Last leg of the journey in Mexico.
I headed for the boarder with Guatemala.
Nice riding, nice day, two hours from the boarder.
But I got to the last little city in Mexico and had a bit of an unexpected problem.
On the highway out of the city, there was a "blockage"... As I got closer I could see that the blockage was not moving at all.
When I got right up to it, it was apparent that it was some sort of protest. There were large trucks parked side by side across the road. There were people sitting shoulder to shoulder near the trucks. There were lots of people standing around in large groups and a few with placards with stuff written on them.
I looked at this, and asked someone if they though itd be OK if I went through... They shook their head and said nop!
Hmmm... I looked at my map and my GPS to see if there was any other route to the boarder... No, doesnt look like it.
So, I decided Id try to get through... There were plenty of people walking through the blockade but no vehicles. I paddled my bike through the pedestrian gap in the trucks and then came to a stop next to a group of 4-5 people on the other side. I asked one young guy (one of the protesters) if he might speak a little English so that I could understand the protest issue, but he had less English than I had Spanish. But it didnt really matter, the simple act of riding the big foreign bike near to a crowd of men here is enough.: within 30 seconds, I was surrounded by a hundred men. They were mostly quite polite and listened to me asking questions of the young guy about what was going on. But a few of them were a bit more angry... with their government rather than me, but they definitely didnt want me breaking their blockade. I didnt really understand the details of the situation, but this is Chiappas state... Its very poor... Most of the population are Campesinos who live a subsistence life... The government has a bad history of dispossessing and exploiting these people and they have frequently in the past felt that "armed resistance" was the only solution... And that resistance movement has been known as "Zapatistas".
So, this is basically those same people and they have the same problems with their government as usual. At present they are peacefully protesting by blockading the highway...
I explained as best I could that I knew very little but that I supported the way they were protesting (peacefully) and that if they said no, then I would not pass.
There was some back and forth, and a couple of people were quite angry and wanted me to know that I was very lucky living where I lived and that I should try living where they lived etc.
I agreed and stayed very polite and it seemed to dissipate the anger (I think they just wanted someone to see their anger). Anyway, after a little while, the young guy who I had started talking with (he had been quite for a while as others talked with me) spoke up again , and he kinda asked the greater crowd if itd be OK if they let one foreigner through their blockade... The crowd was a mostly yes, and I waited till it seemed that they "were sure" and said thanks very much, Ill only go through if you are sure, good luck with the protest, and I think its great that its peaceful. At one point someone asked me for a "donation" for food and drinks (which I was willing to entertain), but before I could do anything about it, others in the crowd had said no, thats a bad idea and insisted that I should not... So, they were honest people, and they were not trying to exploit me, and though I didnt really get to the details of the issue, my sense of it was that they probably had valid concerns for their government.
I rode gently on.
The blockade was repeated at least five more places in the next 5km or so, but since the front line had let me through, the others did to.
I was the only moving vehicle... everybody else had to walk if they wanted to go through.
Again, I was glad that my bike looks beat-up and dirty (as do my riding clothes) and that I am relaxed enough these days to not be fussed if I get where I planed to go in a day or not. I think it really makes for a far more open and understanding impression with others. I think the older, less relaxed, more "intense" me may well have accidentally said the wrong thing at the wrong moment and I may not have got through. (not that that would have mattered).
Anyway, I came out the other side of the protest and had clear empty highway all the way to the Guatemalan boarder. The boarder stuff for Immigration and Customs was quick and easy (half an hour) and I was riding again through the winding road that climbs up into the mountains of Guatemala...
Great, Ill be in San Pedro by the lake before the day is done :))
