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.

Tikal - worth every penny.

Current Location: Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Distance cycled to date: 9374 km
Number of days since we left home: 163
Number of nights we've slept in our tent to date: 107
Number of pictures taken at Tikal: 257

Our short ride from Flores to Tikal started off slowly, with each of us getting flat tires in the first 10 km stretch. However, this was quickly forgotten as we got closer and closer to Tikal, arriving in the early evening. We found out that we could purchase our tickets the night before for the next morning, and we could even go into the ruins for the last hour of daylight so we quickly grabbed a camera, coughed up the over $50 (Canadian) entrance fees for the both of us, and made our way into the jungle, starting the 20 minute walk to the Grand Plaza to Tikal.

Finally emerging from the jungle path and catching our first glimpse of an imposing temple in the Grand Plaza was incredible. We had imagined hordes of tourists all over the place, but as we came into the plaza we found ourselves alone. With the setting sun lighting up Temple I with a soft glow, we were in awe of the beauty of the ruins. Five others eventually came, and the seven of us sat on top of a pyramid, watching the glow slowly disappear as the sun set on what was once one of the greatest cities of North America.

The next morning was an even more incredible experience. Waking up before 5 am and cooking our breakfast under the star filled sky, we were the first at the gates to enter. After the guards finally let us in, we nearly ran the entire way of what was supposed to be a 40 minute walk to the highest temple of Tikal. It took us almost 20 minutes, but we made it before the sun rose. We ran up the stairs to the top and as we reached the top, out of breath, we were welcomed by a small group of 10 or so people. Apparantly their is a guy who bribes the guards and drives a small truckload of people up to catch the sunrise - but even with all of us together on top of the temple, it felt as if you were the only one up there. Everybody treated it very solemnly, speaking in whispers as we listened to the howler monkeys roaring from their tree tops, and watched the sun slowly light up the foggy patches on the horizen before finally touching the peaks of the temples reaching out of the jungle in the distance. Needless to say, it was a majestic moment, and one that hopefully neither of us will ever forget.

We spent the day walking back and forth through the ruins, climbing stairs and doing what both of us felt was much more exercise than we usually do in a day of cycling. Neither of us could stop taking pictures, and we lost count of the number of times ones of us exclaimed "this is amazing!". If any of you have the chance to visit Tikal, we would highly recommend it. Although when you come, make sure you bring enough quetzals along to pay the entrance fee. We had to count down to our last penny in order to pay for our campsite there. But all in all, it was worth it, hands down.

From Tikal we had to backtrack a little towards Flores, and now we're heading south towards Guatemala City. We're very excited to spend some time off our bikes next week around Antigua and Lake Atitlan with my girlfriend Lauren who is coming to spend her reading week with us. Not only am I very excited to see her, but we're also looking forward to seeing these sights in the highlands without having to ride our bikes up and down mountains!

Our days of stealth camping seem to be over, as we've found Guatemala to be fenced in everywhere. We're now switching almost full time to gas station camping, which we've found to be an even better alternative. We're not hidden in the ditch anymore, but we have bathrooms, a small store, and numerous friendly gas attendants to watch over us. So far so good - now it's just a matter of finding gas stations. Tomorrow we will reach the not-so-well-known Mayan ruins of Quirigua, which we thought we might as well check out. Plus, we hear you can camp in the parking lot, so it's a win-win, really. Likely all the ruins we see from this point will be a bit of a let-down after Tikal, but we'll let you know.

Also - we got our photo albums online! Check out Mexico Pacific Coast, and Oaxaca & Chiapas, Mexico. It's kind of a lot of photos all at once, but it's a couple months worth. We picked out a varied selection of the best to give you a glimpse of what we see.

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

A Celebrity Week of Amazing Ruins, Brutal Speedbumps, and Fantastic RVers

Current Location: Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
Distance Cycled to date: 8728 km
Number of Mexican television interviews to date: 1
Number of times we've been asked if we're twins in Mexico: At least twice a day, every single day. (Are they serious? We don't understand this at all - perhaps it's all the matching clothes)

The cool trip we envisioned has continued throughout Chiapas, as we have made our way out of the cosmopolitan, cool-in-every-sense-of-the-word city of San Cristobal, and down the mountains, into the jungle and explored some very awesome Mayan ruins.

Since leaving Puerto Vallarta, we have been following the blog of another pair of cyclists on their own adventure, heading from Pheonix to Panama. They seemed to be heading down the same route that we planned, so we regularily have been checking their blog in order to see what lies ahead. Their road descriptions have been great, and so we always knew when the big climbs would be coming. As we went along, we slowly were gaining on them, to the point where they would only supply us with a day or two's information. By the time we reached Chiapas we felt like we knew Jon and Britney very well - however, we had never actually contacted them, so they knew nothing of us. By the time we reached the orphanage we realized we were only a day behind them, and so as we biked to San Cristobal we talked about how funny it would be to be able to find them.

After we saw what a busy city San Cristobal is, we almost gave up - but, we kept saying, half jokingly that we have to keep our eyes out in case we see them walking down the street. As it turned out - we did. I ran out to catch them, calling them by name which caught their attention quickly. At this point I didn't really know what to say, but told them that we had been following them for quite some time. They were intrigued and perhaps a little frightened, but after I added in that my brother and I were fellow cyclists, we bonded like old friends. We spent most of the afternoon and evening with them, comparing notes and stories, and encouraging each other. To have experienced so much of the same thing makes it so much easier to appreciate how difficult some days are. (Although they don't seem to camp in ditches or on beaches nearly as much as we do - they seem to find hotels and eat in restaurants everywhere. We seem to be in a fairly exclusive class of extreme-budget cyclists).

They had decided to do a day-trip by bus to Palenque, and warned us of how terrible the road was, but we had already decided to cycle the route, and so we set off the next day while they were heading down the main highway towards Guatemala. We were fairly certain the highway from San Cristobal had to be mainly downhill, seeing as we were already over 2100 metres, and Palenque is under 100 metres in elevation - they laughed at our assessment, but we set out anyway. By the time we arrived here, we knew how wrong we were. We don't really know why, but they were 3 pretty tough days of biking. Up and down these mountains, and every time there was a stretch of downhill, these people put the biggest, most brutal speed bumps across the highway. You had to come to almost a complete stop to get over them if you wanted to avoid flying over your handlebars. It took all the joy out of going downhill.

However, while the actual cycling hasn't been that great, everything apart from it has been amazing. (It kind of makes you wonder why we're travelling by bicycle sometimes?) We saw our first Mayan ruins at Tonina, which were amazing. We were the first ones in, and climbed the pyramid and temples surrounded by fog all by ourselves for the first hour of the day. It was spectacular. Before leaving the town of Ocosingo, we were spotted by a local reporter for the state newspaper, and a local television station. He asked us a number of questions about our ride, and asked if we would do a short television interview for the evening news. We weren't the most confident in our Spanish, but we agreed, and he pulled the video camera from his backpack. Suddenly we had the camera focused on us, and both our comprehension and ability to speak seemed to disappear. We stumbled over our words, and in the end, we're not sure if we made any sense at all. We're pretty sure it was the worst television interview to ever be recorded - at least in the Spanish language. We would be very surprised if it didn't get voiced-over completely.

From Ocosingo we biked up and down some brutal hills in the hot, humid climate. For the very first time in Mexico, we started to feel that people didn't really like us. Always before this, everywhere we went people would call out and smile and wave - and suddenly, people were still calling out but they weren't words of encouragement anymore. The friendly smiles were replaced by sinister looks, and we found ourselves never wanting to stop, because we weren't very welcomed anywhere. We spent the night camping at the waterfalls of Agua Azul, where the unfriendly locals continued with subtle threats of needing to pay for "security" if we wanted to stay safe. Luckily, we met a couple from Ontario and another from Michigan who invited us not only to have dinner with them. but also to place our tent right under the awning of their RV where we would be safe for the night. Although we didn't sleep soundly, we didn't have any trouble, and left the next morning with everything we came there with.

We left Agua Azul, aiming for Palenque the next morning. Jon and Britney, our cyclist friends who thought the road to Palenque was trecherous, did however recommend the side-trip to Agua Azul. It was only 4 km off the highway, and did have camping available. However, they failed to mention the fact that those 4 km were the steepest downhill we'd yet encountered. Which was fine to end the day, but the next morning it took us well over an hour to climb those 4 km. It was not fun.

We made it to Palenque after cycling through more friendly villages. Smiles reappeared on children's faces, and we were met with many calls of "buenos dias" throughout the day. It was encouraging. We pulled into Maya Bell campground which came recommended from the RVers from Ontario the day before, and it was well worth the stop. We were instantly greeted with a celebrity welcome, with cameras flashing and questions coming from all angles. Our hands were suddenly filled with food, and before we could set up our tent we were told by 2 couples from Alberta that we wouldn't be staying in our tent tonight - they were so impressed with us that they were booking us into a hotel room there. We couldn't turn them down, and after checking in to our room, and enjoying a much needed shower, we were invited for dinner as well. (For 2 days in a row!) It was amazing to meet such generous people, again. The rain started for the first time since we got to Mexico, but instead of sitting in a soggy tent we were in a spacious room where we could dry off. The rain made the ruins a little less exciting for us - we hardly got to take any pictures at all, which is something that we really love doing - but even in the downpour the ruins of Palenque are still spectacular.

We know we keep saying how we're getting close to Guatemala, but this time we're serious. We really are finally getting close. It's only 2 more days from here to the border - however, because the sun came out today we decided not to leave as planned, and rather to write this blog entry, and possibly revisit the ruins to take some more pictures. It's pretty sweet stuff, and we wouldn't mind seeing it again. So as long as we don't do any more of these little additions, we really will be in Guatemala in a couple of days. We're aiming for Frontera Corozal, a little used border crossing where we'll have to take a boat across a river to enter Guatemala, so hopefully everything goes as smoothly as we've envisioned it. Maybe nice pavement once we're in the jungle of Guatemala as well? It seems like everything just works for us, so we'll just count on that continuing into new and unknown lands.