Overall rating of Mexico: 5 stars.

Current Location: Flores, Guatemala
Distance Cycled to Date: 9053 km

Distance cycled in Mexico: 5089 km
Nights spent in Mexico: 90
Number of nights we payed for accommodation in Mexico: 16
Number of days it rained on us in Mexico: 1
Pictures taken in Mexico: 2721
Flat tires in Mexico: 2 (Jeff - 1, Keenan - 1)

Finally - we made it through Mexico. Is it ever a big country. We knew going into it that we'd be there for awhile, but we didn't really anticipate it taking 3 months. Looking back, it was a pretty great experience, and it's hard to believe that we cycled over 5000 km in a single country. That's more than the USA and Canada combined. That's a lot.

When we crossed into the Baja we had no idea what to expect, and we gradually became used to our new surroundings. Mexico has changed a whole lot from Tijuana down to Palenque, and we've changed our style a bit to match it. We're no longer strangers to camping right beside the highway, and fences don't scare us like they used to. We've realized that you can always find a camp spot, no matter where you are. We've also realized that people are pretty friendly, and are almost always there to help you.

We met a lot of very nice people. We like Mexicans. Besides one or two days, almost every memory is positive. Almost everywhere we went, people would call out and wave, and we've begun to feel like minor celebrities as we cycle down the highway. It just seems natural that everybody would wave and talk to us. We notice it the most when we're off our bikes in our 'street clothes' - when people honk and wave we almost instinctively wave back - only to realize that now they're not waving at us; we're normal tourists like everybody else.

We had received a lot of warnings before reaching Mexico about crime and untrustworthy police, about poor roads and crazy drivers. We've come to see how far from the truth those stereotypes are. Almost everybody that we've met has tried to help us in some way, and we almost never felt like we were being ripped off or scammed. We came to appreciate the relaxed attitudes everybody had, especially in regards to camping. Of course we could camp for free on the beach. Or why not in the town plaza? Or even in my yard if you'd like! Nobody minded, and every night we would go to bed feeling quite safe.

We left Palenque and headed for the border a few days ago. We reached Frontera Corozal sooner than we expected, and down a better road than we had hoped for. It was a very quick and easy procedure getting across - in fact, it happened so quickly we didn't even have time to eat some lunch or spend our last pesos. The boat office called us over, sold us a ticket, and suddenly our captain was cycling ahead of us, taking us to immigration. A quick stamp, no fees, and we were on our way to the boat. We lifted them into what was pretty much a motorized, covered canoe, and made the 25 minute boat ride up the Usumacinta river to Bethel, Guatemala. After pushing our bikes up the bank, we were pretty much clueless as how to proceed. But we were in Guatemala.

We guessed right at every unmarked intersection down a terrible, brutal gravel road, and arrived at Immigration, a couple kilometres out of town. Another quick stamp, no fees, and we were officially in Guatemala. No border town would be complete without some sort of ripoff though, and so after much debate we finally bought a litre and a half of water (since we had none) for nearly $4 Canadian. We silently hoped the road would improve after immigration, but of course that wasn't the case and we made our way slowly for the next 65 km down the rocky, rough road. This trip seemed to reinforce any kind of celebrity status that we may have had in Mexico as every man, woman and child along the route would stop what they were doing, smile, and wave at us. Looking back down the road, we could always see the collection of children standing at the roadside watching us bike away. It was fun.

As we made our way down the road, we realized that we would not make it to Las Cruces, the closest town, before dark. The road was completely fenced in, with no ditches, and even with the combination of our low standards and our ever-improving stealth camping skills it didn't look promising. However, as has always been the case on this trip, we were provided for. After stopping at a drink stand that a family had set up in front of their farm to inquire how far it was to Las Cruces, we were invited not only to camp on their land, but to stay inside an old house on their property, and we were treated to some fresh homemade cheese and buns.

Today we are in Flores, just a short ride away from the Mayan ruins of Tikal. So far everybody has been great here in Guatemala, however our one complaint is that it is not the bargain that we thought it would be. Prices haven't dropped since Mexico - in fact, they've risen considerably. We have to hunt pretty hard to find a deal for food here. It's made us appreciate that peso more and more. Hopefully as we head further south costs will start to improve.

So - tomorrow, Tikal. This is one of the major sights that we've been eagerly anticipating since even long before buying our bicycles. As much as we loved Mexico, we are very excited to finally be in a new country. It's also very excited to see just how short the distances are here - finally, we're going to start making some noticeable progress.

We've been trying to put up our photo albums for the Pacific Coast of Mexico, and Oaxaca and Chiapas (that's right - we've got 2 albums ready to go). However, the internet keeps letting us down. So they should be up there soon. We'll keep you up to date. For now, we'll head off into the jungle and see what we can discover. Mexico is done, but we still have a whole lot more to see.

Our overall rating of Mexico: 5 stars