Day 63 – Guatemala City, GU to Monterrico, GU

Day 63 – Guatemala City, GU to Monterrico, GU     10/23/10     Mileage: 87

 We were up relatively early but waited for rush hour to pass before setting out towards San Jose and the Pacific coast of Guatemala. I was a bit concerned about overloading the bike riding two up with all the gear, but the KLR actually handled it just fine! It was needless to say pretty ass heavy and handled like ox cart, but it was totally ride-able.

Packed and ready to go...

The ride down to the coast couldn’t have been easier as it was on a baby bottom smooth toll road that connects Guatemala City to the Pacific coast. The cool dry mountain air gave way to the moist warm tropical air with each passing mile and in 90 minutes we arrived at the Pacific Ocean. We rode along the coast in search of a beach front hotel to park ourselves for 2 days and knew we found the right spot when we pulled into beach side town of Monterrico. There were several hotels on the beach, but we liked the Hotel Mangle which cost Q650…or around $80 for 2 nights!

The Hotel Mangle in Monterrico...

The Hotel Mangle from the beach...

The restaurant patio...

The cozy pool area...

Our room looking out on our balcony...

Our own private balcony overlooking the beach...

We quickly parked the bike, changed into our swimsuits and hit the pool…beers in hand of course!  After some pool time, we split a pizza over a few more drinks.

Thin crust pizza + beer + beach = a thin slice of heaven!

That night we went down the beach a bit to another cool beach front joint called Johnny’s where we had dinner and a drink.

Chillin at Johnny's Place...

Afterwards we walked back to our hotel and chilled out on our private deck overlooking the beach before turning in.