This looks like an alright town. Enough options for food and supplies. Lots of hotels which make you wonder why you’re staying in probably the worst one you could find.
Puenta Nacional.: Festival in Oaxaca
Saturday September 8, 2007, 118 km (73 miles) – Total so far: 3,577 km (2,223 miles)
It’s 120 km to Puenta Nacional. There are many kids about shouting “Gringo’ at you. You don’t reply. You pass Sofia at around one o’clock and arrange to meet for lunch in the next town. But she never comes. You make it into town by dusk and seek out a hotel. One is cheap but it doesn’t have a toilet seat. Oh, by the way, you really do need a toilet seat today.
You find a place which does tortas. A retired English/American couple come by and you make conversation. Their truck broke down and are trying to sort all that out. You go for a walk and find a big fiesta for indepencia day. Naturally you join in and are given food and beer. There is also a party not far from your hotel.
As you’re away Sofia comes by looking for you. She is staying at the hotel you passed up on. If only you were here you both could be staying at the nicer hotel a hell of a lot cheaper.
Towards Puerto Escondido.: Riding on.
Monday September 10, 2007, 131 km (81 miles) – Total so far: 3,708 km (2,304 miles)
Yesterday was a much needed rest day. You certainly weren’t in any position to continue. Sofia continues on, probably. The day is spent watching TV, drinking lots of water and failing at trying to get the girl at the pharmacy to give you some drugs to combat this illness.
You leave this Penotipa Nacional and continue on towards Puerto Escondido. You make it to the Rio Grande before deciding to call it a day. You ask at the hotel but their 12 hour policy means you’ll be leaving by six AM. Fuck that.
With just twenty km to go a sign points the way to a campsite and restaurant. Sounds like one of those ideal places so you venture there. Two or three km down a crappy dirt road you finally turn back when the road becomes mud. It probably isn’t much further but it is possible to be closed. You make it back to the main road in the last of the daylight.
Another few km later you find a hotel. An expensive hotel. It’s not going to happen. But you can camp at the restaurant next door for fifty pesos. Sadly you are too late for dinner though.
The question which now remains.. tent or hammock. The hammock is tempting but shall you risk the mosquitos?
San Gabriel Mixtepec.: Over the mountains
Wednesday September 12, 2007, 67 km (42 miles) – Total so far: 3,775 km (2,346 miles)
You awake with hands and arms covered in red spots. Bites? But from what? You look diseased. Breakfast consists of coffee and a bun. You will have to wait until you get to town before getting any real food.
19 km later you roll into town and find Sofia booked into the hostel opposite Zapotepa beach just south of town. This really is the best area to stay. Lots of foreigners about too. It gets hot in the day but the evening is a cold wet thunderstorm. You sit with Sofia on the beach watching the lighting until one particularly close strike temporarily blinds you both and you decide to head back to the hostel.
But all that was yesterday. This is today.
Yesterday you awoke with your arms covered in little red spots. Today the rest of you is now covered. You were bitten to all fuck last night. Your hands and feet are the worst. Don’t stay in the dorm room of the hostel in this town. You have been warned.
It really is difficult to decide how to get to Oaxaca city. After speaking to the very nice and funny lady at the tourist information office yesterday you have a lot of information but are still indecisive. In the end you decide on the sissy route, the 131 directly north to Oaxaca from Puerto Escondido. Sofia will stay another day here, then tomorrow ride to Puerto Angel and take a but from there north on the 175. The 175 has the best scenery. It also has a 3000 metre climb. You’ve done it before and you will need to do it again before this trip is over. But for now the sissy route looks like a nicer easier ride.
You don’t leave until after one and there is a lot of climbing today. It rains hard. You find shelter in a, um, shelter. The rain eases up and you continue on your way. Not far to San Gabriel Mixtepec now where apparently a hotel exists. It rains hard before you can make it there though. You get into town and find a couple nice restaurants on the north side of town to wait out the rest of the rain. It is still early but maybe not early enough to make it to the next town an hour’s drive away. How many kilometers is it? Many kilometers.
There is a hotel in town. But it doesn’t exist. The building exists. The sign exists. But when you go to ask apparently it doesn’t. There is some kind of unofficial hotel almost opposite the non-existing hotel so you stay there for cheap enough. It’s not much but at least they have hot water in the shower.
To the summit.: Just before San Pedro
Thursday September 13, 2007, 101 km (63 miles) – Total so far: 3,876 km (2,408 miles)
You set the alarm for a quarter to seven and although it does wake you you decide to remain semi conscious in the nice warm bed. Tortas make a nice breakfast. You enjoy some very nice local coffee too.
It is 19 km to the next town, Santa Rosa. There’s not much there but you could probably pitch a tent there or at the restaurants a few km before and after town. The road keeps heading up until you reach the summit 37 km later. It rains hard and there is nowhere to hide. You continue on until a few km after the summit you come to El Vidrio. There’s not much there but you find a restaurant to shelter out some of this rain. Apparently there is a hotel in town but you’ll be damned if you saw it.
The views up would be nice if they weren’t clouded by, um, clouds. The rain doesn’t seem to ease up at all here so you press on. Not far down the mountain the rain stops and you cruise in luxury. You hit a stone and your front tire immediately goes flat. The tube is fucked. The tire is fucked. The rim is fucked. Luckily you picked up a spare tire yesterday and of course you now have a few spare tubes. The rim is fine as long as you don’t mind a clunk, clunk, clunk, every time you use the front brake. Looks like you have a few things to replace in Oaxaca.
Thirty km down in the valley is San Pedro. It is a descent enough sized town with a hotel. But it’s not on your map. From there it is a grueling 34 km up hill to almost the summit. It gets dark. It gets very dark. Energy levels drop and you start walking. Well you still are going two thirds of your pedaling speed. Besides, after riding in wet cycling shorts all day your inner thighs are red raw.
You find a restaurant. It is open but no one’s about. Barking dogs soon wake the owners though and dinner is served. They even let you sleep inside for the night. Dinner costs thirty pesos with a free hammock. They don’t have any change and you only just have enough so give the rest over anyway. It’s not much of a tip but they are grateful and it makes you feel like less of a sponge.
Oaxaca: Danny: TV personality
Friday September 14, 2007, 121 km (75 miles) – Total so far: 3,997 km (2,484 miles)
The hammock is small. Too small. It is cold up on that mountain too. You don’t sleep much. It’s another two km uphill and then seventeen all the way downhill to Vega. The road is mostly fine but best not attempted at night as potholes and such do exist. Yesterday’s troubles mean that it is difficult to use the front break. A dog suddenly jumps out and attacks on a rough section of road. Not fun.
Vega is a descent enough sized town with TWO hotels. After that it’s another dozen km uphill. You have no energy. You even attempt hitchhiking. But fret not as this is the last real long section of uphill. Then back downhill again. Then up and down again. There is another large looking town but it’s not on the road so you skip it. There are a few more towns now with places to eat but you don’t see any more hotels until after 85 km coming into a large town not far before the 131 joins up with the 175. You try to find food but it proves too difficult. Really.
Traffic increases a lot now. For the last two days it was virtually nil. Now it is plentiful. Buses overtake very closely and blow their horns when they have the world to maneuver around. Something hits you. Someone threw bread at you from a bus. On the 175 the road is wide with wide shoulders. But the shoulders are crap and often used for parking making them more of a hazard than anything else. Cars expect you to use them even though they are crap and get aggressive when you don’t.
It rains. A bus is at least two meters away but drives through a puddle splashing water all over you. Probably calculated. You get into town and find a hotel. Sofia will get here tomorrow so you tell her to meet you at nine tomorrow. You hang out and drink beer. They are doing promotions for Victoria beer and you are filmed saying “La Victoria se mia.” Or something like that. They give you a bracelet which doesn’t fit.
Mitla.: Need a good rim job
Monday September 17, 2007, 48 km (30 miles) – Total so far: 4,045 km (2,513 miles)
Oaxaca city is nice. Saturday day is wasted wandering about the market trying to find a bike shop for some new rims. All without success. You head out Saturday night with a couple of new friends. It is independence day and there’s a big fiesta in town. It’s a fun, hazy night.
On Sunday everything is free. You take the bus to Monte Alban which is nice and then visit Santo Demengo Cathedral, monastery and museum. You also meet Jacob, another cyclist who started in Alaska.
Monday morning you visit another bike shop to try to sort out those rims. Bike shops here sell. They don’t service. So what you need to do is buy the rims at one place and take them to another place to put them on. It sounds a bit complicated, even more so by your lack of Spanish, and more so again because what you want nobody has. Your wheels take 32 spokes and the only rims which cost less than your entire bike all take 36 spokes. So you need to replace some other things too to fit it all on. But nobody sells that and it is all very confusing and you still don’t get anything done. Perhaps the next town.
You ride to Mitla where some more ruins lie. There is a bike path leading out of town and then a nice wide shoulder almost all the way there. The ruins close by the time you get there so you will just have to wait until tomorrow. There’s not much to do in town.
San Jose.: Some great descents
Tuesday September 18, 2007, 98 km (61 miles) – Total so far: 4,143 km (2,574 miles)
I hope you fancy big long hills today cause that’s what you’re going to get. But don’t worry as there are more descents than ascents. A twenty km detour up the autopiste doesn’t help matters. Someone tells you to go back and get on the highway.
You already started the day late with a visit to the ruins at Mitla. They are okay by the way. Not very extensive or anything but nice to see if you are in town anyway. There’s an uphill section on the highway followed by twenty km of straight downhill. Someone painted ‘cyclists returno’ with a returning arrow on the road before the downhill. Cacti is in abundance out here. Head and side winds dog your day slowing you down even further.
Then get ready for the ascent again. You leave Sofia behind only to find her much later in San Jose where a hotel is found. As you head up the mountains the view to the south is nice. Glad you’re not heading that way then. Looks hard. And back down again. You find a town just before dusk. A hotel is found if you ask politely. Time for dinner. And much relaxation.
To Jalapa.: Pitching the tent on the roof
Wednesday September 19, 2007, 112 km (70 miles) – Total so far: 4,255 km (2,644 miles)
Some more mountains await your day. You make it to El Cameron by twelve and from there it is one long stretch up followed by another down. El Cameron has a hotel. The next hotel is 88 km further at Jalapa. There are places to eat in between but not much else but ascents, descents, and quite a nice view.
You leave Sofia far behind. A driver says she has wheel problems a long, long way away up the mountain. The kilometers drop one by one until Jalapa where you agreed to meet Sofia. There is one hotel in town. It’s expensive. You ask for another and are directed to a rooftop which looks nice for pitching the tent. Best to wait for Sofia first though.
Niltepec.: Nowhere to eat in town
Thursday September 20, 2007, 126 km (78 miles) – Total so far: 4,381 km (2,722 miles)
You pack up and find a restaurant on the main road for breakfast. Still no sign of Sofia. For once you are able to enjoy something of a tailwind. But before you reach Tehuantepic a freeway presents itself and you take it. This is a mistake. What was once a tailwind becomes a headwind. After thirty km of this the road veers around and the wind is more of a benefit again.
At one point the freeway stops for construction and you need to make a short detour on a smaller road without shoulders and more traffic. You have a strong crosswind to deal with now. This is certainly no fun with big trucks wanting to overtake at inopportune moments. Back on the freeway again you are less concerned with mentally writing your will.
You ask someone how far to a hotel. Five km. Excellent. Bullshit. It’s ten. The nice smooth freeway becomes a narrow shitty road. You arrive in Niltepec. There are two hotels in town. One is overpriced and you can’t find anyone to service the other one. But a wander about reveals the owner and you walk back with him to check in. It is the one year anniversary of his mother’s death so everyone is out celebrating. He’s a bit drunk and needs to piss. He does so while walking along, pissing out in front without conviction.
It’s a nice hotel. You find some interesting food to eat and wash it down with a couple beers. Sofia is now 100 km behind you. Looks like you’ll need a couple rest days to let her catch up. But not here. Best to leave this half town to the dogs.
Tapanatepec.: Good roads and tough wind
Friday September 21, 2007, 57 km (35 miles) – Total so far: 4,438 km (2,758 miles)
Just a short ride today. Sofia has to catch up somehow and if you keep going at your pace she never will. There is a town, Tapanatepec, just before the long hard slog up the mountain. It looks like as good a place as any to await Sofia for the climb ahead.
The day is hot and the road is crap. It sure is a day of road works. After six km the road widens to the lovable freeway once again but alas it is short lived as all too soon road works hinder the ride. Some minor issues with traffic but this has all become second nature by now. Truck driver seems to be a synonym for arsehole.
There are a couple hotels on route. After a bite to eat you really do feel like moving on. The town is as dead as the last and it would be nice to be somewhere more lively for the weekend. It is only three but you go back to the posada and check in. Good thing too as the heavens soon open up in a torrential downpour.
The plan now, if you can communicate this to Sofia, is to lie in tomorrow morning and hopefully meet up here for lunch. Then together you can ride another thirty or fifty km depending. Maybe.
Up and up and up.: Spanish or no Spanish you still get the same lack of answers
Saturday September 22, 2007, 45 km (28 miles) – Total so far: 4,483 km (2,786 miles)
You meet up with Sofia at the Posada at around twelve. After lunch it is all uphill. A guy stops and gives you some local food to eat. He seems to be praying for you. You probably need it.
Some guy wants you to stop and chat. He wants to take you to the lagoon but you insist on cycling. “Is it uphill’ you ask. Lots of curves is all you are able to get. Sofia catches up with you as you grab a bite to eat. She asks herself about ascents and with all her Spanish is only able to find out the same. Lots of curves. But what does that mean? Uphill curves or downhill ones?
Just after a town after 36 km of mostly uphill cycling you find a hospedaje. But the lagoon just ahead is apparently mui bonita so you detour another four km there to find out for yourself. It’s nice but there’s nowhere to really stay and now you need to cycle four km uphill to get back to the hospedaje.
On the way back you find a bee somewhere in your shirt. Some frantic moments a spent veering all over the road as you try to get it out.
To Tuxtla.: Bad bus driver. Naughty, naughty, naughty
Sunday September 23, 2007, 126 km (78 miles) – Total so far: 4,609 km (2,864 miles)
Is it just you or is the traffic today noticeably more aggressive? You leave Sofia at the hotel and continue on. Apparently there is a lot of uphill ahead and she would rather take the bus from the next town. There are a couple of ascents but nothing longer than six or seven kilometers. Cintalapa and Ocozocoautla are both decent sized towns with a few accommodations options in each. You stop at a campsite/restaurant with a pool just before Cintalapa. Three teenage boys approach as you near the restaurant. They aren’t intimidating but their idiotic attitude loses the place business. Why would you want to eat at a place with three guys staring at you at laughing about English. They’re probably trying to be helpful. But you don’t need nor want them around. You leave and eat elsewhere.
You get to Ocozocoautla, the day’s destination and are lured in by some hotcakes. With three more hours of daylight left you should be able to make the 36 km to Tuxla. Only six km of it is uphill apparently. It’s the first six. You come to a crossroads. There aren’t any signs so you ask a guy for directions. He is able to point in 180 degrees at once. You cross the road and ask some women but they keep walking before you can get an answer. Fortunately there is a sign across the road so you go there to get your information.
From here a nice wide shoulder is available all the way in to Tuxla. A truck and then a bus prefer to drive on the shoulder rather than their lane, passing way too close. The bus is particularly bad as it overtakes as you fly downhill giving you a long moment of uncertain exhilaration. Do bus drivers do this on purpose?
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 don’t.
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 isn’t 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 don’t 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 don’t 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. Lot’s of holas and bye byes. There are a couple nice descents early on but after that the road just climbs. It’s not steep but together with you being ill and all it’s not nice.
There is a hotel ten km further on. Except there isn’t one. Seven km. One km. Three km. And a hotel. It rains hard. That’s enough for one day. Sure, you didn’t break any records but enough is enough. Besides, it’s 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 weren’t 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. It’s not unfriendly or anything. That’s 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 Sofia’s insistence camp behind there for the night. You try to find the pastor to ask but he’s 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. It’s 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.
San Pedro.: Damn hotel tout
Friday October 5, 2007, 40 km (25 miles) – Total so far: 5,129 km (3,187 miles)
There’s 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 doesn’t 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 it’s 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. It’s 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. It’s 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 don’t. 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 don’t 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. It’s 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 doesn’t seem to be much special going on. On the other hand there isn’t 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.: It’s 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. It’s 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. Where’s 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. It’s not steep and isn’t 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 don’t. 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. There’s 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 it’s 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 it’s another four km to the next hotel. And boy is it shite. But it’s 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.: Don’t take the room if he won’t 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 don’t 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.
You get a flat. Sofia continues on. The plan is to meet up again beside the road at Chiquimula. But you don’t see her and you each spend some time in town looking for each other.
And then you find her. You find a cheap hotel but the guy won’t let you look at the room. “Why should I waste my time showing you the room if you won’t take it? He says, in Spanish. You’ve been in this situation before. Best not to take it. You go elsewhere.
Welcome to Honduras.: To Copan
Saturday October 20, 2007, 80 km (50 miles) – Total so far: 5,473 km (3,401 miles)
For the first five km on route 10 you enjoy lots of applause from people along the road. Today is the first day of the Guatemalan cycling race and you are the first cyclists they see. You could almost be convincing if only you were headed in the right direction.
There are a lot of ascents and descents to Copan Ruinus. But seemingly more ascents. As usual in Guatemala many kids shout “Gringo’ at you and make weird noises to catch your attention.
Eventually you reach the border, pay the bribes to exit one country and enter another and off you go. You’re in Honduras baby. Just one more climb and one descent to go and into town you are. Now, where’s Sofia? Perhaps you shouldn’t have left her behind. Oh well, four times in four days you’ve played this game. You find each other in the end. And you do. But she isn’t happy so best just let her be for now.
Back into Guatemala.: A crowded minivan
Monday October 22, 2007, 24 km (15 miles) – Total so far: 5,497 km (3,416 miles)
Yesterday you saw the ruins of Copan. They were interesting and all but with all the hype generated they were a bit of a let down. Still, you got your requisite photos. Tensions remain high between your comrade and yourself and don’t really settle down again until today. Will you go your separate ways? Is enough enough? Not yet apparently. You both still get something out of this relationship. Aren’t you? Perhaps you’ve been alone for too long. You don’t know how to relate to other people anymore.
You get a lift in a pickup the ten km to the border for five Americanos. Then across the other side for little more than the same amount you get a minivan the forty km to Vadu Hondo back on route 10. Everything is fine. The van is at most half full. Then, with only maybe ten km to go you pull into a town and change vans. You jump on the top of one van and help lift the bikes over. Then you all cram into the overflowing van for the rest of the journey. As overflowing as it is there is always room to cram one more in, which they do.
Finally out of the van you cycle the twenty km into town. It is still early and you’ve spent barely two hours on the bikes but you’ll call it a day. Only twenty km till the border. El Salvador awaits.
Welcome to El Salvador.: To Santa Ana
Tuesday October 23, 2007, 97 km (60 miles) – Total so far: 5,594 km (3,476 miles)
For once you get an early start on the day. But there’s no beating that heat. It’s another 33 km until the border. And..
Welcome to El Salvador!!!
An early afternoon downpour coincides with lunch. And off you go again. Most of the way on this side of the border is downhill. The roads are good here and there is a nice shoulder to enjoy.
At last Santa Ana comes into view. Dark clouds, well, darken the sky. You find a cheap place to stay mere moments before they open up. Heavy rain and thunder is heard. Maybe stay in for a little while. You have an 8:30 curfew tonight. But why?
San Salvador.: A lift up.
Wednesday October 24, 2007, 65 km (40 miles) – Total so far: 5,659 km (3,516 miles)
It’s not so far to San Salvador so you leave relatively late on the autopista. Out of town the road gains shoulders and for thirty odd km you enjoy a nice smooth mostly downhill ride. Then the road goes crap. Road works drag on and on and you find just how bad El Salvadorian traffic can be. Later on you grab hold of a slow moving truck on the ascent. Sure, it’s cheating but why the hell not.
Traffic in San Salvador equals that of Guat. city. It is a big adrenalin rush. Sofia doesn’t see the fun side of it.
You make your way into town to the hostel and off to find some food.
San Vicente.: Heading east
Friday October 26, 2007, 60 km (37 miles) – Total so far: 5,719 km (3,554 miles)
San Salvador is surprisingly nice to visit. The centre has a pretty cool market where seemingly anything can be bought. A couple girls say some things to you. Are they prostitutes or do they just want to sell some clothes? And why does everyone want to sell you the most ugliest clothes?
You leave Sofia in San Salvador. She wants to see a couple of things and you want to ride on. Besides, it will do you both good to spend some time apart. Traffic isn’t so bad with the notable exceptions of course.
The road is nice and gets nicer further out of town with a nice wide shoulder. Some ascents and a couple long deep descents. You get a flat. You change it easily enough but with the new rims you cannot inflate the tube. But you get by.
You leave the highway for a nice descent down to San Vicente. It is a sizable town yet only has the one restaurant. Nice.
To San Miguel.: Riding at night
Saturday October 27, 2007, 80 km (50 miles) – Total so far: 5,799 km (3,603 miles)
With the most popular bar in town a mere three metres down the corridor from your room you couldn’t help but have a few beers. And after chatting to a few guys you couldn’t help but have a few more. You are invited to stay another night for a big fiesta in town. Perhaps you should but then again you really just want to ride on. TV and wifi internet also help to waste your night away.
So you wake up late. You go to the only restaurant in town and have a look around the market. Much like San Salvador many people are over eager to show you some very ugly shirts.
You climb the hill back up to the panamericana. There are some shops to buy food there but after that is nada for a very long time. Along the road people sell a myriad of different foods. You see your very first live armadillo. Maybe. And it is yours for only ten dollars, cooked and served on a platter.
Eventually you find a restaurant but after wasting too much time waiting for your meal you waste even more time arguing over your bill. Darkness comes way too soon and you spend an hour or so riding in the dark. From here it is mostly downhill though so it’s not too bad. There are nice wide shoulders but their condition is variable so you stay on the road. You need to concentrate hard on the road. But wait, headlights coming straight at you are cause for concern. But traffic isn’t that bad and it is a nice cool evening.
You come into San Miguel. Someone drives by and offers to show you to a hotel. So you are shown to a hotel. Apparently it’s not too safe in town. So you stay in for the night. Perhaps you should have stayed in San Vicent after all.
Welcome to Honduras. Again.: To Nacaome
Sunday October 28, 2007, 95 km (59 miles) – Total so far: 5,894 km (3,662 miles)
The first order of business is to find a bike shop. Unfortunately it is Sunday and they are all closed. So you press on. It’s 58 km to the Hondouros border apparently. The road is nice. The traffic is nice enough. You have a late lunch in Santa Rosa. From there it is 30 km to the border. And the border closes at five. Better get going then.
It’s not 30 km to the border. It’s ten km max. You go through the usual border formalities including half a dozen guys wanting to change your money. There’s at least one hotel on either side of the border. But there’s at least an hour of daylight left so why not use it.
Oh yeah. Welcome to Honduras.
Apparently the next hotel is 35 km away in Nacaome. You better get going then. You pass some young men standing by the road. One calls out to you in English. “Get the fuck outta here man.” Best keep going then. Apart from the one antagonistic almost everyone else is happy to see you. You get more than enough ‘hellos’ of various descriptions. A lot are actually ‘bye byes’ and ‘adios’”.
Then it gets dark. There are a lot of insects about which makes the going even more difficult. Just before town you spot a nice hotel. You pull up outside. Two men battle with a snake. “It’s not poisonous. I think.” So says one. The hotel is too expensive so you keep going. So is the next one. You head into town where two more hotels are. They are still more expensive than you would like but what are you going to do? So you take one.
To the border.: Can’t wait to leave the place
Monday October 29, 2007, 90 km (56 miles) – Total so far: 5,984 km (3,718 miles)
You move out, having a look around town and in search of breakfast. People here call out to you but they are angry and aggressive. Hey gringo. They shout. And when you don’t respond immediately it’s like who the fuck do you think you are? No hablo Ingles. You respond. Hablas Espaniol?
“Hello amigo. Give me five dollars.” Some guy shouts at you. You keep riding. Up ahead you find something to buy. You are half way through sorting your money when the guy catches up to you, still asking for money. No. No. You say. The guy stays. Eventually he leaves, about a meter. You wait for a little while and just go, business unfinished. Perhaps the store owners told him to go away until you finished the transaction. Or maybe he just told him to go away. Either way he cost the guy business. And you still need to go elsewhere to buy the things that you need.
You leave town. Hungry. Five km up the road is the turnoff to the capital. Here you find something to eat. There are also a couple hotels here. A few short km further is San Lorenzo which almost resembles a resort town. You immediately get a strange sensation to buy fried fish and a milkshake and sit on a pier. There is even a bike path along side the road.
The thing about bike paths though is that they guilt you into using them no matter what condition or obstacles are about. The same replies for the shoulder along the road. Sometimes it is fine. Sometimes they are crap. Often cars park there. Usually buses and vans overtake just to pull up directly ahead of you to let passengers on or off. This one isn’t so bad though, except when pedestrians use it to walk on with scarce concern for the cyclist behind them.
As you have just eaten and don’t really have any interest in hanging about you move on. It’s a long hot ride to Choluteca. The town doesn’t look like much but they have a selection of restaurants and a few nice looking hotels leaving town. After lunch it is only 45 km to the border. You miss the turnoff due to lack of signage and it is another kilometer of so before you turn back.
You start to miss El Salvador. The traffic is a little nastier here. The shoulders aren’t so good. And the people are less than friendly. Children are trained to hold out there hand and say ‘dollar’ at you. You patience wears thin. Some girl says “I love you.” You say “How much?” Time to leave this country.
You get to the border. A swarm of money changers engulf you. “No gracias.” You repeat but the chance of a fresh fish is just too great. There is a hotel on the Hondouran side and you check it out. One of the money changers lingers, trying to corner the market. “Solo cambio.” He proclaims. “No solo.” You shout back.
China town.: I’m number one
Tuesday October 30, 2007, 82 km (51 miles) – Total so far: 6,066 km (3,769 miles)
Spending one last night in Honduras was not a good idea. The only hotel on the border is infested with insects leaving you with a rather restless night swatting cockroaches, mosquitoes, spiders, and other random insects. You leave the hotel. You make it almost one meter before being approached by a money changer. This time the exchange is about right although he doesn’t quite give you all your money. He just walks away. Well, you are still better off than yesterday.
You cross over into Nicaragua. Hello Nicaragua. Good riddance Honduras. For the next fifteen km about the road is really, really shite. So much so that you are able to overtake two semi-trucks with ease. You stop for breakfast five km in. Good thing too as you get a flat and your spare tubes cannot now be inflated with you tire inflator.
After another hour traversing on that nightmare of a road you are presented with a nice, smooth, pothole free stretch all the way to China town. The land is flat but boy is it hot. Damn hot. Like in Honduras passes by sometimes hold up their index finger and say something incomprehensible as you ride past. “I’m number one? Why thank you.” You ponder. “Or is it you just want one dollar?”
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