A Vacation week with old friends, and difficult goodbyes

Current Location: Chiquimula, Guatemala
Distance Cycled to Date: 9559 km
Number of different times we have seen the cycling Verhage family to date: 6
Cheapest hotel room to date: $6.50 (Canadian)

In our last post we said we were going to visit the ruins of Quirigua, and we expected to be a bit disappointed. We were right. They weren't too impressive - and worst of all, they cost 80 quetzals each ($12) to get into. And to top it off, camping in the parking lot was not as easy as we had thought it would be. But after some discussion and a phone call to somebody off site, the guards finally let us, as long as we paid our entry fees. We probably should have just stuck to the gas station along the highway.

After more uneventful cycling, we met a group of Americans, walking along the highway on the outskirts of Chiquimula, the city where we had planned to leave our bicycles for the week. One lady was on a trip similar to ours, but walking from California to Chile. We thought she was a little crazy. She makes our cycling trip seem easy. She told us how she was getting a welcoming party to the city from some local schools in the town plaza, and invited us to join her. And so we found ourselves standing on a raised stage in the centre of the plaza, with school children all around us taking pictures and speeches being made. We felt a little out of place, but just laughed at all the attention we were receiving. Through this, we met a local who (we think?) attended a Quaker Theological Seminary here in the city, and let us store our bikes there for the week. All of this was arranged through somebody translating, and we didn't really ever know what was going on - in fact, we still don't really know what was going on. But we had a courtyard inside a seminary to store our bikes that was tended to by a tiny, ancient Guatemalan lady who we could never understand, but smiled at us a lot.

Last Sunday we left our bikes behind for the first time on the trip, and boarded a bus from Chiquimula to Guatemala City to meet my girlfriend Lauren at the airport. While it was easy to find her, her bag had been lost in Chicago, so she had to begin her trip here as we live - wearing the same clothes for a couple days. I guess we've gotten used to it over the past 6 months, but most people like to shower and change their clothes daily. (She did however make up for it by changing her clothes at least 3 times a day once her luggage finally arrived). We spent the week in the colonial city of Antigua, and the village of Panajachel on the edge of Lake Atitlan. Both are tourist magnets in the country, and rightfully so. Both were set in beautiful locations, with volcanoes, mountains, and cobblestone streets. It was great to spend a week relaxing with Lauren, and with all the amenities that these tourist towns had to offer.

Back in November, we took our first rest day of the Baja along a beach in Conception Bay. It was this day that we first met the Verhage family. Micheal, Ciska, and their 12 and 10 year old sons Jesse and Sammy are riding a pair of tandem bicycles from California to Chile. They left in September like us, but are taking their time and home-schooling the boys as they travel. We didn't think we'd see them again after this, but then a week or so later we ran into them again in La Paz, and while I was sick they came and visited every day, and we started to build our friendship. When we decided to make our loop down to Cabo, they were heading to the mainland so we said our goodbyes one more time, and split up. Then a couple weeks later we were in San Blas along the coast of the mainland, and as we were sitting in the town plaza we spotted those familiar tandems biking by. We ran after them and again spent the afternoon together before we said goodbye. Jeff's birthday was the next day, and they stopped by our campground on their way past to wish him a happy birthday and we enjoyed their company once again.

We thought this would be the last time we would see them for awhile, but then a few days later as we were biking on the narrow, busy, hot and humid highway to Puerto Vallarta we were passed by a pickup truck with two tandem bicycles in the box, and Micheal leaning out the window smiling and waving, calling out as they took the easy way to bypass the busy road. We found out when we went online next that they had hitch-hiked over 2000 km to San Cristobal, and we thought it could be unlikely to see them again. However, luck was on our side (and perhaps against them), for while they were in Panajachel first one of their racks broke, and then after weeks of waiting for a replacement, Jesse was bitten by a street dog. You always have to suspect rabies in this part of the world, and so he was put on a 4 week vaccination schedule - which meant that they would still be there while we were. And so, for a record 6th time, we were able to spend a few days with the Verhage family. It was great to meet with old friends, and share stories from the past few months.

Micheal and Ciska have been traveling together since they were 18, and all their stories about bicycle touring even rubbed off on Lauren - she may not be ready to wear the same clothes for 2 weeks straight yet, but she's excited to maybe get into adventure cycling someday. This time saying goodbye to the family was a little more difficult, as we really do think it's unlikely to find them again on this trip. That is, unless they hitch-hike 2000 km ahead of us again, and give us a little time to catch up. You never know. We just hope that some day our paths will cross again, somewhere in the world. For now we'll keep in touch with them on their blog, and you can feel free to check it out as well.

This morning we said our difficult goodbyes to Lauren after dropping her off at the airport. We then boarded a bus back to Chiquimula, picked up our bikes, and now we're back to reality. While we were with Lauren we stayed at a couple of luxurious hotels by our standards, but today we're back to our style of accommodation - for $6.50 you get about what you pay for, a concrete box with graffiti and stains on the wall, mismatched beds and an unattached bathroom with no shower - but what more do you need? Tomorrow we will likely cross the border into Honduras, and reach the last great Mayan ruins of our trip, Copan. A new country is always exciting, and we're glad to be making progress again. We'll go hard for awhile, and see where we end up next.