzaltenango), Guatemala<br \/>\nSan Pedro Atitlan, Guatemala<br \/>\nAntigua, Guatemala<br \/>\nGuat\/El Salvador border Xing<br \/>\nLa Libertad, El Salvador<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/i-FhTBdcx\/0\/O\/i-FhTBdcx.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/936066427_BzSSc-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/936078879_UzJME-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/936071690_GedcJ-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/936074828_Uy7DR-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/i-btSK4dq\/0\/XL\/i-btSK4dq-XL.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/936082913_pVG7s-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/936086828_KwpoA-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/939048328_mGrFn-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/939057216_rfzu6-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/939183798_ZY7r9-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/939163218_d8kEx-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/941438988_KN9CD-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/941442732_NyAQE-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/941461466_cZKHW-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/942117558_DfrDy-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/942135209_4faph-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/942147438_sJDCM-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/i-NHCX6hM\/0\/O\/i-NHCX6hM.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/945063752_hCNP4-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/945075209_5dBZR-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/945157603_SVw4W-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/945088203_rviYc-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/945097702_aNaYB-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/945160257_YUZ2J-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.smugmug.com\/photos\/945161289_fvw3d-XL-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>**VIDEO**<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eGn0C1GHqFE\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cYZCieSJ-jw\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5zj5ksq0N4I\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lCAgFbyzjFM\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I decided early on that I\u2019m going to devote more time to South America on this trip. I\u2019m thankful I am at a point in life where I can spend the time and energy on this endeavor b\/c it\u2019s been an enriching experience so far. Sure there have been some lows but none I haven\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[269],"tags":[30,68,123,52,59,8,124,58,121,122,110,27,9,120],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/antigua.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Lnhy-8R","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=549"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":562,"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549\/revisions\/562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ichasehorizons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}