Day 46 - Marko Round The World

Day 46 12/11/2021

Odometer 29,390 – 29,400 —– 10 Miles (6700 Miles Total)

Lake Atitlan, Panajachel, Guatemala

I got up fairly early again today, took a shower and got right to work catching up on the blog on the balcony of my Hostel overlooking the small city i’m in. The sun was hitting me as it was rising up above the mountains nearby as I was wearing my Mexican Baja sweater curled up on a comfortable couch on the balcony. I spoke to Greg And Jess who I met up with last night and they sent me the address to their mechanic they use. He opened at 8:30 so I went down the block on the main strip and got myself a nice breakfast and then packed up my new small arrangement of tools and headed over to the shop early. On the way out of the hostel I asked to book another night but she said they were all sold out. Shit. I’ll figure this out later.

I wanted to get there early so I can get all the plastics off the right side of the bike to access the radiator and cooling system. By the time Greg showed up in a Tuk Tuk the shop opened their doors and he started chatting with them about my bike. They had a few ideas about the thermostat but I was fairly sure it was air in the coolant lines from the last mechanic. He asked the mechanic if they had distilled water for me and he came out with two bottles. I started the bleeding process to get the air out of the system. When I opened up the radiator I noticed it was very low on water. That explains why it started to overheat so quickly the second time around. It was a good sign because if I opened up the cap and it was full I definitely had other problems. So I topped off the radiator, put the cap on, opened the bleeder screw for a few seconds, refilled the radiator and repeated that process about 6 times. Some air came out of the bleeder hole the first shot but not sure if that meant anything since the radiator was so low on coolant. I turned the bike back on and it took a while to get to normal operating temp which is 184 Degrees F. That was a great sign. It stuck at 184 for a while and then slowly started to creep up to 200 and 215 and 222 before the fan kicked in. It took maybe 7-8 minutes to get from 184-222 which was a great sign because yesterday it took about 20 seconds at a dead stop.

While Greg and I were waiting for the bike to get hot we talked about a route for me to take to BMW in Guatemala City. As we were chatting I mentioned that I’m going to take this small road along the lake to San Pedro on the other side of the lake. He said no, don’t take it because it’s a dangerous road and everyone here knows not to take it. I’ll get held up at gunpoint and get robbed. He saw the skeptical look on my face. A few minutes later the bike shop owner came outside and he asked him in Spanish about the road. The owner agreed. He told Greg that last summer he took that road, they stopped him, put a gun to his head and took all of his belongings.

Everything happens for a reason. Small bike issue made me bail on going to San Pedro or San Marcos on the other side of the lake. Yak found out I was in Pana for the day since he mentioned I should go here which led me to meet up with Greg and Jenn which led us to this moment. Imagine my bike didn’t overheat and I went right to San Pedro on the small road next to the lake and had my whole bike robbed. He was telling me when they stop people most of the time they come out with tools and start stripping parts off of your cars and motorcycles. There are cops at either end of the road and you have to pay them to escort you through but they don’t do any patrolling without getting paid because these cartel guys give them a cut of what they rob everyday. Wild shit huh? Thank you mechanic in the Bronx for screwing my bike up because I might have had all my stuff taken on that road.

Greg was done translating and helping me make some decisions on the bike so he got a Tuk Tuk and went home. I sat on the side of the road for another 30 minutes assembling my bike back together, paid the shop for the water and off I was. The bike was running at 184 again which is the proper temp instead of 187. Job well done.

I found a good deal on an Airbnb right outside of town for $11 a night with free secured parking and sent them a message about checking in early. Bingo. They replied and I went back to the hostel, packed up and made my way to the Airbnb to drop my stuff off. Now I can finally start to enjoy my day around 11:30 with no stress. I went out for some ice cream and a woman I spoke to yesterday about paragliding recognized me and brought me back to her shop to try to get me gear. Still no luck. I messaged a guy who’s number I got from a friend and he said the winds weren’t good for the next ten days.

I went down to the water and went for a swim. I can’t believe I’m swimming in Lake Atitlan looking at two volcanoes about 10,000’ tall right in front of me. It’s like a dream but it’s real. It’s just another day in my life now. Nothing out of the ordinary. Life is good. I can finally relax. I brought my towel up on a bench and this is my spot now for a few hours. I pull out my phone and can actually do some research on what’s next. I booked three nights in San Pedro on the other side of the lake. First time in my life I’ve booked a place for three nights right off the bat. I’m changing. I like it. I catch up on a few calls and texts. Set up an emailing subscription on the website so people can get emails when I make a new post. Pay a few bills, say a few happy birthdays. I work on my tan some more.

The guy I messaged earlier about paragliding called me and said to meet him in the landing area in 45 minutes because he’s going to go home and get me his rig between work. Shit I thought he said no flying for a week but people are flying. Awesome! I grab some food before I go meet him since it’ll be a long day of flying. I met him in the parking lot with a few of his friends. It looks like a technical landing area but I like that. He ends up having to do a tandem and leaves me with a few guys at the bottom. They’re all vetting my skill level. They seem confident I’ll be fine. I’m watching the tandems land in the small dirt lot on the lake surrounded by cars, trees, rocks and boats. I start to get a bad feeling and I’m not liking the winds. They’re a bit strong but this is normal they said. My stomach starts to feel really weird and I get more anxiety than normal. If I get a 6/10 anxiety feeling before a flight this was a 7/10 maybe. Just a bit more but enough to feel it. I’m listening to my stomach for the first time. WEIRD

I sit there watching people land for 30 minutes and I’m ready to tell the guy I’m not going to go. But maybe I should. Parachutes are my thing and I love a challenge. Check your Ego kid, listen to yourself. We’re watching the first solo paraglider come in without a tandem and he’s deep, there’s a tree in front of him that’s going to create turbulence. I know this guy is fucked. He starts getting thrown around left and right up and down and the canopy starts to collapse. He’s right behind the tree now. He gets thrown hard to the left and then right, the left side of the wing rolls under and he’s gone. The guy I was with drops his shit and runs over. I’ve seen too much of this. I’m not going over there. I took my shoes off, put my sandals back on, threw my beach towel over my shoulder and was going to wait for him to come back before I left. Ten minutes later I put his gear in Sebastians car and walked over. There’s a group of people surrounding a woman on a brick street and the gear is stashed away in the shade. The pilot came up super short and crashed between the booths where they sell things between trees as well. He must have hit her when he ate it and she had a huge hole in her head with blood everywhere. She was about 60 years old. Bandages and bandages soaked with blood through her hair.

The worst is when an innocent bystander gets hurt. Super rare and it shouldn’t happen ever. I said bye to my new buddy that ran over to help and went back to the beach. Never before in my life have I really listened to that feeling in my stomach. Just one time in 2015 when I was standing on the edge of a cliff in Arizona and decided nope im gonna quit BASE jumping right now. There’s the slightest difference between adrenaline and anxiety and I think I just figured it out. Don’t let the Ego take over and kill you. You gotta know when it’s time to walk away from something. Its my birthday in 2 days and I don’t need to be jacked up with an injury for as stupid paragliding flight. There’s always another day for a flight.

I sat on the beach for another 2 hours and did a little workout. Went home to change into something warmer and met with Greg and Jess to watch the sunset. We walked into town for a nice dinner with them. That was very sweet of them and I’m so thankful. We told some funny stories over dinner which were nice to hear, I showed them my camping gear and we parted ways. I got some more food after and walked around for a while. Back at my Airbnb it’s like a hostel but I’m the only one here. I tried to go outside to talk to someone about the wifi since it’s not working but no one is here. As I walked outside I heard my door shut behind me. Shit. I’m wearing shorts and that’s all. It’s cold out here. I can’t believe it just did this. I broke the screen in the window but my hand can’t reach the lock inside. I go to my bike, grab a can of brake cleaner and use it as an extension to open the handle inside the room. Nights over!

Do I have to even say anything about this photo?