Previously on Long Way Up...
This is why we do these trips. For this. That's why I love it.
I want to be as quick as possible getting my bike to Costa Rica.
Got sun on my face
So, I'm gonna see if I can carry on with it to Panama City.
Sleeping rough on the road
Pachanga, Pachanga.
Eighty-five years old and still riding motorbikes.
I'll tell you all about it
I'm desperate to get to San José.
When I get home
Not just to get my bike fixed, but because I'm gonna see my daughter, Jamyan.
All right. Back on the road, man.
Gonna roll up the sidewalk
Whoo-hoo!
Gonna need letting up
Comin' round to meet you
The long way up
We're gonna ride 13,000 miles through 13 countries.
From Ushuaia, in and out of Argentina and Chile, to the Atacama Desert,
heading up to La Paz before we cross Lake Titicaca,
continuing along the Andes to Colombia, over to Panama,
through Central America and Mexico, arriving in Los Angeles 100 days later.
We're gonna give these guys video cameras,
and they're also gonna have cameras with microphones on their crash helmets
so they can film themselves as they're riding along.
Is this a road? Oh, my God!
A third motorcycle will travel with them,
and on it will be Claudio, our cameraman.
In addition, Russ and I will travel in two electric pickup trucks,
along with cameramen Jimmy,
Anthony and Taylor, who will also help with logistics.
We'll be filming the guys from the vehicles,
linking up with them at borders,
but otherwise, the motorcycles will be on their own.
Here we go.
All right, man. So nice to be riding along with you, Charley.
It seems like it's been ages.
I know. Can you even...
-This is fantastic. -Feels good.
Two men, two bikes together again.
Let's roll.
I love riding in this rain forest. It's so beautiful.
I'm getting ready to meet up with my beautiful daughter, Jamyan,
who, if it wasn't for the Long Way Round trip,
wouldn't be my daughter at all.
It's so lovely that she's coming.
One more night in Costa Rica and then we head into Nicaragua.
All right, mate? You okay?
It's beautiful.
Straight on, Charley. Straight on, mate.
Beauty.
Way down on the sea
Oh, my God. That looks like my hair.
Beauty, mate.
That's a beauty, mate.
That's not even how you do Australian.
-How'd you do Australian, mate? -Not at all. Not even close.
Look how dark the sand is.
You know why?
-Why? -'Cause it's volcanic. That's why.
Yeah.
That might be-- Hang on.
That's a hot sauce.
-That's a hot sauce. -Yeah. No.
Do you think I'll get my husk in the fire?
-Absolutely not. I don't think so. -Let's do it. Ready? One, two, three.
No, you did not!
-That was seriously long. -Freaking--
Doesn't that look like a work of art?
-I mean, it's like just-- -So beautiful.
Jamallama.
Jams, are you up for seeing a real volcano?
We are about to visit
one of the most visited national park of Nicaragua,
National Park Volcán Masaya.
This is probably the most active volcano that we have now in the country.
The last time that we were able to see the lava was in the '80s.
Few years later, just disappeared,
and the lava show up again just six years ago.
God, it's amazing.
Wow.
Do you think-- Listen.
Can you hear the noise? It sounds like the sea.
The best way to see it at night. It's perfect.
That's the center of the Earth, bubbling out.
The temperature down there is approximately 1,200 degrees Celsius.
There's people down there, look, with their torches.
Do you see? There's people down there.
There are 80 sensors all around the crater monitoring
because they can tell you that might be a possibility of an eruption or not.
The world is blowing up.
This is the end. This is the beginning of the end.
Prepare for the end. Prepare for the zombie apocalypse.
Prepare to run and hide.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Dad, that's what your face looks like when you get really, really mad.
Come on, Jamools.
Jamyan McGregor.
Look at the colors here.
-I love this town. -A few more blocks.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God. He's so cute.
Look at this guy with the mattress on his head.
Look at that.
I know. It's a crazy, crazy street.
A Raleigh Chopper. Look at this.
They were terribly unstable going downhill.
Tiny front wheel would-- would be going down the road like that.
I'd have one now.
Do you wanna have a go?
Got it? It's on your head there. You got it?
Beauty.
Oh, my God!
Food looks amazing here.
-Are you guys hungry? -It does smell very nice.
Actually does smell very nice.
How far is it now, Jams?
Everything is natural.
This is a dressing.
Natural dressing.
This is garlic with ginger and then apple vinegar.
Apple vinegar.
Okay.
It's perfect.
Wow. That is delicious.
-Oh, my God. -Because it's all fresh.
This is just avocado, ginger, olive oil and vinegar.
-That's it. Just blended. -Oh, my God.
This is like zucchini.
And this one too, as they're all natural dressings.
Good?
-Oh, God. It's so nice. My God. -And it's all local products.
Yes, yes, yes.
-No supermarket. Just local products. -Sí, sí, sí.
And the dressing is made in the last minute.
-Yeah. -Fresh.
-This is the secret. -I like it.
It's delicious. It's delicious.
Did you get the recipe for those two sauces?
-Yeah. -Great. Come on. Let's go.
-I filmed it. -Let's go and ride our bikes.
I really love it here.
I love Nicaragua. I just love it.
All right, guys. See you down the road.
It's so amazing having Jamyan on the trip.
What an amazing journey she made to get here.
She sort of slotted in with the crew somewhere.
Got a guy who-- Adventure rider was going the other way.
He looks like he's turned around and is following us.
Is he?
Hey, man. How's it going?
Pretty good.
I saw a picture of you in-- arriving in Panama.
Yeah.
And I was like, "It's just the perfect timing."
And I was like, "Okay, which way are they gonna take?
Which one are they gonna take?" And I was just thinking about it.
Continue what you're doing. You're inspire people and me as well.
-Thank you. -Good luck to you.
Can't believe it today.
This is it. Here's the border.
"Buen Viaje."
All right.
Jeez, this is when I hope my paperwork is where I think it is.
Hey, Jams.
I'm just excited to see her riding along and being part of the team!
Did you fill your thing in?
I got a bum bag that you might laugh at.
That's where this stays.
I've shown you my bum-- the usage of my bum bag.
Whenever you're ready, you can start to move, okay?
Okay, Jams, I'm gonna go.
-Yeah. -I love you.
I just was saying to my dad-- I said, "Dad, it just feels so long, this one.
It's like..." He said, "Well, it's not as long as the other ones."
I said, "Yeah, but it feels like it's really much longer."
I said, "I think it's 'cause we're older."
He said, "Yep, that's it. Old age, son. That's it."
This guy's nipping along.
Now you're taking the--
Look, he's got a dreadlock sticking out the back of his...
Is that like a-- is that like a 25 cc?
Throaty.
A little sporty number.
We're heading to UNICEF
where children are exposed to gangs and gang violence,
and security is starting to be more of an issue.
So, I guess we'll just have to keep our eye out and see how it goes.
Drugs, extortion, kidnapping.
This area used to be extremely dangerous.
Streets where people couldn't walk.
In this place, you wouldn't be able to go out.
And the children would just be stuck at home?
No school, no going to a park, no play-- They would just be stuck at home?
Completely stuck. They couldn't go out.
It was only around four years ago that they started to go out.
What would happen if people walked here?
-They would be killed. -Just for walking in the street?
Yes. Just for walking in the streets.
We're now going to do a tour with the young people
who helped to recover this area.
Where I live, I rarely left the house,
but I started to go out when I got involved here,
when I started to do some training.
Over time, my mum started to let me go out more.
But before I rarely went out.
What's that?
Here, local teens use theater to raise awareness
and warn the younger ones about gang activity.
Are you crazy?
Why are you talking to yourself? Are you crazy?
What's going on with you?
Nothing. Thinking about life.
Do you wanna make some dough?
Don't you wanna make some bucks?
No! Papá, no!
Okay.
The gang culture here tries to infiltrate--
tries to take children to do their dirty work for them.
The kids are living with that reality, and when you're faced with that as a child
like, "Do this or we'll kill your mom."
Like, "What?"
Imagining that kind of life and then seeing what this center does, you know?
They can learn music. They can be in a band.
They can learn circus stuff, be on stilts, do artwork.
It's just brilliant.
Gives people an emotional outlet.
You can paint your feelings, and it's good for you.
It gets them out.
We're heading to the border crossing at Guatemala.
-Guatemala! -Guatemala!
Incredible, huh?
All right!
Part of this trip has made me want to, like, come back here and maybe do, like--
explore a little more and, you know, like...
That's good.
In every place, no matter if it's more "travel" oriented,
I wanna see what happens every single day.
Well, that's sort of what it's like being on the road for these trips.
We also then ride from that place to the next place so we see the real life,
which is always, usually, on the roads, isn't it?
Look at that. How pretty that is.
-It's Guatemala, is what it is. -Guatemala.
Massive lake.
Spectacular volcano.
I wanna swim in a volcano.
Suddenly the jungle is kind of coming in onto the road,
and it's got a wild coffee bean, kind of, feel to the whole place.
Guatemala!
I'm just so happy to be camping with Jamyan.
I mean, I love camping.
I love being able to go somewhere beautiful.
I mean, I just love the freedom it offers.
That is pretty.
Beautiful.
Jesus, look. The middle of a volcano.
-Oh, my God! -This is beautiful.
I've never been in a volcano like this before.
It's like Jurassic Park.
Sorry.
-So, you take it right over the back. -Okay.
Bloody hell.
Just trying to think where my best position is.
I keep changing my mind.
Are you all right over there, Charley?
Yeah, I'm doing just fine.
Are you all right over there?
Jesus!
Accursed wind.
Come on. Lead me to where you want me to go.
Come on. Lead me there. Lead me. Okay, lead me.
Oh, God.
Look. Look at all the ants.
Look.
Look at-- They're all biting me. Look.
Ant nest. Look, there's ants everywhere. Look.
Good.
I give up.
That's amazing, isn't it?
Paragliding or hang gliding.
That's the closest you can get to that, isn't it?
No engine. Power of the wind.
Okay. That's cold.
Oh, well.
That's the end of Ewan.
I'm just so glad we did this.
I'm so glad we came up here.
I don't know if I can think of a better place to put a tent up
ever, you know?
Spectacular.
Right now, we're trying to make a little pumpkin pie
because it is Thanksgiving, you know?
This is Ewan's first American Thanksgiving in Guatemala.
Of course.
The Mayans considered this a sacred lagoon.
So, they say that if you wash in them, you are renewed in energy,
and just blessed by the Tatas.
That's what they call the shamans.
Swimming in here recharges your energy
and cleans the wrong energy or bad energy that you brought to this place.
Well, I feel renewed.
Look what I've just woken up to.
A little friend.
Hello, doggy.
Wow.
My tent just went flat on my back.
Completely compressed against me.
Camping.
Look at the markings on that chicken. It's a beauty, isn't it?
You got that.
Full profile cock-a-doodle-dos.
Isn't that good?
But it says 100%.
That's a real result.
I'm happy about that.
Hello.
-Good morning. -Morning, darling.
Bye-bye-- Are you coming?
You coming with us?
Bye-bye, darling.
Just amazing experience.
What an amazing and wonderful trip we've had.
I've loved it. I love it.
I'm speaking like it's almost finished, and it's really not
'cause we've still got a whole lot of Guatemala to do.
We've been warned not to ride at night along some of these roads,
so we're gonna pull in soon.
They're just gonna be in that traffic forever.
We've been in this traffic jam for three hours.
This is absolute madness.
We'd been warned about cartel activity, that sort of stuff,
that Guatemala, Mexico aren't safe at night.
We've got a reason to try to do this as safely as we possibly can.
We're looking at these chicken buses.
Thinking about riding all day, and then putting the bikes in the bus,
and then driving the bus at night till it's daylight hours,
then riding the bikes.
Security concerns are starting to feel real,
but we're gonna need a plan if we're gonna get home safely.
What's the plan, guys?
We got a country here that's not far short of the size of Argentina.
This does sort of take on a different level of concern.
There are certain areas that are kind of a no-go.
'Cause of drug cartels, we need to stay away from the dangerous area
and make sure that we're safe as possible.
Yeah.
-These are red. -Okay.
These are "Don't go there."
This is brown, which is, "We advise you not to."
My fear is the driving at nighttime goes badly,
and that way, we end up in an area which is potentially dangerous.
You're riding during the day as you always would
and hopefully stopping as much as you can and sort of seeing what you can
and then, at night, you have overnight charging,
'cause you'd be on the bus for ten hours.
If you guys are into the bus thing, we have one to look at this afternoon.
You know, if after here we're going, "This isn't working, guys,"
-then, you know, we have to look at-- -And then we do something else.
We do something else.
With the bus, everything becomes possible if it works.
-If it works, yeah. -Yeah.
You get it?
Cut to 4:00 in the morning, the bus is on fire on the side of the road.
Look at this bus.
Yes.
Very nice.
Look at the lights on the bus.
Do you see them? It's like Christmas trees.
I mean, something like this is just-- would be perfect.
-This would be perfect. -This'd be perfect, something like this.
-Yeah, that would be good. -It's gotta be that. That's a good angle.
Put it here. This one here, four meters.
Can you put it here?
-Right here at this-- at that strut there. -Okay.
I think you need to cut this door much bigger
so that you can wheel the bike up...
and then you put the bike in a wheel chock there,
and then pull the back end round and do the same there,
and then you got the two bikes there.
And then, sort of, for everything from the wheel tubs forward
-would become whatever we need it. -Yeah.
Or you can just sleep up in here, Charley.
-Yeah. -Look, that's your bunk.
Yeah, my bunk, and you can sleep just here above the bikes.
And then if I can get one of those memory foam mattresses, that would be great.
Look at the size of the mirror.
How does he get around a tight corner?
-Yes! -Right, works.
I'm in.
See you later, guys.
So, it's the registration thing,
and we will pay whatever we need to pay the Guatemalan authorities,
Mexican authorities, to have a license.
We have a few things that we wanna do to it,
so that's why I need to figure out if it's real or not.
Who are we kidding? It's probably impossible.
I think we can try.
Someone will have to go directly to the border
and see if we could get, like, a permit-- special permit just to cross it,
buy, maybe, a special insurance or just the license plate specifically
so it doesn't say "Commercial from Guatemala."
But we still have to do some research.
I really enjoyed looking at the buses, but we'll see.
They know exactly what we need.
We need to be able to get two bikes up, gennies on the roof.
This whole-- Thoughts about Mexico and the bus and...
It's all really a bit bonkers.
It just takes on its own nature, this last bit.
It's exciting.
So, we'll get to the border, and then Jamyan goes back,
and I'm just so sad 'cause it's been so lovely having her here.
This was so brilliant.
She's had a great time.
I can see it, and I just love watching her with everybody.
I love watching her with these special people that are...
are my friends and our crew.
It's just the most amazing experience doing a trip like this,
and I'm glad to get to share it with her.
This is our penultimate border crossing.
Well, here we are. This is border town, man.
This is it.
Mexico just ahead of us.
I can't believe it. Wow. But here we are.
Coming into Mexico.
Do you think the border is down lower?
Just so random.
Well, I'm stuck at the border
A few of my friends
Well, I'm stuck at the border
With a few of my friends
I went diving with Charley
I thought I got the bends
And we're riding on a bike
Doesn't take no gas
Yeah, we're riding on a bike
And it doesn't take no gas
Now I'm trying to think of a word that rhymes with gas.
-Ass. -Yeah.
We've been riding since Ushuaia
And, God, my ass
I got the border blues
The border blues
There we are.
Come on!
Border Blues.
I don't know how he chose me, but I feel like...
I just feel bad for the other kids.
Like, obviously I'm happy that he chose me.
Like, I don't know where I would be.
I don't really wanna think about that, but...
And I don't know what possessed him to think, "We should adopt a child."
Like, I don't even know.
I'm not gonna question it 'cause I'm never gonna find the answer,
so just gonna be glad that it is what it is, you know?
Look after yourself.
-All right, bye. -I love you, sweetheart.
It's nice. He travels the world riding motorcycles, so...
See you, Jams.
Doing two of the things he loves most.
So, it's been really nice to experience the trip with my dad.
-Bye! -Bye!
Alex, you wanna tell us a bit about what's going on?
Yeah.
So now you have these really small cartels going around the country.
So, you have Jalisco Nueva Generación.
You have the Sinaloa Cartel, which is Chapo's.
You have the Zetas,
which used to be the sicarios for the Gulf Cartel.
You got the Gulf.
You have the Cartels.
And there's no loyalty anymore.
It's not a matter of who you know.
It's a matter of who's on the road.
We're gonna pass first from here.
From the border, it's gonna take us about three hours and a half,
to get to the first point.
From Oaxaca city, you have to go through Puebla... which is a highway.
And then we can go through Mexico City or around Mexico City.
It depends on you guys.
This is an area that it's better if we drive through the day
instead of at night, 'cause it's not the safest area.
I don't recommend to get into, like, specific areas
especially 'cause it could be dangerous for you guys.
Okay. Well, if we're in that bus with the bikes in the bus,
sort of traveling on its own,
would you say that that's sort of gonna blend in or would they know?
Do they have spotters?
Yeah, they have something called hawks, halcones, that--
They are all around the country,
just sitting on a car next to the highway, watching things go by.
So, they will know.
And also, since Ewan is really famous,
social media, it's quite a way to show people that we're around.
I mean, it's maybe something to digest a little bit as we go through it.
If we can be, like, really discreet, really low profile through the country,
that would be amazing.
And what's a scenario that could happen?
You get stopped...
I mean, you can get stopped. You can get asked for money.
You can get kidnapped.
In the worst-case scenario, you can disappear.
We just had quite a scary chat about cartels and...
Very recently, a Mexican actor was kidnapped
just southwest of Mexico City,
and we're not publicizing our trip.
We're not telling anyone where we are,
but, you know,
everyone that wants a selfie and posts it tells the world where we are, don't they?
It's complicated really. You just don't know what to do.
I think keep driving during the day is a really good idea.
I think if we leave too late, I think-- I think we're asking for trouble.
I haven't really worried about safety or any worries at all so far,
but that was a little reality check that that is something that can happen here.
I don't really want to be kidnapped.
Hell no.
I'm fighting the popular belief.
I'm fighting the prejudice that, you know, Mexico is a dangerous place.
You have other people working with you, so you're responsible, so you're torn.
You wanna do the most responsible thing but you're also on an adventure,
so you have to let it go.
So, it's a...
It's a tricky one.
But I go into Mexico with a tremendous amount of confidence,
and optimism and belief...
that it's not what the newspapers
or the fearmongers want to lead you to believe it is.
This is...
Mexico.
It feels different suddenly, you know?
Maybe the roads or the buildings look a bit different maybe.
It's very farmlandy here.
I mean, that view is just outrageously beautiful.
It's pretty amazing.
Officially, we've covered South America, Central America.
We're into Mexico.
Charley and I are heading down the coast,
and David and Russ are gonna jump ahead to Oaxaca.
We couldn't get the Guatemalan bus over the border, so we're still on the hunt.
Long Way Up.
I like it.
We got a wasp in here.
Is this the man who owns the bus?
-David. -Yeah, Ariel Garcia.
We would like to buy a bus.
It could be this bus.
We need it to be mechanically sound and ready for the ride.
Why is he selling it?
My bus was working.
But we had problems with operators
because they'd say, "The bus is too long."
Shall I get in here? Shall I?
It's in pretty good nick, really.
And it's funny. In the pictures, I didn't like the interior,
but it's actually growing on me.
-I mean, this is classy. -It's kinda disco, isn't it?
This is certainly an option.
The next step would be to get the paperwork
so that we can cross and drive it into the United States.
I was like, "Let's just make sure that we can drive in Mexico."
Just so you know, I'm into it.
But I have one opinion that means something to me, and that's Matt.
And if Matt says it's too much of a nightmare...
We don't mind little nightmares,
but if it's a freaking raging nightmare, we're not doing it.
Matt, what's your vibe?
It does have a small fuel leak on one of the fuel lines underneath.
There is a little bit of play in one of the U-joints.
They don't look like they've been greased in a long time.
Visual inspection of the engine.
It's gonna need an intercooler boot, for sure.
It's got a tear in it, which is, like-- If that goes, you're done.
Okay.
Can we go around the block?
Bring him in here, let's do a little drive.
Yeah, of course.
Now we're talkin'. Stand back.
-Let's go, David! -Let's go, right?
-No? -Do I have to--
-Tell me-- -Huh?
It's the battery.
Let's push it and it will get started.
Okay, let's do it!
-Are we gonna push it? -Yeah.
Come on, man. Really?
Are they really pushing it?
I never thought, in my life, I'd be trying to push-start a school bus.
In Mexico.
Turn it!
All right.
Come on, mama!
-Stop, stop, stop. -Stop? Stop what?
It's all technique. You saw. You doubted me.
We did it.
-All right, we're in now. -Oh, man.
Let's go for a ride.
José, Luis, wait for us there.
I see it.
Go on.
Gear teeth.
I love it, man.
So that was exciting.
It'd be nice to explore a real Mexican town.
It feels like the real deal, doesn't it?
-It's not touristy. -No, this is perfect.
It's real.
I bet they have some pretty good fish tacos and some really good ceviche here.
We can get a, you know, home-cooked Mexican meal.
Wouldn't that be good?
What do you think about this strange double shape
that my beard is taking here?
It's a bit obscene, isn't it?
You've sort of got this bit, this bit here,
and then there's a sort of, like, double shape that's happening there.
It makes you look like you've got this huge double chin.
-Yeah. -Hiding a double chin.
-See, look. -Do you think I've grown one underneath?
If you do that--
So, if you go and look in your mirror and just take that--
just push that under bit down, and then it looks quite nice.
'Cause what's happening when I'm riding is this.
Sort of like this, and it looks a bit obscene, like, this shape and then...
That's not nice.
Okay.
Well, I'm very happy to be staying here.
I'm riding my bike round. I'm gonna plug her in.
Careful.
Scooter.
Fingers crossed, hey?
-Ten hours? -Yeah.
Perfect.
It's so satisfying.
I can have my bike right here.
You've noticed there's a slight competitive edge between Charley and I?
Have you noticed that?
Well, sometimes I wake at, like, 5:00 in the morning thinking,
"Has he packed his bike already?"
You know, and already the adrenaline starts going, my competitive...
I'm like, "I better go and pack my bike," even though we don't leave till 8:00.
I find that if somebody's competitive with me,
that you have to rise to the occasion, don't you?
Otherwise, you just get walked all over, so you have to be.
So, it's not me.
It's probably just coming from Charley.
Clippety clip.
Okay, that feels good. Okay.
-How's your room? Nice? -Yes, lovely.
I had a shower, a shave,
-and then I thought, "I'll just--" -Do the other S?
You don't expect a truck bearing down on us.
I'm really hoping that David has some luck finding a bus.
The most important things that need to be fixed on that vehicle right now
is the front turn signals, the intercooler boot,
replace the rear brakes.
That fuel line patch.
-An oil change for sure. -Yeah. We'll definitely do that.
-All the maintenance-- -Probably all the fluids if we can.
The shit that makes me nervous, and I'm not that nervous,
clutch, transmission, 'cause you can't see it.
I have no idea. No idea.
You would know better than me. It seems a little shaky, right?
And the cooler reservoir, 'cause if that blows...
But that's the only way to do it, right?
We don't really have time for anything else, do we?
Buenos días.
How many does he make a day?
Three kilos.
-Look, look, look. -Very simple.
Wow!
That's amazing. Beautiful.
Yeah, you never think how much goes into it.
Think fishmonger's through here, isn't it?
Buenos días.
Can he do, like, a couple of fillets of the little ones?
-What's the name of this fish? -It's red snapper.
Gracias.
Thank you so much.
-Hey, hi. -Cheers, man.
-Buenos días. -Buenos días. Thank you.
Hola. Cómo estás?
-Cheers, cheers-- -Cheers, guys.
How do you make the real guacamole?
Here in Mexico, this is how we typically make it.
The avocado, we cut it in half.
Then you remove the stone and crush it with a spoon.
When you have it in chunks, you add chopped tomatoes,
chopped onions, jalapeño, lime squeeze, salt.
And you mix it all together.
This is our guacamole here.
Yeah. It's really good. It's got some--
This is the habanero, but larger.
Oh, God, they're strong, though. Those are very strong.
You can try these.
-Very spicy? -Take only a bite.
He said that you need to bite a little bit.
You should.
Oh, no. Remember, it's like a scorpion.
The smaller the scorpion, the stronger the sting.
My mouth is so hot already, I don't really feel it.
Hoping the boys are enjoying the less-traveled parts of Mexico,
but we gotta get moving on this bus.
Classic.
We're stopping traffic.
I guess we need a ramp or something?
I'd like to build some sort of a ramp or something.
It's just that you get that big overhang off the rear tires.
But how about if we go in frontways?
Let's just run right up the thing.
Yeah, I think going at an angle is...
Come on!
Is it gonna make it? He's right. No!
Come on, baby! Come on! Yeah!
Yeah!
Little victories.
I'll take it.
Heading to Tehuantepec to meet a group of people called the muxes
who are men who live life as women or dress as women anyway.
The muxes are part of the Zapotec people
and the muxes are part of that cultural heritage.
We are the muxes from Santo Domingo Tehuantepec, in Oaxaca.
For me, being a muxe is a blessing, a joy.
For as long as I can remember, I've considered myself a muxe.
I've always seen myself as someone different
from what society defines as man or woman.
It's enjoying a different way of life
and being able to translate what I do into art.
Nobody made me this way. This is who I am.
Beautiful. It's very beautiful, your work.
Thank you.
Yeah, I'd quite like this on the back of my--
on the back of, like, a denim jacket, like that.
It'd look cool.
This is the traditional pattern.
This one is a dress for a 4-year-old girl.
This is passed down through each generation.
You make one for your daughter or niece.
Then they give it to their own daughters and so on.
It's like inheriting your own skin, your own culture, through the generations.
Since the beginning, we have been like this.
We've always been very attached to family traditions.
And we've always been seen as part of the family.
David.
We want to know what the mechanical issues are, if any,
that we can fix before we go on a road trip.
To check it and do a good job,
the problem is that there isn't enough time.
It's very little time to check everything. Transmission, clutch, engine, all that.
It's very little time.
-How long do you need? -Well, easily, one week.
We have-- 3rd today.
Three, four, five. We have three days to finish it.
Would it be ready by Friday night? Three days?
Let's take care of today. Let's make the most out of today.
So, I'm doing that because I want the clutch addressed.
I want all the parts that we need here, and let's get started on it.
But let's get to work. Are you cool?
Yes? Thank you. Okay.
We really have less than three days to do ten days of work.
Let's get a list of all the parts we need.
I'm hopeful that, because it's a big city, that we can get all this stuff.
So, let's get all those parts here.
This is gonna drive out of here at 6:00 a.m. on the 6th.
Lots of stuff and not a whole lot of time.
But let's get going, right?
Tires, the coolant reservoir, etcetera.
Mexican blankets.
This chop saw for metal.
Buy whatever we can buy, so that it's there in the room.
I can't lose today, 'cause I only have two days left.
I need parts, and I need people.
That is the fastest way to slip a disc right there.
I just don't know. It's hard, this shit.
It's Mexican blankets, you want.
What do you think about this one?
-Muchas gracias. -Muchas gracias.
We made it.
Sorry, can I have your telephone number?
I sliced my leg open.
What?
-Yeah. -Dude!
Yeah, about that long.
Do you want to go to ER or anything or no?
No, I'm good, man. I'm good.
A tool to align this clutch.
Well, I'm here.
If there's anything you think of, let me know
and I'll come back with at least four lights
just so we can keep moving.
Yeah.
Oh, my God. It's three o'clock.
Let's go.
I need as many parts as I can get. I'm begging you, please.
Very comfortable.
These are the beds.
It's so lovely today.
This weather, the temperature's perfect.
The landscape is beautiful, splashes of color.
Everyone I've waved to on the road has waved back.
It's a happy place.
I just love Mexico. I love it.
I'll be very sad for all this to finish.
I do love this riding and this moving and these different parts of the world.
It's really-- It's really beautiful.
It's gonna be the bonkers bus bonanza Long Way Up style.
I'm dying to get to Oaxaca to meet up with the team and see the bus.
The bus is coming along.
Just hoping it's gonna be enough to let us ride at night.
We're probably going into the most dangerous part of Long Way Up.
It's unfortunate that it's right at the very end.
You know, we've been to Sudan, Egypt, Far Eastern Russia, and God knows where,
and we could be, like, we are, like, "Well, that never happens."
But here, I just feel there's something else going on.
Here we are.
Wow, busy town.
I know. It's a different vibe, this one, isn't it?
That's a huge church.
The guys are getting close,
and these security briefings are starting to get real.
So, you tell us which way to go.
Give us advice with regard to routes, cartels, how we travel, etcetera.
I have five different towns, different places. They are dangerous.
Last night they sent me notice telling me about these little towns--
we supposed to go by, you know?
They are really dangerous at this time.
-Yes. Yes. -Today?
So, I was gonna tell you we are gonna try to see
if the route we're gonna take is gonna be over there, those places,
or we gonna go around.