San Christobel.: All uphill
Tuesday September 25, 2007, 69 km (43 miles) Total so far: 4,678 km (2,907 miles)
The first ten km out of Tuxla is pretty much downhill. Your front gears have broken so you detour off the main artery to find a bike shop. Easily fixed if you know what you are doing. Hell if you dont.
Back on the freeway it is forty km straight up to San Christobel. Up and up you go. It rains. You get wet. Traffic often use the shoulder as an extra lane. A few cars pass marginally close leaving you cursing behind. Eventually your legs give out and you can no longer ride the ascent. You walk.
You reach the summit, cold and wet. Changing gears you almost ride straight into a great big hole built into the shoulder. The same shoulder you are riding on. More of these holes appear as you ride the last few km downhill and into town. It is right on dark and you have no more energy left.
But where exactly is the town? You ask directions a few times and find your way to the hostel. A hot shower and a few cold beers make a nice evening in.
Comitan.: Nice ride down
Friday September 28, 2007, 92 km (57 miles) Total so far: 4,770 km (2,964 miles)
You spend three days in San Christobel. The first is spent at a nearby Zapata village. It is interesting in a way with the rebels. The ride to and fro isnt so nice making you feel really sick. The second day is spent going to the ruins of Palenque. The ruins are nice but the bus ride there, including a six AM start. On the third day you find a bike shop and finally sort out your rims. About time too. In order to fit it all on they have to put new rear gears on. So now you have six rear gears instead of eight.
You dont leave San Christobel until late. You feel sick for most of the ride to Comitan. There are two significant descents with a nice long ascent in between. After the first descent you find a town. You hope for a restaurant soon after but none are to be found for another fifty km and you dont eat at all until dinner.
On the ascent dark clouds turn to rain. It passes before the pass and the day turns sunny once more. Comitan is a nice town. You find Sofia, get some food and look for a place to stay.
To Guatemala.: Dodgy border town
Saturday September 29, 2007, 89 km (55 miles) Total so far: 4,859 km (3,019 miles)
It is a nice mostly downhill day. You make the same mistake as yesterday with lunch. For forty km there is pretty much nothing to eat. You stop at one place but their dog tries to bite your fingers off. Time to move on. You stop for a hamburgesa and wait for Sofia to catch up.
As soon as you get over one illness you get another. You never felt okay in San Christobel. And now after only being better for a couple days you are sick again. It must have been that hamburger you ate.
The last four km to the Guatemalan border are painful. You know you are close when rubbish is littered about. After border formalities you cross over. Well, under the barrier technically. It is on dark. This is a rugged border town. Sofia wants to find a hotel and lock the door. You find a nice hotel and book in. The price is about twenty US when Sofia asks but when you return soon after the price is higher. So send Sofia back in to sort it out.
Welcome to Guatemala.
To a town.: It has a name, maybe
Sunday September 30, 2007, 51 km (32 miles) Total so far: 4,910 km (3,051 miles)
You awake late, finally hauling yourself out of bed to get breakfast. But back in the room a movie on TV seems so much easier than the ascent ahead. You feel weak. You feel sick. The climb is draining on your legs.
Guatemala is a little like Mexico but rougher around the edges. The people look poorer but culturally richer. Lots of holas and bye byes. There are a couple nice descents early on but after that the road just climbs. Its not steep but together with you being ill and all its not nice.
There is a hotel ten km further on. Except there isnt one. Seven km. One km. Three km. And a hotel. It rains hard. Thats enough for one day. Sure, you didnt break any records but enough is enough. Besides, its dark and apparently a bit dangerous around here.
Huahuatenengo.: The world of Maya
Monday October 1, 2007, 39 km (24 miles) Total so far: 4,949 km (3,075 miles)
The road continues climbing. You still feel sick but by dinner feel somewhat better. An easy day really today. Sofia begins a good start to the day by locking herself in the toilet at the restaurant. Perhaps you should have realized sooner if only you werent so busy chatting to the kids. Some more nice scenery and lots of Maya present the day. A few people shout out gringo at you and Sofia gets a few suggestive remarks but nothing too serious. You head into Huahuatenengo and find the city centre. A hot shower and hot food sure are good. Tomorrow may be a long day so best rest up.
Up the road.: Camping behind a church
Tuesday October 2, 2007, 46 km (29 miles) Total so far: 4,995 km (3,104 miles)
You awake late once again meaning that today is another short day on the bikes. And it is mostly uphill. Nobody around here says hello or hola. It is always bye bye or adios. Its not unfriendly or anything. Thats just how the locals do it.
With about an hour of daylight left you are reduced to walking your bike. Theoretically a hotel exists just ten km further. But Guatemalans, like their Mexican counterparts, have no concept of distance.
You spot a church and on Sofias insistence camp behind there for the night. You try to find the pastor to ask but hes not about. There is a shop nearby. They close at six-thirty. But when you return to buy some things they have already closed. Two more shops exist further up and you can buy some junk food there. Of your three nights so far in Guatemala, you have had two cheetos dinners
Xela.: Bad, bad truck driver
Wednesday October 3, 2007, 48 km (30 miles) Total so far: 5,043 km (3,134 miles)
It is another fourteen km to the promised hotel. Uphill. Traffic is unfriendly today. From unfriendly it becomes hellish. The same truck almost hits both you and Sofia. With fourteen km to go you turn off to Xela, (Quentanengo). The town looks nice. Just need to go out and see it.
Nahuala.: An interesting little Mayan town
Thursday October 4, 2007, 46 km (29 miles) Total so far: 5,089 km (3,162 miles)
Traffic today is murderous. Those chicken buses must get to where ever it is they go as fast as possible and no cyclist is going to slow them down. Two trucks run you off the road early on. There are a few sections of roadwork in place. This congests the traffic all together to try to overtake you all at once in a dense cloud of smoke while at other times the road is positively empty.
After fourteen km you get back on the InterAmericana. Then it is a mostly uphill twenty km before another ten km straight back down again. You miss the turnoff to the town of Nahuala and so approach from the other side. There are two hospodojes in town. You book into one. Its not the Ritz but better here than out in the cold.
Nahuala is an interesting town. It is very Maya which is nice but it is also quite gritty. But nice and authentic all the same.
Nahuala is an interesting town. It is very Maya which is nice but it is also quite gritty. But nice and authentic all the same.
San Pedro.: Damn hotel tout
Friday October 5, 2007, 40 km (25 miles) Total so far: 5,129 km (3,187 miles)
Theres some more road works today. There is supposed to be a turnoff onto a minor road to lago to Atitlan but you miss it. You take the main road to the lake, through Solola and onto Panajachel where a boat awaits to take you to San Pedro.
The boat is not nice. You both get seasick while still in port. Then, because you sit at the front, are thrown up and hard back down on the seat every few seconds for the next half hour until you get to the other side.
In San Pedro some guy wants to take you to his hotel. In reality he is just a tout, soon becoming a pain in the arse. You go to a different hotel but it doesnt matter where you go, he still wants his commission. You tell the manager that he has now lost two clients because of this guy and go elsewhere on recommendation on passing tourists.
And now it is Friday night. Enjoy.
Some tenengro town.: Wicked ride in the back of a pick up.
Sunday October 14, 2007, 25 km (16 miles) Total so far: 5,154 km (3,203 miles)
After a week in San Pedro staying with a local family and learning Spanish its time to move on. You meet up with Sofia again in Panajachel. She will stay there one more day while you go on ahead.
You load the bike onto a chicken bus and ride it all uphill back to the InterAmericana highway. Its a real bitch getting the bike back down again. To load it onto the bus you lift it up to a guy half way up the ladder, then scramble up to the top of the bus for him to pass it back up to you. Unloading the bike the guy hands you the bike in one hand while you try to climb back down using only your left hand to hold the ladder. Tricky.
You get about twenty five km before the bike fucks up. Its the cogs on the rear gear system. It broke off at the axle area and bent up good and proper. It takes all of two seconds to thumb a ride. A pickup stops and you jump in the back. The ride is rough for a while then the road is nice. It is scary. At least on a rollercoaster you know you will step off in the end. On the back of a pickup you dont. Twice the driver has to brake suddenly to avoid a chicken bus when overtaking other traffic.
But you make it out okay in the end. It is Sunday so the bike shops are shut. Tomorrow morning you will sort it all out.
Some guy befriends you. You ask where a hotel is and he directs you. Then he asks for a quonzali for his tummy. You relent, giving him one. He then takes you to the hotel though the directions are enough. With the hotel in sight he then asks for two quonzalis, again making signs that he is hungry. You give him one more but he wants another again. Two is enough. The hotel is a bit expensive for what it is so you dont stay there anyway. Soon another place is found and you settle in for the evening.
Antigua.: Another easy day
Monday October 15, 2007, 20 km (12 miles) Total so far: 5,174 km (3,215 miles)
After a leisurely breakfast you go in search of a bike shop. No decent ones are to be found but one place does do the job well enough. In the process of fitting the new gears on he breaks the gear shifter. So a new one of those needs to be fitted also. But for nine US you do well enough.
And away you go. Its about twenty km to Antigua. There are no signs so you need to ask directions all the time. You stop for lunch and it is just as well too as you need to turn off right there anyway. That saves a detour. You begin to feel that you went the wrong way there. This is all but confirmed when a sign points left to Chinantenango, the town you just came from.
Antigua is very touristy. But why? There doesnt seem to be much special going on. On the other hand there isnt anything bad about it either. Not sure where the Chileana is. She will probably get here tomorrow. Lots of different options to discuss. Tomorrow may involve a volcano tour. But six AM sure is an early time to leave.
Guat. city.: Its not so bad
Wednesday October 17, 2007, 50 km (31 miles) Total so far: 5,224 km (3,246 miles)
Antigua is alright. As warned it is heavily tourisised. You do a tour of Papaya volcano which is pretty cool. Well, hot actually.
Sofia wants to watch a soccer game. Its on at four so you should easily make the fifty km to Guat. City. After a pretty interesting night out you meet Sofia for breakfast. You walk the bikes over the cobbled streets out of town. Just before the edge of town you look back. Wheres Sofia? She was right behind you. And you told her the directions. Go straight.
You wait five minutes and Sofia appears out of a side street. And away you go. Up hill. Its not steep and isnt very far up but you soon leave Sofia behind. You take a break at a service station keeping a lookout for Sofia. You ask the people working there if they saw her go past. No, no, they confirm. And then, when you ask again, yes, she went past five minutes ago.
You speed off in hope of catching her. Fast up hill and fast down hill you go, confident in catching her eventually. But you dont. You ask some people coming into town. No one has seen her. So where is she? You pass a market, making perfect timing to wait for Sofia. After all, she must be behind you. But still no Sofia. You move on. Theres a turnoff to the centro. You wait there for her. And there she is. Lucky she sees you cause you sure miss seeing her. Boy is she pissed though.
You make your way into the centre, find a hostel and then a bar for the soccer game. Then you leave the Chilena to watch her game while you do some shopping. As evening descends the town shows some of its character. Sure, its not the prettiest of places. But its nice.
El Rancho.: Leaving town
Thursday October 18, 2007, 84 km (52 miles) Total so far: 5,308 km (3,298 miles)
Traffic out of Guat. City is pretty heavy but you manage all the same. Signs are scarce. It is mostly downhill to El Rancho with one or two notable exceptions. They are doing some maintenance just out of town. Half a tree is dropped onto the road just after a guy waves you through. Elsewhere a guy almost gets himself run over as he darts in front of you.
Sofia heads in front and once again you lose her. She never was too far behind though. Some local guy rides along with you for a while. It rains hard. Then the thunder and lightning come. You stop for a bite to eat and Sofia soon catches up. And then its another four km to the next hotel. And boy is it shite. But its on dark now and the traffic is worse than ever, not to mention the rain, so it might just be best to stay here tonight.
To Chiquimula.: Dont take the room if he wont let you see it first
Friday October 19, 2007, 85 km (53 miles) Total so far: 5,393 km (3,351 miles)
Lots of ascending today, especially for the last leg towards Chiquimula. The route 9 towards the Atlantic has a nice shoulder for most of the time. You stop for lunch at your favourite pollo and telepizza restaurant chain. But your burger is cold. You send it back and they reheat it. You send it back again and they give you another one, also cold. You dont leave a tip. Tomorrow is the start of the tour de Guatemala. You see a van loaded with racing bikes. They pull up along side and hand you each a bottle of energy drink.